Where do you get your vegetable
servings from? According to Congress, you get half a cup of veggies
from the two tablespoons of tomato paste that goes on pizza. The U.S.
Agricultural Department tried to change that earlier this year with a
proposal for new school lunches, but Congress has blocked it from
happening.
The nutritional value of your school
lunches has been a hot topic lately. In efforts to decrease childhood
obesity, the U.S. Agricultural Department proposed to lower the
amount of sodium and potatoes and increase the whole grains in school
lunches. Schools are supposed to follow certain guidelines now, but
many still serve pizza and fries daily. The proposal wanted to cut
this down to two times a week.
The proposal wasn’t approved because
Congress thought the regulations were too strict, and that foods like
tomato paste and starchy vegetables (including potatoes, corn and
green beans) have some nutritional value that can’t be ignored. The
amount of tomato paste on pizza, for example, has almost six times
the amount of potassium and four times the amount of calcium in a
half-cup of apples.
Do you think the amount of pizza and
fries in school lunches is a problem? Would you be upset if the
amount of sodium and potatoes were reduced in your lunch? After all,
you’ve gotta eat something for lunch, so what would you prefer? Let
us know what you think!
BY RACHEL NUGENT ON 12/4/2011 12:00:00 AM
POSTED IN body, eating, how to cut out junk food, health, nutrition, school, In the News