MBA Week 4 Article

Is Pizza a Vegetable?
By: Sarah LeTrent
Summary:

In the midst of trying to cut back on spending, Congress is considering counting pizza as a vegetable in school lunches. Congress reveled its latest $182 billion spending bill on Monday, November 14^th, which, if passed, would deny spending any money on new and improved school lunch standards proposed by the Department of Agriculture. The new standards that the Department of Agriculture suggested would cut down on sodium, saturated fat, and potatoes and increase the availability of fruits, veggies, low-fat milk and whole-grains in order to combat childhood obesity.  If Congress gets their new spending bill passed, French fries would remain on the menu and pizza (yes pizza) would be considered as a serving of a vegetable as long as it has 2 tablespoons of tomato paste on it. Congress is expected to vote on the bill later this week before sending it to President Obama.  

Response:

This has got to be a joke. Pizza as a vegetable? Come on. Pizza should be served alongside a veggie. With childhood obesity clearly rising in the states (you can use the younger siblings of my family as an example), I think Congress should let the Department of Agriculture do their thing. What they (Department of Agriculture) proposed, seems like it would benefit the children of America quite well. If schools were to stop giving chocolate and strawberry milk and only offer low-fat white milk, people would instantly be eating (or drinking) healthier! Why should the future of America suffer because the government of today can't seem to spend less money? If President Obama actually allows the passage of this bill, he will lose popularity for sure. I think Congress should worry about cutting money from the unnecessary things this country finances, like maybe WAR! But let the kids have their fruits and veggies, because it will benefit them in the long run.

Vocab:

1) Unveiled 

Congress unveiled its latest short-term $182 billion spending bill late Monday.

Definition:

To remove a veil or covering from, esp. uncover (a new monument or work of art) as part of a public ceremony.

Origin:

1600–10; ( def. 1 ) un-¹  + veiled; ( def. 2 ) unveil  + -ed²

Sentence:

I unveiled the stature of Homer Simpson to the town of Springfield.

2) Saturated

The new USDA standards included increasing the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat milk while decreasing the amount of sodium, saturated fat and starchy potatoes.

Definition: 

Denoting fats containing a high proportion of fatty acid molecules without double bonds, considered to be less healthy in the diet than unsaturated fats.

Origin:

late Middle English (as an adjective in the sense [satisfied] ): from Latin saturat- ‘filled, glutted,’ from the verb saturare, from satur ‘full.’

Sentence:

That Hostess Twinkie sure had a lot of saturated fat in it.

3) Legislation

If finalized, this legislation may go down in nutritional history as a bigger blunder than when the Reagan Administration tried (but failed) to credit ketchup as a vegetable in the school lunch program.

Definition:

Laws, considered collectively

Origin:

Mid 17th cent. (denoting the enactment of laws): from late Latin legis latio(n-), literally ‘proposing of a law,’ from lex ‘law’ and latus ‘raised’ (past participle of tollere).

Sentence:

These legislations are a bunch of bologna, we need to protest this right now!