FARMINGTON – Despite strong protests from several members, the SAD 9 Board of Directors voted 9-3 Tuesday night to authorize the district’s hot lunch director to purchase irradiated meat for use in school cafeterias.

Food irradiation is a process used to preserve food and improve its quality through the use of radiant energy to zap bacteria such as E.coli that can cause serious illness or even death.

According to a letter written by Susan Gendron, commission of Maine’s Department of Education, “…Irradiated foods can provide a critical extra layer of food safety for our school children.”

Although the 9-3 vote, which was opposed by Alison Broome, Susan Roberts and Jo Josephson, authorizes hot lunch director Cheryl Ellis to purchase irradiated meat at her discretion, Superintendent Michael Cormier said if the district does decide to serve the irradiated meat, parents and students will be notified first.

Flyers would be sent to all parents, he said, and the irradiated meat would be labeled as such on lunch menus.

Although the meat is slightly more expensive Cormier noted, it is a safer product and the taste of the meat does not change.

Ellis said not only would is make the hot lunch program safer, but the government gives schools credits to purchase the meat.

“I am really opposed,” said Broome, who was most openly against approving the use of meat in SAD 9. She asked if there had ever been a problem with food contamination making students sick in the district.

Ellis knocked on the back of a wooden chair and said there hadn’t.

Broome pointed out that the national trend was buying local and said she would rather support area farmers than have the district buy mass produced food from the government.

“I just feel like we are condoning poorly processed meat if we vote for this,” said Josephson.

Board member Bob Pullo, who voted in favor of the authorization, said he was all for something that would make the meat safer for district students. Neil Stinneford of Weld had a similar sentiment, saying that contaminated food does happen, citing the outbreak of hepatitis due to contaminated veggies earlier this month in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Stinneford said he didn’t want to vote against the irradiated meat and take the risk that students would get sick.

The meat would be available from the government starting in January.

On the ‘Net: www.maine.gov/education/sfs/irrbeef/htm.

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