News Release
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
CONTACT: Howard White: 202-686-2210, ext. 339; hwhite@pcrm.org
PCRM Calls on Nation’s Schools to Drop Beef from Lunch Programs Due to Mad Cow Disease Threat
Letter to 75 Biggest School Districts Urges Healthier Vegetarian Meals
WASHINGTON – The
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) today called
on the nation’s schools to drop beef from their lunch programs
because of the threat posed by mad cow disease. In a letter
to the country’s 75 biggest school districts, PCRM Nutrition
Projects Coordinator, Jennifer Keller, RD, urged school food service
directors to replace beef and other meaty items with safer –
and healthier – vegetarian fare.
“The alarming reality is that because of lax regulations,
poor enforcement, and very limited testing, the extent to which
mad cow disease has entered the human food supply is unknown,”
says Keller.
What is known, she adds, is that many U.S. livestock rendering
and feeding practices are similar to those in place in Great Britain
just before the outbreak of the mad cow epidemic there. More than
140 people were stricken and died from the human form of this infection,
variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob (vCJD) disease, as a result of eating
contaminated beef.
PCRM recommends that school lunch programs replace beef with soy,
textured vegetable protein, and beans in menu items to assure that
children in our schools have safe, healthy and tasty menu choices.
“Veggie burgers, soy hot dogs, and other meatless menu choices
are low in fat, high in fiber, aid children in achieving and maintaining
a healthy weight, and are free of prions, the infectious agent in
mad cow disease and vCJD,” says Keller, who serves as director
of PCRM’s Healthy School Lunches Campaign, dedicated
to educating the public and school officials about healthy, science-based
diets.
“A healthy vegetarian menu is a win-win situation for kids
and adults,” she adds.
For more about mad cow disease and vCJD, go to: www.pcrm.org/health/prevmed/madcow_facts.html.
For a copy of the letter and for more information on the Healthy
School Lunches Campaign, and PCRM’s annual School Lunch
Report Card, which grades the nutrient quality of menu items offered
in the nation’s largest school districts, visit PCRM’s
Web site at www.HealthySchoolLunches.org.
Interviews with Jennifer Keller can be arranged by calling Howard
White at 202-686-2210, ext. 339, or by e-mailing hwhite@pcrm.org
Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
is a nonprofit health organization that promotes preventive medicine,
especially good nutrition. PCRM also conducts clinical research
studies, opposes unethical human experimentation, and promotes alternatives
to animal research.
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