BRUSSELS (AP) — In a country that claims to be the real birthplace of the finger food that Americans have the temerity to call french fries, rescuing the potato industry might easily be a matter of Belgian national pride.

So while a coronavirus lockdown keeps restaurants, bars and many of Belgium's 5,000 frites stands closed, the trade association for the national potato industry is calling on the population at large to do its part by keeping deep fryers fired up on the home front.

"Traditionally, Belgians eat fries once a week, and it's always a festive moment," Romain Cools, the secretary ge...