Revisionist Slime

The full history of the "pink slime" saga has yet to be written, but already, it's being revised.

In the wake of plant closings announced this week by BPI, manufacturer of Lean Finely Textured Beef, aka pink slime, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley points the finger of blame at the USDA and FDA:

Grassley says the U.S.D.A. and the FDA should have defended the product, but didn't. Grassley says, “They immediately said hot lunch programs didn't have to purchase it and so that sent a signal if it wasn't good enough for the hot lunch program, it wasn't good enough for this supermarket and that supermarket and they all jumped on board.”

After the U.S.D.A. and FDA's actions, criticism of the beef product on social media went viral. The actions caused irreversible harm to BPI, Grassley says, and the plants - which were temporarily closed in March - are now closed for good.

Except for the fact that the slime story really broke years ago, and the social media virus was spreading well before the USDA gave schools the option of going LFTB free.

There was the January story about McDonald's abandoning the product. There was the ABC News Story in early March. And other stories around the same time about the USDA ordering a bunch of LFTB for school lunches, a move the USDA defended. And then the petition drive.

In mid March, the USDA said schools could choose, while still insisting the product is safe. And yet, Hy-Vee decided to go further and yank the product completely several days later, before reversing that call to give its customers a choice.

All through this, it's been basically the government and government leaders defending LFTB, at all levels, including the USDA. So the notion that this is somehow government's fault, or that a government action caused the slime virus to take root, is a stretch.

Actually, like it or not, this was the free market doing its thing. It was not fair, fully fact-based, neat or tidy, but these are the actions, reactions and overreactions that drive it. Top it with layer after layer of hyperbole from an endless media loop, and it's tough to hold back the deluge.

Pink slime hit the news fan, the public registered displeasure, social networks carried that displeasure at blinding speed and the market reacted. The government tried to keep up. In the end, consumers got choices. But it also appears to have cost jobs.

Still, no self respecting politician can assail the verdict of a free market, even a cruel one. So it's gotta be the government. Round up the usual suspects.