The recommendation that people stop eating poultry seems hyperbolic, or is there some context we readers need to know about? Cooking kills salmonella right? Without context to know how the hazard translates into increased risk, it's hard to know how seriously to take the claim.
In the article I stated that salmonella causes 1.35 million infections in the US every year. The vast majority of those infections come from food, particularly undercooked and improperly handled poultry. That is a well known fact and is discussed in the article I linked for people looking for further context. It's a straight line from removing the limits of salmonella allowed in poultry and more people getting sick from bringing contaminated poultry into their homes. The only way to avoid that increased risk is to avoid poultry.
I'm not sure what further context you need to understand that.
Tons! That relationship is anything but a straightline. What percentage of Americans are improperly handling poultry or are being exposed to it and how? There's a huge sociotechnical system between poultry farm production and consumption, and I think readers would be better served knowing when and how salmonella on chicken ends up in their bodies, and whether or not reasonable precautions on their part (i.e., using a meat thermometer) would be sufficient. To just tell them not to eat it is to be oddly incurious about the problem and risks being fearmongering rather than publicly helpful expert information.
The news about all this deregulation really worries me as someone with ARFID (an eating disorder characterized by an extremely limited variety of food that I can eat.) There are only 4 meals I can really eat and all of them either involve dairy or poultry😭 I have started treatment for ARFID, but it will probably be a couple years until I could feasibly cut dairy or poultry out of my diet without making my nutritional deficits even worse. I just hope for all of us that this doesn’t end up being as bad as we think (even though it’ll probably be even worse)
Ughhh, I hate that this makes an already difficult situation that much more stressful for you. You're right, it's best for us to be prepared for the worst so that we're not caught on our heels. Hopefully staying informed and finding trustworthy suppliers who do their own testing is more than enough for now.
Welp, where I live out in rural Maine, the food options locally are better than any time in the recent past. The close-path food sources are not affected by any of these crises I read and hear about. Local eggs haven't skyrocketed in price, no avian flu in my sources of raw butter, cream and milk. Only where food supplies are handled through big retail, big distribution and big ag are these problems. Of course, the way I source food probably costs twice as much in dollars. But in the end, family health, negative externalities of big food and peace of mind make the rural food path healthier and stronger than in the past.
Yeah I do hope that whenever we start to rebuild from this moment, we examine our food system and all the damage these big food monopolies do to our planet, our health, and our safety. Of course we still need plenty of safety standards and regulations, but these smaller suppliers are the ones who are actually trying to feed us well and sustainably. We need to encourage more communities to build these close-path food sources like you have. We'd all be better for it.
Yeah its time to shop with some extreme caution or directly from farmers/suppliers who you trust and that have transparent safety and testing standards. And if you're in doubt, better to just skip it. It's too wild out there.
It depends on how much you trust the safety standards of the country of origin when it comes to the product because we aren't checking it for safety when it comes here, even before all this bullshit.
Putting trust in politicians that have probably never stepped foot on a farm or even know the basics of plant science has just never seemed like a good idea to me. There are still lots of growers (small to large scale) out there that care about the quality of the food. Find them, support them. I honestly don’t even pay attention to what the government is doing any more, it will always be a shit show centered around greed and control.
Michelle, I sincerely do not know how I would have survived the first months of the pandemic without your cookbooks. I had plenty of beans and frozen veggies and staples like that, and appreciated your work then. I got even more into vegan and plant based cooking with some medical issues which are post cancer treatment artery damage. I literally can’t afford to risk having cholesterol.
Your work has meant so much to me. I love supporting your Substack. I do hope you write another book. Now I gotta go out and forage for some more garbanzo bean flour lol. I think will drive to my local Persian grocer. They always have the good stuff.
I love going to our lil Persian market. My MIL and the owner just chatter away in Farsi and I snag all sorts of cool things because the owner wants me to try ALL the Iranian foods and spices. Win/win.
Thanks, Michelle. Learning from the pandemic, the excellent people at our Washington State Department of Health are using text messaging to reach migrant workers in poultry and dairy operations directly, and are keeping track of bird flu that way. It doesn't make up for the abdication of responsibility by the feds, but it's something.
We have supply management here in Canada that basically (and someone can correct me if I’m wrong) controls and regulates supply of milk and eggs and poultry so it isn’t produced in mass supply. This administration as well as some of our right wing politicians want to abolish it. If so we are gonna be in the same situation.
Thanks for the Saturday morning existential dread! Hopefully should I get sick from my food, the power of love will see my through. (I'm hearing it will be my HMO that sees me through, not Huey Lewis.) [I've now been reminded that my HMO is ending at the end of the year, so it's up to my next healthcare insurance. 🤞]
JBS IS EVIL. I live in Kalamazoo, Michigan and there is a JBS plant about 20 minutes north of me in Plainwell. Their safety record is abysmal, and their treatment of immigrants, their main employee source, is absolutely horrific. Horrific. Nothing would make me happier than to see them go directly bankrupt.
