Pizza is a Vegetable? Congress Defies Logic, Betrays Our Children

Kristin Wartman writes Pizza is a Vegetable? Congress Defies Logic, Betrays Our Children

"Herein lies the brilliance of the food industry -- not only has it created a myriad of products but it also created the idea that children want industrial food products above all else. While most Americans have bought into this notion, it's simply not true. Children 100 years ago couldn't have possibly eaten the industrial foods they are eating today. But listening to parents and children now, you'd be convinced that they will only eat industrial foods. Bruske writes that the middle schoolers in Berkeley "insist" on round industrial pizza.

How was this notion started? The food industry literally shapes and changes the palates of our children. Constantly eating sugary, salty and fatty food products adjusts taste preference to the point that simple, real foods taste bland and unappealing. While the food industry insists that it only advertises to children "to influence brand preference," a study published in the journal Appetite found that the food industry works to, "fundamentally change children's taste palates to increase their liking of highly processed and less nutritious foods.""

Up With Chris had a Congressman on who, if I remember correctly, explained that this was buried in a continuing budget resolution which kept the government open for another whole 30 days. Also it did something like funding the military so on balance it was a good bill. Wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have to fund the government every 30 days so industry could sneak stuff into such bills.

Update: Sarah Kliff says No, Congress did not declare pizza a vegetable. "What happened this week was that Congress blocked that change: Tomato paste will continue to get outsized credit, with one-eighth of a cup essentially counted as something four times larger."

"If you stack one-eighth of a cup of tomato paste up against a half-cup of some pretty common fruits and vegetables, the paste actually doesn’t do so badly. Here are nutrition facts for one-eighth of a cup of tomato paste (left) versus a half a cup of apples (right):"

"All told, the nutrition facts look really similar. Tomato paste does do a lot worse on sodium, but it also does much better in terms of calcium and potassium content. It also slightly edges out apples on dietary fiber, with a lower amount of sugar."