This recent tomato salmonella outbreak has me peeved. Not at the tomatoes, but at the people's reactions to it. Everyone is now fearful of eating ALL TOMATOES. And I can't get one for the life of me. Yesterday, I ordered a turkey panini from a local lunch place only to find it had no tomato on it, despite what was advertised. Today, I went to Chipotle for my favorite crispy chicken tacos only to find a sign saying they were not serving any fresh salsa even though....get this....all tomatoes from their suppliers had been deemed safe by the FDA and CDC. Then why can't I get my fresh salsa?!?!?!?!?!The bigger issue that bugs me is that people these days seem to live in fear. We're so worried about what's going to kill us or make us sick that we forget to enjoy life. It makes me sick. This case of the tomatoes for instance: There have been 228 documented cases of salmonella from tomatoes since mid-April. So, it's not even like this tomato thing was just recent! It's only now because the media picked it up that everyone is afraid! And it's only in certain states. They've tracked the distribution and know where you can get safe tomatoes, but it doesn't matter. All tomatoes are now discriminated against. But I digress, out of these 228 cases, only 23 have required hospitalization and no one has died as a result. Hell, I would probably hospitalize 23 people from my cooking a year if more people would eat it. 23 cases of hospitalization cause 50% of the population to stop eating tomatoes (according to an informal poll) all out of fear. It's really sad in my opinion.
2 comments:
It's all a big conspiracy...the tomato growers must've pissed off the FDA somehow and now they're paying for it...at least that's a good theory.
The beauty of the shore is if I want a tomato I can go to a neighbors back yard and pick one!
I do miss that about being home - all the fresh produce everywhere!
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