Congress declares pizza is a vegetable

House protects pizza as a vegetable

(Reuters) - The House of Representatives dealt a blow to childhood obesity warriors on Thursday by passing a bill that abandons proposals that threatened to end the reign of pizza and French fries on federally funded school lunch menus.

The scuttled changes, which would have stripped pizza's status as a vegetable and limited how often French fries could be served, stemmed from a 2010 child nutrition law calling on schools to improve the nutritional quality of lunches served to almost 32 million U.S. school children.

The action is a win for the makers of frozen French fries and pizza and comes just weeks after the deep-pocketed food, beverage and restaurant industries successfully weakened government proposals for voluntary food marketing guidelines to children.

"It's an important victory," said Corey Henry, spokesman for the American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI). That trade association lobbied Congress on behalf of frozen pizza sellers like ConAgra Foods Inc and Schwan Food Co and French

fry makers McCain Foods Ltd and J.R. Simplot Co, the latter best known as a supplier to fast-food company McDonald's Corp.

"Our concern is that the standards would force companies in many respects to change their products in a way that would make them unpalatable to students," Henry said.

Other AFFI members include H.J. Heinz Co, General Mills Inc and Kraft Foods Inc.

The school lunch provisions were a small part of a mammoth bill that provides money for all parts of the federal government. The House sent the bill to the Senate for final Congressional approval.

"They started out with French fries and now they have moved on to pizza," said Jared Polis, Colorado Democrat, who lamented the government's subsidy of unhealthy diets through school meals. "Pizza alone (without side dishes) ... common sense, it's not a vegetable."

read more:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/18/us-usa-lunch-idUSTRE7AH00020111118

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• congress
• food
• George Orwell
• pizza
• school lunch
• vegetable

[sethzky77]

Hey Mike, How do I capture and re upload videos?

[mainemike52]

@sethzky77 If the video has a remix button just click on it and then cut the video(in the remix window). Copy the title and description from the original and paste it into the new and click publish and the video will be in your uploaded videos folder as well as on YT under your name. If there is no remix button then record the video and re-upload it using the normal means. If you use firefox or IE I have found that the "ant video downloader" works as well as any others. let me know...

[freakylocz14]

Tomatoes are also vegetables.

[mainemike52]

@freakylocz14 Actually, Tomatoes are a fruit'

[TruthSeekingElf]

This truly is an Orwellian nightmare. How anyone can even consider this is beyond me, people who do need help. This is just condescending and contemptuous in the extreme. Most unatural food isn't food at all it's monsanto rubbish grown in a lab with inbuilt anti biotics hormones and god only knows what else.

[mainemike52]

@TruthSeekingElf Once again, an "all knowing" comment. Thanks Girl, M

[marypoppins2009]

More examples of TREASON....kick their butts out of OUR government....shrink government to bare minimum.....stops paying their lousy pensions!!!

[Mauhadeeb28]

Pizza. Nature's perfect vegetable.

[glower125]

welcome to 1984.

[mozaks80]

If pizza is a vegetable, I'm the pope.

[Crazy4AdamLambert1]

@lumpfish99 I don't have a problem with Muslims and I don't think that they're all terrorists (only some of them really are), and those that do feel that way are ignorant. Most Americans are ignorant when it comes to judging people of certain racial backgrounds.

[lumpfish99]

@Crazy4AdamLambert1 its a shame you guys dont use that philosophy for muslims...! one is a terrorist so they all are.....right ....

[Nintendo1104]

Pizza isn't a vegetable in Europe.

[Crazy4AdamLambert1]

@lumpfish99 Well, I'm not the one whose doing all of that crap, so don't blame me! :/ Just because some people from our country are doing something, it doesn't mean that all Americans are at fault and should be blamed for their actions! Be reasonable man....

[lumpfish99]

@Crazy4AdamLambert1 survive? while you are out killing brown kids in the name of democracy you are taking away civil liberties from your own population! get real dude.

[Crazy4AdamLambert1]

@lumpfish99 We're not trying to take over the world...We're just trying to SURVIVE in it.