…Or at least it is according to the U.S. government.

On Tuesday, Congress decided that the tomato paste on pizza qualifies it as a vegetable in school lunches, conveniently dodging new USDA guidelines that would have required more fresh fruit and vegetables be served in school cafeterias.

This may be a case in which dollars speak louder than science, as the food industry spent more than $5.6 million lobbying against the proposed regulation.

Ms. Marion nestle, nutritionist and Professor at New York University notes

“Schools are supposed to set an example of many values of society, and one of them ought to be eating well. It’s unfortunate that the food industry is putting profits before the health of children,”

The fruits (pun intended) of a poor childhood diet can be seen as early as 2020, when projections say 83 percent of men and 72 percent of women will be overweight or obese.

Healthcare costs related to cardiovascular disease, already projected to reach $1.1 trillion per year by 2030, could rise even further.

While obviously school lunches are not the only factor in America’s obesity epidemic, more fruits and non-pizza vegetables in school lunches certainly couldn’t hurt.

In comparison, the Agriculture Department has projected the proposed school lunch rules would have added about $6.8 billion over the next five years, or about 14 cents to the cost of a school lunch. Food for thought? Definitely.