Monday, June 15, 2020

Still eating our vegetables


Here's a summer meal we enjoyed recently: home-made cold leek and potato soup (also called Vichyssoise), lettuce & tomato salad, and white wine. At this point, Len and I are continuing with our decision to buy no meat, and very little chicken, because of the lack of worker safety the meat and chicken processors during the pandemic. Meat and chicken were always the center of most of our meals, so we are still adapting and trying new recipes. Note that we do not fear that eating meat will expose us to the virus; rather, our concerns are about the workers.

More vegetarian meals:

Outdoors: Rosé Wine with home-made Swedish rye bread.
The rye bread recipe suggested baking it for 2 hours,
creating a black crust. With the flavors of rye,
cardamom, anise, and orange peel, it was delicious.
Stir-fried bok choy and cherry tomatoes over silken tofu, which is underneath.
I have never tried preparing tofu before.
(recipe source: Silken Tofu with Soy-Sauced Tomatoes)
Using the other half of the can of cherry tomatoes: a more-familiar dish --
linguini with tomatoes, onions, olives, and artichoke hearts.
What I used: a can of artichoke hearts and a can of cherry tomatoes.
The news from the food processing industry remains very pessimistic. Major problems at large meat packing plants continue because employees on the production lines must stand very close to one another. Consequently, there are serious numbers of Covid-19 cases among these workers. Cases have also occurred on fishing boats and in fruit and vegetable packing plants; however, these industries seem to be making a better effort to protect workers.

From the L.A. Times last week:
"It’s a grim reality that’s playing out across the country as COVID-19 spreads beyond the meat processing plants that have captured the national spotlight. At least 60 food-processing facilities outside the meatpacking industry have seen outbreaks, with more than 1,000 workers diagnosed with the virus, according to a new study from Environmental Working Group. ...Fruit and vegetable packers, bakers and dairy workers are risking infection as the virus spreads through processing plants where employees deemed essential have mostly remained on the job during the pandemic, sometimes laboring in close quarters." -- Source: "Coronavirus outbreaks at 60 U.S. plants raise specter of more food shortages" 
From Alaska Public Media June 8:
"As America’s meat producers contend with thousands of COVID-19 cases among processing workers, seafood companies have drafted rigorous plans to ward off similar spread of the disease as their summer season looms in Alaska. But with that season still gearing up, the industry has already been shaken by its first major outbreak, aboard a huge vessel with an onboard fish processing factory." -- Source: "A Seattle fishing company has had more than 100 COVID-19 cases on its ships. They’re heading to Alaska this summer." by Nathaniel Herz.
From the New York Times this morning just before scheduled publication of this blog post, an article and video titled "We’re Feeding America, but We’re Sacrificing Ourselves:Poultry plants continue to run processing lines at a breakneck speed, making it impossible for workers to social distance" by Jerald Brooks and Lakesha Bailey, documenting that over 7,000 Tyson chicken processing employees nationwide have tested positive for the virus, but workers who stay home from fear of the virus lose their jobs. (We were already avoiding Tyson chicken before the pandemic because of worker abuse).

Vegetable main dish: bell peppers stuffed with kasha,
which I cooked as a pilaf according to the package directions.
Each pepper is topped with a slice of cheese.
In the longer term, besides the workers' welfare, there's another concern: the risky conditions in which cows, pigs, and chickens are raised:
  • Chicken houses and feedlots are very crowded, so any contagious disease can run rampant. 
  • Animals in these flocks and herds are often genetically very similar to one another, increasing the likelihood that pathogens will spread and evolve. 
  • The overuse of antibiotics to treat these diseases leads to the emergence of resistant bacterial strains. 
Although Covid-19 arose in wild animals, not livestock, industrial farming operations lead to a risk of a pathogen that can jump to humans and start the NEXT worldwide pandemic — or at least increasing the risk of some serious new human diseases. This is of course somewhat speculative, but many strains of human influenza have definitely incubated in pigs and chickens, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria from livestock are already a critical public health problem.

