• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Good luck with your asparagus.

Yes we did.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

‘Forty-two’ said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn – Nancy Pelosi

The house always wins.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Lighten up, Francis.

… makes me wish i had hoarded more linguine

An almost top 10,000 blog!

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Deploy the moving finger of emphasisity!

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Gastritis broke my calculator.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Shocking, but not surprising

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

No one could have predicted…

Mobile Menu

  • Look Forward & Back
  • Balloon Juice 2021 Pet Calendar
  • Site Feedback
  • All 2020 Fundraising
  • I Voted!
  • Take Action: Things We Can Do
  • Team Claire, and Family
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • BJ PayPal Donations
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Nature & Respite
  • Information As Power
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • On The Road
  • Garden Chats
  • Nature & Respite
  • Look Forward & Back
You are here: Home / Archives for Food & Recipes / Food

Food

Washington Cherries

by John Cole|  July 8, 202011:39 pm| 23 Comments

This post is in: Food

I don’t know if I have just been particularly lucky with my purchases this year, or if the weather patterns and combinations this year led to an exceptional crop, but the cherries this year have been just outstanding. Large, plump, juicy, and sweet, with a deep flavor of cherry. Obviously they are cherries so they have a cherry flavor, but you know what I mean. Sometimes a fruit can be super sweet from the sugars, but not retain the taste that makes it that particular fruit. This years, the cherries have been sweet, but really retained that “essence” of cherry.

Just very tasty. The skin, too, has been very good- crisp, yet retaining some elasticity that give them a delightful mouth feel.

If you can still get some, I would highly recommend it this year- but act quick, because the season ends soon.

Washington CherriesPost + Comments (23)

Open Thread: Very, Very Lost in Translation

by Anne Laurie|  May 26, 20205:02 pm| 111 Comments

This post is in: Food, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads

Click to embiggen:

So my mother's friend's husband is stuck in a hotel in Saudi Arabia and this is the order menu they gave him

Do I have any Arabic speaking followers that can help make sense of this but also, tag yourself, I'm "Normal doubt" pic.twitter.com/MVemyCCON9

— Vlada ???? (@vladadraws) May 24, 2020

Updates:

– He's okay! He's very thankful for the menu translation, he's still at the hotel but now less confused and hungry
– He's a Russian-Canadian immigrant and ESL too
– Especial thank you to the person that sent me their grandma's Shakshouka recipe. I am going to make that!

— Vlada ✨😈✨ (@vladadraws) May 24, 2020

I can imagine the moment of existential doubt as the poor man thinks, Did I somehow miss some *really* important English-language culinary category?…

Here is the translation I've got! Big thank you to @ReeshOdd for helping out so quickly, and to everyone else who's reached out! pic.twitter.com/BjKLKDHlqg

— Vlada ???? (@vladadraws) May 24, 2020

Open Thread: Very, <em>Very</em> Lost in TranslationPost + Comments (111)

Pandemic Pressure: The Meatpacking Industry Is Not Sufficiently Improved Since 1906

by Anne Laurie|  April 27, 202010:14 pm| 68 Comments

This post is in: COVID-19 Coronavirus, Excellent Links, Food, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You

Dozens of U.S. meat-processing plants have been forced to close temporarily as the industry struggles to contain the spread of the coronavirus among employees who often stand side-by-side while cutting and packaging beef, pork and poultry. https://t.co/rNf7I4hhLJ

— The Associated Press (@AP) April 23, 2020

A rash of coronavirus outbreaks at dozens of meat packing plants across the nation is far more extensive than previously thought.

And it could get worse. https://t.co/X6pYcTRz0C

— Des Moines Register (@DMRegister) April 22, 2020


… when Upton Sinclair published The Jungle. Efficiently chopping up carcasses is inherently messy & potentially dangerous; doing so at the greatest profit *to factory owners* is predictably dangerous, and not only for the workers. The DesMoines Register published this almost a week ago:

A rash of coronavirus outbreaks at dozens of meat packing plants across the nation is far more extensive than previously thought, according to an exclusive review of cases by USA TODAY and the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.

