Coronavirus, Covid 19 Discussion and How It Has Affected Your Daily Life Chat Thread

[MROO]

It's concerning when someone just disappears like that.

Does anyone here know HenOnAJunebug personally? Maybe they could contact her just to check in?

 

[MROO]

My apologies @The Moonshiner for misunderstanding the whole thing then.
It is impossible to read tone of voice.



I recall as a kid getting the farmers permission to clean up what the machines missed. It is a shame that cannot happen now.



DD! You belong here along with the rest of us struggling to get through all this.

Years ago, as Girl Scouts, we would go through behind the harvest machines, too, and give what we collected to a soup kitchen in Baltimore. It was called "gleaning" and we thought it was pretty cool!

 

[21hens-incharge]

Years ago, as Girl Scouts, we would go through behind the harvest machines, too, and give what we collected to a soup kitchen in Baltimore. It was called "gleaning" and we thought it was pretty cool!

Those days are sadly long gone. I think part is everyone is afraid of being sued if someone gets sick. The food banks here cannot accept eggs that have not been inspected. The supermarket here sends aging/damaged produce to feed lots instead of soup kitchens for fear of being sued.

We definitely are way way to far from our food sources in the chain these days.

 

[MROO]

Wow! All caught up again and it's only 10 pm! Before I sign off, I have to share a neat "Covid Moment" DS turned 21 today, still on lockdown with nowhere open to celebrate. I REALLY felt the need to make his 21st memorable, but what to do? What to do"
Well, DD and I spent the afternoon blowing up balloons. Many. Many. Balloons. I didn't realize I had so many stashed, but we had enough to festoon the entire front porch (big old-fashioned front porch ... LOTS of balloons!) DD painted a big "21" on the storm door. We ordered "No Contact" pizza and baked a cake, but that just didn't seem like enough.
So ...
I put out a message on FB asking anyone who was free to come play "Social Distancing" on my front lawn to sing Happy Birthday. Friends were also invited to drive by between 6-8 and honk their horns. It was AMAZING! we had over a dozen people here to sing. One of them brought tiny cups. Another had a bottle of wine ... and we all toasted the Birthday Boy! We even had two friends join us online from out-of-state via House Party. The honking went on for almost three hours!
When we finally settled in, DS sat back with a deep sigh and quietly said, "Thank You for putting that together. That was REALLY nice!"
It turned out to be a pretty memorable event. He was so grateful. It was SO cool!

 

[Beer can]

Refrigeration at food banks wouldn't solve the fresh food crisis we have now. It's not the farmer or the end consumer who have issues, it's the middle men - the milk processors, the vegetable canneries, the livestock processors, the markets, If they don't have the staff to work, it doesn't matter how much food the farmers produce - food can't be moved along the supply chain.

It's not just a matter of "if you can't bottle the milk, make cheese" or "If you can't send the chickens to the processing plant, give them to the poor." Refitting any sort of food processing plant takes time and money ... and while that's being done, food safety dates expire so ... food gets dumped/destroyed/trashed. And for livestock, how many of "the poor" know how to process a live chicken, anyway? And how many could do it humanely?

We have gotten too far away from our food sources. And because of that distance, we have many, many regulations to maintain the safety of our food as it moves through the chain. If any small part of the process bottlenecks or breaks, the whole thing falters. It will be interesting - and probably a bit frightening - to see how this pandemic changes the way we handle and distribute food, not just to the needy, but to all of us. Let's hope we can all learn and adapt, so everybody wins in the end.

Keep hearing all this food nationwide being thrown away because restaurants and schools closed. School closes for a couple months every year. And the people that ate in those restaurants and schools didn't quit eating, they didn't disappear, they are still consuming from the pipeline. There will be food shortages from this. Not saying I think we'll starve, but we won't see a lot of food items in the stores.

 

[Beer can]

Wow! All caught up again and it's only 10 pm! Before I sign off, I have to share a neat "Covid Moment" DS turned 21 today, still on lockdown with nowhere open to celebrate. I REALLY felt the need to make his 21st memorable, but what to do? What to do"
Well, DD and I spent the afternoon blowing up balloons. Many. Many. Balloons. I didn't realize I had so many stashed, but we had enough to festoon the entire front porch (big old-fashioned front porch ... LOTS of balloons!) DD painted a big "21" on the storm door. We ordered "No Contact" pizza and baked a cake, but that just didn't seem like enough.
So ...
I put out a message on FB asking anyone who was free to come play "Social Distancing" on my front lawn to sing Happy Birthday. Friends were also invited to drive by between 6-8 and honk their horns. It was AMAZING! we had over a dozen people here to sing. One of them brought tiny cups. Another had a bottle of wine ... and we all toasted the Birthday Boy! We even had two friends join us online from out-of-state via House Party. The honking went on for almost three hours!
When we finally settled in, DS sat back with a deep sigh and quietly said, "Thank You for putting that together. That was REALLY nice!"
It turned out to be a pretty memorable event. He was so grateful. It was SO cool!

