Pizza as a vegetable? Apparently Congress thinks so...

Congress is working on passing a spending bill that would modify recent changes proposed by the Agriculture Department that would take french fries out of school lunch programs. The recent proposal also limited sodium usage in school cafeterias, while at the same time increasing the requirement of whole grains. Instead, Congress is trying to categorize pizza as a vegetable!

Apparently the tomato paste, which would be used as the basis for the pizza sauce, is nutrient rich and has many vitamins and minerals. It would need half a cup per slice in order for the nutrition content to become the value of a serving of veggies, and that is a LOT of sauce. Even with all the vitamins and minerals, I am still extremely hesitant to consider the sauce a vegetable, and especially NOT the pizza.

First of all, the dough is most likely made of refined grains, with little to NO whole grains (especially if the previously proposed requirements regarding whole grains are postponed or canceled). The toppings likely consist of cheese or pepperoni, with vegetables being few and far between. Another one of my concerns is the sodium content in the pizza sauce. If you look at any given pasta sauce in a grocery store (health sections included), I guarantee you the % daily value of the sodium content per serving is at least 15% if not upwards of 20% or MORE. This is ridiculous, and while I can only suspect the sodium content would be this high in pizza sauce, this is something we need to think about. Salt, fat and sugar are all things children get way too much of these days- though the same can be said about most Americans.

With the obesity epidemic continuing to spiral out of control and with diabetes being diagnosed more and more in younger children I think health concerns should play more of a role in policy making than lobbyists for Potato farmers or Salt industries.

"We are outraged that Congress is seriously considering language that would effectively categorize pizza as a vegetable in the school lunch program," Amy Dawson Taggart, the director of the group, said in a letter to members of Congress before the final plan was released. "It doesn't take an advanced degree in nutrition to call this a national disgrace." (from the CBS article)

If this passes, which I truly hope it doesn't, I will be protesting and writing numerous letters. I will also attempt to get nutritional information as well as ingredients list from nearby local public schools. I could not believe my ears when I heard this story on NPR tonight.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/11/15/142360146/pizza-as-a-vegetable-it-depends-on-the-sauce
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57324865/congress-pushes-pizza-fries-in-school-lunches/

 

That's laugable. When I was in HS they used to have pop and candy machines in school so everyone would grab a pop to wash the pizza and french fries down. No wonder we're dealing with a diabetic epidemic. Why don't they just throw in some baby carrots in place of the fries.

 

Congress doesn't want a healthy society. A malnourished one is much easier to control, especially one that was malnourished as a child......

 

Ketchup will always be my favorite veggie.

 

When I was in high school I made my own lunches. The school canteen was for drinks, packet chips and ice creams.

 

this makes potato chips vegetables as well. critical thinking ftw. with their logic, why are french fries being taken out?

 

How about we just to teach our children to eat unhealthy foods in moderation, rather than looking to the nanny state to provide only healthy food? I mean, is in there some sort of legislation I'm unaware of that forbids kids bringing their own sack lunch these days?

 

They are trying...... some schools have outlawed peanut butter even if brought from home. The whole sack lunch would be next.

 

My guess is:
Because they are fried AKA high in fat, likely trans fats included

Because they are HIGH in sodium content. Recently the daily recommended amount of sodium per day was reduced to 1600mg which is a bit less than a teaspoon of salt per day.

and probably because potatoes are a starches with a high glycemic index, meaning the raisey your blood sugar more quickly than other vegetables.

because apparently parents are not making adequate or nutritious decisions on behalf of their own children these days. This video might display how and why obesity is spread from generation to generation, because the older generation doesn't properly demonstrate proper nutrition in the home and possibly because they don't know much about it themselves. The video is kind of long, but I find it inspiring, and there are clips that might wake you up to the problem at hand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIwrV5e6fMY"]Jamie Oliver's TED award speech. - YouTube
starting around 4:15 is specifically talking about, but it's all very good

Why not unhealthy food in moderation? Because kids in elementary school could have the capability to moderate themselves, but it is unlikely they would choose a plate of veggies and fish over a slice of pizza and fries....

Also much of the unhealthy food on shelves today are filled with additives that are not at all beneficial to a healthy body. NAMELY hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils or fats...which (in my GUESStimate) is in around 80% of packaged foods. Anything that has an ingredient that has been hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated contains TRANS fat, EVEN if the label does not express that content. If something appears in quantities of less than half a gram they are not required to list it on the nutrition label. It doesn't mean it's not there, and if you eat more than a serving I guarantee you are getting trans fat. The FDA suggests that no more than 1/3 of our total fat intake to be from saturated fat, but they say that none of our fat should consist of TRANS fat. Moderation is important, I agree, but in some cases moderation isn't good enough.

There is, of course, no law that says children can't bring their lunches to school. However, with the current state of our country's economic well being, in which 1 in 6 families are living in poverty many families can not afford to send their children to school with lunch. In fact the local food bank here provides 13,000 children with food for the weekends in order to ensure the children are getting a meal, and more specifically a nutritious meal.

I do see how the cost of providing nutritious lunches could come up in debate, but I do firmly believe in the long run that health care costs will be greatly reduced if people of all ages improve their eating habits. Therefore, I think the pros in the situation out weigh the cons.

It is not the "nanny state" I am overly concerned with this...it is more the fact that they will be categorizing pizza sauce as a vegetable which is absurd!

 

uh yeah, but so is pizza

 

exactly