And it could get worse. More than 150 of America’s largest meat processing plants operate in counties where the rate of coronavirus infection is already among the nation’s highest, based on the media outlets’ analysis of slaughterhouse locations and county-level COVID-19 infection rates.

These facilities represent more than 1 in 3 of the nation’s biggest beef, pork and poultry processing plants. Rates of infection around these plants are higher than those of 75% of other U.S. counties, the analysis found…

As companies scramble to contain the outbreaks by closing more than a dozen U.S. plants so far — including a Smithfield pork plant in South Dakota that handles 5% of U.S. pork production — the crisis has raised the specter of mass meat shortages.

But experts say there’s little risk of a dwindling protein supply because, given the choice between worker safety and keeping meat on grocery shelves, the nation’s slaughterhouses will choose to produce food.…

The meat packing industry was already notorious for poor working conditions even before the coronavirus pandemic. Meat and poultry employees have among the highest illness rates of all manufacturing employees and are less likely to report injuries and illness than any other type of worker, federal watchdog reports have found.

And the plants have been called out numerous times for refusing to let their employees use the bathroom, even to wash their hands — one of the biggest ways to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

Amplifying the danger is that, in many places, meat processing companies are largely on their own to ensure an outbreak doesn’t spread across their factory floors.

Factory workers, unions, and even managers say the federal government — including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration — has done little more than issue non-enforceable guidance. On its website, for example, the CDC has released safety guidelines for critical workers and businesses, which primarily promote common sense measures of sanitization and personal distancing…

show full post on front page

But rather than increase safety and oversight, the U.S. Department of Agriculture relaxed it in the midst of the pandemic. Just this month, the agency allowed 15 poultry plants to exceed federal limits on how many birds workers can process in a minute.

That’s more than in any previous month in the waiver program’s history. Several worker protection agencies have found that increasing line speeds causes more injuries.

And it could lead to more infections, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union said in a statement: “These waivers guarantee that workers are more crowded along a meatpacking line and more workers are put at risk of either catching or spreading the virus.”

Most of the plants that received waivers are owned by Tyson Foods and Wayne Farms, according to a department record. One of them — a Wayne Farms facility in Albertville, Alabama — disclosed this week that 75 of its workers tested positive and one died. The plant will slow production to improve safety, it told AL.com…

Seems like Tyson found a more cost-effective (for them) alternative — buy a full-page ad in the NYTimes:

Tyson Foods didn’t mince words in a full page @nytimes ad Sunday, warning, “the food supply chain is breaking.”

“As pork, beef and chicken plants are being forced to close…millions of pounds of meat will disappear from the supply chain,” John Tyson wrote. pic.twitter.com/0jJxrMOngw

— Mosheh Oinounou (@Mosheh) April 27, 2020

Capitalism is Tyson running an expensive full-page ad not-subtly asking to be bailed out next to the second half of a story about how they failed to provide their workforce with protective equipment. pic.twitter.com/Yifr9LRoFo

— Mass for Shut-ins (is a podcast) (@edburmila) April 27, 2020

Free (‘earned’) media ensues!

Tyson Foods is warning that "millions of pounds of meat" will disappear from the supply chain as the coronavirus pandemic pushes food processing plants to close, leading to product shortages in grocery stores across the country. https://t.co/3Mt8GvkjhK

— CNN (@CNN) April 27, 2020

Counter argument:

But while plant closures may lead to temporary meat shortages, the system is not likely to break down—despite the severity of current challenges.@JessTiaFu and @hclaire_brown explain why here: https://t.co/ITRSamRXhm 3/ pic.twitter.com/2RzhMW3XKw

— The Counter (@TheCounter) April 27, 2020

Right now, there is no lack of animals to process. With plants closed, farmers and ranchers have fewer markets to sell into—so the slaughterhouses that remain open are likely to see supply gluts. 7/

— The Counter (@TheCounter) April 27, 2020

It’s distressing to see big meatpackers in flux, because just 4 of them dominate 80% of the supply chain. But they’re not the *entire* supply chain. Hangups at the largest, most crowded plants don’t mean the whole system is in trouble.
11/

— The Counter (@TheCounter) April 27, 2020

When it comes to bailouts, Tyson Foods has the competitive advantage of being based in Arkansas. Smithfield is a wholly-owned subsidary of a Chinese multinational, and JBS is based in Brazil. Which is why, one presumes, Smithfield chose to keep a lower profile when COVID-19 infections exploded at their plants…

Economics shapes epidemiology: “A pork plant that saw a coronavirus outbreak offered bonuses to employees who didn’t miss work.”

