Congress wants to keep pizza and french fries on school lunch... (Associated Press) 
 
 In an effort many 9-year-olds will cheer, Congress wants pizza and french fries to stay on school lunch lines and is fighting the Obama administration's efforts to take unhealthy foods out of schools. The final version of the House and Senate’s agriculture spending bill bucks recommendations by the Department of Agriculture to try to make school lunches healthier. USDA had wanted to only count a half-cup of tomato paste or more as a vegetable, and a serving of pizza has less than that. USDA spokeswoman Courtney Rowe said Tuesday that the department will continue its efforts to make lunches healthier. “While it’s unfortunate that some members of Congress continue to put special interests ahead of the health of America’s children, USDA remains committed to practical, science-based standards for school meals, USDA spokeswoman Courtney Rowe said in a statement. As The Hill reports, the bill is not too popular among health advocates: 
 
 “It’s a shame that Congress seems more interested in protecting industry than protecting children’s health,” said Margo Wootan, director of Nutrition Policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The bill counts pizza sauce as a vegetable — as it is now — and resists efforts by the Agriculture Department to limit servings of starchy vegetables and sodium restrictions.
– Thanks to Congress, pizza is still considered a vegetable—at least where school lunches are concerned. Proposed new school lunch standards from the USDA would have limited potatoes in school lunches (think French fries) and stopped counting less than a half-cup of tomato sauce as a vegetable (think pizza), but food companies complained via $5.6 million worth of lobbying, Talking Points Memo reports. A spending bill released yesterday rejects those suggestions, ensuring pizza and French fries will continue to be served. Federally-subsidized school meals must contain a certain amount of vegetables, and now pizza, with its two tablespoons of tomato sauce, can continue to be one of those vegetables. The USDA’s proposed changes also included limiting sodium and increasing whole grains, the AP reports, meaning that efforts to make lower-sodium, whole grain pizzas will also be delayed. "While it's unfortunate that some members of Congress continue to put special interests ahead of the health of America's children, USDA remains committed to practical, science-based standards for school meals," says a USDA spokesperson.