March 6, 2008
On January 30th, the Humane Society released a video showing the atrocious conditions under which beef cattle were processed at the Hallmark Meat Packing Company in Chino, California. Across the country, we have all been horrified at the animal cruelty. We’ve been equally appalled that this meat was distributed to Indian Reservations, to people in need of Emergency Food Assistance, and perhaps most shocking of all, to our school children. The use of downer cattle (animals that are so injured or ill that they are unable to walk) for human consumption has been banned for several years now. These downers were fed to our kids.
How could our government turn a blind eye to these atrocities for so long, knowing this food was to be administered to our fellow citizens and children most in need of good nutrition? As a farmer, I am not permitted to bring a single piece of my family’s beef, lamb or pork to our farmers’ market without first driving my livestock 40 miles away to a “Federally Inspected” slaughter facility to be killed – despite the fact that we have the resources to properly slaughter on-farm. If my beef animal is over 30 months old, the inspector assiduously orders the entire backbone discarded, under the aegis of Mad Cow protection. I don’t think we need to write our politicians and call for more stringent inspection standards. As a meat producer, I am very aware of how stringent these standards are. Strict standards and thicker bureaucracy will not eliminate corruption. Still, as citizens, we have a responsibility to take action.
The fact that meat from the Hallmark Meat Packing Company was distributed to our school children is deplorable. I see in our children the future of my family, of our farm, of our planet. Corrupt individuals may be at fault for this incident, but as citizens, we are largely to blame for the fact that potentially dangerous food was dished out to our youth.
We have allowed our school food service programs to devolve to a destitute state where the calories administered aren’t worthy of a dog. Hallmark Meat Packing was supplying beef – But what about the processed chicken nuggets, or the hot dogs that make up daily cafeteria fare? What pesticides remain in the salad mixes, or have been prayed on the vegetables? How much high fructose corn syrup is in the dressings and sauces, the chocolate milk, sweets and other processed food items?
In many districts, food service programs receive little or no money from the school budget. They are expected to generate enough sales to cover the cost of staff, and they are supposed to procure the food as cheaply as possible, plus make a large portion of free lunches available to low income students. Unfortunately for many children, the food from these cafeterias is the best nutrition they will receive all day.
The nourishment that these children receive is the community’s responsibility, whether we are parents of school-aged children, home-schoolers, senior citizens or childless neighbors. The way our children are fed effects us all. Responsible nutrition plays a role in reducing criminal behavior, it reduces chronic health problems that our society will have to pay for, it ensures the intellectual health of our future leaders, it safeguards our planet. Furthermore, children will learn about food from what they see in the cafeteria, and those lessons will follow them through life.
It is our job to talk to our school boards and food service directors, to ask where our children’s food comes from. More importantly, it is our job to ask how we can support them in the pursuit of serving safe, healthy, local food.
Community responsibility for school nutrition is not a new idea. In our county, before government surplus programs, the farmers regularly made deliveries to the cafeterias, supplying them with fresh, local bounty. Cafeteria chefs knew how to make economical use of real foods, how to prepare large quantities of soups, stews and casseroles to nourish the children and teachers. Today, their jobs have been de-skilled to opening boxes and cans. Many of the ingredients they use come from federal surplus programs and cheap food sources…like Hallmark Meats. The number of petroleum-intensive miles this food travels is absurd and totally unnecessary. For example, much of the recalled beef from Hallmark Meats was actually found in Vermont – the state with the highest number of cows per capita in the Union.
Before we berate our politicians about inspection procedures for packing houses, before we challenge our school boards on the tax levy, before we worry about K-12 learning standards, I think we should first be asking : Are our children getting what they need to eat? Ecologically responsible, community-supported school lunch programs should not be the exclusive realm of well-endowed progressive private schools. Atrocious animal rights abuses are less likely to happen when the animals are sourced and processed from regional farmers who must be accountable to their neighbors. And our children’s health and safety are better safeguarded by the communities who nurture them than by the corporations who stand to profit from feeding them meat from sick and injured cattle. Healthy, clean food is a fundamental right everyone deserves. Our future depends on it.
Dr. Shannon Hayes is the author of The Grassfed Gourmet and The Farmer and the Grill. She works with her family raising pastured meats on Sap Bush Hollow Farm in Schoharie County. Learn more by visiting http://www.grassfedcooking.com or http://sapbush.com.