A long and detailed article about the dangers of the meat industry appeared in Vox last week. Here is a statement about the overall problem from Leah Garcés, the president of Mercy for Animals:
“We’ve been ringing the alarm bells for a long time. My deep hope is that now people will make the connection — factory farming is a catastrophic risk to our species — and that this permanently changes our behavior in the long term.” -- Source:  "The meat we eat is a pandemic risk, too" by Sigal Samuel, Vox, Jun 10, 2020.
Artichoke and lettuce salad using the rest of the artichokes.
Happily, cherries are in season.
Roasted vegetables.
I am aware that I should buy meat and seasonal produce from local small-scale farmers. These are available at a nearby farm market, but I have not yet organized myself to order from them.

This blog post and all photos © 2020 by mae sander for maefood dot blog spot dot com. 

25 comments:

  1. This is my life, Mae. Minus the wine and great bread, of course. I used to hate tofu because it tasted bad. I learned it picks up the tastes of herbs, etc around it. Now I love it and eat it every chance I get. Sadly, the friend who shops for me only goes to the regular grocery store and not the Asian market, the only place I can get it.

    I would occasionally eat chicken if there was nothing else to eat, but when Tyson wanted to move just south of my city, I was glad when the deal didn't go through and they had to pull their plans. I've not had chicken since, because I always worry that some of it might come from Tyson.

    You're preaching to the choir when you talk vegetarian fare.

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  2. I love your meals and commitment. I have found tofu at, of all places, WalMart. It's reasonably priced and it's a great addition to the fridge as it has a long shelf life.

    After my illness it's recommned high fiber and low red meat diet so, we are using up what is in our fridge and freezer (I don't ever waste food) and will make healthier fare. I do love chicken so that will be hard to give up completely but shopping responsibly is the plan.

    Oh, I still have a scant amount of bread flour as well as one chicken I have saved for our upcoming aniversary! Finally can have wine again. Life will go on....

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  3. I can't imagine a meal without meat :-)) That rye bread with all the wonderful spices sound really great.

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  4. Hello Mae,

    I could easily eat more veggies but my hubby is the meat lover in the family. Your meals all look delicious, I love the stuffed peppers and the linquini with cherry tomatoes would be favorites. It is sad how these workers are being treated, the care more about the industry than the workers. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy new week!

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  5. We are seniors now (in our 70's) so we don't eat allot of meat-never have really. we a main meal of a large tossed salad, a veggie side and a small piece of some sort of meat at 2 in the afternoon. no supper-just a little something to tide us over til morning's breakfast.
    There has always been concerns with our meat plants-it's the way of it I think in a world with so many people. best option is to buy local sourced meat from the rancher-farmer who usually can direct you to a small meat market for butchering. You can find out what they are feeding their animals too.
    I was a vegetarian back in the 70s and 80s-as I got older though I had done allot of reading and soy is not all that good for women-you can google it- so I stopped all that-I was making my own soy milk, my own tofu and on it went. and Hubs will Not eat tofu period haha he never liked the texture of it.
    anyways sorry for the long post-your posts always look delicious Hugs Happy T Kathy

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  6. We eat a lot of vegetarian meals but also some meat, mainly chicken, and it always comes from local sources. I try to avoid the big meat processing companies. Cold leek and potato soup sounds really delicious.

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  7. Oh YUM on all your meal choices!!! If it were up to me alone I'd be totally vegetarian, but hubby (although he has come a LONG way) still needs and wants a bit more-like some beef and some chicken. But I have a hard time eating any meat or poultry anymore myself. Good for you both to be enjoying such healthy plant based meals. Cheers and happy T day!

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  8. All this food looks so delicious. And good summer food. I could eat vegetarian most of the time, but I do like the occasional meat. But similar to Linda's comment, my husband is a meat man. So that makes your food look even more appealing to me. Hope it's a great T day Mae. Hugs-Erika

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  9. Thanks so much for sharing this post with us for T this week.

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  10. That Swedish Rye sounds delicious. Our farmers here took care during picking and packing season to ensure their staff were protected. I'm against factory farming of animals so maybe it will be a good result if that industry fails. I feel awful for people who have no choice but to work under those conditions.

