The government wants kids to eat more fruits and vegetables but doesn't seem to be putting its money where its advice is.

For every dollar that the U.S. Department of Agriculture spent buying commodities for school lunches last year, 55 cents went to beef, chicken and cheese vs. about 23 cents for fruits and vegetables.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack stumped a group of Iowa business leaders recently by asking them what was the single food item for schools that the USDA spent the most on. His answer: mozzarella cheese. Advertisement

"Part of our challenge is to figure out how to make the kids' choice be the salad rather than the pizza slice," Vilsack said.

Critics have long linked the federal school lunch program to the nation's childhood obesity problem.

Michael Pollan, author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and other books, has written that the "farm bill essentially treats our children as a human disposal for all the unhealthful calories that the farm bill has encouraged American farmers to overproduce."

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation produced a study last year of USDA food-buying practices that was illustrated with two pyramids. One was the traditional USDA food-guide pyramid, which recommends eating more fruits and vegetables than anything else. The other pyramid showed what USDA buys for schools. The pyramids were reversed.

The dairy industry, it should be no surprise, doesn't think the USDA is buying too much cheese.

"Kids need nutrition and mozzarella is a fairly cost-effective, high-nutrition food, and it's one that people, especially kids, like," said Chris Galen, a spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation.

"If all you did was give kids salads you'd have a lot of wasted food, which is not what schools want, and you wind up with a lot of hungry kids."

No one is suggesting the USDA stop buying cheese or meat. But should the USDA stop providing so much meat and cheese to the schools and substitute produce?    

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