US Government Declares Pizza is a Vegetable

[Makalakumu]

I heard a rumor about this and thought, "If this is true, we have truly hit a whole new level of stupid."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2062056/Pizza-vegetable--covered-tomato-paste.html

It has given us the iced doughnut, the burger and the fattest people on Earth.


But now America is outdoing even itself when it comes to unhealthy food, by trying to claim pizza is a vegetable.


A school lunches Bill going before Congress aims to reclassify the junk food due to the tomato paste on the dough.

Despite lacking significant nutritional content, this thin coating would be enough for pizza to go towards a daily count of fruit and vegetables.


The move has been derided as a cost-cutting drive so the U.S. government will not have to spend so much on fresh food for school lunches. Subsidised school meals must include a certain amount of vegetables.

 

[Makalakumu]

Since the first article is coming straight out of the UK, I thought I would post an article that will surely remind MT members here of Monty Python.

The Washington Post wrote a Pizza Apology.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...e-not-exactly/2011/11/20/gIQABXgmhN_blog.html

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.


This makes it easier, and cheaper, for pizza manufacturers to produce a product that includes a serving of vegetables. But, as my colleagues over at The Checkup emphasize, it by no means declares the pizza itself a vegetable. Schools lunches are still measured by federal regulations for calories (no more than one-third of daily recommended value) and fat content (less than 30 percent of the meal), which limits how much pizza students can be served. A cafeteria worker can’t just pile a slice of pizza on a plate and say she’s serving salad.

Talk about missing the point. IT STILL GETS COUNTED AS A SERVING OF VEGETABLES! Now, they don't have to give kids real vegetables.

:seppuku:

 

[elder999]

Well, honestly-as a New Yorker, I can say that it's not really "pizza," without tomato sauce (white pizza and other variants, aside...) and tomatoes are classified as vegetables, though tomatoes are, more properly, the fruit bearing body of the tomato plant-fruits, in other words......

:lfao:

No big deal, though-what is old is new again. The "Great Communicator," Ronald Reagan ( ), classified ketchup as a vegetable-why is anyone surprised?

:lfao:

 

[Makalakumu]

Well, honestly-as a New Yorker, I can say that it's not really "pizza," without tomato sauce (white pizza and other variants, aside...) and tomatoes are classified as vegetables, though tomatoes are, more properly, the fruit bearing body of the tomato plant-fruits, in other words......

:lfao:

No big deal, though-what is old is new again. The "Great Communicator," Ronald Reagan ( ), classified ketchup as a vegetable-why is anyone surprised?

:lfao:

So, does the jelly filled center of a pastry count as a serving of fruit?

"Ich bin ein Berliner!"

 

[Big Don]

Well, honestly-as a New Yorker, I can say that it's not really "pizza," without tomato sauce (white pizza and other variants, aside...) and tomatoes are classified as vegetables, though tomatoes are, more properly, the fruit bearing body of the tomato plant-fruits, in other words......

:lfao:

No big deal, though-what is old is new again. The "Great Communicator," Ronald Reagan ( ), classified ketchup as a vegetable-why is anyone surprised?

:lfao:

Intelligence is knowing the tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting tomatoes in fruit salad.

 

[cdunn]

Makes perfect sense. Pizza is profitable, after all.

 

[Tez3]

Actually it could make very good sense! How many children hate eating vegetables? Tell them pizza is a vegetable and they'll stop eating it!

 

[ballen0351]

So, does the jelly filled center of a pastry count as a serving of fruit?

"Ich bin ein Berliner!"

You mean it don't?

 

[crushing]

Well, honestly-as a New Yorker, I can say that it's not really "pizza," without tomato sauce (white pizza and other variants, aside...) and tomatoes are classified as vegetables, though tomatoes are, more properly, the fruit bearing body of the tomato plant-fruits, in other words......

:lfao:

No big deal, though-what is old is new again. The "Great Communicator," Ronald Reagan ( ), classified ketchup as a vegetable-why is anyone surprised?

:lfao:

That's a bit misleading. For a more detailed analysis of how the "ketchup is a vegetable" meme came to be: http://www.straightdope.com/columns...a-usda-really-classify-ketchup-as-a-vegetable

It also a bit on "salsa as a vegetable" under Clinton.

 

[CanuckMA]

You mean it don't?

I'm sure it must be devastating learning that a mojor group of a cop's diet is not a fruit. :ultracool

 

[Buka]

Pizza isn't really considered a food. Nor is ice cream. They are both medicines. Darn good ones, too!

 

[jks9199]

Pizza isn't really considered a food. Nor is ice cream. They are both medicines. Darn good ones, too!

I like this approach... though my "medicine" is usually bottled. And distilled or fermented. :drinkbeer

Though more seriously... Comparing volume of a processed paste or sauce is deceptive compared to raw fruit. When you puree them or otherwise cook them down -- you end up with a lot less sauce than you would think starting from the fruit. I'm seeing 1 pound to make one cup pretty consistently in a quick search. And, by adding some vegetables as toppings, you can certainly put a decent single serving of fruits & vegetables on a slice of pizza. I wouldn't exaggerate it -- but it's not incredibly terrible, either.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I heard a rumor about this and thought, "If this is true, we have truly hit a whole new level of stupid."

I know where this came from…they were watching the movie Wall-e and at the end the captain tells the kids they will learn how to grow pizza and they didn’t realize it was an animated movie... and if a Captian of a space ship says you can grow pizza it MUST be a vegetable

 

[MaxiMe]

And I thought pizza wasn't a veggie, but the perfect food. If topped right it has all the food groups