Week Three Article

http://www.cbc.ca/news/offbeat/story/2011/11/18/pizza-school.html

Posted: November 18^th, 2011                   Viewed: November 20^th, 2011

Article Summary:

So, this article basically has to do with the child nutrition law bill in the U.S. that requires schools to improve on the nutritional quality of the lunches served; not only are they to be delicious, but nutritious too. In this specific article, it mostly talks about how the U.S. Agriculture Department (USAD) originally wanted to require a half cup of tomato paste for a pizza slice to qualify as a vegetable but this past Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives decided to back off to a less strict policy saying that a slice of pizza qualifies as a vegetable as long as it contains two tablespoons of tomato paste. "Pizza should be served with a vegetable, not count as one," is a popular view of consumer advocacy groups. The article also speaks of the limits on french fries that were proposed by the USAD, hoping to increase the variety of fruits and vegetables and limiting the starchy ones.

Word 1: blunder
a) Earlier this week, the U.S. Center for Science in the Public Interest said the legislation would be a bigger "blunder" than when U.S. President Ronald Reagan's administration tried and failed to credit ketchup as a vegetable in the school lunch program.
b) Blunder: A usually serious mistake typically caused by ignorance or confusion. (www.thefreedictionary.com)

c) Brigadoon would have been a big blunder if it wasn’t for the tedious efforts and commitment of everyone involved.

Word 2: lobbied
a) The trade association lobbied Congress on behalf of frozen pizza sellers, such as ConAgra Foods Inc and Schwan Food Co and french fry maker McCain Foods Ltd.

b) Lobby: To try to influence the thinking of legislators or other public officials for or against a specific cause (www.thefreedictionary.com)

c) The students lobbied to get their rightfully deserved stamps in Mr. Plonka’s English class, as it was not their fault they couldn’t get out of the gym from morning’s assembly and ended up being late.  

Word 3: advocacy
a) "Pizza should be served with a vegetable, not count as one," the consumer advocacy groups said on its website.

b) Advocacy: The act of pleading or arguing in favor of something, such as a cause, idea, or policy; active support (www.thefreedictionary.com)

c) Mr. Plonka didn’t listen to his students’ advocacy about the stamps which ruptured their chances of earning a 25/25 on that week’s warm-up quiz.   

Response:

The reason I believe this article is one that relates to me is that this rule of healthier food in the cafeteria has just been enacted at my school back home in Mississauga, Ontario. Every since my freshmen year at Meadowvale Secondary School, the one thing you could count on was a warm, giant, calorie-packed cookie on the menu. It was cheap, delicious, and on nearly everybody’s lunch tray as they left the cafeteria. They were so unhealthy that you could even feel the grease through the saran wrap! It sounds nasty but we, including me, all loved it. This year, the cookie is still somehow how included on the menu which boggles my mind. It is way too unhealthy to even be considered to stay on an “all healthy” lunch menu. It’s just like how pizza is considered a vegetable because it contains two teaspoons of tomato paste; ridiculous.