Lobbying Blog Post #3
This is certainly not a good year for advocates of healthier school lunches. Despite all the Obama administration's efforts to fight the growing child obesity epidemic in the US, namely Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, we have yet to see the kind of reform of school lunches that would bring the US closer to combating child obesity. Though I couldn't find any mention of it on their official website, Congress recently blocked new rules proposed by the USDA to make school lunches healthier. The proposed $6.8 billion bill would have mandated more fruits, green vegetables, and whole grains. It would also have limited the amount of sodium and starchy vegetables, such as potatoes, that schools could serve kids.
Fig. 1: One of the many memes ridiculing the Congressional ruling that a slice of pizza is equivalent in nutritional value to a serving of vegetables
The bill was lobbied against by companies like ConAgra, McCain Potatoes, and Del Monte Foods, which claimed that the proposal would make school lunches too expensive (the bill would have raised the cost of school lunches by about 14 cents each) and unappetizing. Though the Congressional ruling does not prevent Philadelphia from establishing its own rules for healthier school lunches, it is a worrisome example of how willing some politicians are to put the interests of industries before the interests of American children. To gain healthier school lunches for Philadelphia children requires not only the support of Mayor Michael Nutter, but also of Pennsylvania senators Robert P. Casey, Jr., and Pat Toomey. Unfortunately, with the economy in the poor state it's in, it may be difficult to get funding for a cause that has recently been addressed--and dismissed--on a national scale.
The bill was based on recommendations by the Institute of Medicine and praised by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack as a necessary step towards fighting child obesity and the related healthcare costs. Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest argues that Congress's proposed changes will prevent schools from serving a wider array of vegetables, and that "[Congress's proposed rules] are making sure that two of the biggest problems in the school lunch program, pizza and french fries, are untouched."
The part of Congress's proposed rules that has captured by far the most national attention is the provision that the amount of tomato paste on a single slice of pizza continue to be counted as one serving of vegetables. This has been interpreted by many as Congress actually declaring pizza a vegetable and is currently the object of widespread ridicule. Knowyourmeme.com has a page devoted to the phrase "pizza is a vegetable," and on a recent episode of Saturday Night Live, the Congressional ruling was the subject of a "Really!?!" segment featuring Seth Meyers and Kermit the Frog.
The part of Congress's proposed rules that has captured by far the most national attention is the provision that the amount of tomato paste on a single slice of pizza continue to be counted as one serving of vegetables. This has been interpreted by many as Congress actually declaring pizza a vegetable and is currently the object of widespread ridicule. Knowyourmeme.com has a page devoted to the phrase "pizza is a vegetable," and on a recent episode of Saturday Night Live, the Congressional ruling was the subject of a "Really!?!" segment featuring Seth Meyers and Kermit the Frog.
Fig. 1: One of the many memes ridiculing the Congressional ruling that a slice of pizza is equivalent in nutritional value to a serving of vegetables
The bill was lobbied against by companies like ConAgra, McCain Potatoes, and Del Monte Foods, which claimed that the proposal would make school lunches too expensive (the bill would have raised the cost of school lunches by about 14 cents each) and unappetizing. Though the Congressional ruling does not prevent Philadelphia from establishing its own rules for healthier school lunches, it is a worrisome example of how willing some politicians are to put the interests of industries before the interests of American children. To gain healthier school lunches for Philadelphia children requires not only the support of Mayor Michael Nutter, but also of Pennsylvania senators Robert P. Casey, Jr., and Pat Toomey. Unfortunately, with the economy in the poor state it's in, it may be difficult to get funding for a cause that has recently been addressed--and dismissed--on a national scale.
