News
School Food Politics: What's Missing from the Pizza-as-Vegetable Reporting
November 18th, 2011
From Food Safety News
By Michele Simon
"Over the last couple of days, news outlets have been having a field day with a proposal from Congress that pizza sauce be considered a vegetable to qualify for the National School Lunch program. Headlines like this one were typical: "Is Pizza Sauce a Vegetable? Congress says Yes." (The blogs were a tad more childish; for example LA Weekly: Congress to USDA: Pizza is So a Vegetable, Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah.)
Most reporters, pressed for time and resources, tend to simplify complex stories and this was no exception. In one camp, so the stories went, are nutrition advocates who want healthier school meals, while Republicans are saying the feds shouldn't be making such decisions. Here is one example of this framing of the story:
Conservatives in Congress say the federal government shouldn't be telling children what to eat. They say requirements proposed by the President went too far, costing budget strapped schools too much. Local schools are caught in the middle.
Meanwhile, a few other reports did a better job of explaining the massive industry lobbying at play..."