The french fry is fighting back. The spud has had a tough time lately. In the last year, it has been marginalized by new school lunch rules, demonized by a popular television program and blamed for the nation's obesity epidemic.

Now some in Washington are saying they are fed up with the war on fries. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack this month, members of Congress questioned his department's proposal to reduce the amount of potatoes and other starchy vegetables in school meals.

It's a refrain some in Congress are using more frequently to describe the Obama administration's efforts to get kids to eat healthier foods _ the government shouldn't be telling kids what to eat.