 |
On Monday, Congress released the final version of an agriculture spending bill that rejects new school-lunch standards proposed by the Agriculture Department. Look at how the AP, supposedly one of the more objective media outlets, is reporting it:
Who needs leafy greens and carrots when pizza and french fries will do? In an effort many 9-year-olds will cheer, Congress wants pizza and french fries to stay on school lunch lines and is fighting the Obama administration's efforts to take unhealthy foods out of schools ... 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.
Many other media outlets are picking up the 'Congress says pizza is a vegetable' angle and bringing up the childhood obesity epidemic. Let's keep in mind that Congress is not forcing schools to serve fries or pizza, and that there is little to no evidence that school lunches are behind the epidemic. And is all pizza really the same? Doesn't the type of crust used, and the amount of cheese used, et cetera, make a difference?
Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest told The Hill,
"It’s a shame that Congress seems more interested in protecting industry than protecting children’s health.” I'm not sure I buy into the premise, but I think it would be nice to see the federal government trying to protect industry for a change instead of driving it into the ground, along with the economy.
No comments:
Post a Comment