Is this a vegetable? Congress thinks it is.
Congress recently ruled that pizza could be classified as a vegetable due to the amount of tomato sauce used in the food, despite the lack of nutritional value the sauce contains. Apparently, this is a way of cutting costs for the US government, as they do not have to spend as much on healthier food in school lunches.
What could this mean for parents and businesses, though?
Parents concerned for the health of their children could shift towards purchasing healthier food for their children as they realize the lack of nutrition in school lunches, but producers of frozen pizza and industries associated from this will benefit regardless. Schools are likely to shift towards pizza and purchase it more heavily, as the popular food now satisfies the new health regulations.
As good as this is for the pizza industry and current government budgets, encouraging food like this will promote unhealthy lifestyles for the children in the long run, defeating the purpose of health regulations. It’s a sacrifice of short term and long term goals, and also a sacrifice of ethical choices for a money-driven decision.