FREE-MARKET COMPETITION 1, GOVERNMENT 0: Fast-food standards for meat top those for school lunches. “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, a USA TODAY investigation found.”

But don’t worry, they’ll do a bangup job on healthcare.

UPDATE: Steve Postrel writes: “The government could immediately surpass the fast food companies’ standards with two little words: food irradiation. The tech is decades old, thoroughly tested and proven safe, and they even use it in progressive Scandanavia! Surely the genius technocratic Vulcans in the Obama administration can mobilize their superior understanding of science and public policy to execute this no-brainer.” Yeah, because with these guys, it’s all about the science.