YOU EAT REAL CHICKENS? ARE YOU INSANE??

[off-grid hen]

Food safety is a bigger concern than people think. Now, many of us here have been taught the proper ways to home processing and preservation. But there are a lot of avenues for contamination. Lets say you let let the manure compost well enough before it's applied to the garden. THEN when you make jam (or sauce or whatever) you don't check the ph of the product before you water bath or pressure can. THEN (if the product needs to be cooked) product isn't heated to the proper temperature when prepared for a meal. If the birds (or whatever the meat source) isn't chilled properly at the appropriate times, or held at cold storage at the right temps, then left on the counter to thaw for 8 hours, then cooked rare... We could easily apply this to the macaroni salad left out in the summer heat or the shrimp cocktail left on the platter for hours at the Christmas party.

Now, I'm no germophobe. I believe the immune system also needs practice, and make sure I have a decent amount of healthy good bacteria in my system. Im not a compulsive hand washer unless it involves cooking. But if someone who has an immature or compromised immune system (young child, the elderly, or chemo patient, etc) they could become so ill they could be hospitalized and even die. Before good food handling came into practice and before vaccines, a LOT of people were effected. It's why we have the department of health. Have they gone too far with some things? Without a doubt. But their jobs are very important and integral to the type of society we have today. I wonder how many more people would become sick if they weren't around.

 

[ChickenManTN]

Food safety is a bigger concern than people think. Now, many of us here have been taught the proper ways to home processing and preservation. But there are a lot of avenues for contamination. Lets say you let let the manure compost well enough before it's applied to the garden. THEN when you make jam (or sauce or whatever) you don't check the ph of the product before you water bath or pressure can. THEN (if the product needs to be cooked) product isn't heated to the proper temperature when prepared for a meal. If the birds (or whatever the meat source) isn't chilled properly at the appropriate times, or held at cold storage at the right temps, then left on the counter to thaw for 8 hours, then cooked rare... We could easily apply this to the macaroni salad left out in the summer heat or the shrimp cocktail left on the platter for hours at the Christmas party.

Now, I'm no germophobe. I believe the immune system also needs practice, and make sure I have a decent amount of healthy good bacteria in my system. Im not a compulsive hand washer unless it involves cooking. But if someone who has an immature or compromised immune system (young child, the elderly, or chemo patient, etc) they could become so ill they could be hospitalized and even die. Before good food handling came into practice and before vaccines, a LOT of people were effected. It's why we have the department of health. Have they gone too far with some things? Without a doubt. But their jobs are very important and integral to the type of society we have today. I wonder how many more people would become sick if they weren't around.

The population would definitely be "checked" if we lost our precious USDA and FDA. We would no longer be able to trust just any food in the store. We would be compelled to produce more for ourselves and trade on a local level with people who we know and trust. Doesn't sound like a bad deal in the long run. Truth be told, if all the supermarkets closed tomorrow I would probably die along with most everyone else. I hope to greatly reduce that vulnerability. I resent the fact that we cannot feed ourselves, and that we rely on our government and our market for safe food. We should be able to feed ourselves. It's basic human nature. We owe it to ourselves and to our families to reclaim much of our self-sufficiency that has been lost over the last couple generations.

 

[davelile]

Teach your kids where food comes from. Grow local and eat local.

 

[Triple Willow]

Teach your kids where food comes from. Grow local and eat local.

And teach them how to be hunters and gatherers. God bless farmers but they have sprayed and killed a lot of wild food sources for the past 50 years. Even though they have killed a lot of it, there are still enough wild plants out there to keep a lot of people alive for a long time. I need to learn more about what is edible myself.

 

[Triple Willow]

The population would definitely be "checked" if we lost our precious USDA and FDA. We would no longer be able to trust just any food in the store. We would be compelled to produce more for ourselves and trade on a local level with people who we know and trust. Doesn't sound like a bad deal in the long run. Truth be told, if all the supermarkets closed tomorrow I would probably die along with most everyone else. I hope to greatly reduce that vulnerability. I resent the fact that we cannot feed ourselves, and that we rely on our government and our market for safe food. We should be able to feed ourselves. It's basic human nature. We owe it to ourselves and to our families to reclaim much of our self-sufficiency that has been lost over the last couple generations.

Having seen what processing plants try to get by with, you have no idea how true that first statement is!

I would definitely lose a lot of weight but I refuse to die under that circumstance. lol The problem will be the people who will sit on their backside and play helpless and expect you to keep yourself AND THEM alive! I live in part of the area that had the big ice storm in January 2009. Some here were without electricity for over 30 days. It was 9 days at my place. That was a huge reality check. Some threw in the towel early on and went to places like the local high school where they were housed, fed, kept warm, etc. Thinking about it, I am not prepared for something like that to happen today and I need my butt kicked for it. The thing that amazes me are the people who will not even try to be prepared for something like that no matter how much you try to get them to. I have had them say (seriously!), "we will just come to your house"! THAT is the mentality of most people, "somebody else can get prepared and take care of me". AMAZING! I will gladly direct them to the local high school where they herd helpless sheeple in the event of an emergency. I will take care of the elderly and small children to the very best of my ability. The rest, nope not happening.

