Most people have been up in arms about the mysterious pink slime found at McDonald's and many major food store chains. But my question is... isn't this our fault?
For years now we have been crying "lower prices, lower prices" and "I want a bargain", but along with lowered prices and bargains comes the payoff of lower quality. The main way to have cheaper overhead which entail is passed along to customers (us), companies seek out scientific ways to make more for less - in turn giving the customers what they want, lower prices, while maintaining the overhead cost of operating a food business in the United States.
When the quest to find a way to lower prices while maintaining overhead is found, the scientist in a lab say "we can use this product, subtract x from z to maintain y". Resulting in pink slime in our meat. It's just smart business and smarter science.
Go to the grocery store, pick up a package of natural ground beef and look at the price. It's 78% more than the bargain stuff. Why? Because the farmer had to raise the cow, feed the cow the greatest products, kill it, ground it, and sell it to a supplier. Would you consider that cheep work? From the smell alone of some cow farms, I would charge you more.
Look at it from the other perspective. No farmer involved, but a pimpled faced over educated guy in a white coat takes some of the left over unwanted pieces of beef, subtracts and adds glowing liquid, paints on a color to resemble beef, sales it to a supplier and we eat it. Very much cheaper. Ta-da!
See. Less work, lowered cost which gives you lower prices and companies higher quantity. So who's fault is it? If we didn't live in a world where everything is "microwavable" we'd most likely wouldn't come across these issues of eating a "beaker created" product.
I remember the stories of my grandmother from back in the day, where the morning eggs came from the chicken coop. And the same chicken that laid the eggs that morning was later beheaded and deep fried. My family is from Louisiana (grandmother and grandfather) and they lived off the land. Everything was organic back in those days. If you didn't grow it, churn it or kill it - you didn't eat it. But also back in those days it was okay to have colored people growing, churning and killing.
So I say, when we freak out over something like "pink slime" really look at the whole picture and ask yourself - am I the reason it exist? You cheap bastard!