A spoonful of tomato paste: that's all it takes for an otherwise high-sodium, high-fat, high-fat food product to be labeled as vegetable as voted by a lobbyist-controlled convention in November 2011. Pizza, it seems, is now considered a vegetable under school nutrition standards (“A Veggie Pizza”). It is obvious, therefore, that this decision was not perpetuated nor supported by the activists who were fighting for correct nutrition in school canteens. It was lobbyists, most likely independent or large restaurant companies, who gave the decision the political and monetary push it needed. But by allowing Congress to make decisions based on lobbyist approval, pressure, and financial support like this, America is simultaneously overfeeding its children, depriving them of key nutrients, and causing an obesity epidemic. The blame, however, lies not just in schools, parents, congress, or society, but in a conglomerate of these things. It would certainly be madness to believe otherwise. One thing is clear: America's nutritional standards for school-age children must change. With this need for change in mind, citizens must no longer ignore the pressing empirical evidence of the harmful state of contemporary American nutritional standards. Currently, most school cafeterias meet students' nutritional needs by relying on processed foods (sugar, white flour, oil, artificial ingredients) and animal products, barely delivering whole foods. In fact, most of the nutrition in fruits and vegetables comes from byproducts like concentrated juices or broths. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend decreasing saturated fat, sugar and sodium, while increasing whole grains, ... middle of the paper ... and being consistent with what they teach to avoid hypocrisy. Students, when faced with nutrition education, will notice the hypocrisy and conclude that nutrition is not important when everything they see around them contradicts the message their teachers are trying to send. School administrators may not, and most likely will not, be willing to support this message if it is not cost-effective. It is therefore incumbent upon society, Congress, and the people of the United States to view nutrition and their children not as another business expense, but as a method of creating a standard of healthy children, regardless of the financial impact. You need to get healthier: report." Health Day. 29 OCT 2009: page no. Network. 14 December 2011.Shah, Nirvi. "School meal redesign stirs the pot." Education Week 30.27 (2011) : 1,. ERIC. 7 December. 2011.