 

[off-grid hen]

I am glad I live in the center of 300 undeveloped acres. I could survive on fiddle heads and squirrel if I had to. I'm not a prepper, but I enjoy my lifestyle because I feel it's important to know how to do things independently.

But my point was that there are avenues for contamination in home production as well as commercial production. There are some people who I wouldn't eat what they prepared. Not because they are dirty, but because since folks haven't had to practice food production, they don't know proper precautions. It doesn't have to be large scale to kill you.

 

[off-grid hen]

And yes, there are some who have told me, "I'm coming to your house when society goes to sh*%#." Well, you'll have to take a number.

 

[Triple Willow]

I am glad I live in the center of 300 undeveloped acres. I could survive on fiddle heads and squirrel if I had to. I'm not a prepper, but I enjoy my lifestyle because I feel it's important to know how to do things independently.

But my point was that there are avenues for contamination in home production as well as commercial production. There are some people who I wouldn't eat what they prepared. Not because they are dirty, but because since folks haven't had to practice food production, they don't know proper precautions. It doesn't have to be large scale to kill you.

True

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Food safety is a bigger concern than people think. Now, many of us here have been taught the proper ways to home processing and preservation. But there are a lot of avenues for contamination. Lets say you let let the manure compost well enough before it's applied to the garden. THEN when you make jam (or sauce or whatever) you don't check the ph of the product before you water bath or pressure can. THEN (if the product needs to be cooked) product isn't heated to the proper temperature when prepared for a meal. If the birds (or whatever the meat source) isn't chilled properly at the appropriate times, or held at cold storage at the right temps, then left on the counter to thaw for 8 hours, then cooked rare... We could easily apply this to the macaroni salad left out in the summer heat or the shrimp cocktail left on the platter for hours at the Christmas party.

Now, I'm no germophobe. I believe the immune system also needs practice, and make sure I have a decent amount of healthy good bacteria in my system. Im not a compulsive hand washer unless it involves cooking. But if someone who has an immature or compromised immune system (young child, the elderly, or chemo patient, etc) they could become so ill they could be hospitalized and even die. Before good food handling came into practice and before vaccines, a LOT of people were effected. It's why we have the department of health. Have they gone too far with some things? Without a doubt. But their jobs are very important and integral to the type of society we have today. I wonder how many more people would become sick if they weren't around.

I agree, and I don't have to wonder; I know. My husband worked as a sanitarian for several years, and the Department of Health saves millions of lives. If you look at the historical records, millions died from drinking unpasteurized milk, improperly home-canned goods, contaminated water, unsanitary conditions in food factories and restaurants, etc.

It's amazing what the Health Department finds even in 2013; salads being prepared and stored in the alley behind the restaurant next to the garbage cans, raw meat being stored above (and dripping onto) the green onions, rat droppings on the dessert cart, etc. And they not only take care of the restaurant checks, they respond to complaints about hoarders (and the attendant rats), make sure poor children get their vaccinations, give people advice about how to have a healthy pregnancy, and more. THEN, if we have a true health emergency in this country, it's the Health Department that would be in charge of getting people the medication they need. When we had the H1N1 scare, I was pregnant (so a priority) and was impressed with how well our local Health Department handled the tens of thousands lining up for the vaccine.

It's easy to resent a government agency telling you what to do, but there's something to be said for a group with specialized knowledge. Just this fall I was at a farm stand and said something about the guidelines for canning pumpkin changing--they did some research and found it's not safe to home-can pureed pumpkin, only chunks (and even then, you have to pressure-can the chunks). The older lady running the stand said something like "these government types poking their noses into our business! Nobody ever died from home-canned things. Food was safer in our grandparents' time." And I just had to stare--that statement was incredibly ignorant. My grandmother lost two siblings who ate botulism-tainted home canned items during the Depression, and she used to talk about cans exploding in the basement, a sure sign of contamination and spoiled food. I put up hundreds of quarts of different foods each year, and have yet to have a tainted or exploding canning jar. I can't take all the credit for this; a lot of credit goes to those nosy government agencies and them telling me how to do things (right) instead of minding their own business, lol!

 

[off-grid hen]

And I think ( and then I'll be off the soap box) the "I can't believe you eat real chickens" bit comes from people trusting the USDA and FDA more than they trust common people. People are so removed that they don't even know the science behind any of it anymore, which is a darn shame. They trust eggs and meat sprayed with bleach instead of meat that hasn't been contaminated by fecal bacteria in the first place.

I have hope, though. The small farm and "local food" movements are strong in rural areas, and the rise of whole foods and trader Joel's chains (however similar they are to the other chain store models) indicate to me that people are at least trying to be more aware and concerned, however dissillusioned the might still be.