Nearly 800 workers from that plant were infected with covid-19. https://t.co/gXFm5p3NWK

— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) April 24, 2020


(Elsewhere, Smithfield spokespersons cited North Dakota’s governor to explain to Buzzfeed that it was all the fault of filthy immigrants living in crowded conditions with their teeming families — something else that hasn’t changed since 1906.)

Brazil JBS workers catch COVID-19 in latest meat plant outbreak https://t.co/BV3uH7d4Cb pic.twitter.com/xmBJGtGZfh

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 25, 2020

“Former OSHA Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor”:

Stunning. JBS,Smithfield, Tyson’s- failed to provide protections to meat workers from COVId 19 and now 3300 are sick and 17 have died. This Administration let this happen- no mandates. Not acceptable. Horrible.https://t.co/efTLfb5lql

— Debbie Berkowitz (@DebbieBerkowitz) April 25, 2020

Giant meat companies can not be allowed to sacrifice workers lives and health for profit. Covid 19 is spreading in meat plants and sickening and killing workers. Bravo to the workers to stand up for their rights and lives.

. https://t.co/SPZrAfpqKP

— Debbie Berkowitz (@DebbieBerkowitz) April 24, 2020

Iowa Republicans asked the Trump administration Monday to help pork producers who may have to euthanize pigs as they deal with meatpacking plant closures linked with COVID-19. https://t.co/I916Rx8IAj

— Des Moines Register (@DMRegister) April 28, 2020

Further reading:

🚨Covid-19 food system map update🚨

According to my analysis for @FERNnews, 73 meatpacking and processed food plants in the U.S. have confirmed cases of Covid-19. At least 3,581 workers are confirmed sick and at least 17 have died.

Full details here: https://t.co/fsJ66QFcM2 pic.twitter.com/wFTZotW6gG

— Leah Douglas (@leahjdouglas) April 24, 2020

As of today, at least 79 food and meatpacking plants have reported cases of Covid-19, and at least 3,720 workers are sick.

I added 6 plants to the map since Friday, in states like Missouri, Rhode Island, and Colorado.

Full details at @FERNnews: https://t.co/kOeWhGazYE pic.twitter.com/F4ZBVDPAvB

— Leah Douglas (@leahjdouglas) April 27, 2020

Pandemic Pressure: The Meatpacking Industry Is Not Sufficiently Improved Since 1906Post + Comments (68)

Late Night Open Thread: So Say We All!

by Anne Laurie|  April 25, 202012:05 am| 68 Comments

This post is in: Food, Open Threads, Repubs in Disarray!, Trumpery

Get me to Belgium!!! They need me!!! https://t.co/v0fdleVhR5

— Hania (@haniainabox) April 25, 2020

Elsewhere…

White House are blaming the **guy who briefed Trump**, arguing he "allowed for Trump to get confused."

WTF does that even mean. https://t.co/KcvtkiaYKe pic.twitter.com/lt72GrY4F7

— Eric Umansky (@ericuman) April 25, 2020

Beat sweetner, from Axios‘ premier performer of such:

President Trump plans to pare back his coronavirus press conferences, according to four sources familiar with the internal deliberations. As soon as next week, he may stop appearing daily and make shorter appearances when he does, the sources said. https://t.co/Gul0K04dU8

— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) April 24, 2020


Gosh, one wonders why.

show full post on front page

It took the GOP a month to figure this out. Swift, just like their pandemic response (real sarcasm employed).

— GiGi’s Other Half (@FLharleyrider) April 24, 2020

He cancelled himself. Need a new reality show host.

— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) April 24, 2020

I got $10 that says he’s going to try to sneak out to his golf course in Virginia this weekend.

— SphynxCatsRule (@SphynxCatsRule) April 24, 2020

He’s already left enough material for six elections-worth of contrast & negative ads.

