The nutritional guidelines for the National School Lunch Program haven’t been updated in 15 years. During this time, obesity rates among children skyrocketed. One-third of American children are either overweight or obese, with rates of diabetes and other health-related issues also showing dangerous increases. Children receive about 40 percent of their daily calories from school lunches, so there is a connection.
The proposed changes to HR 2112 will not make schools serve a wider array of vegetables. A version of the spending bill released late Monday would not enforce school lunch standards the Agriculture Department proposed earlier this year including limiting the use of potatoes (a starchy tuberous vegetable) on the lunch line, putting new restrictions on sodium (high sodium intake and low potassium intake can lead to high blood pressure) and boosting the use of whole grains (whole grains aid digestion). The legislation would block or delay all of those efforts.
The bill could allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now.
SDA 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. To be more precise a serving of pizza only has 2 tablespoons of tomato paste on it. Counting tomato paste as a vegetable is silly to begin with since tomatoes are fruit. Couldn't vegetarian pizza be served with a side salad in order to have enough vegetables?
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.
What gets me is that all of these people are very well educated and yet some of them don’t know a tomato is a fruit not a vegetable. Health is based on science and math and to quantify a fruit in the vegetable category is just wrong. Although in the case of Nix v. Hedden in 1893 the court ruled that for the purposes of taxation a tomato is a vegetable the court also acknowledged that scientifically a tomato is a fruit.
"This agreement ensures that nutrient-rich vegetables such as potatoes, corn and peas will remain part of a balanced, healthy diet in federally funded school meals and recognizes the significant amounts of potassium, fiber and vitamins A and C provided by tomato paste, ensuring that students may continue to enjoy healthy meals such as pizza and pasta," said Kraig Naasz, president of the American Frozen Food Institute.
Seriously potatoes, corn, and peas (he just had to pick the starchiest vegetables). Sure, starchy vegetables are part of a balanced diet but so are leafy vegetables, sprouts, flowers, roots and other non-starchy vegetables. I personally limit my intake of starchy vegetables. I am not saying I don’t like potatoes and corn or eat them I just limit my intake. But I hate peas and in my biased opinion they should never be served to anyone (That’s right, you don’t have to eat every vegetable to be healthy).
Seriously potatoes, corn, and peas (he just had to pick the starchiest vegetables). Sure, starchy vegetables are part of a balanced diet but so are leafy vegetables, sprouts, flowers, roots and other non-starchy vegetables. I personally limit my intake of starchy vegetables. I am not saying I don’t like potatoes and corn or eat them I just limit my intake. But I hate peas and in my biased opinion they should never be served to anyone (That’s right, you don’t have to eat every vegetable to be healthy).
USDA spokeswoman Courtney Rowe said Tuesday that the department will continue its efforts to make lunches healthier.
"While it's unfortunate that some members of Congress continue to put special interests ahead of the health of America's children, USDA remains committed to practical, science-based standards for school meals," she said in a statement.
According to The New York Times, the food industry spent $5.6 million lobbying against the new rules.
The following is the text from H.R. 2112 that pertains to this issue as passed by the House and Senate:
Sec. 743. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to implement an interim final or final rule regarding nutrition programs under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) that--
(1) requires crediting of tomato paste and puree based on volume;
(2) implements a sodium reduction target beyond Target I, the 2-year target, specified in Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, `Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs' (FNS-2007-0038, RIN 0584-AD59) until the Secretary certifies that the Department has reviewed and evaluated relevant scientific studies and data relevant to the relationship of sodium reductions to human health; and
(3) establishes any whole grain requirement without defining `whole grain.'
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." I agree.
Considering all the important and good things this appropriations bill provides funding for including extending VA loans through 2013 the school lunch issue is insignificant. H.R. 2112 does not force children to eat unhealthy food. Sec. 746 does not limit the amount a vegetables that can be served for school lunches:
“Sec. 746. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to implement an interim final or final rule that--
(1) sets any maximum limits on the serving of vegetables in school meal programs established under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) and by section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773); or
(2) is inconsistent with the recommendations of the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans for vegetables.”
Parents, schools and communities have a choice as to whether or not they let America’s children eat junk. H.R. 2112 gets the government out of the way so schools can more easily implement nutritious lunches. Here is a list of 10 things a PTA can do to improve student nutrition. Since children receive about 60 percent of their daily calories from meals other than school lunches, changes can also be made at home. I am starting another blog on eating low calorie on a budget in the coming weeks.
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