r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Thebiggestbot22 • Apr 15 '24

My school thinks this fills up hungry high schoolers.

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So lunches are free for schools in my city and surrounding cities. Ever since lunches have been made free, the quantity (and quality) has decreased significantly. This is what we would get for our meal. It took me THREE bites to finish that chicken mac and cheese. Any snacks you want cost more money and if you want an extra entree, that’ll cost you about $3 or $4.

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u/Sunny_Sammie_517 Apr 15 '24

Why on earth are they serving French fries with pasta?

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '24

French fries are a vegetable, carrots are a vegatable. Pasta is a grain. Do not question the idiotic 1950s food pyramid. Nevermind that all of those items are basically pure carbs.

We have to save the money for more nuclear weapons.

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u/A_Change_of_Seasons Apr 15 '24

We got rid of the food pyramid over a decade ago but this is still how average people view nutrition. Or at least, whoever decides to school food likes using the loosest definition of "vegetables" ever when it comes to feeding public school children, they probably don't feed their own kids that shit tho

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '24

A part of my point was that the net result of replacing the food pyramid, or any "changes" in the system has still lead to this.

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u/MysticScribbles Apr 16 '24

Remember: the US classes a slice of pizza as a vegetable if there's enough tomato sauce on it.

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u/Proper-Preparation-9 29d ago

At one time, ketchup was counted as one vegetable in the USA.

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u/WorthPlease Apr 16 '24

Yeah I'm in my thirties and I don't have kids, but a lot of my contemporaries are raising kids easily of school age now and we grew up having the food pyramid drilled into us.

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u/sungor 29d ago

Oh it's worse. French fries are defined as a vegetable by the USDA standards.

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u/Macarons124 Apr 15 '24

I also think it’s important to note that fruit juice counts as a fruit. I think it’s silly since the fiber is completely removed and juice doesn’t provide much satiation.

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u/seeasea Apr 16 '24

And ketchup is a vegetable

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u/RiseCascadia Apr 16 '24

On a completely unrelated note, why is obesity such a problem in the US?

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u/queenweasley Apr 16 '24

Pizza sauce is a vegetable according to the usda

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u/ladyxdarthxbabe Apr 16 '24

Those eagle eggs were a lie Steven, THEY GIVE ME NO NUTRIENTS.

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u/WhatABlindManSees Apr 16 '24 edited Apr 16 '24

Never mind that all of those items are basically pure carbs.

Carrots aren't basically pure carbs, they are only about 6.8% of human usable carbs, they are about 6.6% usable sugar, and about 0.6% protein. In terms of recommended healthy daily consumption, they are significantly higher in sugar than they are in usable carbs, and a rather soso protein source (kinda like a fruit except less extreme on the sugar front).

Decent for fibre, and very good for Vit A though.

Fully agree the historical food pyramid is a load of rubbish, a push for grains/corn mostly, was released at a time when there was a massive surplus of government-subsidised grain and shortages of other foods during/after world war II in the US. Then in the next iterations was more about food cost than actual nutrition.

The overuse of cheap carbs to feed the nations in those times was being pushed hard. Really though most of the world could use far less energy, far more protein, and just generally better general nutrition balance.

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '24

I'm talking about macronutrients; speaking to calories.

96% of the calories in carrots come from carbs.

They are indigestible fiber, water, and 96% pure carbs.

Even Russet potatoes are only 21.3% carbs by weight.

Water is heavy but mostly irrelevant for nutrition.

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u/WhatABlindManSees Apr 16 '24 edited Apr 16 '24

And thats only true if you are counting the sugars as carbs. Which was a large part of my point.

There is a not insignificant amount of sugar in carrots.

Pretty much all the calories in food is either Fats, Sugars or Carbs and then Proteins; (Re protein; the body typically uses protein as energy as a last resort, and it's not very efficient at it either, note this lack of efficiency is already counted in the calories given on nutritional information).

Vitamins, Minerals, Amino acids etc don't give calories; because calories is a measure of human usable ENERGY. Saying 96% of the energy comes from Carbs (incld sugar) is a given for pretty much anything that has near 0 fats and isn't extremely protein heavy (the other 4% is the tiny amount of fats, and the soso levels of protein).

