The leader of the Catholic church changed hands yesterday. Amongst great fanfare, Jorge Mario Bergoglio exited the Vatican after a plume of white smoke rose from the chimney and was announced as Pope Francis I. He’s the first pope of modern times to come from Latin America; specifically he hails from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

He’s described as a humble man and a pope of the people, already declining to stand atop a podium when he first greeted his loyal Catholic followers. So then, can we assume the papal diet will also be a modest one? It appears so. According to Lanancion.com, Pope Francis enjoys a healthy diet, eating things like fresh fruit, skinless chicken, salads, and a glass of wine on occasion.

It may be a leaner and more frugal diet than many of his predecessors.
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Is there any food match more appropriate than sprinkles atop an ice cream sundae? Maybe, but none as colorful. Below the sprinkles is the obligatory mound of whipped cream, which stands tall above two scoops of ice cream. It’s expected that this dairy dessert be decorated with sprinkles and cherries and maybe even gummy worms, but would you ever think of those ingredients as feed for cattle?

It’s been reported that, in light of the worst corn harvest in six years (per the USDA), that many cattle farmers are turning to candy and other junk food to feed their cows. Yes, one penny-pinched farmer in Indiana, trying to feed 450 dairy cows on a budget, got a good deal on ice cream sprinkles. He told the Orlando Sentinel that it was a “pretty colorful load,” and in an effort to keep down costs.

With less corn feed available, a standard for large cattle operations, the price is becoming out of reach for some farmers. In addition to ice cream sprinkles as part of the new cattle diet, other farmers are finding bargains on junk food snacks like cookies, gummy worms, marshmallows, fruit loops, orange peels, dried fruit, and even Mexican food.

Orville Miller, a dairy farmer in South Central Kansas, told KWCH that he uses scraps from a local chocolate factory and Mexican food scraps from another local factory to supplement his cows’ diet at a savings of almost 50 cents per cow per day.

“It’s a way of recycling,” he said, as he feeds his cows chocolate pieces, soft taco shells and refried beans. “It’s high fat, high energy feed,” Orville says, which is necessary for his cows to produce hundreds of pounds of milk a day.
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Cargill Beef Solutions announced a recall of nearly 30,000 pounds of fresh ground beef. The beef came from a Pennsylvania plant and is being recalled due to potential salmonella contamination.

The beef was sold to wholesalers in 14 pound packages and eventually repackaged by stores into smaller containers with new labels. All potentially dangerous packages should still bear the establishment number “EST. 9400” and a use-by date of May 25. If consumers still have this beef, it’s assumed it is frozen in their freezers as the expiration date has long past for fresh meat.

This information can all be found in the news release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS). The release comes after the government has connected five cases of illness to the same strain of salmonella found in the Cargill beef. Other cases are being investigated as well to determine if the illnesses are related to the beef.
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McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Burger King announced they are officially dropping the use of Pink Slime in their food. Wait?! What? They were using something called Pink Slime?

Yes, not only were these major chains using the slime, but 70 percent of all the burgers in the United States contain the ingredient, too.

Pink Slime is the name given to ammoniated boneless lean beef trimmings. It’s an inexpensive beef filler. However, Pink Slime is unfit for human consumption until it is gassed with ammonia. McDonald’s and the other big chains are discontinuing their use of the slime after celebrity chef Jamie Oliver launched a campaign of criticism about the ingredient. Oliver brought the truth of the slime to the public’s eyes during his ABC television show Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. Oliver explained how the filler is cheaply sold as dog food, but after the ammonia gassing, it can be served to humans. One of the biggest frustrations about the slime is that it is widely used in school lunches.

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By Kesley Murray

Parents of children who attend Georgia public schools can breathe easy after the U.S. Department of Agriculture recalled 40,000 pounds of ground beef products that were headed to school cafeterias. The meat was possibly contaminated with E. coli and came from the Palo Duro Meat plant in Amarillo, Texas.

Currently, the USDA is saying that they do not believe the ground beef had been served in any school lunches. The meat was being stored in two different warehouses in Georgia and had not been shipped to the six school districts that are associated with the National School Lunch Program.

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