Pizza legally now a vegetable, thank you Congress!

KavemanKarg
KavemanKarg Posts: 266
edited October 5 in Food and Nutrition
Congress declared pizza a vegetable in the USA

I kid you not.

Are we done taking food advice from government yet?:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45306416/ns/today-today_health/t/pizza-vegetable-congress-says-yes/#.TsY7qFawXAg

Food companies that produce frozen pizzas for schools, the salt industry and potato growers requested the changes, and some conservatives in Congress say the federal government shouldn't be telling children what to eat.

I imagine this is the same lobbying that went on to decide the food plate and food pyramid, which is just making us fatter, instead of providing real health.

To prove they are right, and pizza is a vegetable, I planted one in my garden, the rare "vege-deluxe" heirloom version, right under my twinkee tree, which is now considered a fruit.
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Replies

  • fastbelly
    fastbelly Posts: 727 Member
    ROTFLMAO!!!!! Thanks that made my day.

    However it is too sad that people put profit and budget in lieu of health...

    "School districts had said some of the USDA requirements went too far and cost too much when budgets are extremely tight."
  • capriciousmoon
    capriciousmoon Posts: 1,263 Member
    Well, why not? They consider ketchup to be a vegetable so of course they want to count the tomato paste on the pizza too! :laugh: I predicted the future~ that's why I got salad every day but pizza day!
  • eeebee
    eeebee Posts: 471 Member
    Absolutely unbelievable. :devil:
  • snookumss
    snookumss Posts: 1,451 Member
    I like how the article is just talking about the tomato paste, and not the actual pizza as a whole. BUT OF COURSE the title says "Pizza's a vegetable"....

    Is kinda ridiculous :D
  • Laura_beau
    Laura_beau Posts: 1,029 Member
    This is despicable!!!!

    I was watching a Jamie Oliver programme the other day and he was in the US campaigning for change in school meals and a woman said that chips (French fries) are considered a vegatable option!!!!!!!!!! Say what!?!
  • sjtreely
    sjtreely Posts: 1,014 Member
    Preparing my opening statement to lobby for beer being declared a nutrient fortified liquid necessary for proper health and social development.
  • Lindsayrob
    Lindsayrob Posts: 247 Member
    Just off to work on my five a day ...
  • gentsevetzak
    gentsevetzak Posts: 147 Member
    A pizza a day keeps the doctor away.
  • sunkisses
    sunkisses Posts: 2,365 Member
    Actually, it sounds like "the government" had been taking steps to reduce the poor health choices of the food being served, but...

    "Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee said the changes would "prevent overly burdensome and costly regulations and to provide greater flexibility for local school districts to improve the nutritional quality of meals."

    BUT it sounds like the school districts are acting on keeping students from being hungry, not keeping them nourished.

    "School districts had said some of the USDA requirements went too far and cost too much when budgets are extremely tight. Schools have long taken broad instructions from the government on what they can serve in federally subsidized meals that are served free or at reduced price to low-income children. But some schools have balked at government attempts to tell them exactly what foods they can't serve."

    The part of "the government" that wants to reduce spending through elimination or reduction of social programs in the US is in agreement with school districts that are focused on not having to lay off thousands of teachers and administrative staff. The idealistic part of "the government" wants to make kids healthier.

    The part about making tomato paste a vegetable just sounds foolish. Sometimes I think this country is so embroiled in its own bureaucracy that it can't see beyond its own nose.
  • sweets2001
    sweets2001 Posts: 106
    Am just absolutely disgusted with this! Thankfully my children take the majority of their lunches from home and when they do eat school lunch it's definitely NOT the pizza, which they both say GROSS!
  • CharlieBarleyMom
    CharlieBarleyMom Posts: 727 Member
    So, does that make it FREE on the new Weight Watchers Point system?
  • capriciousmoon
    capriciousmoon Posts: 1,263 Member
    Preparing my opening statement to lobby for beer being declared a nutrient fortified liquid necessary for proper health and social development.

    I'm for this. :bigsmile:
  • Orrgarde86
    Orrgarde86 Posts: 120 Member
    Absolutely shocking!
  • mleipe
    mleipe Posts: 54
    However it is too sad that people put profit and budget in lieu of health...

    Well, there's also a lot of people out there trying to lose weight who seem to think that a semantic exercise such as declaring pizza a vegetable will make it okay for them to eat too much of it, that simply giving something another name will magically allow them to consume it excessively without weight gain.

    Lots of wishful thinking and denial in weight loss and this is in part a symptom of that.
  • dmpizza
    dmpizza Posts: 3,321 Member
    Its doesn't mean your kid has to eat it.
  • lagcrg
    lagcrg Posts: 38 Member
    I don't think the whole pizza should be considered a veggie. But schools have served some form for many years and most kids love pizza day. I have eaten many a school lunch even now with my own kids, over all they are not the healthiest choices, but what they do give as healthy ex.: carrots, peas, salad, the kids hardly eat. And I know even my kids have done that because I've been there when it's happened. There are parents that think packing a lunch is healthier, and many times it might be, but keep in mind they still might not be eating everything you give them, you just don't know because they throw out what they didn't "like". Bottom line from me, kids make their own choices out of what they are given. Let's just be watchful at home that they get the healthier stuff and we get them moving some how.
  • Cdcaldwe
    Cdcaldwe Posts: 189 Member
    Pizza they serve in schools isn't a typical Pizza Hut or Papa John's pizza by any stretch of the imagination. I have worked in the school system for awhile and have watched the de-evolution of the pizza they serve in school. Luckily we have a great salad bar and usually on pizza day the cooks put out whole grain bread and tuna salad on the bar.
  • eeebee
    eeebee Posts: 471 Member
    This is despicable!!!!

