Congress Names Pizza A Vegetable

In an effort to discourage an Obama administration proposal to make school lunches healthier, Congress has named pizza and French fries vegetables.

The spending bill, released on Monday, will negate the standards set by the Agriculture Department earlier this year, which includes limiting the use of potatoes and salt, and boosting whole grains. The new bill also named tomato paste, which is used on pizzas, a vegetable.

The changes were pushed by frozen pizza producers, the salt industry and potato farmers. Some conservatives in Congress claim the federal government should not be telling children what to eat.

Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee said the changes will “prevent overly burdensome and costly regulations and to provide greater flexibility for local school districts to improve the nutritional quality of meals.”