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How Pizza Became A Vegetable Through The Magic Of Influence-Peddling

Yea read about this yesterday... and people wonder why the system is not only corrupt but also why American's are fat.. pizza a veg... HA!
 
Here's the real food pyramid, by the way, and not the industry sponsored one that seems to get handed out at schools everywhere:

healthy_eating_pyramid_harvard.webp
 
radcen said:
Your tax dollars at work to make your life better.
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I'm more astonished that the federal congressmen are deciding what goes in my kid's lunch at our local school down the street.

Don't they have any federal issues to deal with?
 
If ketchup can be a vegetable, why not pizza?

I know that some would like for chocolate to be a vegetable too. I mean, it's not meat.
 
Centinel said:
I'm more astonished that the federal congressmen are deciding what goes in my kid's lunch at our local school down the street.
Don't they have any federal issues to deal with?
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All that has to happen is for the school to refuse federal funds. The school only has to be in compliance if they want that money.

Remember every time you read one of these wacky stories that Congress could have spent this time doing something even worse and be grateful this was all they did this time.
 
This is an interesting (imho) related tidbit:

Pizza is a vegetable? Congress says yes - Health - Diet and nutrition - msnbc.com

A group of retired generals advocating for healthier school lunches also criticized the spending bill. The group, called Mission: Readiness has called poor nutrition in school lunches a national security issue because obesity is the leading medical disqualifier for military service.​
 
Simon W. Moon said:
All that has to happen is for the school to refuse federal funds. The school only has to be in compliance if they want that money.
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Yes, it's a nice gig the federation has. We're going to take 20% of gdp, and then dole it back out with strings attached. But hey, you're perfectly free to refuse to take your money back if you don't like its conditions.

Here's an idea. How about they stay the **** out of our lives in the first place and do the job's they're actually supposed to do.
 
How many people reading this are actually ignorant enough to believe that anyone really declared that pizza is a vegetable? Quite a few I fear.

That's not to say the policy this is really about is a good thing of course, but that's not going to change as long as they can sell so many more newspapers with the silly lies than the boring truth.
 
Temporal said:
Here's the real food pyramid, by the way, and not the industry sponsored one that seems to get handed out at schools everywhere:

View attachment 67118381
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Here's the government sponsored one...much more user-friendly:

My Plate.webp

The reason we don't have healthy food in schools is because public schools' foodservice is controlled by unions. Hey! Mrs. Obama! Eat That!


Edit: Ooops. Copied it in Spanish; but I think ya' get it. ;)
 
The larger picture is that the food fed to our nation's school children is garbage. You should see the stuff.
 
radcen said:
Your tax dollars at work to make your life better.
Click to expand...

Hey now, this couldn't happen in America because congress is part of government and since government is incapable of corruption, we shouldn't have to tolerate your conspiracy theories.

If they say pizza is a vegetable, then it's a vegetable... "if you're not with us, you are with the terrorists."

Back to reality.... http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...120110410_1_lunch-food-provider-public-school

So, if more places take on this Chicago model, not only is pizza a vegetable, now you'll have no choice BUT to have your kids buy their "vegetables" from the school cafeteria.
 
Centinel said:
I'm more astonished that the federal congressmen are deciding what goes in my kid's lunch at our local school down the street.

Don't they have any federal issues to deal with?
Click to expand...

yeah - what the hell?
 
BmanMcfly said:
Hey now, this couldn't happen in America because congress is part of government and since government is incapable of corruption, we shouldn't have to tolerate your conspiracy theories.

If they say pizza is a vegetable, then it's a vegetable... "if you're not with us, you are with the terrorists."

Back to reality.... Chicago school bans some lunches brought from home - Chicago Tribune

So, if more places take on this Chicago model, not only is pizza a vegetable, now you'll have no choice BUT to have your kids buy their "vegetables" from the school cafeteria.
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Of course they can't bring lunch. It's in the foodservice provider's contract. Puts more money in their pockets. :rofl
 
HonestJoe said:
How many people reading this are actually ignorant enough to believe that anyone really declared that pizza is a vegetable? Quite a few I fear.

That's not to say the policy this is really about is a good thing of course, but that's not going to change as long as they can sell so many more newspapers with the silly lies than the boring truth.
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Do you have a link to the bill in question?
 
The sad thing is that pizza may be the closest thing to vegetables that a child will eat. Load up the serving line with vegetables and watch the kids dump them in the trash. The diets of our children are fundamentally flawed and the problem not only starts at home it is the age old problem of forcing your kids to eat their vegetables. Why are vegetables so unpalatable for kids? I thought most vegetables tasted horrible when I was a kid.
 
Well on Veterans Day we ate lunch with our two younger children. The salad bar wasn't open, yet (it's not an every day thing) So they were served a large slice of turkey breast (without a way for the kids to cut it). A scoop of mashed potatoes, a scoop of green beans, a bun and some yellow banana flavored gravy stuff.

