US Congress Declares "Pizza Is A Vegetable"

[Iuuvic]

You know...after giving this a little more thought canned pasta sauce (It's ragu, which is pretty cheap but I don't know how similar it is to sauce used in schools) has "More Than a Full Serving of Veggies in Every 1/2 Cup of Pasta Sauce"

...Still dunno if I would say pizza gives a kid a healthy serving of veggies. Unless there is alot of suace on the pizza.

[Greed and Death]

I would like to point out this was in response to a new rule written by the department of agriculture, Congress basically countered the rule allowing the old rule to remain which allows pizza to count as multiple food groups.

[Robert Magoo]

By vote, congress decides 1 is equal to 5.

[Belvadaire]

Yeah right, a vegetable that give people heartattacks, that's one healthy vege,

[Norstal]

You know...after giving this a little more thought canned pasta sauce (It's ragu, which is pretty cheap but I don't know how similar it is to sauce used in schools) has "More Than a Full Serving of Veggies in Every 1/2 Cup of Pasta Sauce"

...Still dunno if I would say pizza gives a kid a healthy serving of veggies. Unless there is alot of suace on the pizza.

I don't think they took into account the healthiness of the pizzas. They only want to know the budget that they need.

[Risottia]

I would like to point out this was in response to a new rule written by the department of agriculture, Congress basically countered the rule allowing the old rule to remain which allows pizza to count as multiple food groups.

Which looks oddly reasonable.

[Risottia]

I'm expecially fond of a salad of raw carrots, boiled beetroot and raw zucchini julienne.

That sounds pretty tasty. What kind of dressing do you put on it?

Yoghurt, lemon juice (or white wine vinegar), and chives leaves. Occasionally, I add some mayonnaise. Or some curry powder. It depends.

[Ifreann]

I would like to point out this was in response to a new rule written by the department of agriculture, Congress basically countered the rule allowing the old rule to remain which allows pizza to count as multiple food groups.

Was the new rule not going to allow pizza to count as multiple food groups? I thought the bone of contention was that it would require more tomato paste for pizza to get into the vegetable serving category.

[Dakini]

You know...after giving this a little more thought canned pasta sauce (It's ragu, which is pretty cheap but I don't know how similar it is to sauce used in schools) has "More Than a Full Serving of Veggies in Every 1/2 Cup of Pasta Sauce"

...Still dunno if I would say pizza gives a kid a healthy serving of veggies. Unless there is alot of suace on the pizza.

I know when I worked at a place and made pizzas, we put about half a cup on the entire 8" pizza. If I make pizza at home, more goes on because I put cheese under and on top of the sauce, so the sauce doesn't spread as well. Granted, if I make pizza at home I also add veggies to the sauce as well as on top of the pizza.

[Dakini]

That sounds pretty tasty. What kind of dressing do you put on it?

Yoghurt, lemon juice (or white wine vinegar), and chives leaves. Occasionally, I add some mayonnaise. Or some curry powder. It depends.

If I'm sufficiently motivated, I might have to try this this week.

[Iuuvic]

You know...after giving this a little more thought canned pasta sauce (It's ragu, which is pretty cheap but I don't know how similar it is to sauce used in schools) has "More Than a Full Serving of Veggies in Every 1/2 Cup of Pasta Sauce"

...Still dunno if I would say pizza gives a kid a healthy serving of veggies. Unless there is alot of suace on the pizza.

I know when I worked at a place and made pizzas, we put about half a cup on the entire 8" pizza. If I make pizza at home, more goes on because I put cheese under and on top of the sauce, so the sauce doesn't spread as well. Granted, if I make pizza at home I also add veggies to the sauce as well as on top of the pizza.

How big are pizzas at schools? I remember they were shaped like boats but I don't remember the size.

Also, I love extra onions in all tomato sauces.

[Greed and Death]

I would like to point out this was in response to a new rule written by the department of agriculture, Congress basically countered the rule allowing the old rule to remain which allows pizza to count as multiple food groups.

Was the new rule not going to allow pizza to count as multiple food groups? I thought the bone of contention was that it would require more tomato paste for pizza to get into the vegetable serving category.

Thats correct, to be a vegetable they needed to add more sauce, it would have still been allowed Dairy and Bread groups.

[Iuuvic]

Was the new rule not going to allow pizza to count as multiple food groups? I thought the bone of contention was that it would require more tomato paste for pizza to get into the vegetable serving category.

Thats correct, to be a vegetable they needed to add more sauce, it would have still been allowed Dairy and Bread groups.

How much of a serving is required to get it into a food catagory like that? Does it need at least one full serving to be a member of that food group?

