Female potato? Wow, I must say!
Hahah! Gotcha. Now if you believe, just because the potato is female you can use "sie" meaning "she" to talk about what you're eating - you're very wrong <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin1.gif" alt="" />
I eat it (potato) = ich esse es (die Kartoffel)
So why this gender bother? No clue. You could now say - and what about the gender rule defining he/she/it (er/sie/es)? Take a very coarse rule there again: If something doesn't live, call it "es" = it <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin1.gif" alt="" />
Example:
Das Baby = yeah, the baby, gender neutral and an anglicism
der Saeugling = the real German word for baby -> yep, masculine. But if you talk about it = you can say "es" = "it". In this case, the baby hopefully is alive, but "es" seems to include both genders and if not? Ask Konrad Duden. If the baby is really male, feel free to say "er" = he. The best in this case is to simply use their first names, you are free to use the correct gender then.
Kiya