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- WASHINGTON (December 23, 1999 2:15 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com)
- Federal officials who say they are worried about the fat in
kids' meals want to let schools and day care centers serve tofu,
veggieburgers and other soy products as meat substitutes in federally
subsidized lunches.
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- By PHILIP BRASHER
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- The Agriculture Department is proposing to drop its restrictions
on how much soy can be used in meals. Under current rules, soy
can only be a food additive and only in amounts of less than 30
percent. President Reagan's budget crunchers tried to make
tofu a meat substitute nearly two decades ago - at the same time
they tried to reclassify ketchup as a vegetable - but they beat
a hasty retreat when the idea became a lightning rod for opponents
of his spending cuts. USDA officials deny their motive now
is to save money, arguing instead that soy is a good source of
protein.
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- "It's time has come," said Shirley Watkins, USDA's
undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services. "I
think people are more receptive than they would have been five
or ten years ago."
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- Beef, pork and poultry producers are fighting the move, but
schools like it because they are having trouble complying with
government limits on the fat content of meals. And for the fast-growing
soy industry, the $6 billion school lunch program offers a vast
new market and a way to introduce families to the expanding array
of new, better-tasting products that have been developed in recent
years. Although the proposal would allow schools to offer
meatless entrees - tofu-stuffed ravioli is one menu possibility
- nutritionists say schools are more likely to use it to increase
the amount of soy that they blend into their standard fare: burgers,
tacos and the like. The question is whether kids will still
eat them.
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- Market research sponsored by the United Soybean Board indicated
the 26 million children who participate in the school lunch program
would accept soy products. Kids, however, are notoriously finicky
consumers, said Lincoln Pierce, director of nutrition programs
for the Grand Junction, Colo., schools.
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- "If you tell kids there's soy in it, they don't seem to
like it as well," said Pierce. "In blind tests they
approve of it, but their heads haven't caught up
with their taste buds."
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- USDA's proposal has its roots in a decision the department made
in 1994 to start requiring schools to meet the government's dietary
guidelines for fat and nutrients. That meant that the fat content
in school menus could no longer exceed 30 percent over a week.
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- Schools have cut the amount of cheese in pizzas and the number
of meat balls they serve with spaghetti, but they still struggle
to stay under the limit. Some have tried offering beef patties
made with prune puree only to have kids turn up their
noses at what became known around the lunchroom as "prune
burgers."
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- The soy proposal has pit soybean farmers against cattle ranchers
and other livestock producers, who argue that children won't get
sufficient protein or enough iron and zinc if they eat less meat.
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- A standard soyburger, which contains no meat, has 3 grams of
fat, compared to 16 in a beef patty, and a significant amount
of calcium. But the soyburger has a third less protein than
the beef patty and no iron or zinc.
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- Celeste Peggs, executive director of West Virginia's Child Nutrition
Office, says she worries that more children will become anemic
if schools cut back on meat. Iron-rich foods other than meat,
such as spinach, "are not always the popular
food items among children," she said.
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- USDA officials play down those concerns, saying that children
will get plenty of those nutrients from other sources if their
meals are balanced.
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- Vegetarians and animal rights activists have flooded USDA with
letters and e-mail messages praising the proposal, but the change
may have an impact they don't want. Allowing a higher soy content
will make it easier for schools to keep meat on their
menus, said Carol Tucker Foreman, director of the Consumer Federation
of America's Food Policy Institute.
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- "There is every reason to believe the proposed rule will
perpetuate the role of meat and poultry in the school food programs,
not threaten it," she said.
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- Watkins said she expects the department to make a final decision
on the change by mid-February. USDA approved yogurt as a meat
substitute in 1997.
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- Copyright © 1999 Associated Press
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