Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Food handling discussion points

[Hans Tilstra (tilstra]

>From discussion, I have noticed that the following food handling topics
trigger discussion about habits of storage, thawing, cooking in advance,
bulk purchase, reheating etc.

Which foods are bulk purchased and stored for a long period of time?
Discussions are about fresh food vs. the convenience and possible savings of
having food in stock. It can be hard to keep sugar free of moisture, it can
be hard to keep the lid on the bucket. It's difficult to keep tabs on the
age of the flour too. With frozen food, I often find meats that are on
special are at that price because it's hard or timeconsuming to cook.
Freezing doesn't kill bacteria, they just stop multiplying.

What is done with left overs? Who "owns" the responsibility to audit & chuck
out stuff that has been on the shelf for months? This is about not wanting
to waste food, yet finding that the leftovers lingers in the fridge. Not
everyone remembers to label what's in containers. With a shared fridge you
might be reluctant to chuck lefovers someone else has forgotten about. Who
knows, you might throw out someone's lunch.

Does everyone get into the routine of clean-as-you-go? Some people have the
tradition that the cook doesn't have to clean.
Regarding illnesses, at what point do you decide to be too sick to cook?
Would you cook if you have a cold?

Here in Australia supermarkets are prioritising food safety over
environmental concerns about using too much plastic. So, a plastic container
with a tightly sealed lid will nevertheless get another layer of gladwap.
Yet, if one supermarket is found to be the source of food poisening, it will
affect sales in all supermarkets of that brand. Hence its worth having a
look around the practises of staff at the deli. Note the signs on the wall,
see how they separate the cooked from the raw meat. Compare that to those
dreadful salad bars they used to have, where people would help themselves.
Imagine the temperature, the traffic, the touching, the use of spoons from
one type of salad to the other. No wonder they have all but disappeared.
Hans
www.vicnet.net.au/~cohouse