Do you disinfect your groceries? How do you do it?

[OoohShiny]

My son’s mental health is going bad. He hates it up here in this rural area, so he is doing therapy twice a week telehealth, and my mental health is starting to go sideways. I’m going to let him go back to the greater New Orleans Area with masks and filters I bought.

The young appear to be the least affected by it, as the figures are indicating, so I am sure your son will be just fine, if not better due to being able to get back to some form of 'normality'!

 

[FL_Sol]

It is more vicious than the flu, and so many of us have cormorbidities.

What’s so bad in New Orleans is that 70% who die are African Americans!!! That is so damn unacceptible. The governor has created a task force to examine all the reasons why and the disparities in health care access and outcomes. (Louisiana is one of the few red states that expanded Medicare because we have a “blue dog democrat” governor.

My son’s mental health is going bad. He hates it up here in this rural area, so he is doing therapy twice a week telehealth, and my mental health is starting to go sideways. I’m going to let him go back to the greater New Orleans Area with masks and filters I bought.

So I understand that we probably have to open up because people are going to start dying of other things (elective surgery is simply non emergency surgery... any surgery that is scheduled like breast cancer, heart ablation, hips and knees etc).... and if you all remember my BIL killed himself in September 2018 so we are very very concerned about any suicides that have already happened and will happen because of this. (LEO killed himself the other day in my state).

I’m “rich” surely by how anyone defines it and we have always lived below our means and have always had 6-7 months of savings available, but how in the hell are “regular” people surviving???

I have no answers about anything regarding this pandemic.

I am so sorry. I am sure you know even his stress and depression can weaken the immune system and possibly make him more vulnerable. Hopefully he plays it safe going back to NO.

 

[whitewave]

I am so sorry. I am sure you know even his stress and depression can weaken the immune system and possibly make him more vulnerable. Hopefully he plays it safe going back to NO.

He knows he can’t go anywhere, but he likes having his own space and the internet is better and the news is more interesting etc.

He can’t stand the religious right where we are and DH has Fox News on all day (drives me crazy. I don’t want any news on, although let me say this, he had changed to fox business news because he says it’s less biased and over the top with commentary and more of what he wants to know anyway... but I digress...)

New Orleans is obviously a more liberal area and is blue, so he just feels more comfortable there.

 

[FL_Sol]

He knows he can’t go anywhere, but he likes having his own space and the internet is better and the news is more interesting etc.

He can’t stand the religious right where we are and DH has Fox News on all day (drives me crazy. I don’t want any news on, although let me say this, he had changed to fox business news because he says it’s less biased and over the top with commentary and more of what he wants to know anyway... but I digress...)

New Orleans is obviously a more liberal area and is blue, so he just feels more comfortable there.

Lol! I wouldn’t understand his plight, I live very near Atlanta, biking distance, and hang out in the liberal areas most of the time and LOVE it but also love being out in the country with the religious right. I love/hate everyone.

 

[whitewave]

Lol! I wouldn’t understand his plight, I live very near Atlanta, biking distance, and hang out in the liberal areas most of the time and LOVE it but also love being out in the country with the religious right. I love/hate everyone.

He had a bad middle and high school experience in a evangelical Christian high school, so........ that...... unfortunately.

 

[FL_Sol]

He had a bad middle and high school experience in a evangelical Christian high school, so........ that...... unfortunately.

I’m so sorry

 

[voce]

Can you please explain the “jump?” How is it jumping intermediate species to human? Wouldn’t eating the species qualify as a jump?