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) April 24, 2020

Further Repub-on-Repub violence, for the schadenfreude:

I don't think anything you do will ever make Trump like you again. https://t.co/FObB05Wjzs

— Liz Mair (@LizMair) April 25, 2020

Late Night Open Thread: <em>So Say We All!</em>Post + Comments (68)

I Thought I’d Share an Alain Story: Sourdough Edition

by Adam L Silverman|  April 15, 202010:02 pm| 51 Comments

This post is in: Absent Friends, Food, Food & Recipes, Humorous, Open Threads, RIP, Silverman on Security

A number of you all indicated you loved the stories Alain would tell in his posts and his comments. And before I go any farther, I was in touch with Carol today and what you all wrote in your comments to Cole’s post, as well as mine last night and today really made her load a little lighter.

On the 6th I was texting with Alain – I had asked him about upgrading to a new 4k AppleTV as I’ve been running my old one and as a result was unable to watch my superhero cartoons and movies adapted from comic books in glorious 4K Dolbyvision – and I wanted his opinion on whether it was worth it. Yes, I asked a tech guy who was also a tech gear guy if I should upgrade my tech. Silly me!

After establishing that I should upgrade, which I have done (hence the HDMI cable references yesterday), he asked if I wanted some sourdough starter. Before we go any further, while I love sourdough bread, I don’t eat very much of it because I don’t do well with refined carbohydrates and refined sugar. So I largely avoid bread and all the other things I love that are made of refined carbohydrates and include refined sugar. He lulled me in on the sourdough by asking about a candy store in Tallahassee and then segued into the sourdough. Here’s what happened:

(ETA: When I first entered Alain’s information into my phone, I entered it based on how it sounded when he pronounced his last name or how I thought it sounded, so Chamot wound up as Chailmont – don’t judge, I’m tone deaf…)

Alain Chailmont: Look up Lofty Pursuits or Pd.net. Public displays of confection. I’m so jealous you can drive there.

Adam L Silverman: Ok

Alain Chailmont: Just amazing craft and addictive watching. Candy making.

(Adam here: at this point I’m looking up Lofty Pursuits to try to figure out where they are so I can determine how long it will take me to get there)

Adam L Silverman: Ok. That’s a six hour drive depending on traffic. So I could drive there, but I could also drive to Atlanta

Alain Chailmont: Yeah. But it’s a fuck closer for you than me! lol

Adam L Silverman: Yes, but…

Alain Chailmont: You won’t be stopping by, I dig.

Adam L Silverman: Not any time soon. Also, statewide and county wide shelter in place order

Alain Chailmont: Neither will I. I don’t expect business to take me to Tallahassee Which is why I ordered a week and a half ago from them. Can’t wait to get my order.

Adam L Silverman: Gotcha. Enjoy! Time for me to walk the dogs!

Alain Chailmont: Careful of the 🐊

Adam L Silverman:

Floriduh! Man Never Takes a Day Off! Even During a Pandemic!

Alain Chailmont: I showed Carol that earlier, she figured some folk would finally listen because that’s a relatable distance. Lol. Any interest in some Sourdough starter? My new batch is almost ready to dry and I’d be happy to send you a sample.

Adam L Silverman: Passover starts this week so no bread and I also can’t tolerate refined carbohydrates, so I generally avoid bread. But I appreciate the offer. I’m sure TaMara would appreciate a batch!

Alain Chailmont: Just for thought – my primary usage is sourdough pancakes. When the starter is cultivated well, they are so complex. The fermented flour is usually easy on digestion for those with issues.

I’ll send her one!

Adam L Silverman: Okay, send me one. I’ll find a use for it

Alain Chailmont: Shall do. Hott Stuff Sourdough is my brand 😂 it’ll await your efforts indefinitely as long as you keep it dry and in the dark.

Adam L Silverman: Not a problem. Thanks!

By now you’ve noticed that 1) I didn’t actually want any sourdough starter, but…, 2) I threw both Passover and TaMara at him as a distraction, neither of which worked, and 3) when that didn’t work I gave in. What you can’t see in those texts is that I gave in because I could feel through the texts that I wasn’t being a good friend. That the sourdough starter was important to him, so I’d take some and find a use for it because that would make him happy. And because it was an easy thing to do to make him happy. And it did make him happy.

