FARMINGTON – SAD 9 directors voted Tuesday to rescind a vote to allow irradiated meat to be served in school lunches.

The district has never bought or served irradiated meat, even though the vote late last year granted that authority, Assistant Superintendent Sue Pratt said.

When directors approved the use of irradiated meat, they also adopted a procedure to notify students and parents of irradiated meat, and to offer an alternative to it.

Director Jo Josephson of Temple asked that the board review the irradiated meat decision because material received last year was one-sided, and now there is more information on the subject.

In food irradiation, also known as ionizing radiation, food is exposed to controlled levels of a particular form of electromagnetic energy approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Josephson said there are some unresolved issues about the process.

Director Alison Broome of Vienna said there are several reasons to oppose food irradiation. Broome, citing the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said irradiation destroys nutrients and creates new chemicals in food, masks unsanitary conditions in slaughterhouses, contributes to consolidation and globalization of the food industry, hurts family farms and local farms, and its facilities create air pollution and other environmental threats.

Broome said irradiation is not a very safe technology.

Josephson proposed that the board rescind the vote, which would allow the board to step back and create a broader policy on school food.

Dr. Iris Silverstein, the school physician, said she was concerned that there have been no long-term studies on the consequences of irradiated meat.

She said she didn’t think that serving it to children was the best way to test it.

Director Neil Stinneford of Weld said the district had a policy of notifying people if irradiated meat was to be used.

“To me it’s knee-jerk science,” Stinneford said. “We drink pasteurized milk … it tastes different. … Most of us get vaccinated even though there are risks.”

He said if the board could prevent one outbreak of E. coli, it would protect the children.

Chairman Greg Webber said he would vote in favor of rescinding the vote to allow the board to step back and look at the food and nutrition in the district.

SAD 9 health coordinator Melissa Yeaton said she plans to have a student advisory committee look at food and nutrition in the schools.

Board members are welcome to join the committee, she said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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