On the way home from a little Disneyland trip today I happened to turn on news radio right when they were talking about the Pink Slime issue. The good news is that people are listening and things are happening. According to the info on the “Stop Pink Slime” campaign from change.org, many organizations got behind the campaign and, as a result, many schools have pulled this “beef” product from their school food. Apparently the public outcry is making a dent in the industrial beef industry. (No kidding…I’m sure most people who have seen pictures of this stuff are avoiding any ground beef unless they know exactly where it came from.)
My kids enjoyed an out-loud chuckle from me when I heard the news reel about the response from Tyson executives about the Pink Slime issue. My paraphrase of the report is that this executive was ensuring the beef business people that this “trend” would pass soon- like, 2 weeks. Meanwhile they assume that people will get over it soon, because if they can’t use the stuff to fill their beef, it will lower the amount of beef produced and drive up the cost for consumers.
Really??!! Basically they are informing us that the pink crap fills so much of their beef that without it, beef production will go down. Then boo-freakin’-hoo…we’d have to pay a little more for a food product that might resemble something closer to real food, and not kill us in the process!
I found this article from the AP about it all, and it revealed even more of a repulsive response from the Tyson executives. From the article: “Tyson says the trend is unfortunate because it was a safe, wholesome, nutritious product.” You have got to be freakin’ kidding me! It was only recently that the FDA decided this “food” product was safe for consumption by humans, and that was only because of political pressures (surprise!). I don’t even think I need to mention the ridiculousness of calling it wholesome or nutritious, but SAFE??!! Even though this pink stuff is soaked in AMMONIA, government records still show that it is constistenly contaminated with salmonella and E. coli.
Tyson is basically saying that Americans are stupid emotional people who fall for social trends that expose the repulsive practices of industrial food production. They’ll get a little upset for a while, but very soon they’ll get over it and return to their beloved freezer nuggets, burger patties, or whatever it is they produce and manipulate people into buying as “food”. Working in nutrition, I have to say that they aren’t all wrong. People get serious about their health for a little while, then they give in to convenience and go back to the industrial food products in shiny packages at the mega-supermarkets. I hope they are wrong on this one, though!
This Pink Slime thing didn’t really bother me at all, actually. I know exactly where my food comes from and I JUST SAY NO to any and all processed food- especially meat. It really isn’t that hard, and it isn’t really that expensive. I just prioritize feeding my family over extraneous things we don’t need, and budget accordingly. This Pink Slime issue is the type of thing that motivates me to continue working toward raising and “processing” my own food- including meat. Some may think it is crazy to raise animals to kill them for food (especially my high school students), but I have complete control and never have to worry about the government’s total LACK of concern over the true health of Americans. What bothers me is that YOU may have been consuming this stuff- YUCK! Actually, what bothers me most is that we live in a culture that thinks it’s okay to feed our school children “food” products that barely even qualify as “pet food”.
Prioritize your family’s health and make REAL food a priority in your home. If you need help planning your meals, follow my weekly meal plans! Spend some time connecting with the food you buy- trying to get as close to the source as possible.