Yeah, they usually get hit once a year or so, and I'm pretty sure they'll have an uninterrupted stream of slave...ope, I mean immigrant...labor, now that they have paid the vig to the mafia that is that man and his minions.
I’ve honestly been struggling to keep it together, and yesterday’s arrest of the judge in Milwaukee sent me spiraling to a very dark place. But yes, getting back to food safety, I already have made a change. I’ve been craving salad but I’m concerned about the safety of lettuce. It’s hard not to feel like we’re heading into an all new and improved Dark Ages.
I am a lawyer and I feel certain that Ice was planning to arrest that man without a warrant. I have actually had people arrested in court by informing the judge that there is an outstanding bench warrant on the other person. For felony spousal abuse. While I am in family court. Very satisfying I can tell you, But without such a warrant, an arrest cannot be made in a courtroom. I don’t know the specifics but I can tell you every attorney and judge feels this on a gut level. It is very frightening.
Me too, Lisa. I stare at all the lettuce in the store trying to figure the safety odds like I'm at a casino playing roulette: "Organic? I mean is it cleaner shit spread on those crops?"
Thanks for keeping us informed! My garden can’t grow fast enough.
The recommendation that people stop eating poultry seems hyperbolic, or is there some context we readers need to know about? Cooking kills salmonella right? Without context to know how the hazard translates into increased risk, it's hard to know how seriously to take the claim.
In the article I stated that salmonella causes 1.35 million infections in the US every year. The vast majority of those infections come from food, particularly undercooked and improperly handled poultry. That is a well known fact and is discussed in the article I linked for people looking for further context. It's a straight line from removing the limits of salmonella allowed in poultry and more people getting sick from bringing contaminated poultry into their homes. The only way to avoid that increased risk is to avoid poultry.
I'm not sure what further context you need to understand that.
Tons! That relationship is anything but a straightline. What percentage of Americans are improperly handling poultry or are being exposed to it and how? There's a huge sociotechnical system between poultry farm production and consumption, and I think readers would be better served knowing when and how salmonella on chicken ends up in their bodies, and whether or not reasonable precautions on their part (i.e., using a meat thermometer) would be sufficient. To just tell them not to eat it is to be oddly incurious about the problem and risks being fearmongering rather than publicly helpful expert information.
The news about all this deregulation really worries me as someone with ARFID (an eating disorder characterized by an extremely limited variety of food that I can eat.) There are only 4 meals I can really eat and all of them either involve dairy or poultry😭 I have started treatment for ARFID, but it will probably be a couple years until I could feasibly cut dairy or poultry out of my diet without making my nutritional deficits even worse. I just hope for all of us that this doesn’t end up being as bad as we think (even though it’ll probably be even worse)
Ughhh, I hate that this makes an already difficult situation that much more stressful for you. You're right, it's best for us to be prepared for the worst so that we're not caught on our heels. Hopefully staying informed and finding trustworthy suppliers who do their own testing is more than enough for now.
Welp, where I live out in rural Maine, the food options locally are better than any time in the recent past. The close-path food sources are not affected by any of these crises I read and hear about. Local eggs haven't skyrocketed in price, no avian flu in my sources of raw butter, cream and milk. Only where food supplies are handled through big retail, big distribution and big ag are these problems. Of course, the way I source food probably costs twice as much in dollars. But in the end, family health, negative externalities of big food and peace of mind make the rural food path healthier and stronger than in the past.
Yeah I do hope that whenever we start to rebuild from this moment, we examine our food system and all the damage these big food monopolies do to our planet, our health, and our safety. Of course we still need plenty of safety standards and regulations, but these smaller suppliers are the ones who are actually trying to feed us well and sustainably. We need to encourage more communities to build these close-path food sources like you have. We'd all be better for it.
What an article to read as I finish my bagel with cream cheese. 😭 My husband and I *love* dairy, guess we’ll be entering a dry spell for a while
Yeah its time to shop with some extreme caution or directly from farmers/suppliers who you trust and that have transparent safety and testing standards. And if you're in doubt, better to just skip it. It's too wild out there.
How about imported cheese?
It depends on how much you trust the safety standards of the country of origin when it comes to the product because we aren't checking it for safety when it comes here, even before all this bullshit.
https://cheesereporter.com/news/2025/01/10/fda-isnt-meeting-domestic-foreign-food-facility-inspection-mandates-gao/
Putting trust in politicians that have probably never stepped foot on a farm or even know the basics of plant science has just never seemed like a good idea to me. There are still lots of growers (small to large scale) out there that care about the quality of the food. Find them, support them. I honestly don’t even pay attention to what the government is doing any more, it will always be a shit show centered around greed and control.