Buddy of mine posted his boy's birthday party on FB, love the shirts they were wearing

 

[CleverTwist]

So Covid-19 is probably why I even know about this site. Crazy really, but I became worried over possible food shortages and decided to change a few things around that could help us self sustain..one of which led to chickens! I didn’t know how much I would like these creatures whatsoever, but I’m a possible addict! I first read about different breeds and which lay a bunch of eggs and decided white leghorns is what I’m on the hunt for. I planned on 20 chicks. Well, TS had a limit of 8 per breed (apparently I wasn’t the only one with my idea lol). So I bought my 8 white leghorn pullets and ended up choosing 8 Welsummer straight run after overhearing what cool dark brown eggs they lay and how friendly/ docile they are so what the heck! Then I became worried the leghorns would be wild and crazy so I read some more and became determined to tame them. That’s where mealworms came in (they became my instant friends..caught on quick!) But while buying the worms, TS had a batch of Amberlinks and a limit of 5 so there I went home with some more pullets! Fast forward 10 more days, I’m at Rural King buying chicken wire and they are loaded completely up with chicks! Well I see the other breed I was after because of all of the researching I’ve been doing and there’s 2 varieties: Colombian and Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. I wanted Golden Laced, but hey this BLR version sounds cool so I bought 6 straight run and home I went. Then I researched the breed and I was wowed by them so I went back and bought 6 more! I seemed to have a bunch of lightish colored ones so after a long time reading and searching, I learned about splash, black, blue. I said ut oh..I have mostly splash...so I went back and bought the 6 darkest ones to even the flock out I’ve lost my freaking mind, but I love these things! I’m cleaning pasty butt, putting probiotics in clean water daily with electrolytes. I check them constantly and even separated a couple out to their own spot when I thought they seemed slower than the others...put honey in their water and more probiotics after that..a couple days and back to group. So far so good, but I’m dang lucky because I live on a horse farm and luckily I have all kinds of room..2 fully closed horse stalls off on their own never being used plus a chicken coop the size of a stall 12 x 12. And now I refurbished the kids trampoline for a daytime area for the teenage chicks that I can move around. But yes, I’m definitely pretty much crazy lol #Covid19hasanupside

 

[The Moonshiner]

Refrigeration at food banks wouldn't solve the fresh food crisis we have now. It's not the farmer or the end consumer who have issues, it's the middle men - the milk processors, the vegetable canneries, the livestock processors, the markets, If they don't have the staff to work, it doesn't matter how much food the farmers produce - food can't be moved along the supply chain.

It's not just a matter of "if you can't bottle the milk, make cheese" or "If you can't send the chickens to the processing plant, give them to the poor." Refitting any sort of food processing plant takes time and money ... and while that's being done, food safety dates expire so ... food gets dumped/destroyed/trashed. And for livestock, how many of "the poor" know how to process a live chicken, anyway? And how many could do it humanely?

We have gotten too far away from our food sources. And because of that distance, we have many, many regulations to maintain the safety of our food as it moves through the chain. If any small part of the process bottlenecks or breaks, the whole thing falters. It will be interesting - and probably a bit frightening - to see how this pandemic changes the way we handle and distribute food, not just to the needy, but to all of us. Let's hope we can all learn and adapt, so everybody wins in the end.

Why are all the middle man places closed? Aren't they essential businesses? If they're part of the food chain I don't see why they aren't operating.
I read something the other day about whoever makes Marlboro opening back up after 2 weeks shut down.
Close to me Bass Pro Shops was allowed to stay open as its an essential business.
I don't get it.

 

[Folly's place]

At least the slaughter plants have had big problems with workers getting C-19, working in very close quarters in super fast 'assembly' lines. It's a dangerous job during good times, and this has not helped to improve poor working conditions.
It has been a staffing problem, where 'social distancing' is not easy, or impossible to maintain.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

@CleverTwist , I lost count! How many chicks now? Love it!
It took me years to have that many, and housing for them. And how many horses?
Need pictures!
Mary