engifineer

From what I read, the possiblity of it spreading via food is almost nil. If people are handling meat at home the way you should, then even if it could live that long on it, it would be killed by cooking and washing your hands. And I know I dont touch my face after handling meat products when cooking until I wash my hands.

Also, there are a lot of exaggerated stories in both directions about safety in meat plants. I have been to very large pork production plants as part of a job I once had, worknig to specify requirements for some production related automation projects. The facility was required to have multiple USDA inspections per day. To the point they had full time USDA inspectors standing on the floor at all times. Even then, one of these facilities had to once close for a couple of weeks due to contamination. this is simply because of statistics. No matter the controls, there is a statistical chance there can be some exposure or an incident. Ramp up the size of production and the chances go up. You never hear about this type of thing out of small meat processors because people that get sick probably do not know where it came from and it never comes out. It comes out with big producers a lot of times because of their size and the fact that the USDA is literally there testing on site and usually finds it that way.

Dont get me wrong, massive food production has a lot of downfalls for sure. We are seeing one of them now. Because we depend on these massive operations, it requires them to keep up with production, so when those plants shut down, there is no possible way of the smaller butchers taking on the load, so massive amounts of animals have to be put down. If the model was a lot more smaller farms that depend on local butchers and processors then this would not be as big of an impact. But we also have far too many people on this ball of rock and thus massive production is required.

Also keep in mind there are probably as many or more cases of food borne illness spread from veggies these days as meat So being a vegetarian does not really make you any safer from it unless you grow your own veggies or buy from only local farmers. We cant go more than 6 months without an issue with lettuce for example. And, a lot of veggies get eaten raw, so if this virus can be spread on food, you are far more likely to catch it from those than from food you cook (And already know to take precautions with handling like meat).

MsPerky

Good points...I thought about the veggie issue, too. See what happens on his next grocery run. Maybe there will not be anything to make a decision about.

boltonblue

Reminds me of Upton Sinclair's book "The Jungle"
His intent was to expose the brutal conditions workers faced in the meat packing industry.
Instead it fostered the establishment of the FDA.

engifineer

I do hope this spawns more interest in people hooking up with local farmers for some of their needs. It is nice for those farms to get more support since they mass production side of food has made a huge impact on them over the years. We do get our beef from a local farm (1/4 to 1/2 cow a year) and am working on getting our pork the same way.

tof

Not sure I can survive on a diet of soy beans, cotton, and catfish. (plus 300 tomatoes from well meaning friends in one three-week period each summer).

engifineer

hahah yeah you have to have some variety! A coworkers mom works with some group that hooks up people with local farmers here so going to try to start getting in touch with one to get pork. Will keep getting beef from the same farm we have been.

We grow a garden each year, but of course that only helps late season. When it does well we end up with about 60-70 lbs of tomatoes, when it does not so well we get about half that . So on good years we end up with a lot of tomatoes to can along with peppers, cucumbers and beans which we freeze. But not nearly large enough to sustain all of our veggie needs so the rest comes from the store. However, our area has a lot of CSA's so may buy into one of those this year to support and get some extra veggies that way too.

boltonblue

mike you forgot crawdads
opr do you call em mudbugs?

tof

Crawfish... (rhymes with raw fish) Boil them up with Crawfish boil, corn on the cobb (always half ears, don't ask me why), and new potatoes. Then suck them heads and pinch them tails.

Or crawfish ettuffee where someone else does the hard work and gets the meat out, and cooks it in a roux with a little shrimp, some spices, and the Louisiana Holy Trinity (bell peppers, onions, and celery). Serve over rice. Amazing.

But you can't get crawfish at the local farmer's market.

buckeyesue

Deb, have you learned any more about your sister’s condition?

We are keeping your sister and her family in our thoughts. And, you too.

MsPerky

Yes, I do have an update. Thanks for asking. My sister's pain level has not been substantially reduced in spite of some very powerful pain meds being administered intravenously. That right now is my biggest worry because she has not been up in two days. Hoping to hear this morning whether the pain level has changed. There are some positives. Her husband has been able to get her records forwarded to a specialist. After I came up with my own diagnosis from snooping around, pretty much everyone seems to be in agreement that it is correct. It is also very serious if not addressed in a timely fashion. The hospitalist does say she feels it is not quite time yet to take one of the actions recommended. And my sister is really not wanting to take it anyway so that could be a problem. Waiting to hear from her this AM. Got info last night from her husband.

She does appear to be getting the meds she needs. Probably the biggest frustration is that he cannot go to the hospital and advocate for her or keep her company. But it is too risky for him and the hospital. We did discuss this yesterday and he has been able to get a patient advocate which is great. Waiting on news about that, also.

I know you understand I cannot reveal any details because of privacy issues. But I can give a general update. To be continued...thanks again for all the good wishes sent our way.