PolitiFact | Republican lawmakers classified pizza as a vegetable for school lunches, Democrats say
What it does is allow just two tablespoons of tomato paste to continue to count as a serving of vegetables. The USDA had proposed requiring a full half-cup of the concentrated tomato spread before it would count as a fruit or veggie — a standard “serving” by volume — far more than you’d find slathered on a slice o’ school cafeteria pizza.
(And, yes, we’re aware the tomato is technically a fruit. The federal regulations cover both fruits and vegetables, but most folks in this debate are referring to tomatoes as vegetables. Just roll with it.)
How crazy is considering tomato paste on a pizza as a vegetable? One Washington Post Wonkblog reporter said that it’s not as nuts as you might think. Sarah Kliff pointed out that two tablespoons of tomato paste offer up a nutritional profile comparable to a half-cup of apples or other fresh fruit. It offers more than a gram each of fiber and protein and more calcium and potassium than the apples.
It also packs beta carotene and the antioxidant lycopene, according the the USDA.
We should also note that the slices kids get at school aren’t exactly the greasy, meat-laden marvels they might pick up at a pizza parlor. Federal nutrition standards require that school meals get no more than 30 percent of their calories from fat, and less than 10 percent from saturated fat. Schwan Food Co., which makes 70 percent of school-lunch pizza, started adding protein and whole grains to crusts and pushing down fat and salt to meet school standards.
Politifact can’t help but point out the silliness, all the way around.