Absolutely. Buying small and directly from farmers is the way to go
Michelle, I sincerely do not know how I would have survived the first months of the pandemic without your cookbooks. I had plenty of beans and frozen veggies and staples like that, and appreciated your work then. I got even more into vegan and plant based cooking with some medical issues which are post cancer treatment artery damage. I literally can’t afford to risk having cholesterol.
Your work has meant so much to me. I love supporting your Substack. I do hope you write another book. Now I gotta go out and forage for some more garbanzo bean flour lol. I think will drive to my local Persian grocer. They always have the good stuff.
I'm so glad I could help you out. It's been wonderful to get to know you through Substack too. If I write another book, you will be the first to know!
It would be a really fabulous book!! Please do one! We need a good one again. New and 100% you.
I love going to our lil Persian market. My MIL and the owner just chatter away in Farsi and I snag all sorts of cool things because the owner wants me to try ALL the Iranian foods and spices. Win/win.
I love that this article came out at 4:20am. 🤣😜 Also- thanks for another great article about the fuckery of this country. Ugh…
I had to do it 😂
Thanks, Michelle. Learning from the pandemic, the excellent people at our Washington State Department of Health are using text messaging to reach migrant workers in poultry and dairy operations directly, and are keeping track of bird flu that way. It doesn't make up for the abdication of responsibility by the feds, but it's something.
I’m very proud of our west coast states and how much they’re trying to shield us from the feds. Not everyone is insane!
We have supply management here in Canada that basically (and someone can correct me if I’m wrong) controls and regulates supply of milk and eggs and poultry so it isn’t produced in mass supply. This administration as well as some of our right wing politicians want to abolish it. If so we are gonna be in the same situation.
Thanks for the Saturday morning existential dread! Hopefully should I get sick from my food, the power of love will see my through. (I'm hearing it will be my HMO that sees me through, not Huey Lewis.) [I've now been reminded that my HMO is ending at the end of the year, so it's up to my next healthcare insurance. 🤞]
Greedy Evil Power mad assholes talking about the power of love....? I'm surprised they can say the word without melting or being struck by lightning.
Seriously! It’s madness. Where is the fucking shame?
You have to be self-aware to feel shame 😔
I keep forgetting that very important detail
It is madness and thank goddess for people like you, Michelle. Every time your government hits a new low, it takes my breath away.
Seriously, Trump was always the worst and people voted for him??
I will never, ever understand.
So so sorry. I’ll get back to less horrific news soon I promise
Can't wait to meet you Thursday! You should be able to recognize me. I'll be the old guy 🫡
It’s going to be so fun!!!!! I can’t wait ❤️
That's so awesome you teo get to meet our fearless leader in person!
Wish you were with!
We'll get a big group together somehow someday.
Somehow. Someday.
JBS IS EVIL. I live in Kalamazoo, Michigan and there is a JBS plant about 20 minutes north of me in Plainwell. Their safety record is abysmal, and their treatment of immigrants, their main employee source, is absolutely horrific. Horrific. Nothing would make me happier than to see them go directly bankrupt.
I'm sure ICE has been told to keep away from their location too. FFS.
Yeah, they usually get hit once a year or so, and I'm pretty sure they'll have an uninterrupted stream of slave...ope, I mean immigrant...labor, now that they have paid the vig to the mafia that is that man and his minions.
BuT tHeY'rE tAkInG oUr JoBs!
I’ve honestly been struggling to keep it together, and yesterday’s arrest of the judge in Milwaukee sent me spiraling to a very dark place. But yes, getting back to food safety, I already have made a change. I’ve been craving salad but I’m concerned about the safety of lettuce. It’s hard not to feel like we’re heading into an all new and improved Dark Ages.
I am a lawyer and I feel certain that Ice was planning to arrest that man without a warrant. I have actually had people arrested in court by informing the judge that there is an outstanding bench warrant on the other person. For felony spousal abuse. While I am in family court. Very satisfying I can tell you, But without such a warrant, an arrest cannot be made in a courtroom. I don’t know the specifics but I can tell you every attorney and judge feels this on a gut level. It is very frightening.
I’m right there with you. Arresting judges is horrific and we’re running out of time to fix it.
Me too, Lisa. I stare at all the lettuce in the store trying to figure the safety odds like I'm at a casino playing roulette: "Organic? I mean is it cleaner shit spread on those crops?"
Now that is a comment that made me laugh in the middle of all this mess. Thanks!
Yeah, that arrest sent me into a rage spiral too.