 On March 22 , 2012 , 41 Democrats in Congress , led by Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine , wrote a letter to United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack , head of the USDA , that " creating a two @-@ tiered school lunch program where kids in less affluent communities get served this low @-@ grade slurry is wrong " and urged its elimination from all public @-@ school lunches . Senator Jon Tester of Montana issued a news release in March 2012 urging Agriculture Secretary Vilsack to remove " pink slime " from school lunches and replace it with " high @-@ quality Montana beef " . Tester stated he planned to include provisions in the upcoming farm bill that would allow schools more flexibility in using USDA commodity funds , to increase options in purchasing locally grown and produced foods . 
