Thursday, April 22, 2010

What's for Lunch: "Turkey Ham" Burrito

By Ed Bruske
aka The Slow Cook

Here's something I'd never seen before: A burrito made out of a giant flour tortilla, "turkey ham," and processed cheese slices. Apparently there wasn't enough starch in the burrito, so one of the sides is pasta noodles. The green stuff is overcooked broccoli. This would be Exhibit A to explain why kids in D.C. schools don't eat vegetables: they are always cooked to death.

This is what the burrito looks like when it's unfolded. Now, this took some imagination.
The "turkey ham," from Jennie-O Turkey Store Sales in Willmar, MN, consists of "cured turkey thigh meat chunked and formed." The label lists ingredients as "turkey thigh meat, water, contains 2% less lite salt (potassium chloride, sodium chloride), sugar, salt, sodium phosphate, sodium erythorbate, natural smoke flavoring, sodium nitrite."
In other words, it's highly processed and doused with chemicals that make turkey meat look like ham.

The girl sitting next to this little boy didn't want her burrito, so she unfolded it, removed the meat and cheese, and gave it to him. He then stuffed the extra meat and cheese into his burrito, making it truly gigantic.
Kids are devilishly clever around food--especially when it means finding ways to get more.

3 comments:

  1. yes well they are doing a disservice giving a white flour tortilla as well. Why not a whole grain or wheat tortilla with chicken, greens salsa and some real cheese? It would be a much better option!

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  2. And, why the giant tortilla for for the skinny little bit of meat. No wonder the little guy wanted to add more filling to his burrito.

    And, is there something wrong with actual ham that we need to substitute "turkey ham?"

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  3. Regarding ham: The schools do not serve pork products.

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