04/03/2020
Alright let’s talk. Food for thought.
I heard a couple reporters ask questions to the governor about restaurants being less safe than grocery stores. That made me realize that consumers may have misconceptions and even fears about how food is handled in a restaurant.
I want to speak to those fears now. I will give you my opinion and invite yours as well.
Let’s take basic exposure.
Ingredients, like the lettuce (we use) from TygerRiver or the sausage and eggs from Providence Farms, have been produced using sustainable methods. The lack of chemicals and hormones for production mean they are rich in nutrients and produced with the lowest environmental impact possible.
It also means that they are produced with minimal exposure to people. By the time ingredients such as these are grown, harvested, delivered, prepared and packaged for you, they have been handled by just a handful of food service and agriculture professionals.
We have increased internal protocol during these times wiping down surfaces more frequently, cleaning pens individually in the pen jar, wearing gloves in roles that previously didn't necessitate gloves, walking your food to your car for you if desired so you don't even need to leave your car, etc.
Alternatively, mass-produced lettuce, eggs and sausage at large-scale grocery stores have likely been exposed to lots of people by the time they reach store shelves. Products can travel across the country and may have been handled multiple times by people young and old who may or may not be trained in sanitation and food safety. You can get creative about toilet paper substitutes but food is still essential. Additionally, restaurants help to ease the burden of supply and demand on alternative distributors such as grocery stores by bringing in other vendors such as local farmers to meet the food needs of the community.
Restaurants are safe.
For all those who can, as often as you can, please support your local restaurants, all of them that are open during this time, as they support us and are a vital part of the essential supply chain for food, a necessary building block for life. P.C. 📸