Beef off menus in local school districts

[Celebration]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004159820_schoolbeef02m.html

Cafeterias in Seattle elementary schools will serve waffles and scrambled eggs on Tuesday instead of waffles and sausage. For lunch Thursday, mu shu chicken will replace mu shu beef.

To be safe, school officials won't serve any beef until they learn more about the U.S. Department of Agriculture's investigation into allegations that a large supplier of beef to the national school-lunch program used meat from "downer" cows — those that cannot stand or walk.

"We want to err on the side of caution," said district spokesman David Tucker.

Seattle is one of hundreds of school districts in Washington state that were notified Thursday to stop using any beef from Westland Meat of Chino, Calif., until further notice. The state also notified a number of private schools and others that are part of federal food programs.

The concern arose after the release of a video that shows slaughterhouse workers at Hallmark Meat Packing using forklifts to prod or move animals. Westland Meat, which grinds meat, gets meat from Hallmark.

For this, criminal prosecution with stiff jail sentences, if what is implied in this story is true and proven.

[flvegan]

1. Big thanks to The Humane Society of the United States for capturing that video.

www.hsus.org

[tridim]

2. They get mu shu chicken at the school cafeteria?

Wow, times have changed since I was in school. The Spaghetti was the only meal I could eat, and just barely.

Sorry for going off topic.

[Warpy]

5. The best thing my school did was "chicken and rice"

The gravy was prepared like Depression chicken soup, a carcass was dragged through hot water and the whole mess thickened with cornstarch to make gravy, then poured over rice that was actually competently cooked. It was good stuff for a kid who was still young enough to enjoy the taste of library paste.

[appleannie1]

3. USDA inspectors random times 1 ½ hours each day

And they never saw that going on? What were they there for? To pick up their pay off?

[silverweb]

4. I've got a better idea.

How about contracting with _Quorn_ and getting them to build a plant in the area... providing high-quality meat substitutes for school meals (and local stores) and local jobs?