In mid-1981, only a few months after Reagan took office, Congress cut $1 billion from child-nutrition funding and gave the USDA 90 days--the blink of an eye, for the federal bureaucracy--to come up with new standards that would enable school districts to economize, in theory without compromising nutrition.
If Congress cut a billion from the child nutrition funding why didn't Reagan veto it? After all, the GOP controlled the Senate and its unlikely the Dems. could have overruled his veto.
The USDA convened a panel of nutritionists and food service directors to ponder what to do. One option on the table--no one later would admit to putting it there--was to "accept catsup as a fruit/vegetable when used as an ingredient." Some panel members seized on this as an opportunity to discuss whether to count ketchup even if used as a condiment. From what I can tell, the motive wasn't so much penuriousness as trying to face facts about what kids would actually eat. USDA standards at the time required that a reimbursable lunch consist of five items: meat, milk, bread, and two servings of fruit or vegetables. Many kids refused to eat the veggies and the stuff wound up as "plate waste."
Instead of making fruits and vegetables more interesting...they decided to find ways around the requirement that also saved tax [read GOP] monies. So very Republican!
Would-be realists on the panel reasoned that if they could count ketchup as a vegetable they could meet federal standards without having to throw away so many lima beans, thereby saving money while having no impact on the kids.
Did you ever hear of scurvy and ricketts? Those are just two of the diseases caused when certain minerals and vitamins found in mostly vegetables and fruit are not in someone's diet. But what the hell....these are poor kids. They are lucky to get any food at all...plus who wants to pay more taxes so they can good fruits and vegetables......I have my eye on a new Mercedes.
Looked at in a certain light, it made sense.
Yeah, one where you are trying to save money and screw the kids.
Ketchup wasn't the only newly permissible substitute: pickle relish and conceivably other condiments could also count as vegetables (precise interpretation was left to state officials); protein sources like tofu or cottage cheese could replace meat; and corn chips, pretzels, and other snacks could replace bread. Minimum portion sizes were also reduced, purportedly another effort to reduce waste.
Surprisingly, they didn't throw dogfood in there for roughage.
In the 90s, the Clinton administration got little grief when it proposed counting salsa as a vegetable, as properly made salsa has more nutritional heft than sugar-laden ketchup.
Of course not....do you know what's in good salsa? Onions, tomatoes, cilantro/Italian parsley, jalapenos, garlic, salt and pepper and no sugar. Salsa is a creative way to get kids to eat their vegetables........most kids like salsa. Please note the difference between a GOP administration and a Dem one. |