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  11. We don´t eat much meat, either. If so, mostly from our little butcher or at least from a real butcher.
    It "hurts" to see how cheap meat in the regular fridges is and how people prefer that, regardless of how it´s produced.
    Buy less, buy quality, right.
    I think here the workers are protected well enough, but how those animals have to endure their short life-span...
    I also mostly get eggs from people who do not shredder male chicks. The thought of that makes me sick. Oh, male? Shred "it".
    I´ve never had artichoke, it looks so icky ;-)
    I once bought some and later saw. Was best before three years ago. I always kept saying, "some other time" for way too long! Heard, though, it´s so healthy... I imagine it tastes rather sour?
    To good food, to being treated well, animal and human...

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  12. Lots of delicious food here, but my fave is that bread, looks so yummy. Happy T Day, have a great week, Valerie

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  13. Hi Mae, Your food looks delicious although I have never had tofu. I have tried artichokes but really don't like them in any shape or form.
    We have cut down on how much meat we eat but we also eat lots of veg or salads with it, We are having mussels and prawns tonight just with french bread, we usually have them with spaghetti which we both love.
    Your Rye bread looks delicious, I do love the Rye bread but find them very filling.
    Happy T Day, Jan x

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  14. Your meals look really delicious Mae. We eat less meat and when we do I like to know where it came from.Animal welfare is important to us all and how we process it safely.
    Happy T day
    Yvonne xx

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  15. Excellent post, Mae. Your no-meat dishes all look delicious. I'll pass on the tofu though.

    Happy T-Day! Eileen xx

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  16. Your food looks delicious! Especially those roasted vegetables. Thank you for your reporting of the worker safety issues in the meat industry. It seems we're willing to sacrifice a lot of people to get "back to normal" when "normal" had so many problems that needed addressing :(

    Happy T Tuesday!

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  17. Wow, you always make me feel so hungry when I visit ...lol 😉. The food looks so delicious, I'd love to try a bit of everything! Take care and Happy T Day wishes! Hugs, Jo x

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  18. Your assortment of food looks delicious. I love meat, but if the prices skyrocket, I'll have to go without, because I won't be able to afford it. Happy T-Day!

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  19. I rarely eat red meat, and have now reduced eating chicken as well.
    Worker and animal abuse at these factories has been a problem even before the pandemic. The owners of these factories seems to care only about their profit margins.

    I love leek and potato soup, but haven't tried it cold. Will do next time. :)

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  20. Your meatless meals are a feast for the eyes as well as the appetite...so colorful and yummy looking! so many of us don't eat enough fruits and veggies. This makes me want to have more of them! happy T day!

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  21. This was most interesting Mae. We aren’t vegetarians, but are definitely eating “vegetable forward” (they are the main part of the plate and/or the main ingredient and dinner is planned around the vegetable ingredients not the meat. We don’t eat beef ... feedlots we passed in our travels years ago killed our appetites for it. Do eat fish and chicken (no Tyson) and I rather regret to say very occasional pork, which I’m sure is worse than beef. We’re working toward two vegetarian days a week.

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  22. Your food looks so delicious. The photos look like they are out of the pages of a foodie magazine. Happy T Day

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  23. I really respect your commitment to doing your part, speaking your mind and educating others.
    We buy our beef from a local farmer and have it processed locally by a family-owned butcher. Of course you know I garden but we have also signed up for a local CSA again this year. I'm so excited that it will be starting up next week!
    Happy T day!

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  24. I'm sorry to comment so late but I have been out all day.
    Oh your food looks oh so good! My mouth waters. It's the sort of food we like. I should be making more salads. Yes, we do eat meat but I am very picky what i buy. We live in a rural area and it is not difficult to get local produce and meat. Mostly pork in our area and chickens and lamb. Also rabbit and goat.
    I am not a lover of tofu. I probably don't know how to cook it, but on the few occasions I have found it in our local supermarket, I have bought it and thrown most of it away as neither of us liked it.
    I am impressed by your home made rye bread. I looked at recipes online, and the one I like uses shortening. I'll have to find out what that is called in Spanish and then ask my butcher.
    Sending you hugs,
    and a belated Happy T-Day.
    Lisca

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  25. Your food looks so delicious! We don't eat much meat and used to buy from a local butcher before COVID! We have online shopping at the moment - it just isn't the same as choosing what you get! Belated Happy T Day! Chrisx

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