What kind of a meal is that? That is what I pay $1.75/day/child for? That kind of crap? That's the same slop I was served when I was a kid - they can't, after all this time, figure out how to make this same boring food TASTY so kids will eat it?

Kids won't eat meat if they can't cut it - and even then - maybe not.
Kids won't eat boiled green beans no matter how many times you pile it up on their plate.

They will, however, eat pudding and mashed potatoes and some of the biscuit . . . so remove the turkey, remove the green beans . .. you have starch and protein. That's it. That's their lunch. But in my kid's school district they received a grant to provide fresh fruits - which they eat at snack time.

So - they got a grant for fresh fruits but cant' figure out how to better-serve foods that are healthier and that kids will like?

So they need to do a few things:

1) Start preparing vegetables with healthy sauces and other seasonings. Nothing wrong with variety. I'd be VERY happy with some of my money going towards an assistant that makes the kids eat their veggies, you bet!
2) Do not serve dessert ON the tray with their food.
3) Do not serve UN-edible portions of food like large slices of meat that cannot be eaten as-is.

After all these years - after all this yadablahblah about healthy lunches and very little has changed. The only healthy, tasty options are their salad-cart which isn't always available like it should be (and no - that does not refer to a self-serve buffet style salad cart, btw)
 
I could make a really healthy pizza that's represent quite a few food groups.

Whole grain pizza dough
Fresh tomatoes and garlic oven roasted in olive oil and pureed into a sauce
Pizza spices/seasoning
Special lower-fat sausage made and seasoned the same way the higher-fat version is made...maybe even from turkey
Part-skim mozzerella

This has whole grain; low-fat dairy; vegetables; protein. Only thing missing is fruit. Pizza doesn't have to be garbage; but I'm guessing the public schools version probably tastes like it...
 
So - if you and I know how to cook healthy, tasty food choices on the cheap - why can't schools figure this out?

My kids are served a balanced meal every night (even without my kitchen in functioning order) and they eat it - in part because they have no choice . . . but still. It perturbs me that we have such a serious health issue in my state and the schools always SAY they want the kids to be healthy but their actions continuously prove otherwise.

You know what - maybe I should change this up and stick my nose in it. . . .I can show up at the PTO meeting and bringing it up.
 
Aunt Spiker said:
So - if you and I know how to cook healthy, tasty food choices on the cheap - why can't schools figure this out?

My kids are served a balanced meal every night (even without my kitchen in functioning order) and they eat it - in part because they have no choice . . . but still. It perturbs me that we have such a serious health issue in my state and the schools always SAY they want the kids to be healthy but their actions continuously prove otherwise.

You know what - maybe I should change this up and stick my nose in it. . . .I can show up at the PTO meeting and bringing it up.
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Follow the money:

Big school food service providers have come under scrutiny over the last year for the big rebates they take from processed food companies, including Kellogg and Tyson, in exchange for serving large quantities of their food to America's children.

The food service providers, including Sodexo, Aramark and Chartwells (which has the contract for Chicago Public Schools) get large payments of between 10 and 50 percent of purchases, according to the New York Attorney General’s office, for using the products.
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Simon W. Moon said:
Do you have a link to the bill in question?
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No, but if the bill contains any wording even vaguely along the lines of "pizza is a vegetable", I will eat my hat (which also isn't a vegetable in case anyone is confused).

I just followed the chain of links from the OP a couple of steps, past the alarmist or attention grabbing blogs, until I got to a report with the same lying headline but the more rational (to anyone with half a brain) explanation that the bill would (among other things);

"Allow USDA to count two tablespoons of tomato paste as a vegetable, as it does now. The department had attempted to require that only a half-cup of tomato paste could be considered a vegetable — too much to put on a pizza. Federally subsidized lunches must have a certain number of vegetables to be served." - Pizza is a vegetable? Congress says yes - Health - Diet and nutrition - msnbc.com

So, not only is it not actually declaring pizza a vegetable (really?) but it's a situation that is currently in place but has (so far) failed to be changed.
 
HonestJoe said:
"Allow USDA to count two tablespoons of tomato paste as a vegetable, as it does now. The department had attempted to require that only a half-cup of tomato paste could be considered a vegetable — too much to put on a pizza. Federally subsidized lunches must have a certain number of vegetables to be served." - Pizza is a vegetable? Congress says yes - Health - Diet and nutrition - msnbc.com

So, not only is it not actually declaring pizza a vegetable (really?) but it's a situation that is currently in place but has (so far) failed to be changed.
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Under the category of vegetable servings, the entry "pizza" is allowed. It allows pizza with two tablespoons of tomato sauce to be counted as a vegetable serving for some purpose, so it doesn't seem that far off.
 
So what's in tomato paste, anyway?

