Got Slime?

Pink Slime. 

Pink Slime depicted online and via Facebook.

That’s the next food issue based question that’s on everyone’s mind who eats beef and has read or watched national news within the last week.

Pink slime sounds disgusting doesn’t it? Who would want to buy such a meat at the supermarket? I don’t think anyone would want to buy something that sounds gross-but don’t you know what’s in your food?

When creating this blog, pink slime definitely wasn’t in my book of words to define, but I think it’s definitely worth the time.

Here are a few definitions I have found online:

Pink Slime– Term Wiki: “Beef filler produced from discarded beef scraps and trimmings treated with ammonium hydroxide and then ground into a pinkish form that looks something like hamburger meat.”

• Other Wiki Definition- “A meat byproduct where otherwise unusable cuts are mixed with ammonium hydroxide in a centrifuge to produce food for humans.”
• The Big Apple Blog: “Lean beef trimmings” is the official name of a product by Beef Products Inc. of ground-up connective tissue and beef scraps.”

I took a look at some stories today, and here are two I found from the ABC Network. The first addresses the issue-through a reporter’s point of view:

I have been taught it is a reporter’s job is to be the eyes and ears of the public. It is important reporters address concerns and educate the public on issues like politics, culture and yes, even food when the agriculture industry doesn’t want to answer questions.

Here is a follow up with the ABC Network who talks about the Ag industries’ semi lack of response to this issue.

Pink slime has its own hashtag on Twitter and there is a Facebook page called, “Stop Pink Slime.” This is a HUGE issue in terms of agriculture.

 

Sure, there is conversation going on in #Agchat and #PinkSlime that is trying to combat this news, but why didn’t the USDA do some responding last week when the issue arose (aside from the fact that it was National Ag Week)?

What do you think: is it fair agriculture doesn’t have a response for this? Do you think it’s the grocery buyer’s fault for not knowing what is in their food? Should people be concerned about this?

Defining Agriculture

Since agriculture is the focus of this blog, I think it’s important to know how it’s defined.

The Merriam Webster online dictionary defines Agriculture as “the science, art, or practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising livestock and in varying degrees the preparation and marketing of the resulting products.” 

The Webster definition seems pretty cut and dry, right? Well, check out the Department of Agriculture’s definition.

It’s pretty confusing to navigate if you don’t know which agriculture you are looking for. There is no one definition for just agriculture on the site I could find.

On the social media sites Facebook and Twitter, I asked people what their definition of agriculture was. Here were some of the replies I received.

“The management of livestock and crops for human sustainability.”

“Agriculture is an industry that has the power to effect everything in the world. Its diversity effects more than most people realize.” 

“Agriculture gets a bad reputation even though it’s full of people that have nothing but drive, do nothing but strive, work hard everyday, and will do anything to help another person even when the markets down and we truly need help ourselves but are to proud to ask. Agriculture is the same as greatness…just a few letters longer.” 

“Corn.”

“Here’s the Wikipedia definition-Agriculture (also called farming or husbandry) is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Pretty spot on I’d say.” 

I even You Tubed agriculture. Here are some of the results:

Excerpt from the PBS Documentary “Farm Boy”

BASF “One Hungry Planet.”

Agriculture is defined as you define it.That’s what makes agriculture such an interesting industry to be involved in.

So…I want to know for this blog: How do YOU define agriculture?