Nebraska School District Apologizes For Serving Students "Exotic" Kangaroo-Meat Chili

Monday: Chicken nuggets. Tuesday: Pizza squares. Wednesday: Kangaroo chili? The exotic game meat is causing an uproar for the Potter-Dix Public School District in Potter, Nebraska, where superintendent Mike Williams this week issued an apology to parents after school cafeterias served students kangaroo-beef chili.

No, the meat wasn't unsafe. No, it wasn't expired or damaged. It was just... weird.

According to a statement posted to the school's district's website, head cook Kevin Frei, added the kangaroo meat to chili for October 10's lunch because of its "nutritional value as a very lean meat." According to Marx Foods, which sells kangaroo meat in the U.S., the meat has a slightly gamey flavor similar to venison. It boasts a 90/10 lean meat-to-fat ratio and, compared to lean beef, packs "more protein and significantly lower cholesterol." School officials say they believe the 'roo meat met USDA standards.

So what's the problem? Apparently, the kangaroo meat is just too exotic.

"If a family wants to eat exotic foods, they can do so on their own time–not at school," superintendent Williams said in the statement. "If we were to have food or ingredients that are out of the ordinary, they should be listed on the menu... We will no way be serving be serving food of this nature again. Period."

Personally, I'd rather eat chili made with lean game meat than roll the dice on a school cafeteria's industrially supplied mystery meat, but I guess that's a decision for each student to make individually.

"I apologize for the anxiety and any harm that this has caused any individual student or families," Williams' statement concluded. "We will make sure that something like this never occurs again."