Tomato Paste Nutrition Facts

This lists one-serving as one-can (6 oz)
2 T of tomato paste is 1oz . . . so in 6 oz of tomato paste there are 12 T of tomato paste (or - 6 school-approved mini servings)

So take the values - divide by 6 to get the amount of each nutritional element that is in a 'school serving'

Giving us (by the link to the paste given - it would be different brand to brand)
Protein: 1g
Sodium: 25mg
Carbs: 5.8g

Vitamin A: 13.3%
Calcium: 1%
Zinc: 1.6%
Riboflavin: 20%
V B-6: 5%
V B-12: 0%
Magnesium: 20%
V C: 20%
Iron: 3.3%
Thiamin: 3.3%
Niacin: 4.1%
Folate: 1.6%
Phosphorous: 2.5%
V D: 10%

And these numbers are always percentages based on the average adult-diet. For children the requirements are usually lower to satisfy adequate nutrition throughout the day.
 
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On Tuesday, Congress decided that pizza is a vegetable. I have to imagine that this news instilled confusion in many Americans, as many Americans are (a) familiar with pizza, (b) familiar with vegetables and (c) sane.

But, to provide specifics that will in no way dispel your lingering thoughts that we are governed by morons but at least allow you some anthropological insight into how a group of morons who have been given permission to sit in a fancy room in Washington, D.C., and grunt at each other actually think, here is their thinking: Pizza is a vegetable for the purposes of determining what goes into public school lunches by virtue of the fact that pizza traditionally includes a schmear of tomato paste. (Botanically speaking, tomatoes are actually fruit, but we're going to have to just let that slide.)

At any rate, you may still be wondering how it came to pass that Congress arrived at the conclusion that pizza could count as a serving of vegetables. Wonder no more! Congress was guided along this path by lobbyists. And lobbyists can do all sorts of things, by magic! (Except provide nutritious lunches for children.)

From the Associated Press:

The final version of a spending bill released late Monday would unravel school lunch standards the Agriculture Department proposed earlier this year. These include limiting the use of potatoes on the lunch line, putting new restrictions on sodium and boosting the use of whole grains. The legislation would block or delay all of those efforts.
The bill also would allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now. USDA had wanted to only count a half-cup of tomato paste or more as a vegetable, and a serving of pizza has less than that.

Nutritionists say the whole effort is reminiscent of the Reagan administration's much-ridiculed attempt 30 years ago to classify ketchup as a vegetable to cut costs. This time around, food companies that produce frozen pizzas for schools, the salt industry and potato growers requested the changes and lobbied Congress.


"School meals that are subsidized by the federal government must include a certain amount of vegetables," the AP reports, "and USDA's proposal could have pushed pizza-makers and potato growers out of the school lunch business." It would have pushed vegetable growers into the business, but their lobbyists aren't as powerful, it seems.

In addition to this, the move to classify pizza as a vegetable gained traction because of popular, reality-transforming political philosophies on the role of government.

Piling on to the companies' opposition, some conservatives argue that the federal government shouldn't tell children what to eat. In a summary of the bill, Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee said the changes would "prevent overly burdensome and costly regulations and ... provide greater flexibility for local school districts to improve the nutritional quality of meals."

This sort of makes it sound like local school districts would be serving heirloom tomatoes and quinoa if the federal government just got out of the way. At any rate, I'd recommend that you remember this the next time you hear someone say that the government should get out of the business of "picking winners and losers." (Winner: salt! Loser: fighting obesity!)

Here's a fun fact! If a child incorrectly identifies "pizza" as a "vegetable" on a standardized test, there's an entirely different group of lobbyists who will argue that public school teachers have failed America's children.
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Wow, words failed me for a bit. By just reading the first two paragraphs I'm really shocked. Pizza's NOT a freaking vegetable. If so give me some freaking pizza seeds why don't you? Sorry guys, but this is getting me a bit angry. How about tacos? Tacos have lettuce, tomatos, and shells that come from flour so why not make tacos a vegetable too? The fact that tomatoes are fruits and they use tomato paste as a factor is not only ironic but hilarious. Heck, what is lasagna? It must be like a veggie equivalent to squash.

My stance on lobbyists is turning now that I see this crap. C'mon people, really? Pizzas not a freaking vegetable! Tomato paste itself shouldn't be considered a vegetable, and TOMATOES ARE FRUITS!

I want to know who directly is responsible for this. This is a sham, and needs to be put down. OK, I'm socially conservative but this move, if at the hand of some conservatives, really gets me upset. I see this as an attempt to cut costs which will inevitably make our nation less healthy. Why not make lasagna, tacos, and enchiladas vegetables too??

OK, that little fun fact at the end gets me angry, too. Where the heck is common sense?
 
This is why federal standards like this don't do much. Companies will simply lobby for exemptions to be punched in, and the standard is largely useless. If anything it just props up a few companies that have the resources to lobby for an exemption.
 
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