The jump is a theory. It's postulated this way because the closest strain of coronavirus extracted from bats is still many mutations away from the COVID-19 virus. Therefore even if you were to eat or snort raw bat, you wouldn't get this disease, not to mention that 1) no one has seen bat sold at that Wuhan wet market, 2) I've never heard of any Chinese person eating bats, and most tellingly 3) no Chinese person would eat meat without making sure it's well-cooked. Carpaccio and anything like that is looked upon with disdain and horror (I would know because I have traveled to many places in China and have lots of relatives there). It is well known that heating food to 80 C kills the virus, so the fact that Chinese people eat meats cooked, not raw means there is no way food was the pathway for coronavirus from any species, not unless some non-Chinese person ate meat raw and then transmitted the virus to the Chinese.

 

[missy]

The jump is a theory. It's postulated this way because the closest strain of coronavirus extracted from bats is still many mutations away from the COVID-19 virus. Therefore even if you were to eat or snort raw bat, you wouldn't get this disease, not to mention that 1) no one has seen bat sold at that Wuhan wet market, 2) I've never heard of any Chinese person eating bats, and most tellingly 3) no Chinese person would eat meat without making sure it's well-cooked. Carpaccio and anything like that is looked upon with disdain and horror (I would know because I have traveled to many places in China and have lots of relatives there). It is well known that heating food to 80 C kills the virus, so the fact that Chinese people eat meats cooked, not raw means there is no way food was the pathway for coronavirus from any species, not unless some non-Chinese person ate meat raw and then transmitted the virus to the Chinese.

I agree with @voce. It is more complicated.

Fact-check: Is Chinese culture to blame for the coronavirus?

In separate interviews with reporters on March 18, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said China has been the source of multiple recent contagions breaking out because of what he called a culture of eat…

www.statesman.com

"
It’s true that markets that sell live animals that are slaughtered on the premises pose a risk or viruses to be transmitted from animals to humans, but experts said this risk exists across the globe and is not unique to China.

“His claim, if it were true, is ridiculous,” said Li, the University of Houston professor. “No country in the world monopolizes the outbreaks of epidemics.

Racaniello said that suggesting the new coronavirus is “spread simply by eating a bat is too simplistic,” as is pointing only to China as the source of new viruses.

This is much broader than eating a bat in a meat market. I think that’s the important key here, that there are a lot of ways for viruses to get from various animals into humans.

These spillovers are increasing exponentially as our ecological footprint brings us closer to wildlife in remote areas and the wildlife trade brings these animals into urban centers. Unprecedented road-building, deforestation, land clearing and agricultural development, as well as globalized travel and trade, make us supremely susceptible to pathogens like coronaviruses.

”

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2001316

 

[House Cat]

The jump is a theory. It's postulated this way because the closest strain of coronavirus extracted from bats is still many mutations away from the COVID-19 virus. Therefore even if you were to eat or snort raw bat, you wouldn't get this disease, not to mention that 1) no one has seen bat sold at that Wuhan wet market, 2) I've never heard of any Chinese person eating bats, and most tellingly 3) no Chinese person would eat meat without making sure it's well-cooked. Carpaccio and anything like that is looked upon with disdain and horror (I would know because I have traveled to many places in China and have lots of relatives there). It is well known that heating food to 80 C kills the virus, so the fact that Chinese people eat meats cooked, not raw means there is no way food was the pathway for coronavirus from any species, not unless some non-Chinese person ate meat raw and then transmitted the virus to the Chinese.

Thanks for the explanation. There are many videos on YouTube of Chinese wet markets with bats on sticks and piles of bats for sale. Other than snakes, bats were one of the more common items I saw.

 

[voce]

Thanks for the explanation. There are many videos on YouTube of Chinese wet markets with bats on sticks and piles of bats for sale. Other than snakes, bats were one of the more common items I saw.

I see, I was unaware of that. I do insist that Chinese people like their meat well cooked. I have only been to a couple wet markets, and that was years and years ago. Snakes are animals that reputedly have medicinal value according to Chinese medicine, but bats aren't a species I've heard of being eaten before. I've read from Fuschia Dunlop's memoir that in parts of China, mainly Fujian and Canton/Guangdong, some animals have been eaten to extinction, all because the nouveau riche there see eating exotic animals as a status symbol. I hate how, under the CCP, people have become so materialistic and flaunt their wealth this way.

