Those with long memories will recall the uproar that followed the Reagan administration's 1981 attempt to declare ketchup a vegetable for purposes of the federal school-lunch program. Indeed, Democrats still joke about it. When House Republicans proposed modifying the lunch program in 1995, House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt declared, "We're back to counting ketchup as a vegetable. This is the end of civilization as we know it."
So THE SCRAPBOOK was amused to read last week in a Senate budget document that the Clinton administration has approved salsa -- yes, salsa -- as a vegetable for the school-lunch program. The Agriculture Department notes that salsa, which will serve as a substitute for vegetables like spinach and peas, can be counted only if at least one-eighth of a cup is included with each lunch. And no, you don't get any chips with that salsa. Could this be an Al Gore strategy to woo Hispanic voters? Or maybe they're just bringing back ketchup in multicultural disguise.