My mind is reeling. Last week Congress declared pizza a vegetable, again. Having just returned home from the Wise Traditions conference of the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF), where the focus was on whole, nourishing, traditional foods, to a this kind of absurdity is mind boggling.
I should not be surprised, this has been policy up until now but I confess I'm appalled to think that anyone in our government is stupid enough to believe that the tomato paste on a slice of pizza in any way counts as a serving of vegetables. It's barely got any nutrition at all and comes wrapped in highly processed, chemically conditioned dough, covered with cheese that is no doubt loaded with rBST and antibiotics and possibly some preservative-laden pepperoni. As the video above states, we, and our children, are having their taste buds conditioned to prefer unhealthy foods.
While this is nothing new, it is certainly getting a lot of press. I hope it's also getting a lot of attention from a lot of parents. This is not what you want to feed your kids to have them grow up strong and healthy. I encourage everyone who cares about these issues to get involved:
- Tell Congress how you feel about it
- Join the Two Angry Moms movement
- Read Appetite for Profit: How the food industry undermines our health and how to fight back
- Read Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition, and Health, Revised and Expanded Edition (California Studies in Food and Culture)