I hate how whatever a minority of Chinese people do can become a stereotype for all Chinese. I have personally never eaten cat or dog meat. I have heard of dog meat used in Chinese medicine, but have heard of cats being eaten only in Canton/Guangdong. I am so glad they are beginning to ban dogs as food in places like Shenzhen and hope that follows everywhere else in China. I also (like @missy) would like to see wet markets discontinued, but I think that would be more difficult to implement. Some people, not just in China but in Southeast Asia, are fond of wet markets because food can be bought for cheaper there.

 

[House Cat]

I see, I was unaware of that. I do insist that Chinese people like their meat well cooked. I have only been to a couple wet markets, and that was years and years ago. Snakes are animals that reputedly have medicinal value according to Chinese medicine, but bats aren't a species I've heard of being eaten before. I've read from Fuschia Dunlop's memoir that in parts of China, mainly Fujian and Canton/Guangdong, some animals have been eaten to extinction, all because the nouveau riche there see eating exotic animals as a status symbol. I hate how, under the CCP, people have become so materialistic and flaunt their wealth this way.

I hate how whatever a minority of Chinese people do can become a stereotype for all Chinese. I have personally never eaten cat or dog meat. I have heard of dog meat used in Chinese medicine, but have heard of cats being eaten only in Canton/Guangdong. I am so glad they are beginning to ban dogs as food in places like Shenzhen and hope that follows everywhere else in China. I also (like @missy) would like to see wet markets discontinued, but I think that would be more difficult to implement. Some people, not just in China but in Southeast Asia, are fond of wet markets because food can be bought for cheaper there.

I watched many of the videos. I didn’t like what I saw, especially the dogs and kittens, but while I was watching, I appreciated that I was witnessing a different culture. My husband and son hunt. Many people would find their way of procuring meat to be barbaric. We’re human beings. It is our nature to eat meat.

I do wish they would shut down the wet markets too. I’m glad they are putting an end to eating dog. They are so friendly. I don’t believe it is right to eat an animal that is bonded to you.

 

[voce]

while I was watching, I appreciated that I was witnessing a different culture

I think you're trying to be PC, but a Google search for the definition of culture is this: "the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively."

There is nothing intellectual about having animals for sale at a wet market. It's not Chinese culture that makes people do this, it's callous people being callous, and the authorities in China not caring to end these practices. To be fair the CCP has ended a lot of terrible practices such as peasants killing little girls, male polygamy, and Tibetan slavery, but they just don't care about animals.

I call people being uncaring and cruel just people being uncaring and cruel. There is simply nothing intellectual or cultural about it. It's not as though it's the norm for all Chinese people to eat these animals, and nothing in Chinese culture inherently in my opinion leads to wet markets or to eating exotic animals.

My relatives in China were alarmed when they showed me YouTube videos of American KFC employees kicking chickens around and abusing those animals. I had to explain that that was a shocker for most Americans and not what most of us condone.

In the same way that KFC employees abusing chickens isn't representative of American people as a whole, the things you've seen about wet markets aren't representative of Chinese people as a whole. The majority of Chinese people in cities, my relatives included, shop at supermarkets and not wet markets. Yes, I don't deny the terrible things shown on YouTube videos have happened and are still happening, but they're not at all representative of China as a whole and in my eyes only represents the Chinese authorities' failure to regulate and enforce law where they should be.

 

[missy]

I think you're trying to be PC, but a Google search for the definition of culture is this: "the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively."

There is nothing intellectual about having animals for sale at a wet market. It's not Chinese culture that makes people do this, it's callous people being callous, and the authorities in China not caring to end these practices. To be fair the CCP has ended a lot of terrible practices such as peasants killing little girls, male polygamy, and Tibetan slavery, but they just don't care about animals.

