*headdeask*

[saintmaybe]

Just saw the evening news. The Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. is recommending the elimination of all potato products at breakfasts in U.S. public schools to address childhood obesity. Is this good, I ask myself?

Their recommendation? Add more fruits. Check. Vegetables. Check. And whole grains. Which in the U.S. amounts to wheat. Wheat, wheat, and more wheat. Hooray for subsidizing the wheat industry EVEN MORE.

By the way, this will do nothing to actually target childhood obesity, and will actually make kids MORE UNHEALTHY. Whole wheat is one of the highest glycemic index foods on the market. I'm not sure who's running the FDA. Probably someone with ties to the wheat industry. Ridiculous.

[pricklypear1971]

Well, from what I've seen from school food "potatoes" are probably nasty hash brown sticks - which barely resemble potatoes. Have you seen Tge ingredients list on those?? Most are full of nasty preservatives, fillers, etc.

No big loss there.

However, I'm sure the whole grains are mostly wheat. Maybe some brown rice.

[saintmaybe]

Well, from what I've seen from school food "potatoes" are probably nasty hash brown sticks - which barely resemble potatoes. Have you seen Tge ingredients list on those?? Most are full of nasty preservatives, fillers, etc.

No big loss there.

However, I'm sure the whole grains are mostly wheat. Maybe some brown rice.

Hence why I was initially pleased, and then rolling my eyes. Way to go with continuing the mediocrity, FDA. Actually, I'm convinced they're not that dumb, and it's all about wheat subsidies. But I'm cynical like that. Until people recognize en masse that they have to take personal responsibility for their own health, this travesty will continue.

[Takala]

This was old news, the lunch makeover bill passed a while ago, but the GOOD NEWS TODAY is that the Senate came to their senses and nixed the part about restricting potatoes. Thank God for Sen. Susan Collins, never thought I'd say that. It wasn't only potatoes, they were after beans, too. Only supposed to do 2 servings a week. Nincompoops.

Agriculture Department rules proposed earlier this year aimed to reduce the amount of french fries in schools, limiting lunchrooms to two servings a week of potatoes and other starchy vegetables. That angered the potato industry, some school districts and members of Congress from potato-growing states, who say USDA should focus on the preparation instead and that potatoes can be a good source of fiber and potassium.

Following a bipartisan agreement on the issue, the Senate by voice vote accepted an amendment by Republican Sen. Susan Collins that would block the USDA from putting any limits on serving potatoes or other vegetables in school lunches.

Collins, who is from Maine, a potato-growing state, says the vegetables are a cheaper and nutritious way to feed children when school budgets are strapped. She said after the vote that it was a "victory for common sense" and hoped the strong bipartisan vote would send a message to the USDA.

link to Time, Senate Votes for Unlimited Potatoes in Schools

Open Original Shared Link

It's like they (last Congress) missed the entire failure of the Food Pyramid. Don't even get me going on the "famous" food bloggers like the Micheal Pollan. They think they're going to make these kids healthier on a higher grain diet, it's insanity.

The FDA is full of revolving door bureaucrats that run back and forth between private business and public service. And this is not entirely their fault, blame Congress and their vulnerability to lobbying by the GMO industry and grain lobby. The school lunch program exists to get rid of surplus government commodities, not to provide nutrition.

[pricklypear1971]

You know, in spite of my issues I'm not a wheat hater. Everything in moderation, as long as it isnt something you shouldn't do, period (like gluten for a Celiac).

Hey, I eat milk products - milk is supposedly worse (as far as number of people with issues) than gluten.... So I can't throw stones.

I'd rather people eat whole wheat than processed wheat without any nutritional value...

That said, the whole country could benefit from eating less bread and more veggies (and probably less milk and sugar of you get my drift).

And yes, I agree the school food programs were not invented for strictly to supply nutritious food, but also to provide an outlet for food surpluses. But that doesn't

mean it can't CHANGE.

This link has some good info. Open Original Shared Link

[saintmaybe]

You know, in spite of my issues I'm not a wheat hater. Everything in moderation, as long as it isnt something you shouldn't do, period (like gluten for a Celiac).

Hey, I eat milk products - milk is supposedly worse (as far as number of people with issues) than gluten.... So I can't throw stones.

I'd rather people eat whole wheat than processed wheat without any nutritional value...

That said, the whole country could benefit from eating less bread and more veggies (and probably less milk and sugar of you get my drift).

And yes, I agree the school food programs were not invented for strictly to supply nutritious food, but also to provide an outlet for food surpluses. But that doesn't

mean it can't CHANGE.

This link has some good info. Open Original Shared Link

I've been reading Wheat Belly, and it's really diffcult for me to see just what redeeming value there is in the grain. It really is.

As for school lunch, I grew up on it, in a very very wealthy public school district, where there was plenty of choice for healthy options.

That's a far cry from where I *taught* school, which was poor as poor can be. The first place they cut corners was was school lunch, which was unhealthy and inedible.

There's extremely wide variation in school lunch, vast room for improvement, it's not all one thing everywhere. I very much believe it can change. I do not, however, believe the FDA has any idea what it is doing.

[pricklypear1971]

I agree re: the FDA.

And there's a world of difference between my son's current school lunch and his previous school district's lunch.

I just think there's a place for everything, in moderation....

Except for gluten in my body, apparently.