In the past three years, the government has provided the nation's schools with millions of pounds of beef and chicken that wouldn't meet the quality or safety standards of many fast-food restaurants, from Jack in the Box and other burger places to chicken chains such as KFC...

So says a USA Today investigation just released this morning. Though the USDA asserts that the meat it purchases for the National School Lunch Program "meets or exceeds standards in commercial products," USA Today claims that isn't so, saying, "McDonald's, Burger King and Costco, for instance, are far more rigorous in checking for bacteria and dangerous pathogens." Later, the paper adds, "[T]he limits Jack in the Box and other big retailers set for certain bacteria in their burgers are up to 10 times more stringent than what the USDA sets for school beef."

Considering the fast food industry's tendency to be stricken at random with dangerous bacterial outbreaks, this news is especially disconcerting.

It's also frustrating, as we've known for years that it's possible to deliver filling, nutritious meals to our children for a price comparable to what we're spending now.

Congress is scheduled to revisit the Child Nutrition Act, which oversees the national school lunch program, in 2010. Until then--at the very least--31 million children will continue daily eating meat not even Taco Bell would serve.