I call people being uncaring and cruel just people being uncaring and cruel. There is simply nothing intellectual or cultural about it. It's not as though it's the norm for all Chinese people to eat these animals, and nothing in Chinese culture inherently in my opinion leads to wet markets or to eating exotic animals.

My relatives in China were alarmed when they showed me YouTube videos of American KFC employees kicking chickens around and abusing those animals. I had to explain that that was a shocker for most Americans and not what most of us condone.

In the same way that KFC employees abusing chickens isn't representative of American people as a whole, the things you've seen about wet markets aren't representative of Chinese people as a whole. The majority of Chinese people in cities, my relatives included, shop at supermarkets and not wet markets. Yes, I don't deny the terrible things shown on YouTube videos have happened and are still happening, but they're not at all representative of China as a whole and in my eyes only represents the Chinese authorities' failure to regulate and enforce law where they should be.

I agree completely. Not representative of Chinese culture. And I also agree there is no excuse I find acceptable that allows one to eat cats, dogs and other similarly themed animals.

I also get it’s a sensitive topic as one doesn’t want to offend anyone so I get why @House Cat worded her post carefully.

 

[House Cat]

I think you're trying to be PC, but a Google search for the definition of culture is this: "the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively."

There is nothing intellectual about having animals for sale at a wet market. It's not Chinese culture that makes people do this, it's callous people being callous, and the authorities in China not caring to end these practices. To be fair the CCP has ended a lot of terrible practices such as peasants killing little girls, male polygamy, and Tibetan slavery, but they just don't care about animals.

I call people being uncaring and cruel just people being uncaring and cruel. There is simply nothing intellectual or cultural about it. It's not as though it's the norm for all Chinese people to eat these animals, and nothing in Chinese culture inherently in my opinion leads to wet markets or to eating exotic animals.

My relatives in China were alarmed when they showed me YouTube videos of American KFC employees kicking chickens around and abusing those animals. I had to explain that that was a shocker for most Americans and not what most of us condone.

In the same way that KFC employees abusing chickens isn't representative of American people as a whole, the things you've seen about wet markets aren't representative of Chinese people as a whole. The majority of Chinese people in cities, my relatives included, shop at supermarkets and not wet markets. Yes, I don't deny the terrible things shown on YouTube videos have happened and are still happening, but they're not at all representative of China as a whole and in my eyes only represents the Chinese authorities' failure to regulate and enforce law where they should be.

I may have used the wrong word. Forgive me. And actually, i may just be naive. Forgive me for that too.

I was trying to see the wet market with an open mind and open eyes to something I’m not particularly familiar with.

I was trying to see the wet market as a place where people obtain their food. Where these people have done this over their entire lifetime and are never told this is cruel. I am open to that possibility.

Do i like it? No.

Am I aware of the fact that people around the world eat other types of meat than I do? Yes.

We raise and slaughter our meats in cruel ways too. It’s just wrapped in cellophane and styrofoam to give us a good feelings about it when we buy it. We aren’t above anyone. To act as though we’re superior is just hypocritical.

 

[chrono]

I've done both the wet market and supermarket. All animals are meat. We are animals and we are meat to other animals higher on the food chain.

This doesn't mean I support one or the other. I am no vegetarian or vegan either.

In the end, I don't what I am trying to say. I guess, maybe until the day I decide have 100% plant based diet, I am contributing to the continued animal abuse since I'm sure pigs, chicken, fish and etc in farms aren't generally treated well, plus by continuing to eat meat, I am supporting the raising of animals purely for meat consumption.

Dogs and cats are pets to us but it clearly isn't for everyone around the world. Same goes for rabbit, horses, and etc.

 

[voce]

You're right @chrono @House Cat, thank you for keeping an open mind.

