permaculture

["Akiva Werbalowsky" <akivaw@hotmail.com>]

Forwarded from moistearth@yahoo.com:

now the "mystery meat" may not even BE meat
vlc
**********

Thursday March 9 6:59 PM ET

U.S. Allows More Vegetable Protein in School Menus

By Barbara Hagenbaugh

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000309/ts/food_kids_1.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Agriculture Department on Thursday said it 
will let school cafeterias substitute more veggie burgers for
hamburgers as a source of protein in kids' diets, winning plaudits from some 
nutritionists but criticism from beef producers.

The department, citing new studies on protein content in non-meat
foods, removed the previous requirement that only 30 percent of protein in 
school meals come from vegetable sources such as veggie burgers made partly 
from soybeans.

The department also changed the requirement that protein sources other
than meat would have to be fortified with zinc and iron. The USDA said the 
two requirements were based on old data from the mid-1980s that have now 
been proven false.

``These changes provide menu planners with more flexibility to
incorporate these products into their menus along with the
traditional protein sources of meat, poultry and seafood,'' the
Agriculture Department said in a Federal Register notice.

The requirements were also lifted from the school breakfast program,
the summer food service and other domestic food aid
programs for both children and adults.

U.S. school cafeterias serve more than 35 million subsidized
breakfasts and lunches each day to poor children.

The Vegetarian Resource Group welcomed the proposal, citing a recent
study that found that children from eight and 12 years
old are becoming vegetarians at twice the rate of adults.

``It's a long time coming,'' Suzanne Havala, a registered dietitian
and adviser for the Vegetarian Resource Group, said,
predicting that veggie burgers will now become a popular item on
school cafeteria menus.

``Those products taste so good nowadays that lots of people are eating
them,'' Havala said.

But meat industry groups, including the National Cattlemen's Beef
Association, criticized the changes, noting that government
studies show that kids are not getting enough nutrients in their diets
already and dropping the regulations on vegetable protein
will only make the problem worse.

``We feel that USDA has been quite irresponsible,'' said Mary Young,
executive director of nutrition at the cattlemen group.

``Soy really isn't beef,'' she said. ``It is not a nutritional
substitute for beef. It is already placing at-risk children at risk for
nutritional deficiency.''

The government originally proposed the change in July and received 635 
comments from the public. Only 16 respondents objected to the changes, the 
Agriculture Department said.
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