The law, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on Wednesday, sets a 10-year deadline for the change to take place.

A new law will make California the first state to phase some ultraprocessed food out of school meals.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Wednesday that prohibits public schools from serving children what it describes as “ultraprocessed foods of concern” in breakfasts or lunches. The policy sets a 10-year deadline for the change to take place.

It defines such foods as those that pose the greatest risks to consumers based on scientific evidence of adverse health outcomes, and it directs the state Public Health Department to determine which particular products meet the definition by June 2028.

    • TotallynotJessica@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      5 hours ago

      I’d rather be in CA than a lot of states, but it’s such a low bar. The politicians are more annoyingly corrupt; passing laws that sound progressive but really help rich cronies in the know. It keeps people pacified into thinking meaningful progress happens as we slide with the rest of the country into an ultra capitalist nightmare.

      I’m beyond hoping people will ever see past the illusion. The learned helplessness is so strong that I’d expect California nationalism behind some feudal lord before recognizing that Cali sucks.

  • theherk@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    My doc just recommended a book, Ultraprocessed People. Guessing I am about to have much stronger feelings on the topic as I learn more about it.

  • giraffes@kbin.earth
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    10 hours ago

    So no more rectangular “pizza?” We used to have brownies that smelled like kelp too.

    • NateNate60@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      The rectangular pizza is not actually that processed. It comes from a US Department of Agriculture recipe and you can make it at home using common grocery store ingredients, although the USDA recipe is intended to make 100 servings.

      The recipe does call for something called “pourable pizza dough” but there’s a recipe for that too and it’s basically just very thick pancake batter.

      Edit: https://www.tastinghistory.com/recipes/schoollunchcheesepizza

  • kungen@feddit.nu
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    12 hours ago

    Why wait 10 years? Can it really take that long to change meal plans?

      • TheLowestStone@lemmy.world
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        6 minutes ago

        I worked for a catering company that was looking into making a bid on a contract at a for profit prison company in California. The bosses had the chef put together a 7 day sample menu. He shows it to me and asks for feedback. This guy put stuff like quinoa and salmon on there. I just started laughing. I couldn’t help it. He askes what was funny and I asked him what the food cost was. Apparently no one thought to ask or had a clue what a typical prison meal consisted of. He just sort of assumed it would be around 6-7 dollars per meal. The contract was for 87 cents per meal. That’s right. The prison wanted 3 meals per person per day for $2.61. To be fair, there was also a flat fee but it would barely cover the cost of delivering the meals and the additional staff required to produce them. For it to be worth it to the owners, we would have had to produce those meals for about $1.50 per person per day. You don’t get to serve roasted salmon with quinoa salad at that price point.

        • NateNate60@lemmy.world
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          7 hours ago

          The State will spend hundreds of dollars a day to keep someone locked up but don’t worry because they will make it back by skimping on five dollars worth of food and serving people mystery product #4291 instead.

    • vortic@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      The first three years are just for the department of health to research the problem and develop standards based on available and newly funded research. The next seven years would likely see schools phasing out problematic foods one by one as they find appropriate alternatives and end contracts.

      Keep in mind that processed foods tend to be cheaper, too, so trying to maintain the same cost while replacing the processed foods will take time and effort.

  • Qkall@lemmy.ml
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    11 hours ago

    i thought the issue was that upf don’t have a standard definition… to be clear, for it, but from my last readings there’s not real definition. (looks at hella loose organic definitions)

      • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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        9 hours ago

        Does it?

        It defines such foods as those that pose the greatest risks to consumers based on scientific evidence of adverse health outcomes, and it directs the state Public Health Department to determine which particular products meet the definition by June 2028.

        Why not just say “unhealthy food” rather than pretending that “ultra processed food” means anything useful?

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    The question remains: what counts as “ultra-processed”? America is a country where ketchup counts as vegetable for school meals. Can you imagine them serving normal, freshly cooked and healthy food instead?

    • NateNate60@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      Ketchup is not considered a vegetable in America. That is a myth. Some random school official essentially made the equivalent of a shit post (said something stupid in a meeting with no serious intent) and local papers ran with it.