It's just that I think of culture as something higher level and deserving of being passed down to posterity, and I don't see the consumption of exotic animals not for survival but for pleasure or status as something particularly worthy of being deemed as "culture". In the days of famine, and in parts of the world without plenty, I hold no judgment as to what people eat. When people spend $$$ just to say hey, I've eaten XYZ that not everybody has eaten because it's rare and expensive to buy or a delicacy, that's not something I can easily just overlook.

The eating of exotic animals is not sustainable, as it already has driven some species to extinction and will drive more species towards extinction, and even if there are instances where this person or that person from a culture has done so in the past (I'm thinking Chinese emperors), it doesn't mean that it should be continued by a huge population of people who claim ties to that culture. This practice should not be passed down to posterity, and I distinguish it from factory farming because factory farming breeds and repopulates animals instead of driving an animal species to extinction. The exotic animal population is not replenished when people hunt them illegally and others consume them as food.

 

[redwood66]

Does anyone find themselves a bit self conscious now at the grocery store when picking out vegetables or fruit? There are a few things I have to touch or give a squeeze to in order to find out if it's ripe or too far gone. Some things you just can't tell by looking like an avocado or tomato, etc. But now I feel kinda bad or guilty if I don't take the one I touched that's not a good one. It's not like I touch them all. But we know you have to give a melon a good slap.

It might even go beyond fruits and veggies because if a box or can is dented I don't want it but I might have touched it then put it back.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Does anyone find themselves a bit self conscious now at the grocery store when picking out vegetables or fruit? There are a few things I have to touch or give a squeeze to in order to find out if it's ripe or too far gone. Some things you just can't tell by looking like an avocado or tomato, etc. But now I feel kinda bad or guilty if I don't take the one I touched that's not a good one. It's not like I touch them all. But we know you have to give a melon a good slap.

Me!!!!!!

I've developed this habit of staring at the produce and hoping to zoom into a good one so I reduce my chances of touching a bad one!

 

[redwood66]

Me!!!!!!

I've developed this habit of staring at the produce and hoping to zoom into a good one so I reduce my chances of touching a bad one!

I know! It's like I am afraid the produce police are watching and going to run out with a spray bottle. Or some other shopper is going to give me side eye.

 

[1ofakind]

@redwood66 use a plastic produce bag on your hand...you can pick it up or put it back without actually touching it. I don't worry about anything else in the store but I do try not to touch the stuff I'm not going to buy.

 

[redwood66]

@redwood66 use a plastic produce bag on your hand...you can pick it up or put it back without actually touching it. I don't worry about anything else in the store but I do try not to touch the stuff I'm not going to buy.

That's a great idea. I see people with latex gloves but they've been wearing them for who knows how long and touched everything else with them so that is the same as their bare hands to me.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

That's a great idea. I see people with latex gloves but they've been wearing them for who knows how long and touched everything else with them so that is the same as their bare hands to me.

It is the same, most people do not know how to properly use gloves. That's why I don't bother.

 

[donnabrsd]

@redwood66 use a plastic produce bag on your hand...you can pick it up or put it back without actually touching it. I don't worry about anything else in the store but I do try not to touch the stuff I'm not going to buy.

That is a great idea! I stare at fruit/produce items for a long time then select one. If it is not ripe, I keep it and select another. I came home with 3 avocados a few weeks ago when I only wanted one.

 

[redwood66]

The meat packages are the same for me because I am so picky about it and have to see all of them. Since I put them in a plastic bag anyway I will start doing this @1ofakind. Thanks!

 

[1ofakind]

The meat packages are the same for me because I am so picky about it and have to see all of them. Since I put them in a plastic bag anyway I will start doing this @1ofakind. Thanks!

Oh I've always done this with meat because I don't want to touch the packages. I like to think that it was me going to get produce bags for the meat is why they eventually put bags in the meat section too. Lol.

 

[JPie]

For the folks who are using soap to wash fruits and veggies, make sure it’s Castile soap like Dr. Bronner’s. One of the actual recommended uses is diluted with water as a veggie wash.