You may recall that the country’s schools were all set to be the last conceivable place that people could get “pink slime,” the beef additive that even Taco Bell won’t buy. But an unnamed USDA source tells the AP that schools won’t have to peddle this crap if they don’t want to.
According to the story, “schools will be able to choose between 95 percent lean beef patties made with the product or less lean bulk ground beef without it.” So you get pink slime or added fat. But know this: “The change won’t kick in immediately because of existing contracts.” We’d harbor a guess that a lot of schools will opt for the “less lean bulk ground beef” (even though that, too, sounds pretty unappealing) because, can you imagine being the principal who’s like, “Oh, yeah, we made the conscious decision to feed your kids something called ‘pink slime’”?
All of which is to say, the case for brown-bagging it is only growing stronger.
Schools will get to opt out of “pink slime” beef [AP via USAT]
Earlier: Very Low-Grade Beef: USDA Still Buying Pink ‘Slime’ for School Lunches
