It’s not a secret that I’m disgusted by what they pass off as “food” to our young children. Every Thursday, I volunteer the entire day in my son’s Kindergarten class and every Thursday I eat lunch with the students and my son. Most of the time, I pack a lunch for myself and my son, but we still eat with them on the outside deck. I’m able to witness first hand what is served and it makes me shudder. This Thursday it was chicken nugget strips, tater tots, frozen strawberries in sugar, raisins (thank God), and chocolate chip cookies. Here’s the irony. The chocolate milk that was served had MORE SUGAR than the actual chocolate chip cookies. None of the kids ate their raisins (actual food), and frozen strawberry & sugar concoction had no nutritional information where I could gauge what it was.
Now let’s get to the pink slime….
My friend Lisa Johnson wrote a piece for the True Food Movement about the “pink slime” that will be served up to our children. I know, you are thinking…what? Yeah, it’s this goopey goo that is made of beef or chicken parts and cartilage that has been treated with ammonia. Check out this picture of what it looks like here…
Looks tasty, huh? No, that’s not strawberry soft serve ice cream. It’s part of the base that COULD be going into your child’s hamburger or chicken nuggets this year when they eat in the school cafeteria. And there is no way for you to know for sure because the labeling requirements are so lax. Good luck finding out if your local cafeteria serves it, but be warned because the USDA is purchasing 7 million pounds of this stuff to put in school lunches this year. This is not what I would consider REAL food. But let’s face it, do our kids actually get any real food? No. Lisa has also started a petition and I recommend you all sign the petition asking Washington to stop purchasing this crap and feeding to our children.
According to Snopes, “pink slime” or Mechanically Separated Meat (MSM) is still used in chicken nuggets and hot dogs and dosed with ammonia. Chicken and pork MSM is considered safe and used by the FDA, BUT meat products are different. They stopped the legal use of meat based MSM in 2005 because of fears of “mad cow” disease. Oh, but manufacturers found a way around that. Instead of MSM they use “lean been trimmings” where beef is extracted and sent through small tubes and exposed to ammonia gas to give it that pink color. So yeah, it’s still “pink slime.” This substance is mixed with other “beef products” and will be about 25% of your child’s hamburger according to Snopes.
The rest of this post can be found at MomsLA.
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According to Snopes, “pink slime” or Mechanically Separated Meat (MSM) is still used in chicken nuggets and hot dogs and dosed with ammonia. Chicken and pork MSM is considered safe and used by the FDA, BUT meat products are different. They stopped the legal use of meat based MSM in 2005 because of fears of “mad cow” disease. Oh, but manufacturers found a way around that. Instead of MSM they use “lean been trimmings” where beef is extracted and sent through small tubes and exposed to ammonia gas to give it that pink color. So yeah, it’s still “pink slime.” This substance is mixed with other “beef products” and will be about 25% of your child’s hamburger according to Snopes.
I ate lunch with my daughter at school recently and I was appalled by what most of the kids were eating. Cheetos & Cheese Puffs can NOT be considered food!
Both my husband and I work and would love to have our kids eat from the cafeteria more regularly but the choices are awful and the older the grade, the less likely they are to even get a piece of fruit as once the bowl is empty, it’s not refilled. Most kids eat the dessert (cookie, cupcake, brownie) and some of the food. We’ve let them have pizza at school and our daughter is begging for breakfast for lunch but I certainly wouldn’t want them eating cafeteria food regularly.
In the Conejo Valley there is a group of parents trying to change what is served in the cafeteria’s and there has been a lot of discussion about the flavored milk, especially the strawberry. You can get juice if you bring in a note stating why your child can’t have milk.
As much as the cafeteria food makes me mad, I have a choice whether to buy my child lunch or not. What I don’t have control over is all the food in the classroom. I find it interesting that there is a no candy OR baked goods policy at your school and from what I understand; every other school district around us. Apparently the Board of Directors at Conejo Valley Unified School District haven’t read that California policy yet. Teachers give skittles and other candy for math (in Kindergarten) even though District policy forbids it, and there is constantly baked goods in our classrooms. STAR testing last year was a week of junk food. Our 3rd Grade teachers decorate sugar cookies and make gingerbread in class. When the District was asked by parents to remove the baked goods and other food rewards, because I don’t think children should be rewarded with food in the classroom; we were told a committee that was still being formed would need to vote on it. Which means at least another year of kids being bribed with Pizza, popcorn and ice-cream parties to do well in class.
I’d love to see some moderation when it comes to food in the classroom. I’m all for the occasional class party with a small amount of food. But there will be at least 18 events with food in my sons 3rd grade classroom this year, and there was meant to be more. Some events had 15+ different items coming in. It’s just too much. I believe Moorpark allows 1 party per month but it must meet USDA guidelines, which seems like a nice compromise.