[Esternial]

I am really at a loss for words on this. No, the US Congress didn't actually declare pizza a vegetable, but the serving of tomato sauce on a pizza should be considered a vegetable. I'm probably not going to mention to my Congressman and Senators that tomatoes are actually a fruit.
...By defining tomato as a vegetable

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed.
However, the word is not scientific, and its meaning is largely based on culinary and cultural tradition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit
In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state, such as apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries, juniper berries and bananas. Seed-associated structures that do not fit these informal criteria are usually called by other names, such as vegetables, pods, nut, ears and cones.

Also:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vegetable (noun)
1: plant 1b

tl;dr Tomatoes are vegetables.

If you look at how tomatoes grow, you'd find that they're fruits.

[Charlotte Ryberg]

Well that's an incredible loophole. Actually: pizzas can be considered vegetarian provided that there's no meat. However there's no way it can be declared vegan until the cheese is removed... then unfortunately you'd then lose the best parts of the pizzas.

[Iuuvic]

Well that's an incredible loophole. Actually: pizzas can be considered vegetarian provided that there's no meat. However there's no way it can be declared vegan until the cheese is removed... then unfortunately you'd then lose the best parts of the pizzas.

I disagree, a great dough and a great sauce still makes an awesome pizza.

[Cromarty]

Well that's an incredible loophole. Actually: pizzas can be considered vegetarian provided that there's no meat. However there's no way it can be declared vegan until the cheese is removed... then unfortunately you'd then lose the best parts of the pizzas.

I disagree, a great dough and a great sauce still makes an awesome pizza.

Cheeseless pizza is like orgasmless sex. Incomplete and ultimately disappointing.

[Iuuvic]

I disagree, a great dough and a great sauce still makes an awesome pizza.

Cheeseless pizza is like orgasmless sex. Incomplete and ultimately disappointing.

I dunno, I love sauce enough just to have the bread and a giant bowl of pizza sauce...mmmmmm

[Grave_n_idle]

Well isn't that just stupid.

Would you put a tomato in a fruit salad?

My friend's mum does that, actually.

I knew a 'vegetarian' that ate ham, because it was in salad.

So... people qualifying a fruit as a vegetable, or putting tomatoes in fruit salads... seems like a minor matter to me.

[Grave_n_idle]

I disagree, a great dough and a great sauce still makes an awesome pizza.

Cheeseless pizza is like orgasmless sex. Incomplete and ultimately disappointing.

Sex can be fantastic even without orgasms. Perhaps you've just never had good... pizza.

[Greed and Death]

Thats correct, to be a vegetable they needed to add more sauce, it would have still been allowed Dairy and Bread groups.

How much of a serving is required to get it into a food catagory like that? Does it need at least one full serving to be a member of that food group?

The amount required is what the department of agriculture was trying to change.
I am guessing it was not much, from a dietary point of view I would say the department of agriculture is correct. Legally congress can over rule them, as all their rule making power comes from Congress.

[Ifreann]

How much of a serving is required to get it into a food catagory like that? Does it need at least one full serving to be a member of that food group?

The amount required is what the department of agriculture was trying to change.
I am guessing it was not much, from a dietary point of view I would say the department of agriculture is correct. Legally congress can over rule them, as all their rule making power comes from Congress.

If I read the OP article right, it needs 1/4 of a cup now to count as a vegetable, and the proposed change was to over 1/4 cup. Could be wrong, though.

[Iuuvic]

The amount required is what the department of agriculture was trying to change.
I am guessing it was not much, from a dietary point of view I would say the department of agriculture is correct. Legally congress can over rule them, as all their rule making power comes from Congress.

If I read the OP article right, it needs 1/4 of a cup now to count as a vegetable, and the proposed change was to over 1/4 cup. Could be wrong, though.

I thought USDA only recognized 1/2 cup of veggies as a full serving of veggies. So the industry and congress want to cut it down to 1/4?

Another concern of mine here is that the sauce is almost certainly heavily processed with lots of salt and sugar added for deliciousness...

[West Failure]

People all over America will be planting slices to try and grow a pizza bush.

[Dakini]

I know when I worked at a place and made pizzas, we put about half a cup on the entire 8" pizza. If I make pizza at home, more goes on because I put cheese under and on top of the sauce, so the sauce doesn't spread as well. Granted, if I make pizza at home I also add veggies to the sauce as well as on top of the pizza.

How big are pizzas at schools? I remember they were shaped like boats but I don't remember the size.

Also, I love extra onions in all tomato sauces.

I dunno how they are in schools (especially schools in the US), but if you have a bigger pizza, unless you go to a thicker crust you're not going to be putting 1/2 cup of sauce per slice. If you're talking a really deep dish pizza, you can probably manage it (it might not taste fantastic), but short of that, you're not going to do it. (I usually make a bit of a thicker crust because it's easier, plus the layer of cheese protects the crust from getting too soggy with sauce)

A pizza could easily have a full serving of veggies if you top it with veggies though.