Pink Slime For School Lunch:

Government Buying 7 Million Pounds Of Ammonia-Treated Meat For Meals

This is my first thread so I am praying this is the right forum for this topic.This is a shocker, and affects all American children, America seemingly can go to war--and pay for it--- against any country it so desires but gives this to the children of America for lunch at school! Sickening!

Pink slime -- that ammonia-treated meat in a bright Pepto-bismol shade -- may have been rejected by fast food joints like McDonald's, Taco Bell and Burger King, but is being brought in by the tons for the nation's school lunch program.

Controversy surrounding "pink slime" stems from various safety concerns, particularly dangers associated with ammonium hydroxide, which can both be harmful to eat and has potential to turn into ammonium nitrate -- a common component in homemade bombs, according to MSNBC. It's also used in household cleaners and fertilizers.

link to full article here:

www.huffingtonpost.com...?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=030612&utm_medium =email&utm_content=NewsEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief

reply to post by Jameela


This paragraph from the article stands out to me:

"We originally called it soylent pink," microbiologist Carl Custer, who worked at the Food Safety Inspection Service for 35 years, told The Daily. "We looked at the product and we objected to it because it used connective tissues instead of muscle. It was simply not nutritionally equivalent [to ground beef]. My main objection was that it was not meat."
www.huffingtonpost.com...

Yum.

reply to post by this_is_who_we_are


Yeah I know, this is definitely not food, and whats sadder is children in poor communities sometimes school lunches and breakfasts are the most nutritious meals they will get in a day, and these have no nutritional value at all. Its not right.

In my country (Australia) parents make their kids' lunches.

Don't let your Government feed your kids.

Get up and make them a sandwich, that way they won't be eating meat flavoured toothpaste.

reply to post by Unrealised


I agree that any parent will have to start packing a lunch for their child, and from the look of the article even if it is only a bowl of rice it is going to be healthier, safer and more nutritious than what the schools will be offering.

But sadly one of the biggest misconceptions about America is that it is full of wealthy people, there are many children here who might go hungry if it was not for the school lunch program. I have seen this with my eyes.

Well, this would be bad, by itself. Then I have to think over very RECENT stories of home packed lunches being searched, trashed and the school food being forced on the kid, anyway.

It was a joke when I went to school...about the trash from the food supply being dumped into the U.S. Navy and the Public School System. Well, I hear the Navy eats quite well these days, actually....but the Schools sure have made the joke as true as anything.

It's just no fun being a kid these days. If someone isn't roaming the halls for a new school shooting, they're piling pink goop on the plates and calling it edible. I wouldn't eat this garbage if I were starving in a disaster.

Children should never be taken advantage of as a captive audience to consume the trash NO ONE else will buy.

It's crazy this stuff is allowed. What's worse is the FDA think this is healthy for kids to eat. It's only fit for human consumption because it's been treated by ammonia.

Originally posted by Jameela
reply to post by Unrealised

 

But sadly one of the biggest misconceptions about America is that it is full of wealthy people

Oh, I certainly don't have that misconception.


Teach the kids via community programs to grow their own food. Have cooking classes in school where they eat what they make in class.

Anything.

If you really have something against the school's food program, can't the local council become involved?

If this happened in Australia, people would be fired.

Those are some very good ideas, about local council involvement, but I think the US government has a lot of influence in the schools, I believe it is dictated without choice what is served, not up to individual schools or individual communities to my knowledge. But someone else might have more knowledge on whether or not that is true and to what extent parent can do something about it.

Originally posted by Jameela
reply to post by Unrealised

 

I agree that any parent will have to start packing a lunch for their child, and from the look of the article even if it is only a bowl of rice it is going to be healthier, safer and more nutritious than what the schools will be offering.

But sadly one of the biggest misconceptions about America is that it is full of wealthy people, there are many children here who might go hungry if it was not for the school lunch program. I have seen this with my eyes.

speaking from expierience here.

i was one of those kids. getting to eat breakfast and lunch were the best part of my day. now to think the kids that share that predicament are going to have to eat this garbage is just gut wrenching.

Well I have been doing some digging on the internet and found a reply from the meat companies in reply to that show against pick slime, I think its only fair to tell their side of the story too


Stating some of the science behind the process, Nunes wrote, "Ammonium hydroxide is naturally found in proteins such as beef, pork and chicken. What the Beef Products process does is increase the amount of ammonium hydroxide in the lean beef to elevate its overall pH and make the product inhospitable to the survival of pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella."

Nunes was concerned that unfounded public perceptions were being used "to cast a negative light on a process that is proven to be safe and has been designed to protect consumers." "The situation Beef Products finds itself in is not isolated," he wrote. "Other processes, such as the use of bisphenol A, are also being challenged. Food safety is not a natural, pure or simple process and products will be less safe if effective processes are shunned for reasons that have more to do with perception than science."* Making sure our food supply is as safe as possible requires the use of some sophisticated science, and emotional reactions by people who speak before they understand the process will delay acceptance at best. The worst case, though, is their unwarranted and unsubstantiated fears can stop needed and proven scientific advances cold, exposing thousands of people to easily avoidable illnesses and death.
www.foodsafetynews.com...

It still sounds disgusting, and since all the fast food companies stopped purchasing it I am personally still not convinced of its nutritional value and perfect safety, with many people having cancer in families where cancers did not exist and other such diseases you have to wonder if it comes from all this food processing.

