So it looks like the interest in pink slime in school lunches may be leading to changes.
Amid a growing social media storm over so-called “lean finely textured beef,” the Agriculture Department announced Thursday that, starting next fall, schools involved in the national school lunch program will have the option of avoiding the product.
Under the change, schools will be able to choose between 95 percent lean beef patties made with the product or less lean bulk ground beef without it. The change won’t kick in immediately because of existing contracts, according to a USDA official with knowledge of the decision.
Of course, there’s a lot of other issues to be concerned about with regard to the quality of meat being fed to children in schools. There is also no guarantee that schools will elect to make this change. To do so they have to fight the low-fat hype. But for concerned parents it seems like there should be some avenues to pursue to keep the pink slime out of their children’s stomachs.