Pizza: vegetable? School lunch rules.

• Author: Mangu-Ward, Katherine
• Position: Citings - Brief article

A BILL Congress passed in November included guidelines for federally subsidized school lunches. The next day, headlines in newspapers around the world announced that Congress had declared pizza a vegetable. As usual, the reality is more complicated.

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In January 2011, the Obama administration proposed changes to school lunch rules, including a reduction in salt and an increase in whole grains. The administration also proposed changing the way the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the school lunch program, treats tomato sauce.

After nearly a year of intense lobbying by food companies, school districts, and advocacy groups, Congress approved a bill that prevents money from being spent to implement the Obama menu recommendations. The bill reaffirms existing rules that allow school districts to count the tomato content of...