The 1992 Disney movie, Newsies, taught me: "Headlines don't sell papes, newsies sell papes." Now that newsies no longer exist, headlines do sell papers. And even if they address the real issue, they know that people will read on with a catchy, though misleading, headline.
The question people are asking is, "Is pizza really going to be considered a vegetable now?"
No, it isn't. But that is not the controversy.
What we should really be concerned about is the terminology we're using to discuss this issue.
The LA Times put together a special story outlining the issue of "the pizza controversy." Here's what you need to know:
1. The current standard allows 1/8 cup of tomato paste on pizza to count as a 1/2 cup vegetable serving since it takes 1/2 cup of tomatoes to make 1/8 cup of paste.
2. The USDA developed a plan to decrease potato and salt and increase whole grain, fruit and fresh vegetable servings in school lunches where schools are eligible for free or reduced lunch. They wanted to separate fruits from vegetables to require servings of each. This also included increasing the amount of tomato paste that would be considered a 1/2 cup vegetable serving.
3. Even though tomatoes are botanically fruit, the USDA classifies them as a vegetable due to use on the pizza (I still think of tomatoes as a vegetable, but regardless, the classification of the tomato is not the point of the pizza-as-vegetable dilemma).
4. The bill that was passed changed nothing. Obama's administration supported the USDA plan, but he signed the bill into law anyway.
So we can see where this gets confusing.
As always, this is less about the nutrition than about the politics.
Corporations that sell frozen pizza and starchy vegetables garnered Congressional support before the bill was put to either body. They called the bill "an important victory," even though the USDA's proposal would have standardized a healthier school lunch menu.
An article in the New York Times outlines some non-political reasons as well. It costs more money to buy fresh fruits and vegetables than it does to buy a bag of frozen french fries. Plus, there's the age-old adage that children don't like vegetables and are therefore more likely to throw them away or not take them at all.
A group of retired generals calling themselves "Mission: Readiness" do not support the bill and even called school lunch a "national security issue" because obesity disqualifies potential recruits, according to MSNBC.
And just like in the 1980s when Reagan's administration tried to count ketchup as a vegetable, just the rumor itself is potent.
The idea that "pizza is a vegetable" is now out there, and most people won't read another word about it. This will rationalize even more bad health decisions in the future for children. The terminology does more damage than the actual bill itself.
I looked up the Rockingham County school lunch menu for December to see what kids in Harrisonburg are eating at school.
Over the whole 12 days listed (the week before the holiday break is "manager's choice," so there's no telling what they'll serve that week) only half include a non-starchy, green vegetable choice. And of those 6 days, there are only two types of greens: tossed salad or green beans. A starchy vegetable (usually potatoes) is offered every day.
David Katz, a doctor from the Yale Prevention Research Center wrote a blog post for The Huffington Post, saying "no thanks" to counting pizza as a vegetable. If Congress had just passed the bill to advance the nutritional value of school lunches, the misleading headlines wouldn't have happened.
I hope one day Congress and the media can follow his advice.
--Amanda
Congress has NOT declared pizza a vegetable.
The LA Times put together a special story outlining the issue of "the pizza controversy." Here's what you need to know:
1. The current standard allows 1/8 cup of tomato paste on pizza to count as a 1/2 cup vegetable serving since it takes 1/2 cup of tomatoes to make 1/8 cup of paste.
2. The USDA developed a plan to decrease potato and salt and increase whole grain, fruit and fresh vegetable servings in school lunches where schools are eligible for free or reduced lunch. They wanted to separate fruits from vegetables to require servings of each. This also included increasing the amount of tomato paste that would be considered a 1/2 cup vegetable serving.
3. Even though tomatoes are botanically fruit, the USDA classifies them as a vegetable due to use on the pizza (I still think of tomatoes as a vegetable, but regardless, the classification of the tomato is not the point of the pizza-as-vegetable dilemma).
4. The bill that was passed changed nothing. Obama's administration supported the USDA plan, but he signed the bill into law anyway.
So we can see where this gets confusing.
As always, this is less about the nutrition than about the politics.
Corporations that sell frozen pizza and starchy vegetables garnered Congressional support before the bill was put to either body. They called the bill "an important victory," even though the USDA's proposal would have standardized a healthier school lunch menu.
An article in the New York Times outlines some non-political reasons as well. It costs more money to buy fresh fruits and vegetables than it does to buy a bag of frozen french fries. Plus, there's the age-old adage that children don't like vegetables and are therefore more likely to throw them away or not take them at all.
A group of retired generals calling themselves "Mission: Readiness" do not support the bill and even called school lunch a "national security issue" because obesity disqualifies potential recruits, according to MSNBC.
And just like in the 1980s when Reagan's administration tried to count ketchup as a vegetable, just the rumor itself is potent.
The idea that "pizza is a vegetable" is now out there, and most people won't read another word about it. This will rationalize even more bad health decisions in the future for children. The terminology does more damage than the actual bill itself.
I looked up the Rockingham County school lunch menu for December to see what kids in Harrisonburg are eating at school.
Over the whole 12 days listed (the week before the holiday break is "manager's choice," so there's no telling what they'll serve that week) only half include a non-starchy, green vegetable choice. And of those 6 days, there are only two types of greens: tossed salad or green beans. A starchy vegetable (usually potatoes) is offered every day.
David Katz, a doctor from the Yale Prevention Research Center wrote a blog post for The Huffington Post, saying "no thanks" to counting pizza as a vegetable. If Congress had just passed the bill to advance the nutritional value of school lunches, the misleading headlines wouldn't have happened.
I hope one day Congress and the media can follow his advice.
--Amanda
I agree completely with you. The issue at hand is hardly ever the issue that Congress votes on; it is always the headline (the way the media decides to spin the issue) that is what causes issues among voters.
ReplyDeleteIf Congress would pass bills that made sense, though, these confusing headlines might not be as big of an issue.
A newspaper printed a wild, exaggerated headline to get more people to buy their newspaper? WHOA!
ReplyDelete