Congress to rule pizza sauce is a vegetable

[amdfangirl]

US lawmakers prodded by the frozen food industry have moved to protect schools' ability to count pizza sauce as a vegetable in lunches for students.

In an annual spending bill covering the US Department of Agriculture, which has oversight over subsidised school meals, a joint House-Senate panel voted to prevent the agency from restricting pizza, hot chips, and starchy vegetables.

A Republican summary of the legislation was unveiled on Monday and may be approved this week.

The report cheered the defeat of "overly burdensome and costly regulations" and hailed "greater flexibility for local school districts."

The American Frozen Food Institute industry lobby group hailed the measure, which it said "recognises the significant amounts of potassium, fibre and vitamins A and C provided by tomato paste and ensures that students may continue to enjoy healthy meals such as pizza and pasta."

Bit Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Centre for Science in the Public Interest, said the legislation was about protecting pizza makers, not nutrition.

"Pepperoni pizza is not a vegetable," Ms Wootan said.

Ms Wootan said existing rules defined a full serving of vegetables as eight tablespoons, except for a "loophole" that set the amount of tomato paste required at two tablespoons, roughly what goes on a slice.

The USDA had proposed early this year to require eight tablespoons of tomato paste in one vegetable serving and limit school lunches to two servings per week of french fries or other starchy vegetables.

"The Congress basically stepped in to protect industry's ability to continue to sell two of the most unhealthy foods in the school lunch program: pizza and french fries," Ms Wootan said.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-17/us-rules-pizza-sauce-is-a-vegetable/3676284

Pizza is a vegetable 😀. So is KFC. It contains wheat.

Tomatoes: A fruit, not a vegetable.

 

[l0ckd0wn]

Hmm, business lobby once again affecting our food to put profits over human nutrition. Thanks for the share.

Can I get a link to the article please?

 

[amdfangirl]

There we go. 😛

Sorry about that, the mods would have thought I was making a thread on a subject I made up again.

 

[l0ckd0wn]

Business lobby? Really. That would imply this is profitable in some way, or in other words, good for business. Care to qualify that?

It's too bad the local PTA can't set their own menus anymore like when i was growing up. That's what happens when you lose local control.

What's to clarify, it says right in there who is pushing for this; The American Frozen Food Institute. Read.

 

[jsc]

And OMG's point was that back in the old days, back when the World was young and snakes walked the Earth, school diet was a local, not Federal, issue. And what the AFFI wanted would not matter.

 

[wanamingo]

Oh, so an industry in the business of SELLING FOOD wants to keep doing so and you have a problem with it? What, do you want more people laid off from their jobs? I really don't get your thinking. Doesn't the industry have a right to lobby for their interest and the interest of staying in business?

Not if its hosed in High Fructose Corn syrup.....

So its OK to give our kids substandard food because it creates jobs?

 

[Reynod]

Those kids won't get jobs that pay well because they will be too fat to move ...

In saying that there are healthy pasta dishes and healthy pizza dishes too ... just not the frozen pizza made by a machine and the pasta sauce made from from toe jam.

Homemade pizza with crushed tomato on the base and heaps of sliced veg with a little meat and a light coating of cheese (or fetta) is an excellent meal.

Ditto for vooked pasta and a tomoto based sauce with finely diced veg in it (onion / zuchini / muchroom) with a little fried bacon added to the sauce for flavour.

Man I am getting hungry ...

 

[wanamingo]

If parents care about what their children eat THEY SHOULD BE MAKING THEIR LUNCH IN THE FIRST PLACE! Yes, I yelled.

We have had this EXACT same discussion before in a different thread. What if the parent doesn't know or simply doesn't care? School should be a safe supportive place. Children simply don't learn as well when all they've had is a pop tart Cheetos and a can of soda. Or microwave pizza. Its not even food.....

Besides if we can curb childhood obesity we will save money in the long run, what with them having fewer heart attacks and health issues when they are older.

No one should be making money off our kids (I don't have any........I think). And the fact that a company is selling substandard food to schools doesn't worry you as much as their bottom line or jobs getting laid off. You have your priorities out of order.

