The Latest National Food Fight

Congressional Decision Sparks “Tomato Paste” Debate

If you’ve been following the national headlines recently, you’re probably aware of the “pizza vegetable” controversy.

Does Pizza Grow on Trees?

To be clear, Congress is not saying that pizza in itself is a vegetable. In fact, pizza was already considered a vegetable according to the federally-funded school lunch program. The issue here is what goes into the pizza. Currently, two tablespoons of tomato paste on a piece of pizza is enough for it to pass through the legal loophole as a serving of vegetables. Even so, how can two tablespoons of tomato paste be considered a serving of vegetables?

That’s the question all of us want to know.

This debate has stemmed from a larger issue regarding a change in school lunch program guidelines. The USDA is in charge of making sure that American dietary guidelines (updated every five years) apply to the roughly $11-billion school lunch program, which provides free or reduced lunches to more than 31 million students. The uproar was set off by certain members of Congress who inserted language into the annual agriculture appropriations bill that undercut the USDA’s ability to amend the school lunch program.

The Pizza Vegetable Backstory

According to the LA Times, “the current nutrition standards for school lunches are based on federal dietary guidelines from 1989. After the guidelines were updated in 2005, the USDA asked the Institute of Medicine to evaluate how the school lunch program could be brought in line with them. The institute’s report came out in 2009, and the USDA used it to develop a plan that includes cutting back on ingredients like salt and potatoes, reducing saturated fats and total calories, and boosting fresh fruits and vegetables. The goal was to improve nutrition and help stem the tide of childhood obesity. The USDA published its proposed recommendations in the Federal Register in January, and invited members of the public to comment on them.”

One of the USDA’s concerns was that school lunches weren’t providing enough variety. Not enough fruits and vegetables were being served, so USDA officials proposed separating fruits and vegetable into different categories in order to increase the variety offered to children. They also specified that once a week, lunches were to offer at least one half-cup serving of each of the following:

- Dark green vegetables (such as spinach or broccoli)
-- Orange vegetables (carrots, squash)
-- Legumes (chickpeas, kidney beans)
-- Starchy vegetables (white potatoes, corn)
-- “Other” vegetables, including tomatoes (The USDA’s definition of a “vegetable” is in line with how people use and think of them, not according to the fact that “vegetables” like tomatoes are actually fruits)

The Tomato Paste Debacle

“Under current regulations, an eighth of a cup of tomato paste is considered the nutritional equivalent of a half-cup serving of vegetables, since that’s how much tomato it takes to make it. But the USDA noted in its proposal that other pastes and purees don’t get the same treatment — they get credit only for the ‘actual volume as served,‘” wrote the LA Times.

That “loophole” is what makes it possible for a slice of pizza to count as a serving of vegetables, says Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.

The USDA’s new new rules would have brought tomato paste in line with other foods. But Congress adjusted the agricultural appropriations bill to preserve the paste’s special treatment, and President Obama signed the bill this month.

Critics say legislators acted at the request of giant food companies looking for an inexpensive way to deliver meals that count as having a serving of vegetables. In other words, it was a way to save money while meeting these nutritional requirements for school lunches. The loophole as it stands allows this to happen.

Is child nutrition expendable at the sight of dollar signs from these corporate lobbyists?

Senators from the home states of big-time frozen food players like Schwan’s Food Service Inc. (which supplies frozen pizzas to 75% of U.S. schools) are against the USDA’s proposal to close the tomato paste loophole. The USDA also proposed limits on the amounts of starchy vegetables (e.g. white potatoes used to make French Fries), in which senators from big potato-producing states like Idaho vehemently opposed.

What Does This Mean for the Childhood Obesity Epidemic?

This whole pizza/tomato paste situation has benefitted the makers of frozen pizza who have exclusive deals with the government’s public school system. Because the changes were shot down, ConAgra Foods Inc. and Schwan’s Food Services Inc. will not have to make any changes to their products. This means that they can watch the money continue to roll in while children continue to eat unhealthy frozen pizza as a way to get their “vegetable intake” for the day.

If we want our children to make healthful choices, those choices needed to be provided to them from the institutions that promote health in the first place.

