In which I get my Ranty-Pants on
Recovered Meat Product aka “Pink Slime” is getting a lot of coverage nowadays. I recently read an article on CNN “Clarified: Much a goo about 'pink slime' Out of curiosity, I checked out the comments. One particularly struck me:
Walter Prout :
Boy, there sure are a lot of experts on this issue who know or seem to know more about something the rest of us don't !
Bottom line is, this stuff is and looks NASTY !
Anyone who tries to rationalize that this stuff that's said to be SAFE and COST EFFECTIVE to consume is not going to force their own children to eat this stuff ! Just because we had consumed this in the past doesn't make it mean it's OK to consume it today !
WHY DON'T WE ASK THE OBAMA'S IF THEY CONDONE THEIR CHILDREN EATING THIS NASTY STUFF !
If the USDA get's away with this, What's next ? They sure can't Guarantee that a Low Wage Worker at a Meat Plant is not tossing RATS or anything else in the vat, now can they ?
March 11, 2012 at 10:48 am |
And now, this is the part where I get my Ranty-Pants. Ahem:
Hey Walter! Of course the Obama's don't eat this stuff. They are the First Family. There is probably a Secret Service assigned to the cow that eventually becomes their burgers. No, this stuff is shipped to the cheapest bidder in an attempt to squeeze more money out of the same miserable feedlot cow. For those of you that think Business is the answer and there are too many Regulations, may I present Exhibit A: Pink Slime Beef. When you cut taxes and shrink the government, there are pitiful few voices around to protect the people who dont have the money to make other choices. So Business says “Yeah, we can get you some beef, 100%. Just dont look too closely about where we got it from.” And because these poor people gotta eat, they buy it. That's what business does, it makes and product and finds a market for it. Government is supposed to protect the people. But if you hamstring the government and say “Nope, Business should not be hampered by regulations. Let the Free Market rule!” well, you get Pink Slime. Because there is no regulations against it. And the rats, well, since we couldnt pay the Health Inspectors, because we wanted to shrink government by cutting taxes, the rats might be in there too. This is the stuff that McD and other fast food businesses recognized was not going to be palatable to the public, especially since a large portion of the Fast Food market is parents with young children. (Their spokesman is a clown, for God's sake.) But Business still has this Pink Slime stuff, and its still 100% beef, so where is is going to go? Oh, here's another buyer, the school lunch program. Also hampered by tax cuts and still trying to produce a hot lunch for every student at less than $3 per serving. And they will eat. So they are going to shop around and go with the lowest bidder. That's the Free Market. So where does the Pink Slime end up? Lunch trays around the nation. Parents who care will be disgusted and start complaining. School boards with money will remove the product. School districts LIKE MY OWN with 70% of students on Free and Reduced Lunch, will still have to serve it. And there will be kids who eat it. Gratefully. Because it's the only meal they get that day. So our poorest and most vulnerable will be getting the worst of it.
A few more rants that originated from this comment:
Rkottme*
“Ammonia is used in all sorts of healthy products like bread. It has been since 1979 and all it really does is change the Ph just enough to lower the bacterial count. E. Coli is nasty stuff so protecting folks from it with GRAS ingredients works for bread and meat.”
March 11, 2012 at 12:47 pm |
*Exerpt
Ok, so now you are telling me that this meat, the stuff destined to become Pink Slime is so contaminated with E. Coli that you have to douse it with ammonia to make it safe. Hmm. Let me think, where would E. Coli be in the cow...the intestines and colon. Fecal material. So this is meat contaminated with poop and you think by dumping some ammonia on it, its going to make it better??!? All we have now is a population of DEAD E.Coli on the meat. I still dont want this! Again, this is Business's answer to the problem of E. Coli. No, we dont want regulations. We'll regulate ourselves. Really. Bacteria on the meat? No problem. Give it a chemical shower. Clean as a whistle! No thank you. The Government Inspection system isnt perfect, FAR FROM IT! But, I'd rather pay someone WITH TAX DOLLARS or better yet, with heavy fines against violators.
Tell me you dont want a nanny state? Fine. But I want to know that somebody is watching Business on my behalf and on behalf of the poorest and most vulnerable, those with the fewest options. Because you can trust business to make only one decision right: which choice will earn me the most dollars.