Did Ronald Reagan get what he wanted?

Thinking about all of this talk about childhood obesity, I can't help but remember all that talk, when I was a kid, about ketchup as a vegetable. This was way back when Ronald Reagan was president. A good man, practically canonized by members of the right now. But what I remember is that he tried to get the USDA to classify ketchup as a vegetable. Yes, ketchup. That runny red stuff that's most made of sugar. This was the New Federalism! The brilliance of the Right Revolution! Kids would actually eat what they were given, food wouldn't be wasted, and children wouldn't have to eat broccoli, and they'd end up chubby...and then obese...and then their kids would be obese...and then our entire health care system would sag under the heft of all that extra diabetes and heart disease...

In this case, the Democrats prevailed and used shame to get the initiative tossed...At least according to Wikipedia....but I wonder...what about those school meals? Were low-income kids ever really given the chance they deserved?

The bottom line is that Reagan cut funding from the USDA school lunch program...probably to fund a bunch of penis replacement weapon systems...That's how I like to refer to the Star Wars system...

More information...

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2517/did-the-reagan-era-usda-really-classify-ketchup-as-a-vegetable