What’s your take on the “pizza vegetable” debate? Leave us a comment to let us know.

The Buzz Around Town

Here’s what Ed Bruske posted on Ann Cooper’s (The Renegade Lunch Lady) blog regarding this issue:

“There’s a fascinating subtext to this story, and it has to do with our attitude toward the schools themselves and their role in feeding children more healthfully. The nation’s 14,000 school district are hardly innocent bystanders in this dispute. They do not have to serve industrial pizza and french fries to children every day. But many do. They pander to kids’ terrible eating habits and look the other way. As I’ve mentioned here before, pizza doesn’t have to be junk food. Ann Cooper, the nation’s premier cafeteria reformer, serves it twice-weekly in her menu schemes. But she aims for whole grain crusts, topped with a homemade sauce containing real vegetables besides tomatoes. She does not count the sauce as a “vegetable.” In Ann Cooper’s world, pizza only passes as a grain.”

To Take Action

Although the bill was passed on November 17, Jamie Oliver still encourages you to join his plea to Congress.

-Text “JAMIE” to 90975
-Submit an online letter via our friends at CSPI

Really? Pizza Vegetable Debate Featured on Saturday Night Live

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HUMANs Helping Out

HUMAN Team Member Gives Back to Community

Eli Owens and Brittany Allan Volunteering Over the Thanksgiving Holiday

This past week, HUMAN team member Eli Owens exhibited the true spirit of Thanksgiving by participating in the Basket Brigade. He led a group of volunteers who put together food and gift baskets, which they then took around Santa Monica and Venice and passed them out to low-income famillies who were low on food.

Giving back is cool!

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Awaken the Creative Within

15 Tips for Awakening Creativity and Innovation

It’s not easy being creative.

Whether it be overcoming writer’s block, designing a new website, or attracting new clients, figuring out the best way to be creative is a challenge. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stared at the wall, hoping the next big thing will pop into my head.

So, instead of waiting for your “Eureka!” moment to come to you, be proactive. Awaken creativity from within to get ideas flowing. There are more way to do this than you might think.

Here are the Top 15 Tips for Awakening Creativity and Innovation:

1. Expand Your Schemata

In psychology, a schema is a mental structure that represents some aspect of the world. Within that structure, you have pre-conceived ideas of what belongs and what doesn’t. Take an office for example. You would expect to see certain things: desks, chairs, telephones, people…but seeing a giant clown in the room would violate that schema.

That’s a pretty extreme example, but here’s the point: think outside the box. If no one expanded their schemata, there would be no innovation. Before, a schema of an office would have included landline phones and typewriters. Now, offices have fax machines, computers, and cordless phones. Someone had to think of new possibilities instead of just accepting their existing schemata for these innovations to occur.

2. Attack from a Different Angle

If you think you’ve exhausted all your options, you’re wrong. There is more than one angle when it comes to anything, so challenge yourself to think differently. For example, if you’re given a bunch of tasks due by the end of the week, instead of thinking “How will I get all this done in 5 days?” think “How can I best divide these next 5 days to finish what needs to be done?”

The 80/20 rule is key here. 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. In business, the rule of thumb is that 80% of the sales come from 20% of the clients. Focusing on the highest-leverage tasks at hand will help you attack from a different angle.

3. Dig Deeper 

This one piggy-backs off Tip #2. Don’t ask “what,” ask ‘why.” When you ask yourself why, you are forced to think about what you’re doing on a deeper level. If you’re writing a book and are trying to figure out who your main antagonist will be, don’t ask “what will this character be like?” Ask, “why will this character act like she does?”

4. Either/Or

We don’t often realize that we are stuck in this mode of thinking. This is a simplistic example, but let’s say you have two clients for your business, and you only have time to do the job for one. If you are stuck in the either/or mode, you would pick the highest paying one and that’s that. The solution is simple if you think about it – take on both clients and sub-contract one out. You’ll get less money for the subcontracted work, but it’s better than nothing.

5. Turn It Around

Stating your problem in the opposite can give you new ideas. “How can I make Billy buy my product?” can be turned into “How can Billy make me sell my product?”

