Meat back on the menu in Escondido schools

By: SHAYNA CHABNER - Staff Writer
Others hold beef as animal cruelty investigation continues | Thursday, February 14, 2008 10:34 PM PST ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- Beef was back on the menu in Escondido's elementary and middle schools this week because it has been determined that it did not come from a Chino slaughterhouse under investigation for animal cruelty, officials said Thursday.

The Escondido Union School District was told last week by its meat manufacturer and by federal and state officials that the meat in stock was not from Westland Meat Co., said Virginia Carter, the district's director of nutrition services.

Meat from Westland, which supplies beef to school programs and other government organizations nationwide, was pulled from school menus earlier this month after the company came under investigation for animal cruelty practices that could have led to bad meat.

"I would rather serve (the meat in stock) and let the kids get a variety in their diets than withhold it completely when there is no reason to," she said, adding that the district has also received fresh shipments of meat from other slaughterhouses that it is serving as well.

Officials at several other North County school districts said Thursday that their menus will remain meatless at least until next week, when United States Department of Agriculture officials are expected to give an update on their investigation of the Westland slaughterhouse.

The federal organization has placed a hold on the use of all beef from Westland through Tuesday.

"We are still holding off," said Jeff Landers, the director of child nutrition for the Vista Unified School District. "I want to make sure that they don't come out and say something else is wrong."

Schools across North County ---- including the Escondido elementary district ---- pulled beef from their menus after the Humane Society of the United States released a video from an undercover investigation that appeared to show workers at the company abusing the cows.

The video shows workers forcing cows that are too ill or weak to walk into the slaughterhouse by kicking, jabbing and ramming them with fork-life blades, the society says.

Federal regulations prohibits "downed cows" from being slaughtered for beef because weakened animals carry a greater potential for disease.

Officials from many of the districts that are still not serving meat said that they are doing so as a precautionary measure to ease parents' concerns. They also said that their meat comes from multiple suppliers that do business with Westland and that they're waiting to confirm the origin of the meat.

Some school districts, such as San Marcos Unified, even have plans to serve meat-free meals through April.

"It's absolutely a local decision," said Phyllis Bramson-Paul, the director of nutrition services for the California Department of Education. "Some food services directors are saying, 'even though I know it's OK ... I chose not to serve any beef for a while.'

"Others say 'I know enough now. I have ascertained that any of the beef we received was not from Westland.' "

In Escondido on Thursday, Pioneer Elementary second-graders who ate tacos and smoky, grilled hamburgers at lunch said they were happy that meat was back on the menu.

"I thought we weren't going to have it anymore," said Madeline Lopez, 8.

A nearby classmate, 7-year-old Ivan Mondragon said: "We need to have our carne."

For the most part, though, kids said they had not noticed they had gone without their hamburgers and meatballs. The chicken nuggets, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and other meal replacements were some of their favorites, they said.

"(Our beef meals) are three of our less popular items," Landers said. "Pizza, chicken nuggets, chicken poppers are favorites. If they said chicken's off the menu, then we (would be) in trouble."

Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 740-5416 or schabner@nctimes.com.