If schools are getting cheap meat from the USDA, they should just make sure to check it for bones when they open the can (I assume it arrives canned).

I put my own chickens, turkeys, and beef in my freezer, and I’m well aware of the quality of meat from different aged animals. People assuming spent hens aren’t that good is just an example of how far away the general population is away from their food supply. It’s not that those hens aren’t good, it’s that the population is ignorant!

Because the hens are usually restricted to tiny cages, they often suffer from osteoporosis and have especially brittle bones that easily splinter. When schools reported bones in the chicken, the government stopped purchases for school meals in April 2003. After new provisions aimed at preventing bone splinters — and lobbying by the trade group, United Egg Producers — purchases resumed that July.

Besides the bones issue, some scientists believe spent-hen meat is more likely to carry salmonella, which can be especially dangerous for children. A 2002 study by Washington State University’s Avian Health and Food Safety Laboratory found that spent-hen carcasses were four times more likely than broilers to be contaminated with salmonella. The spent hens in the study were from a single plant, so the results offer no proof that similar problems occur on a broader scale.