    I was watching a Jamie Oliver programme the other day and he was in the US campaigning for change in school meals and a woman said that chips (French fries) are considered a vegatable option!!!!!!!!!! Say what!?!

    My boyfriend and I were sitting open mouthed in total shock when we watched that - it goes so much deeper than this too, it's just ridiculous how the ultimate decision makers have no grasp on what is healthy and what is not - or actually they DO but they can't be bothered to fight for it. And the money to them, is better spent elsewhere (even though it's a serioulsy marginal amount)
  • engineman312
    engineman312 Posts: 3,450 Member
    they're just saying what we're all thinking.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    However it is too sad that people put profit and budget in lieu of health...

    Well, there's also a lot of people out there trying to lose weight who seem to think that a semantic exercise such as declaring pizza a vegetable will make it okay for them to eat too much of it, that simply giving something another name will magically allow them to consume it excessively without weight gain.

    Lots of wishful thinking and denial in weight loss and this is in part a symptom of that.

    Such as the 'fat free' cookie options of a few years ago. I watched a young lady devour an entire bag, proclaiming it was OK because it was fat free.

    I did have a long discussion with her at the time, and she started WW soon and learned a lot. This girl was in nursing school at the time.

    My daughter is now in nursing school and the 1st semester they did a class on nutrition.
  • momcindy
    momcindy Posts: 194 Member
    Well, chocolate comes from a bean so that's a veggie too, right? Pizza and Chocolate as part of my 5 a day veggie goal! Yes! :wink:
  • abbie017
    abbie017 Posts: 410
    To be fair, it's the tomato paste they're counting as a vegetable, not pizza. It's literally in the third paragraph of the article you linked to ("The bill also would allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable...").

    The article had a poor title, since it doesn't reflect what the bill actually stated...and so does this post.
  • KavemanKarg
    KavemanKarg Posts: 266
    To be fair, it's the tomato paste they're counting as a vegetable, not pizza. It's literally in the third paragraph of the article you linked to ("The bill also would allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable...").

    The article had a poor title, since it doesn't reflect what the bill actually stated...and so does this post.

    Right, but the legal loophole means pizza gets counted as a vegetable for the quota, because of the inclusion of tomato paste.

    By that logic, you could include banana splits because they have a fruit.
  • ashlielinn
    ashlielinn Posts: 920
    haha I work in Congress. Let me tell you, there's a vast majority of us who think this is ridiculous! P.S. It's pizza day in one of our cafeterias ;)
  • Laces_0ut
    Laces_0ut Posts: 3,750 Member
    To be fair, it's the tomato paste they're counting as a vegetable, not pizza. It's literally in the third paragraph of the article you linked to ("The bill also would allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable...").

    The article had a poor title, since it doesn't reflect what the bill actually stated...and so does this post.

    the Reagan administration tried to get ketchup listed as a vegetable too. my guess is you are ok with that as well?
  • kardowling
    kardowling Posts: 221 Member
    Crazy talk!! very sad.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    Now I want pizza.

    Tomorrow is Pizza day.
  • vger11
    vger11 Posts: 248
    our kiddos hardly have a chance with those Meatballs making decisions like that!
  • SeaSiren1
    SeaSiren1 Posts: 242 Member
    Sadly for some children the school lunches and breakfasts may be the only food they get all day. It's frustrating to think this type of "food" is what these children who already have poverty against them will be provided.
  • wildcata77
    wildcata77 Posts: 660
    Actually, it sounds like "the government" had been taking steps to reduce the poor health choices of the food being served, but...

    "Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee said the changes would "prevent overly burdensome and costly regulations and to provide greater flexibility for local school districts to improve the nutritional quality of meals."

    BUT it sounds like the school districts are acting on keeping students from being hungry, not keeping them nourished.

    "School districts had said some of the USDA requirements went too far and cost too much when budgets are extremely tight. Schools have long taken broad instructions from the government on what they can serve in federally subsidized meals that are served free or at reduced price to low-income children. But some schools have balked at government attempts to tell them exactly what foods they can't serve."

    The part of "the government" that wants to reduce spending through elimination or reduction of social programs in the US is in agreement with school districts that are focused on not having to lay off thousands of teachers and administrative staff. The idealistic part of "the government" wants to make kids healthier.

    The part about making tomato paste a vegetable just sounds foolish. Sometimes I think this country is so embroiled in its own bureaucracy that it can't see beyond its own nose.

    I think you and I could have a lot to talk about. So to sum up in layman's terms, the government (and specifically state and local governments) has reduced school budgets so much that the school are having trouble providing food for free/reduced lunch students under the current requirements, so the government is changing what can be considered a veg to allow the school disctricts to continue providing free/reduced lunch.
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