Pink Slime: Is It In Your Child's School Lunch?

My kids don't eat school lunch.  One is in nursery school, and the other goes to a school where the Kindergartners  have to eat lunch in their classroom and aren't allowed to purchase lunch from the cafeteria.  I had a problem with this in the beginning because I felt she and her classmates were being cheated out of an authentic school experience, but now I'm okay with it.  Especially after all of the talk about how unhealthy school lunches can be.  I also know that the Valley Stream school lunches appear to be pretty healthy from what I can tell on the digital copies of the school lunches posted online.

However, some schools aren't as lucky.  What is Pink Slime? It is the scraps from beef containing ammonium hydroxide-treated ground connective tissue and meat scraps.  Here is Wikipedia's definition of the stuff.  Above is Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on the pink stuff.  All I can say is, yuck! 

I was able to access only two of the four elementary school lunches in Valley Stream School District 13 and I only found 3 servings of beef on the calendar for the month of April.  I have to view the video on chicken nuggets as I do see a number of days in April chicken products are served.  At a glance, it does appear that the kids are being served healthy food in the district.  However, by the time my daughter hits 1st grade and gains access to school lunches I will have done my due diligence.  Chances are pretty high that I will continue to pack her lunch.  It is a parents first responsibility to make sure their child eats a healthy meal.

Oy....

Seven Million Pounds of Pink Slime Beef Destined for National School Lunch Program

Disctrict 13 Lunch Calendar
District 30 Lunch Calendar
District 24 Lunch Calendar
Central High School District Lunch Calendar

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