Teacher here.

I work in a very low income area. Most of our students are on free breakfast and lunch. For a lot of kids, those are the only meals they will have during the day. We've got several churches who donate food; these kids take a backpack of food home for the weekend.

I don't understand the nutritional thinking in our county. The kids are given a choice between two meats, two veggies, and two fruits.

In some cases, ketchup is considered a choice and not a condiment. That's just one example.

What's really infuriating is that big shelf of junk food for sale in the cafeteria. Chips, cookies, ice cream, sports drinks, etc.

I've seen kids buy ice cream and chips for lunch. When I tried to put a stop to it, I was told by my principal that I couldn't stop the kids from buying the junk even though it was super unhealthy. I think it was all about money, to be honest.

I'll stop now b/c quite honestly I could go on for hours.

speaking from expierience here.

i was one of those kids. getting to eat breakfast and lunch were the best part of my day. now to think the kids that share that predicament are going to have to eat this garbage is just gut wrenching.

It is, it really is.


And to the school teacher, I agree, it has to be about money, there is no reason these things should be happening. Is the country so broke that this is the best they can offer families? Why have a bunch of junk food for sale in school anyway, schools should be in the business of educating children not in the vending machine business.

So I have been thinking about this issue, because its a rather large issue. I personally do not have children and this does not affect myself or my family, yet it does affect people. And honestly this turns my stomach.

We have one suggestion of getting local council involvement and another of starting or attempting to start some food growing project within communities.

Do others on the site have other suggestions, perhaps we can begin to draw up some plans and ideas to take to the communities we live in and start some activism on this front, it helps to have some viable solutions and alternatives rather than just a problem I think.

I know it's only a TV program, but Jamie Oliver the British chef, made an attempt at trying to change school meals in LA. He was not even allowed in the schools to see what the kids were eating. Every attempt to offer a healthy alternative was met with a brick wall.

I'm sure you'll be able to find the shoe Jamie Olivers Food Revolution on youtube. I'm from the uk so my links may not work.



This is just a trailer.

Although from the comments section on you tube, I can see Americans don't take too kindly to a limey coming over and telling you how to eat. Which is understandable

^^ when does everyone just get to be human beings? When is it wrong not to care about people just on the basis that they are human? Americans are busy running around the world telling others their version of right and wrong, yet seems to neglect fundamental human aspects for her own people. Is health of people not a good thing to be concerned about?

Oh nevermind, your right. This isn't my business and America should be allowed to do to her children whatever she wants. I will leave this topic, because you are right. I do not want people in my countries telling me what religion I have to be, so if Americans want to abuse their children then I should not care so long as they leave me alone.

reply to post by Jameela


Money is the motivating factor in a majority of public education decisions.

Let me be clear: schools are not making money. No one is profiting from the school's decisions, except maybe for the contractors.

My school just wants to break even. We do seven or eight fundraisers every year. That money is used to purchase necessities, such as paper, pencils, books, etc.

One person mentioned letting the schools grow their own food. Our school actually does that, although not on a major scale. But we do have a garden with various fruits and veggies. A few years ago our school won a grant from the FDA. We got several thousand dollars to purchase fruits and veggies for a year. That was wonderful! The kids got to try a lot of exotic foods. In fact, they usually chose the fruit over the junk food.

I don't think the food situation will really change anytime soon, sad to say. The simple fact is the pink slime is cheaper than regular beef....so that's what we'll get.

I feel so angry when I hear how much our country spends on war... and how little on our future.

reply to post by Jameela


I think its a good idea to have this kind of flesh for eating it may just need a few years to perfect in color and taste maching. in the long run it helps the animals being eaten now by humans who feel they are at top of food chain. But if others came around it would provide good argument that if humans can develop into non animal eating beings why cant others Although the testing on the school children can be risky but I guess since they are the upcomming population then having them onboard would help future activities in dealing with the ingestation of animals over modified energy. Think about all the future movies that would sho a paste or pill type of food for the inhabitants. So hope they can make it taste better and more neutritional for those eating.

Originally posted by Unrealised
In my country (Australia) parents make their kids' lunches.

Don't let your Government feed your kids.

Get up and make them a sandwich, that way they won't be eating meat flavoured toothpaste.

In our country home-packed lunches are treated like potential terrorist bomb packs. They are searched, regulated, and if found in violation discarded like a dirty bomb. Sharing a home packed lunch will land you a detention, trading or otherwise swapping home packed lunches likewise result in interrogation and discipline.

In our country you eat your pink slime, wilting freezer burned pizza, the grey meat textured patty in gongealed purplish grey gravy and french fries (vegetable serving) and be grateful for it.

Originally posted by Rockpuck

Originally posted by Unrealised
In my country (Australia) parents make their kids' lunches.

Don't let your Government feed your kids.

Get up and make them a sandwich, that way they won't be eating meat flavoured toothpaste.

In our country home-packed lunches are treated like potential terrorist bomb packs. They are searched, regulated, and if found in violation discarded like a dirty bomb. Sharing a home packed lunch will land you a detention, trading or otherwise swapping home packed lunches likewise result in interrogation and discipline.

In our country you eat your pink slime, wilting freezer burned pizza, the grey meat textured patty in gongealed purplish grey gravy and french fries (vegetable serving) and be grateful for it.

That is so messed up.



I thank god that I am an Australian.


I really hope your country gets to break free from the devil that drives you, soon.