Processed and sugar loaded foods have plagued our school cafeterias for decades, helping in assisting youth obesity and poor eating habits. Schools all over the country are beginning to take a bigger look at the foods they are serving your children for lunch. Last year, Real Foods for Kids, a children’s wellness and nutritional group, set out to rid Fairfax County, Virginia Schools of their processed hamburger patties.
For years, Fairfax County School systems have been serving hamburger patties manufactured and sold by the company?Don Lee Farms from California. These hamburger patties included over 26 ingredients, most of which are unfamiliar to the general public. Don Lee patties include ingredients such as zinc oxide, copper gluconate, and cyanocobalamin, to name a few. The school system claimed that the ingredients added provided essential vitamins that children who get little nutrition at home, need to grow.
With a strong movement growing among parents of school children to move away from all of the processed foods and additives, Real Foods for Kids, stepped forward. The groups made a landmark win, having Fairfax Schools agree to phase out processed hamburger patties and move toward more all natural beef patties. The decision for all natural patties was brought into the school system, however, after only a few months, Fairfax slowly and quietly phased out all natural and brought back the processed beef products from Don Lee Farms.
The complaints by students claiming they tasted different and they did not like the pink center, a natural effect usually covered up by caramel coloring added to processed meats, pushed Fairfax County Schools to take the natural beef off the menu. Real Foods for Kids argues that we have fed our children processed for so long; they have no idea how to eat all-natural foods. ?Fairfax County Schools have made no comment on whether they plan on reintroducing all natural hamburger patties.
Watch this video on the 26 ingredients from NPR:
Edited/Published by: SB