Two days later, feeling the need to extract a bit of payment for knuckling on the sourdough starter, I had this conversation with Alain:

Adam L Silverman: You got Popehat in trouble

Wife: what's that
Me: nothing
Wife: it's something. What's in the jar?
Me: nothing, nothing, just an empty jar
Wife: what is that in there?
Me: meth. I have a meth habit
Wife: no you don't. It's — oh my god. Is that sourdough starter? really?
Me: NO I SWEAR, IT'S A JAR OF PORN

— TOTALAUTHORITYHat (@Popehat) April 8, 2020

Alain Chailmont: Haha lol

Adam L Silverman: Do we need to schedule an intervention?

Trying to bake some #bread during your #quarantine? San Francisco neighbors are sharing their treasured #sourdough starter by pinning them to telephone poles. See a map of where you can find a starter closest to you. –> https://t.co/vBhKde2dvM

— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) April 7, 2020

Alain Chailmont: I. Am. So. Cool. For once.

Adam L Silverman: Don’t let it go to your head

The next day, while kibbitzing about Passover seders, or in my case the lack thereof, Alain returned to sourdough starter:

Alain Chailmont: My new batch dries tomorrow and so i begin shipping again Saturday lol

Adam L Silverman: Just so you know, you can’t sell that stuff within 500 feet of a school or a playground!

And that’s my Alain sourdough story. I didn’t want any, I could feel through the texts on my phone that not wanting any was upsetting him, so I said I’d take some. I’m sure there’s a packet en route in the mail, and I’m going to put it to damn good use in his memory!

By the way, Gretchen Koch an amazing graphic artist with a PhD in religion, she did this on the fly for Popehat:

I Thought I'd Share an Alain Story: Sourdough Edition 1

 

Open thread!

PS – I’ve got a baking/confecting post I’ll put up tomorrow night. I made chocolate coated peanut butter truffles earlier sweetened only with agave. They’re setting up right now in the fridge.

I Thought I’d Share an Alain Story: Sourdough EditionPost + Comments (51)

Sourdough Respite Thread

by Cheryl Rofer|  April 13, 20205:45 pm| 34 Comments

This post is in: Food, Open Threads

It’s gotten to be a bit of a joke that all us middle-class types are learning how to make and use sourdough cultures. Alain did a post on it a while back.

I had a culture a long time ago, and I was never entirely happy with it. I thought I’d try again. I started about a week ago with dried apricots and ginger, just for the heck of it. The recipe I read recommended using dried fruit to get an initial batch of yeast, which appealed to me.

I’ve been feeding the starter gently for about a week and decided over the weekend that it was time to try it out. I used the surplus starter in pancakes, which were good but unspectacular.

The big project, though, was a loaf of bread. A couple of baguettes, actually, to suit the albondigas soup I wanted to make.

The initial response of the dough yesterday morning was sluggish – the problem I had had in the past, so I started being a little disappointed. But last night it got more enthusiastic. I formed it into loaves this morning and baked them.

Oh my! Great crust and good flavor! I’d like it a little more sour, but I am told that my starter will become more sour with time.

A whole baguette and a part of one on a cooling rack, the partial one broken to show the interior texture. Beautiful golden-brown crust!
Closeup of the broken surface. Big bubbles and little ones.

And here’s dinner:

Bowl of soup with little meatballs in a tomato broth. Buttered bread on a smaller plate to the side. China with fruit decorations on a plaid multicolor place mat.

ETA the recipe for Albondigas Soup

Albondigas Soup

Meatballs

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup rice
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp oregano
  • pepper

Mix the ingredients and form into meatballs about an inch in diameter.

Soup

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 cup chopped carrots
  • ¼ cup chopped celery
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 cups tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 2 cups stock
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 bay leaf
  • chopped parsley
  • salt and pepper
  • summer squash
  • kernels from 1 ear corn

Saute onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in the olive oil. Add tomatoes, stock, and seasonings, with additional stock or water as necessary. Bring to a boil. Add meatballs a few at a time. Let mixture simmer 15 minutes. Add cubed summer squash and more water or stock if necessary and simmer 15 minutes more. Add corn and simmer 5 minutes. Serve.

