On tap for this week’s Buffet: an interesting coda to our discussion of vegetarianism; parents tell their children some whoppers about food; celeb chef recipes for the picky; beefing up safety standards for chicken; and a processed school lunch item to rival the dreaded Uncrustable.
Another Reason to Think Twice About Eating Meat
However you came out on this week’s discussion on going vegetarian, you might find this NPR report, sent to me by Sue, pretty interesting. Apparently meat consumption leads to greater weight gain, even when we’re talking about white meat like chicken, and even when other factors like total calories consumed, weight, gender, and physical activity were accounted for. That tofu’s looking a lot more appealing, no?
Food Fibs
The Lunch Tray doesn’t condone dishonesty, of course, but Eatocracy’s list of lies parents have told their children about food did make me laugh. My favorite: “My parents told me when the ice cream man played his music, it meant he was out.” Now that’s just devious.
A Celeb Chef Takes on Picky Eaters
Also over on Eatocracy, celebrity NYC chef Marc Murphy offers up some recipes to tempt the picky eater. With the exception of the mac-n-cheese smothered hot dog (are we raising a new generation of Elvises?), these look pretty appealing to both kids and parents, and might be fun to cook together.
Beefing Up Safety Standards for Chicken
You may recall our earlier stomach-churning discussion of lax safety standards for beef served in the public schools (“One Burger Please, Extra Ammonia and Hold the EColi“). A tweet by Fed Up With Lunch directed me to a group in New Hampshire seeking an improvement in the safety standards for chicken (and fish) as well. An interesting (and off-putting) fact: “the poultry sold to school lunch programs are ‘spent hens’ too old to lay eggs. Their meat is tough and stringy, and four times more prone to salmonella than chicken sold at supermarkets.” Great. (But I have to say, I love the expression “spent hen,” which is exactly what I feel like at the end of many a day.)
Ay Caramba!
I often take digs at the Uncrustable peanut butter and jelly sandwich — a PBJ that’s so highly processed it contains over fifty ingredients. But I think I’ve found a new winner in this sick competition: check out this unbelievable list which, according to the blogger who posted it, is the ingredient listing for a “cheese” quesadilla served in a school lunch program. Just say: No, gracias!
Have a great weekend, everyone. More Lunch Tray on Monday!