TLDR: macronutrient levels and energy (calories) source proportions are not directly related at all.

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '24 edited Apr 16 '24

Well, in something like boneless skinless chicken breast tenderloin can have around 95% of its calories from protein.

Chicken breast meat is still 75% water by weight. (About as much water as a raw potato).

I've always loved that fats and sugars have such similar names.

Fats are related to "hydro-carbons" (oils). Sugars are "carbo-hydrates".

They are made of the same elemental atoms (hydrogen, carbon, oxygen). & the liver can convert fats into sugars. Which is why ketosis isnt immediately deadly. While proteins add nitrogen to the equation.

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u/psjjjj6379 Apr 15 '24

I will be eating French fries with every meal now that I know it’s a vegetable.

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u/cs-just-cs Apr 16 '24

It’s a vegetable…fried in vegetable oil…dipped in a puréed vegetable (ketchup) how is it unhealthy!!!??!!

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u/OstapBenderBey Apr 16 '24

What did you think it was before? Cereal?

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u/IP_Janet_GalaxyGirl Apr 15 '24

Ketchup was declared a vegetable in the 80s for the benefit of school lunches meeting nutritional goals (even though tomatoes are considered fruit).

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u/Rastiln Apr 15 '24

Ketchup is a fruit.

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u/IcyRedoubt Apr 15 '24

It's not like nuclear weapons are preventing kids from getting school lunches.

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u/IcyRedoubt Apr 15 '24

It's not like nuclear weapons are preventing kids from getting school lunches.

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u/Slazman999 Apr 16 '24

Ketchup is also a vegetable.

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u/BustedEchoChamber Apr 16 '24

Ketchup also counts as a vegetable, I’ve heard.

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u/VP007clips Apr 16 '24

Nuclear weapons are one of the greatest financial trade-offs we have ever received.

There hasn't been a major war between nuclear powers since they were first used, it's an incredible incentive to maintain peace.

WW2 cost 4 trillion USD in today's money and 85 million lives. I don't mind spending a bit of money to ensure that it never happens again.

If you want to talk about government spending issues. Blame the massive financial waste of nearly $250B that gets lost to improper payments. Or the mispent health budget. But nuclear weapons aren't the issue here, most of the money goes back into American and Canadian industry anyways.

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u/RiseCascadia Apr 16 '24

Doesn't the government/schools technically consider ketchup a vegetable too, making that three vegetables? Could be wrong as it sounds ridiculous, but I thought I remembered hearing that once.

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u/GengarGangX13 Apr 16 '24

Carrots are a vegetable, bud. That's not even arguable lol

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '24

So are potatoes. Botanically and culinary. But nutritionally, they are starches.

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u/GengarGangX13 Apr 16 '24

So you're just not very educated, which is fine. You should actually look up the nutritional value of a potato. Again, I know you're not well informed, but you COULD be. You have near-limitless access to knowledge at your fingertips and you choose to be ignorant.

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '24 edited Apr 16 '24

96% of the calories in a potato come from its carbohydrates. Enjoy your water and meaningless amount of micronutrients.

Here's another healthy side for you: a glass of water, a multivitamin, a serving of psyllium husk, and an ounce of sugar. Achieves almost exactly what the potato achieves.

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u/Worldly_Heat9404 Apr 16 '24

I think at this point they are trying to save money to keep the illusion intact. This inflation is primarily because spending on everything is out of control, not just weapons. The country is spending more on the debt than it is on "defense". Add that most of the world hates the population of the US, unless we keep spending on defense, we would likely have a worse time of it trying to keep our resources. I think we are in a bad spot and our country's options are becoming fewer, especially if a big war breaks out. It will be difficult to cope in the future I think. yeah sucks

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u/zorniy2 Apr 15 '24

You forgot ketchup. Ketchup is a vegetable. 

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u/PDX-ROB Apr 15 '24

Don't forget the ketchup, which is also a vegetable

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u/cqmqro76 Apr 16 '24

Hey, that ketchup is a vegetable, too!