Now that’s a different perspective! Instead of wondering how Billy can give you money to buy your product, it puts the ball in your court.

6. Walk in Their Shoes

This one is great for every business, as well as life in general. Empathy…it’s something we all need and give. Put yourself in Billy’s shoes. Why doesn’t he want to buy your product? He might have a valid reason, so ease his doubts and understand everything from his point of view. A lot of salespeople completely miss this, and that means a lost customer.

By relating to somebody and understanding their needs, wants, desires, and fears, you establish trust AND make better sales.

7. A Silver Lining

It sounds cliche, but there really is a silver lining in every cloud. Recognize that failure will happen, and it doesn’t mean there is no way up. As long as you fail smart (and cheap), you can be more successful than you think. Also, learning from your mistakes is crucial. Didn’t get that marketing job in New York City? Hey, you gained interviewing skills. Didn’t reach your sales goals for the quarter? At least you have the opportunity to evaluate the sales process and optimize it.

8. Don’t Re-Invent the Wheel

There is no need to create something new if there is already something that exists (but can be optimized). Starting from scratch usually results in throwing in the towel. Too much time is spent researching the market trends, testing the idea, creating it, and then figuring out how to make people buy it. If you don’t need to re-invent the wheel, don’t.

The most successful innovations are just that--innovations. Improving and optimizing an already-existing idea.

9. Spork It

The spork is an ingenious innovation in itself…it is the combination of a spoon AND a fork! How can you modify a bunch of different solutions to make a unique one? Spork it!  This also puts you in the “and” mentality compared to the “either/or” mentality.

10. Fresh Perspectives

It always helps to have a pair of fresh eyes take a look at what you’re doing. A fresh perspective can tell you what you’re doing wrong and how to change it. Seem to be at a dead-end with the project you’re doing? Ask a coworker, friend, or family member your problem and chances are they can offer a new perspective you never thought of.

11. Fresh Stimulation

This one is pretty straightforward. Feel like you’re in a deadlock? Take a walk outside and get some fresh air. Do something else and then come back to it. Stimulate your senses and you’ll be rejuvenated.

12. Give It a Break

Similar to the previous one, take a break from what you’re doing and work on something else. Walk away from a brainstorming session and wait a couple days to let it sink in. If you try to hash out a project in 8 hours straight, chances are you’ll miss something and there will be errors along the way.

13. Get on My Level

If you are trying to get in the head of someone, ask someone similar for their solution. Get on their level. If you’re marketing a product to teenagers, actually ask teenagers what they want, what they like, what makes them do the things they do. It’s always important to develop a “customer avatar.” Actually create an avatar that would be the image of your customer. Give him a name, a job, who he lives with, what his tastes are, what he likes to do for fun. By knowing this, you can effectively develop a product out of an idea.

14. Always a Higher Mountain

After getting through all the creativity stuff here, it’s tempting to just sit back and enjoy. Sometimes you have to, if you’re a designer working under deadlines. But what if you are coming up with ideas for your business or your life’s work, you don’t ever have to stop. Ideas can constantly be improved on. There is always something that can be improved. That’s why the most successful companies don’t stop at just one product…they expand.

15. Record It for the Ages

Ever heard of writing your dreams in a diary the moment you wake up…or else you forget? The same goes for ideas. If you ever get a spark of imagination, write it down. That way, you won’t forget it. How many times have you said to yourself, “I’ll write it down later?” I bet you never write it down.

Carry around a notepad or a voice recorder. This may seem like a hassle, but losing a million dollar idea is far worse.

Now get to thinking and ideating!

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Taking One Giant Leap Forward By Taking a Step Back

Schools Support “Back to Scratch” Movement with Fresh Cooking in the Cafeteria

Greeley, CO School Cafeteria Staff Preparing Made-from-Scratch Lunches

In the wake of the obesity epidemic, the idea of making school lunches healthier has gained momentum, but not every child has had a chance to enjoy this concept. School districts with money and involved parents moved ahead, while struggling schools with less money did not.

According to The New York Times, this isn’t the case in Greeley, Colorado. 60% of the 19,500 students qualify for the government’s free or reduced lunch program, but schools here are taking a great leap forward, while also taking a step back. Ironically, they are moving backward to something that was commonplace 25 years ago--making meals in the cafeteria from scratch.

