Pink Slime... Is it as gross as it sounds?

Over the past few weeks I've been seeing the words "pink slime" saturating my Twitter feed. I knew it had something to do with a meat filler and school lunches but didn't have a chance to pry further. Well, curiosity has finally gotten the best of me. Pink slime sounds like something that's be dumped on contestants during a Nickelodeon game show; it's definitely not something I'd want to eat or even consider food. So what's the deal with this mystery meat?

Here's what I think of when I picture pink slime: Pink getting slimmed on Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards!

Here's the exact description of pink slime that I found on CBS News:

"It's actually "lean finely textured beef," a low-cost ingredient in ground beef made from fatty left over meat trimmings from other cuts. The bits are heated to about 100 F and spun to remove most of the fat, then compressed into blocks for use in ground meat. The product, made by South Dakota-based Beef Products Inc. (BPI), is then exposed to "a puff of ammonium hydroxide gas" to kill bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella."

Want a visual?

Here's the pink slime used as a chicken filler (think chicken nuggets):

... and here's the pink slime used as a meat filler (think hamburgers):

Um ew... and this stuff has been on the market for years and the FDA actually approves it as safe. My question is: have the FDA people actually tried this stuff AND are they okay with their children consuming it during school lunch periods? It's disgusting when "food" need to fit specific criteria to actually be considered food! Food should be food. 


This is what gets me: McDonald's--- the king of fast food--- doesn't even use the "pink slime" filler but FDA is still approving it as school lunch appropriate... I mean, come on, that alone should scream something.


I'm slightly biased because meat these days gives me the heebie jeebies but what does everyone think? Is this stuff really unsafe or is it just the aesthetics that are freaking people out? 

Maggie goes on a Diet: Childhood Obesity

When I was a little girl, I was never a twig. I ate Happy Meals, but I was a three sport child so I was always active. I never thought twice about what I ate, and my parents never shunned my eating habits. I was a happy and healthy tomboy. I will never be petite; it's not in my genetic make-up, and you know what?..that it A-OK with me. I admire my tree-trunk thighs and strong calves, they complete me.

Of course, everyone has a few body parts they'd like to shrink or enlarge, but I'm lucky to have grown up in an accepting and supportive family environment. But I stop to wonder: if my parents were judgmental during my "heftier" years, would my self-image suffer?

There is a semi-new, contraversial children's book titled, Maggie goes on a Diet. Maggie is an overweight, insecure, little girl who resembles Pippy Longstockings. The book describes her journey to a healthier life-style with the help of exercise and a hard-working mentality. The crazy thing is that the book is being marketed to youth as young as four. Four! I think if a four-year-old is overweight (minus genetics), then the parents are responsible for the unhealthy life style not the children. A child isn't going to say "No mother, I don't want a Happy Meal; it will go straight to my hips." No!, they're gonna be like "Hell yeah, I want those fries and Transformers toy". 

At the end of the book, Maggie is a skinny soccer star. The book is basically telling children that they have count calories to be successful. Skinny = Popular. Fat Maggie = Sad. Skinny Maggie = Happy. I understand the concept the book is trying to make, but it's not the child's responsibility to take that initiative...it's the parents. A four year old is not going to pick up this book and instantly enroll in Weight Watchers. The key is living a healthy lifestyle because diets are often short-lived and unsuccessful.

It's the family's responsibility to raise their children in an environment where health is valued and not a value-meal.