 

[Reynod]

I like the moz cheese myself ... I don't put it on too thick though.

I put a thin layer of the paste on the base then a heap of veg, and top it with some bacon / meat and then put the chopped tomato over the lot ... then the cheese.

Cooks better.

My mate Aaron got this wicked Italian pizza base recipe too.

Cripes we put on a few kilos last winter as I was sending him home at lunch to make pizzas and bring them back to work.

Wow ... am I offtopic ... feels like it?

 

[Reynod]

Schools should do rice and pasta bake dishes ... and do brcolli and cauliflower nake with a white sauce and baked cheese on top... with rough ground pepper on top.

Thats it ... I am going now !!

😉

 

[wanamingo]

mingo you are making a huge assumption here. How do you know the food is sub-standard? You are assuming that based on what?

I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL 5 YEARS AGO!!!!

I watch documentaries about it. Ive read about it. Do you know what is in a fruit cup? Do you know how many calories are in those Oval shaped pizzas? Bags of chips, cookies, shite even the chocolate milk has high fructose corn syrup in it. Canned fruits and veggies packed with sodium that have been shelved for years.

Why not give kids fresh fruits and veggies? Locally produced products? Get rid of sugar snacks.

 

[Nim Chimpsky]

Business lobby? Really. That would imply this is profitable in some way, or in other words, good for business. Care to qualify that?

Oh, so an industry in the business of SELLING FOOD wants to keep doing so and you have a problem with it? What, do you want more people laid off from their jobs? I really don't get your thinking. Doesn't the industry have a right to lobby for their interest and the interest of staying in business?

I thought this was really funny.

 

[wanamingo]

Way to kill the thread gentlemen. .

Just because people disagree with you doesn't mean its some sort of conspiracy.

A thread starts off as a discussion about whats being served to children and somehow you spin it into another debate about Corporations vs States.

If you are interested in this and the thread sparks an interest of your please make a new one. For example:

New thread: State Vs Gov support of school lunches.

This way I can ignore it more easily. Now you've polluted a thread.

Grow up.

 

[Nim Chimpsky]

Why? Because I didn't read the article first? Ok, you got me. haha!

Still, your, and Lockdown's thinking that anything to do with business or industry is inherintly evil or bad is convoluted. That's what I was battling, this mindset. Why is everything government does as clean as the wind driven snow and everthing business or corporations do is automatically bad?

Why don't you just admit who you are and proudly proclaim that you hate American capitalism and want to see it destroyed and replaced with your idea of some sort of utopian collectivism?

You should have started there, then. Your initial denial that the business lobby wasn't involved looks ridiculous when you're so pro-business lobby.

"Why is everything government does as clean as the wind driven snow and everthing business or corporations do is automatically bad?" is a straw man. I don't think you'll find a single person who would say that; and there are a lot of people out there.

Who I am? Ok, you got me, I'm a member of a secret society that hates oldmengamers and their freedom.

 

[Nim Chimpsky]

I know, and I admitted it Mr. perfect monkey.

I like that. :lol:

 

[l0ckd0wn]

I know, and I admitted it Mr. perfect monkey.

So how did we get here? Because you don't like the truth of the matter so you just run in circles trying to distract everyone? Defend business just to defend business like a good little Republicanite? If I'm the ignorant one, then you are the joker pulling on everyone leg that can't possibly believe that a lobbying group has the populace in it's first interest. See, again, you are calling names and now that I retort back you are going to complain that I'm such an offensive liberal. Your whole denial of facts is offensive.

I think it's funny you make excuses for companies and attempt to put all responsibility for a person's intake on consumer or in this case an underage student. What ever happened to companies creating good products just to create good products (like Aunt Annie's organics, or Chipotle's food standards)? There are many companies who've moved away from hormones, antibiotics, artificial additives and HFCS, why exactly we would want to set the bar lower for these people by making Tomato paste an actual vegetable? They already have a lower standard to count it as such, which is misleading, so why exactly should I not think business lobbies are evil when their sole function is to bribe congressmen until the standards for them is lower than everyone else?

