Fairfax schools drop 100% beef burgers

FAIRFAX, Va., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Hamburger patties in Fairfax, Va., schools are no longer 100 percent beef, despite an advocacy group's work to change that.

Real Food for Kids, a advocacy group in Fairfax, won a victory during the 2011-12 school year when the city's schools agreed to feature 100 percent beef patties on lunch menus instead of ones filled with additives, The Washington Post reported Friday.

"We worked so hard, and we talk a lot about this burger and how we changed it," said JoAnne Hammermaster, co-founder and president of Real Food for Kids.

However, the old version of burgers recently reappeared at Fairfax County Public Schools. School board member Ryan McElveen said the all-beef patties were served in September, but students complained they didn't look or taste right.

"To me, it was surprising because it seems a bit like a step backwards," McElveen said.

Penny McConnell, Fairfax schools' food and nutritional service director, sent a note to the advocacy group explaining that, "students are our customers and we listen to them and implement their requests if possible."