How Choicelunch’s “never-ever” beef compares to “pink slime”
The question used to be “Where’s the Beef?” Now the question is “What’s IN the beef?” While only 2% of beef in the United States meets Choicelunch’s strict standards (more on that below), schools on the USDA commodity program are left wondering if their beef is mixed with “pink slime”. And yes, this will probably be the only time you’ll ever see the words “Choicelunch” and “pink slime” in the same sentence.
In less than a week, “pink slime” has again exploded onto the news scene. Jamie Oliver ignited a firestorm last year by bringing the gut-retching substance to the public-eye in an episode of Food Revolution. He graphically demonstrated to kids how beef by-products are treated with ammonia hydroxide and blended to be used as filler in ground beef. The “slime” is mostly relegated to pet food, but the USDA has come under fire for allowing to substance to be used in the commodity program for school food to save a few pennies per pound on ground beef.
The public outrage was re-fueled this late last week when
“The Daily” reported 7 million pounds of “pink slime” had been purchased by the USDA. Bettina Siegel, who blogs daily on the kid-food focused blog “
The Lunch Tray“, took to social media and change.org to launch an
online petition demanding that the USDA discontinue the practice. Having first blogged about the substance in 2010, the practice was not unfamiliar to her. In less than a week, she has amassed almost 200,000 signatures from concerned parents and citizens who also want the substance out of school lunch.
Last Friday, while the debate over pink slime was raging in the media, I happened to be visiting our partner
Newport Meat Company in Southern California and touring their facility. Newport supplies beef to some of the most respected and well-known names in the restaurant industry, including Wolfgang Puck, Tom Colicchio, and the Ruth’s Chris steakhouses. We were discussing the
Newport Pride Natural program, and what product they source for Choicelunch.
Choicelunch’s beef standards are as follows:
· Never, ever treated with any antibiotics or hormones
· Pasture-raised and “grain-finished”, which means the cattle remain at pasture until the last 90-days of their life
· 100% vegetarian-fed grain
What surprised me was just how little of the beef in the United States meets these criteria. 650,000 cattle are processed every week in the United States, and only 10,000-15,000 meet these standards. Yes, only 2% of beef in the United States meets our quality standards! This was astounding to me â primarily because I can’t believe more people are not demanding this level of scrutiny in their food.
Friday was a perfect illustration to me of why Choicelunch’s mission is so critically important for our kids. While the USDA is still pumping pink slime into school beef, Choicelunch is sourcing premium ingredients for our kids and diligently partnering with our suppliers to find out everything there is to know about where our ingredients come from. My hope is that someday all of the children in this country will have access to lunches that meet our quality standards. Sadly, with the current state of our food supply, the old adage “you get what you pay for” is more resonant than ever.
If you haven’t signed it already, join the petition to boot pink slime from school food. Not every school can afford Choicelunch’s ingredient standards and diligence, but they should at least have the peace of mind that their beef meets a higher quality standard than pet food.