And OMG's point was that back in the old days, back when the World was young and snakes walked the Earth, school diet was a local, not Federal, issue. And what the AFFI wanted would not matter.

Yeah, that wasn't his point, his first remark was questioning the business lobby before even reading the article and it was clear as day in there. Then he decided to chime in about "how the good ol' days" were.

The reality of the matter is I agree with the PTA comment and that this should be regulated (financially) on the state level, not the federal level. Irony considering that I was attacked immediately because of the first comment when this displays perfectly how out of touch the DeptEd is and how they are tainted by industry money.

Her teachers were always envious and even told me so. It's called personal responsibility. And I am not responsible for making sure someone else's kids are fed well. I reject this "it takes a village" crap. You like Darwinism? Well there ya go. Survival of the fittest, or in this case, the smartest.

Envious that your kid made their own lunch? LOL I did it for years, not sure wtf that has to do with the quality of food being served in the cafeteria. Unlike your pure reliance on capitalism there is no real compeition here being created from the persons consuming that food, because it was purchased by the school and served with little other choices.

Still, your, and Lockdown's thinking that anything to do with business or industry is inherintly evil or bad is convoluted. That's what I was battling, this mindset. Why is everything government does as clean as the wind driven snow and everthing business or corporations do is automatically bad?

Why don't you just admit who you are and proudly proclaim that you hate American capitalism and want to see it destroyed and replaced with your idea of some sort of utopian collectivism?

:lol:

You are absolutely hilarious. Keep attempting to put words, thoughts and ideas in other people's mouths. I don't want a nanny state as much as the next guy, but food standards shouldn't be driven by profit, they should be driven by science and all the study's available show most of the additive crap has direct effects on children's behavior, especially HFCS, the dies and colors added (including yellow5 and especially red40), and the artificial preservatives and other additives/taste enhancers (like MSG, which is a neurotoxin, read; causes brain damage). It's a what you put in is what you get out scenario.

BTW, a "lobby's" sole function is to positively influence politicians, even when the company is inherently subversive and when it undermines the health and well being of the populace; i.e. Monsanto.

Wanamingo, I made a comment about the business lobby in the article and like any lobby, their function is to attempt to bribe congressmen for less regulations. It directly pertains to the subject matter. Oldmangamer just likes to defend any type of pro-business mentality, and thus we are left when anyone makes an obvious comment, his red-flag-waving comes out in full force because we are just uninformed liberals.

Sorry for the long reply, everytime that oldman opened his mouth it was like raining rhetorical garbage and when it comes to food and health, I just can't accept the status quo as OK.

PS
I named two corporations in my reply here; Aunt Annie's Organics and Chipotle. If I'm such an anti-capitalist, why would I list them and be part of Chipotle's Farm Team (which is a company evangelist)?

PSS

Who I am? Ok, you got me, I'm a member of a secret society that hates oldmengamers and their freedom.

Where do I sign up for this fictitious Illuminati?

 

[amdfangirl]

perfectly how out of touch the DeptEd is and how they are tainted by industry money.

Like Chinese Primary schools funded by tobacco companies.

They teach that smoking is good for you.

 

[Nim Chimpsky]

Like Chinese Primary schools funded by tobacco companies.

They teach that smoking is good for you.

Talent comes from hard work – Tobacco helps you become talented.

 

[dogman_1234]

After being in school...the food is real crap.

The salad bars are too much to run, and frozen chicken sandwiches are the only healthy thing there. 3 bucks for 4 inches of 'goodness'.

 

[amdfangirl]

Or let me control it.

"What is this meat you speak of?"

😀

 

[mjmjpfaff]

^^ I'm all for that. I haven't been in school for almost 20 years. Back then we had pot roast, green beans, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, milk, and a dinner roll with butter available if we wanted it. Then there was the pizza, burgers, and other crap too. I guess things have gone downhill.......sigh.

Return to local control and this would be fixed. Abolish the federal dept. of education now!

they still have foods like that. they still dont make it as tasty as mom but they do have things like that. they only have pizza available once a week and a salad bar every day of the week. i find portion control more important. most foods provide sufficient nutrients.