Pizza as a vegetable....What?

[Hollywood1818]

Apparently the US congress has voted that pizza is a vegetable because of the tomato paste.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristi...b_1101433.html

[Miss_April]

Hahahaha! That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

Since when does pizza GROW out of the ground???

[Darth Penguin]

Well, not exactly

The bill also would allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now. USDA had wanted to only count a half-cup of tomato paste or more as a vegetable, and a serving of pizza has less than that.

[Patty Smyth]

They hate Obama and won't pass any of his bills. Imagine all he is trying to do is make cafeteria lunch foods healthier?? HOW DARE HE?

[DaveP]

I'm not sure why people think of pizza as a junk food. It has all 4 food groups, in abundance, in one compact and dang tasty slice. Sure its full of calories but that's a good thing - more bang for the buck. It's probably the only food on Earth that wouldn't cause you to become nutritionally deficient and die if it was the only thing you could eat. Long live pizza!

[Shwa Girl]

Thanks for the link OP.
At least at one US school, the cafeteria is winning the war on fast food.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7388491n

[Natalka]

I'm not sure why people think of pizza as a junk food. It has all 4 food groups, in abundance, in one compact and dang tasty slice. Sure its full of calories but that's a good thing - more bang for the buck. It's probably the only food on Earth that wouldn't cause you to become nutritionally deficient and die if it was the only thing you could eat. Long live pizza!

Totally agree. When our son was at a picky eating stage, he'd eat cold pizza for breakfast, and that was just fine!
BTW, we're having takeout pizza for supper tonight!

[Natalka]

When Jamie Oliver did the show last year about getting good/fresh food into US cafeterias, I sure learned a lot about their school cafeteria system there - and how it's so strictly controlled and the majority of the food is frozen, precooked crap.

Where I live, there aren't elementary school cafeterias, just at the high school level. Luckily my son went to one where there were TONS of choices. I was relieved thinking ah, once he reaches high school, my lunch-making days were over - BUT he preferred the lunches I made, so I kept on making them. Not that he couldn't (and yes he did), but I had the time in the early morning anyway.

[Darth Penguin]

I'm not sure why people think of pizza as a junk food. It has all 4 food groups, in abundance, in one compact and dang tasty slice. Sure its full of calories but that's a good thing - more bang for the buck. It's probably the only food on Earth that wouldn't cause you to become nutritionally deficient and die if it was the only thing you could eat. Long live pizza!

I love pizza but some places serve it so greasy, it can't be healthy. In fact one of the few times I was ever ill after eating out, was at a pizza place. you could blot the grease on a napkin...foul it was...

Home-made is the best, I can put on as many veggies as I like to counter-act the meat and know the kids will inhale it as quickly as possible.

[DaveP]

I love pizza but some places serve it so greasy, it can't be healthy. In fact one of the few times I was ever ill after eating out, was at a pizza place. you could blot the grease on a napkin...foul it was...

Home-made is the best, I can put on as many veggies as I like to counter-act the meat and know the kids will inhale it as quickly as possible.

Grease is good too. We need cholesterol, we need calories. Problems arise when we have too much of these things. Abundance makes us think good foods are bad. We vilify calories and fat but would die without them. So if I'm dying of starvation hand me the greasiest slice of pizza you can find and I guarantee I'll perk up.

[Natalka]

Yes, fat is good! Just read a recent study of how, for optimal health, we should be going back to the way our ancestors ate 100 years ago - lots of meat, fat, bread, etc.

Will have to check out this cookbook on returning to cooking with fat -
http://www.jennifermclagan.com/book_fat.htm

[Patty Smyth]

When Jamie Oliver did the show last year about getting good/fresh food into US cafeterias, I sure learned a lot about their school cafeteria system there - and how it's so strictly controlled and the majority of the food is frozen, precooked crap.

Where I live, there aren't elementary school cafeterias, just at the high school level. Luckily my son went to one where there were TONS of choices. I was relieved thinking ah, once he reaches high school, my lunch-making days were over - BUT he preferred the lunches I made, so I kept on making them. Not that he couldn't (and yes he did), but I had the time in the early morning anyway.

Our elementary schools, at least the EMSB, have banquet halls cater a hot lunch program. For the most part it's awful and $4-$5 a day. Kevin's high school had a good healthy selection in their cafeteria and he could eat for $3.25.

p.s. Pizza is not junk food for the most part however the ones I have had in the states pale in comparision to here.

[Midnightly]

i can see both sides of the coin.. pizza can be healthy IF done correctly.. but pizza is a meal.. it should not be considered a vegetable (you cannot compare a slice of pizza to say an apple and put them on the same scale).. especially if the sauce is highly processed most likely with sugar added... i don't think you could consider a slice of pizza and highly processed mechanically separated chicken fingers with fries a balanced meal then wash it all down with a chocolate milk.. teaching kids that these things are perfectly acceptable healthy things to eat will only cause bigger problems as they grow older

[Darth Penguin]

Grease is good too. We need cholesterol, we need calories. Problems arise when we have too much of these things. Abundance makes us think good foods are bad. We vilify calories and fat but would die without them. So if I'm dying of starvation hand me the greasiest slice of pizza you can find and I guarantee I'll perk up.

Anyone dying of starvation will eat what put in front of you...

Good food balances all the food groups ..the key word is balances...

Yes, fat is good! Just read a recent study of how, for optimal health, we should be going back to the way our ancestors ate 100 years ago - lots of meat, fat, bread, etc.

The majority of people 100+ yrs ago couldn't afford meat except on a special occasion.

Here's a website following the purchasing power of the average labourer

So No lotsa meat..

bread has always been a staple

Of course, the rich always had the ability to purchase food out of season, kinda like we can do now...

[Natalka]

Darth, what I was using as my reference was my family in the past - who were farmers (wheat, with animals for milk/eggs/food) on the prairies in Canada after they emigrated from Ukraine. For sure, things were different in various parts of this country, and Victorian England...