Most schools across the country don’t have made-from-scratch food being served in their cafeteria. Factory food took over, replacing home-cooked meals with frozen chicken nuggets, cheese sticks, and pre-prepped everything. It’s not a coincidence obesity rates have skyrocketed since a generation ago.

Now, real ingredients and spices — and in a modern twist, fiber-laden carrots snuck in where children do not expect them, like pasta sauce — are making their return to the cafeteria tray.

To prep for this massive change, Greeley schools provided cooks with a weeklong kitchen bootcamp. There, they brushed up on ingredient multiplication (i.e. knowing how to take a recipe and create 300 pans out of it) and safe cooking practices.

“Colorado, which has been the least obese state in the nation since federal health measurements of American girth began, is a leader in the back-to-scratch movement. Of the 100 or so districts nationally that have worked with Cook for America, a group that trains school cooks in healthier lunch-ways and ran Greeley’s boot camp, more than half are in Colorado, including schools in the largest districts in Denver, Colorado Springs and Boulder” wrote Kirk Johnson of The New York Times.

Although the back to scratch movement is heating up, nutrition experts say that many school systems around the nation have been profoundly distracted by years of budget cuts and constriction. Many face structural problems, too. Some newer schools have tiny kitchens designed for only reheating premade meals, while some older schools have outdated electrical wiring that cannot handle modern equipment.

However, cooking from scratch actually SAVES schools money. Consider a factory-made burrito with 35 ingredients, including preservatives added to it. Now, take a fresh burrito with 12 ingredients. Less money needs to be spent on ingredients.

“The biggest myth is that it costs more money,” said Kate Adamick, a food consultant based in New York and co-founder of Cook for America. “Federal reimbursement rules could actually give poorer school systems some advantages in shifting back to scratch, especially for meat, which many districts buy with deep discounts.”

Greeley is setting a great example for schools across the nation, no matter what resources are available. Greeley schools will start out by cooking 75% of meals from scratch, and plan to cook 100% of its meals from scratch by this time next year. Along with healthy vending, serving students made from scratch meals offers them the best and healthiest choices, day in and day out.

Do you know any other schools involved in the back to scratch movement? Let us know!

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9 Ways It Pays to Imitate

How Imitation Can Lead to the Next Best Innovation

Let me ask you this: What constitutes something as an “innovation?” What sets an innovation apart from an invention?

For most people, there really isn’t a clear-cut answer. Of course, an innovation improves an existing product. For example, mp3 players were around long before Apple introduced the iPod. However, many people believe Apple invented the mp3 player. What Apple did do, though, was take an existing idea and innovated it into the mp3 player we know today. Practically everyone has an iPod, and it is something people love. 

Like Apple, successful innovations do not necessarily need to be something people have never seen before. Some of the best innovations aren’t straight-up inventions. The most influential companies in the world--Google, Facebook, you name it--allowed their predecessors to establish a market first. Then, they swooped in with improved technology and business models and dominated the market.

That being said, if you’re looking to create the latest and greatest thing to hit the consumer market since sliced bread, you don’t need to look as far as you think. Imitation is a great way to innovate. Look around. Think about what it is in your life that could be optimized and made more efficient.

Here are 9 Reasons Why It Pays to Imitate (according to Inc. Magazine)

1. Refining is easier

Whenever you learn something completely new, there is always a learning curve. Imagine trying to create a new innovation from scratch. So much time and energy goes into researching the market trends, and after awhile, your new innovation doesn’t get implemented. It just takes too much effort!

By imitating a current product and refining it, you can skip all of that. The learning curve is not nearly as steep.

2. Benchmark your progress

It’s hard to know your progress if you don’t know where you should be by a certain point. Starting points are necessary for any business, but you have no way to compare where you are at with where you should be. Imitating allows you to analyze where other have succeeded. Also, you know your decisions aren’t arbitrary. It gives you insights into the success of other companies, but more importantly, their failures.

