 While some school districts have their own suppliers , many school districts purchase beef directly from the USDA and do not know what is in the beef . For the year 2012 , the USDA planned on purchasing 7 million pounds of lean beef trimmings for the U.S. national school lunch program . USDA spokesman Mike Jarvis stated that of the 117 million pounds of beef ordered nationally for the school lunch program last year , six percent was LFTB . An analysis of California Department of Education data indicated that " anywhere from none to nearly 3 million pounds of beef from the USDA that was served in California schools last year could have contained lean finely textured beef " . According to the USDA , the cost differential between ground beef with and without the additive has been estimated at approximately 3 % . 
