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Less 'pink slime' may mean more poorly treated cattle
Many grocery stores are getting rid of beef with added lean, finely textured beef due to consumer concern. Score one for consumers — but not for the cows.
Tue, Mar 27 2012 at 9:52 AM
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Photo: Joost J Bakker/Flickr
Over the past couple of days, the list of grocery stores that have said they will stop selling beef with added lean, finely textured beef (LFTB) — also known as “pink slime” — has grown.
Kroger, Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Supervalue and Safeway all announced their intentions to stop selling beef with the filler because of customer concerns. Other stores, including Whole Foods, A&P, and Costco, are coming out to announce that their beef has never had LFTB. My grocery store of choice, Wegmans, made the statement on its website that the company's organic and “Food You Feel Good About” ground beef does contain “lean beef trimmings.”
The beef industry is getting worried that the decisions by these stores to sell “pink slime-less” beef could lead to an increase in ground beef prices. The American Meat Institute said in the short term, these stores may see an increased cost for ground beef. The amount of the increase was not specified.
As I was reading about this, I was pleased to see more evidence that the voices of consumers are finally being heard and taken into consideration. Then, I read that the American Meat Institute estimates that an additional 1.5 million head of cattle will be necessary to create the meat that will take the place of “pink slime.”
Ugh. One problem solved; another one created. About 1.5 million more cows, many of them raised in CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations). Cattle raised this way are usually kept in inhumane conditions, fed food that they wouldn’t naturally eat, and pumped full of antibiotics. CAFOs create many environmental problems, too.
I don’t have any solutions to this problem, but I do have some advice. Eat less beef. And, when you do choose to eat beef, try to get it from a local farm where you know the cows have been raised and fed in a humane manner.
Has all the “pink slime” talk lately changed the way you think about and buy beef?
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If the public can make enough of a stink about pink slime to get it out of the supermarkets, WHY can't it make enough of a stink about animal abuse to get rid of it FOREVER? You can, dear Public. You can. Because YOU ARE THE CONSUMER. YOU HAVE THE POWER.
As the truth about the ground beef and pink slime is reveled it should be stopped from arriving in market. We were not told about it initially and were cheated from hiding the truth.
Bathroom Remodeling
In Canada, not only is Pink Slime banned, but also cows are not allowed to be pumped with hormones or antibiotics. a pound of lean ground beef is around 4 - 5 bucks Canadian.
Yes, you HAVE been cheated. Thank the USDA for that...US Dept. of Agriculture. Useless....unless you're a factory farmer.
hi
All of you who have commented can go to change (dot) org and sign the petition to get rid of pink slime off our school foods. Why should our kids eat this? Your blog will help raise a lot of awareness. Thank you!!
So your solution is to eat less beef, that is the stupidest conclusion I have ever heard. How about consumers start complaining about the CAFO's and start buying their meat from a butcher!!!
I just say stay away from "ground beef". They'll find a place for all the fat and trimmings (and slime) somewhere. STEAK. It's what's for dinner. as for Texas or Nebraska? Hmmm. South Dakota!
Ever hear of the 'food' Soylent Green?
This is just another knee jerk reaction... This is a processed meat product. If you don't like "pink slime" then don't eat meat.
Keep in mind vegetables also have feelings so don't eat them either...
At least the cow if dead at the time of eating. Plants may not have feelings but they do have reactions to pain.
Congratulations, that's the dumbest thing I've read all day. Pro tip: you come off as less ignorant and reactionary if you use proper grammar and spelling.
Is it OK to be inhumane to things that aren't human? Can't we just say cruel?
Inhumane doesn't mean what you think it does. Cruel works as well of course.
hu·mane/(h)yo͞oˈmān/
Adjective:
Having or showing compassion or benevolence.
Inflicting the minimum of pain.
I've seen cattle raised in Nebraska in those awful feedlots. There always is a manure smell around cattle, but it smells quite literally like death around some of those places. Come to Texas if you want to see how cattle are raised right - open pasture, eating grass, enjoying the life they have. We may not always have the best beef (what with the dry heat and all), but at least the cows are raised right.
This -
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3193/2949481139_f87226cb4c.jpg
Isn't good for the cows, and I don't want my food raised there. Yeah - I think it's inhumane.
Here is one of the pastures in my rotation - this is where cows belong.
http://www.stampsfamilyfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/home_image.jpg
When I can afford it, I prefer game meats. Animals such as goat, rabbit and buffalo are far less destructive to the environment, and are rarely raised in farm factory conditions.
are your game meats hunted? or raised? most likely raised on a farm..... what damage does the "farm factory" do to the environment? I really don't think you have a clue until you see it first hand....
ever think about the damage done to native eco systems when they plant a new crop of organic produce. you do know that they have to destroy new virgin land a lot of the time to get that to you since the land has to be certified free from man made chemicals for like 20 years to be Organic. so yeah those prairies and woodlands all gone. that bio diversity gone. that last chance for something gone.
The price of ground beef doesnt go up because of this. The price of meat was always high. When you cut a product with another lower quality product you can lower price. So they can cut their meat with fake pink slime meat wash and lower price.
You are still paying normal price for ground meat. You are just getting pure meat now instead of crap.
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