Basically, Congress wants to keep pizza and french fries on school lunch menus in order to help schools regulate costs. The Obama administration is trying to take "unhealthy" foods out of schools and by doing so they would need to place more restrictions on the types of foods allowed in schools. Some people argue that the government shouldn't be able to tell them what foods they can't serve and that since money in schools is so tight, demanding schools to pay more for "healthier" foods is unreasonable. The idea is that if pizza and french fries count as vegetables, schools can cut costs for foods.
According to the article Pizza As A Vegetable? Congress Proposes New School Lunch Bill (as attached above), "School meals that are subsidized by the federal government must include a certain amount of vegetables, and USDA's proposal could have pushed pizza-makers and potato growers out of the school lunch business." Food companies have lobbied congress to not allow these restrictions to pass.
I understand that the government is trying to find a balance between schools budgets and healthy food choices for kids, but I don't think that that is necessarily their job. I think that this is a responsibility for each state to figure out a solution for within their own boundaries. Every state has a different economical and health situation, so I think it is impossible to find regulations on food in schools that will benefit every situation.
How much power do you think the government should have over food in schools? Should pizza and french fries be counted as vegetables? Should the of the students health be sacrificed because of lack of money?
If childhood obesity rates weren't up to about one in five I'd call this regulation unnecessary. It just seems like a silly federal mandate to have on all schools everywhere. But the reality of the situation is that we are facing a huge problem. Obesity is a costly health problem and has a huge economic impact on our health care system, and if we don't do something soon we're going to have to deal with the consequences for years to come. I'm not sure about the specifics of the legislation, but some effort needs to be made.
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