3. Spend your money better

If one thing is for certain when it comes to launching a new product, it’s that is costs money…and lots of it. Some of the biggest costs come from educating consumers. You need to convince people to buy your new product. It’s way easier to convince someone to buy your product if they are already familiar with the concept behind the product. Going back to Apple, people already had mp3 players, but the iPod offered so much more. It was easier for people to buy an iPod knowing the function behind it.

Simply put, let someone else spend the money on educating consumers. That way, you can spend your money improving on what your predecessors did.

4. Learn from their mistakes

A new innovation is bound to have its flaws. Imitation let’s you cut to the front of the line and create something with these flaws in mind. It let’s you fix any bugs that were found in the initial plan. You can then offer an upgraded product.

5. Remain nimble

Sometimes, the “leaders” of a current market you’re aiming to innovate are so big and bureaucratic that quick change is almost impossible. They have so much red tape to go through that they lag on innovation. This is where you come in. By being nimble, you always have the ability to change and innovate when need be.

6. Research better

Consumer research is easier if consumers are already familiar with your product or services. When you create an entirely new product from scratch, it is hard to conduct focus groups. When there are already first-movers in the market you want to enter, you are able to sit down with people and hear what they have to say. What is the market doing right? What is it doing wrong?

7. Make yours better

Why is “New and Improved” such a popular marketing tool? People love things that are the same but with small differences. This fact alone is a reason why it pays to imitate. The majority of people buy products they are already familiar with.

8. Learn marketing tips

Pay attention to the marketing of an existing product in your potential market. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and every other social media site they’re on. Read any publications they are featured in. Read consumer reviews. Doing all of this allows you to figure out your marketing strategies.

9. Get funded

According to John Paul Engel of Knowledge Capital Consulting, ”It’s much easier to get funding if an idea is already proven in the market. After the initial success of MySpace, for example, investors were more willing to open their check books for companies like Facebook.”

Especially in this economy, lenders want to know that you have a good chance of succeeding in your venture. Imitating shows lenders that there is already something out there, and you can make it better.

How we do it

At HUMAN, we used a lot of these tips to create our healthy vending business. We didn’t invent the vending machine. We imitated much of the machine’s components and upgraded it. We gave it a face lift, stocked it with 100% healthy options, and installed the most innovative technology.

HUMAN machines look nothing like traditional vending machines, but they are vending machines. It’s all about how we improved them that made the difference.

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Is Fast Food Really Cheaper than Healthy Food?

Busting the Common Myth Once and For All

We all know the excuses for eating fast food.:

“It’s so much easier”

“I’m always in a rush and don’t have time to cook at home”

“It’s cheaper…I can’t afford healthy food”

As true as this may sound, it isn’t necessarily true. Sure, you can go through a fast food drive thru and get served a meal in less than 5 minutes. A lot of fast food places even offer “family meal deals,” where you can feed your whole family for less than $20. You can get a lot of things cheaper in life if you trade off value. Only focusing on the cheap cost of fast food ignores the value you get for your money with healthy food.

A recent article in The Huffington Post sought out to take a closer look at the fast food vs. healthy food cost debate.

One example that comes to my mind is KFC’s $14 Bucket Deal, which consists of a bucket of fried chicken, a couple sides, and biscuits. This may sound like an amazing deal (even though it is extremely unhealthy), but let’s take a second look.

Fourteen dollars. This actually can go a long way when feeding a family. Fourteen dollars will buy you two pounds of lean ground turkey, a package of whole wheat buns, and some lettuce and low-fat salad dressing. That’s a complete balanced meal.

So why is it we get so hung up on the cost of fast food if we can spend the exact same amount of money on healthy food? The answer leads the way to another common belief: fast food is faster and more convenient than cooking healthy food.

Again, not necessarily! Putting a chicken in the oven takes 5 minutes to prepare. Making a salad with chopped veggies takes about 10 minutes to prepare. That’s a total of 15 minutes. How long would it take you to get in the car, drive to the fast food restaurant, get your food, and drive back? I would bet it takes longer than 15 minutes.

There are thousands of healthy recipes available online that are quick, easy, and inexpensive. And, you save so much money just from cooking at home.

When it comes down to it, the “eating fast food is cheaper than healthy food myth” is just that: a myth.

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