December 11, 2009, Newsletter Issue #286: Fast Food Meat Safer Than School Lunch Meat

Tip of the Week

Yes, folks, that's what the USA Today reported yesterday. The meat the government provides to schools for children would not be suitable to be eaten at McDonald's or Burger King. Every school that receives federal money for lunches (basically every public school) is given donations by the government--including meat. According to the USDA, meat standards at schools are supposedly tougher and more strict than those for fast food.


The San Francisco Gate reported:


McDonald's, Burger King, and Costco inspect the meat they buy 5 to 10 times more often than the USDA tests school lunch meat.



Even Jack in the Box, who created a widespread E. Coli outbreak that killed several children in the early '90s due to contaminated meat,  has standards for meat bacteria that are 10 times more stringent than those set by the USDA for school lunch meat.



The USDA supplied schools with thousands of tons of old chicken that would have been typically used in pet food. Kentucky Fried Chicken and Campbell's Soup refuse to use what they call "spent chickens" (hens than can no longer lay eggs). As a vegetarian, however, I guess I'm "glad" those chickens got to live a full life!?





Moms and Dads, if you've given up meat, how about your children? Kids are more susceptible to bacterial infections that are commonly found in meat. Kids are particularly damaged by consuming the growth hormones and antibiotics found in commercial meat. A lot of children here and around the globe eat meat-free diets. For some guidance and support, check out VegFamily.com or Vesanto Melina and Joanne Stepaniak's book "Raising Vegetarian Children: A Guide to Good Health and Family Harmony." There is also a chapter in my LifeTips book on raising vegetarian children.

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