I had to laugh when I read the title of the post. I've been thinking the same thing!

My thought is that the "bugs" have always been there, the testing has just gotten more refined and they're doing more of it.

Gardening is one of the easiest ways to get "bugs", so, if you're really trying to avoid them, that's not the way to do it.

I've eaten dirt for too many years to stop now. ;-)

I've been wondering if all those years before we were hearing about all this, when we thought we had a stomach virus, did we really have something from the produce? And I've never thought of washing (and they are now saying scrubbing) the outside of a cantaloupe, I always assumed that produce from the supermarket was washed at the packing houses before it got to the store.

Pretty scary. Maybe we had stronger immune systems before we started ingesting lots of chemicals, pesticides, antibiotics and hormones?

EAT ICE CREAM!!!!!

starryrider:

That's the BEST advice!

(Make mine Graeter's Black Raspberry Chip!)

Haha - that title caught my attention as well = )

This is reminding me of the previous conversation about animal poo & washing fruits & veggies...

But these are not exactly the same bugs that have always been there. Some of this is stronger, more resistant strains of bacteria - due to overuse of antibiotics, factory farming, etc.. & some is due to bad &/or inadequate safety & hygiene practices by industry & preparers.

For instance, did you know you can contract food poisoning from an infected person's hands? (Esp. if they do not wash them - or wash improperly - after toileting)

& I believe many folks are eating out & bringing home prepared foods more often these days than in the past, so the risk has increased.

Here's a link to my fave source for news on the foodborne illness front - the Listeriosis outbreak is down near the middle of the page. It mentions that there are hundreds of strains of Listeria....

Here is a link that might be useful: Food Safety blog @ KSU

this reminds me: I've travelled all over and have eaten stall food in India; snails, sheep brain/head and a whole lot of other stuff in Morocco; nearly uncooked (and the best I've ever had) steak in Argentina; picked pears right off the tree and fresh fish in Romania, just to name a few and the only time I've ever gotten food poisoning was the day after I returned from 6 months abroad and had BBQ from a "clean" joint here in Jacksonville.

....hmmmm.

I guess I'll live on cereal...unless milk is contaminated too. *sigh*

Sadly cereals are super-processed. I never feed my kid cereal if I have a choice.

Here is one simple and super healthy and tasty substitute: You can simply boil some wheat and add walnuts and maple syrup if you want to it or sugar and it is much more healthy, cheaper and tastes great.

There are many variants to this recipe which is used in the old 'biblical world' From Ukraine to the Middle East with slightly different ingredients but mostly boiled wheat and different nuts and something to sweeten it.

The boiled wheat can last for days in the fridge. Even the boiled wheat grains themselves taste great as a substitute for peanut, as a snack.

Tell me if you like it if you try it.

Best

Alex,

What about Muesli? I eat that stuff religiously. Also, adding walnuts actually sweetens things on its own...in addition to raisons. I rarely add sugar to anything...unless I'm making a really really hot curry.

Growing up in Michigan there were lots of migrant workers hoeing in the fields every summer. My step dad was too cheap to hire them and paid us half as much to hoe. Let me tell you, he would do it a month after the migrants did and then complain because we had to sharpen the hoes too often (his fault for letting the weeds get too big!) and took so long. 88 acres if I remember correctly.
But I digress...
Not a summer went by that while driving through the farmlands I didn't see several migrant workers "going to the bathroom" out in the fields! And they want to blame the factory and processing plant workers whenever a "bug" makes everyone sick.
I know where it comes from!

Zackery, I don't know about stronger immune systems but I do know: Having places to place your hands under ultraviolet light, disenfectant in every bathroom in restaurants and sterlizing everything possible has to have weakened our immune systems. Before all of the above took place half or more of these new diseases did not exist. Time has proven we are our own worst enemy and given the modern ways to health are like teaching a fool. It just don't work.

Although I hope things are a little better as far as conditions for the pickers now, I can tell you that way back when I picked beans one summer, there was no place provided to go use the facilities there. It would have been nice if they had at least walked over to the woods or off the field to "go" but they didn't because it took too much time from their picking. They got paid by the bushel, not by the hour. I'm sure the same thing happens now, too. And the women wore long skirts without underpants so that they didn't have to expose themselves.

Rita is so very right abt. no 'facilities' for field-hands-pickers... they lose money if they stop work to relieve themselves.... re: cooking wheat, every morning I cook some oatmeal (old-fashioned kind) with some Wheatena in the bowl, in the microwave, ( just watch it doesn't boil over).... add some butter and some cinnamon and sweeten with Equal... it's delish and holds one for hours... add some blueberries from the freezer and you've got it made..... instead of eating raw veggies like lettuce, etc. just eat cooked, they retain the vitamins when steamed and need only a dab of butter to enjoy the flavor.... sally

1. Before last week I had never heard of listeria. Thought maybe it was from swallowing listerine when gargling.

2. Ice cream? Me and football on TV and a quart of Blue Bell French Vanilla is an afternoon to dream for.

3. Dangerous vegetables? I have only one word: okra.

Migrant workers aren't the only ones without facilities. Not too long ago I did a stint working in a greenhouse, which I could not continue, as I could not handle the heat. But I digress. The owner didn't provide so much as an outhouse for his workers. And there wasn't anywhere nearby to discreetly take care of 'business'. He was too cheap. Needless to say, tho I loved working in the greenhouse, I was too grossed out by the lack of facilities. Not even potable water provided. Ick.

Randy