Open thread!

Sourdough Respite ThreadPost + Comments (34)

Open Thread: Pandemic-Related Trouble in the Fields

by Anne Laurie|  April 12, 202010:59 am| 188 Comments

This post is in: COVID-19 Coronavirus, Excellent Links, Food, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You

Farmers are panic-buying to keep America’s 95 millions cows fed as fear of feed mill closures and trucking delays mount.

Learn more via @BW: https://t.co/w1QpSUQMEP pic.twitter.com/Vj4QUgaPKe

— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) April 11, 2020

There’s been discussion, on other threads, of how or why farmers are being affected by the national (and global) lockdowns. American farms, even the ‘family’ ones, are as much a part of the just-in-time supply chains as any other business:

… Just as virus-spooked consumers have rushed to grocery stores to stockpile everything from toilet paper to pasta, farmers raising America’s cattle, hogs, and chickens have filled their bins with feed, fearing the spread of the coronavirus would disrupt their supply chains. “I’ve had some calls from customers of mine looking for feed because the mills are out,” says the Fayetteville, Ark.-based Beaver. “There’s a rush to buy just because of the uncertainty in the market. They just don’t want to be caught without.”

Keeping America’s 95 million cows, 77 million pigs, and 9 billion chickens fed isn’t as simple as it may seem. Farmers are worried their feed mills could close as employees get sick or that their slaughterhouses could slow production, forcing them to keep animals for longer. They’re also concerned that a shortage of trucks, which are being waylaid to supply supermarkets, could make it harder for farm supplies to reach them.

Even the plunge in gasoline demand affects the feed supply. As ethanol plants shut down—because the fuel additive isn’t needed when gas isn’t selling—the animal feed market is being starved of an important ingredient called dried distillers grains (DDGs) that are a byproduct of ethanol production. Distillers grain is a key ingredient in rations for beef cattle and dairy cows.

The rush to fill bins hasn’t happened only in the U.S. French feedmakers stepped up ingredient purchases at the start of the lockdown, and demand jumped as plants that produce biofuels started to slow down. A similar trend occurred in Germany last month. “This is a new phenomenon,” says David Webster, head of animal nutrition and health at Cargill Inc., adding that the agribusiness giant has seen its global feed sales volume climb 10% or more in the past month. “We saw a bit of this in China in February, but now we are seeing globally, in every geography that we operate in, so it’s testing the system, so to speak.”…

Still, because farmers’ bin space is limited, they can’t really hoard the same way that consumers are doing, says David Hoogmoed, president of the Purina Animal Nutrition unit of Land O’ Lakes Inc. (The Purina that makes the dog and cat food is owned by Nestlé SA.) “What we are seeing isn’t a run on feed, but a keep-everything-full scenario,” he says. “While the producer [in the past] may have run things down to the last minute and ordered feed for tomorrow, they are building in, in their inventory management, more of a safety stock.”…

Another complication for the meat producers — if the processing plants aren’t open, nobody’s selling livestock:

There’s been a spike in coronavirus cases at meat plants in the U.S. https://t.co/ATVFMdMQ5Z

— Bloomberg (@business) April 12, 2020

Here’s an explanation from a (Canadian) farmer about the other side of the demand/supply chain. I’ve stripped out some of the twitter framing to save space:

In case you are wondering, it’s not a fun thing to do. We are proud of the work we do & the nutrition we provide. We don’t want to see that wasted.

— Andrew Campbell (@FreshAirFarmer) April 8, 2020

Of course the question comes to why. First off it has nothing to do with price. Milk in Canada has a fixed price coming from the farm, depending on what it’s used for. Whether it’s a big order or a small one, whether it’s today or the first of March – the price is set.

Second has to do with shelf life. Of course milk doesn’t last forever and this is especially true of raw, unpasteurized milk. It’s required to be picked up from our farm within 72 hours. And then would need to be processed within a day or two. It can’t just sit and wait.

Third challenge is storage. I said it’s required to be picked up within 72 hours, but our farm & most others only have 48 hours worth of milk storage on farm. That’s because milk is picked up every 48 hours. It would be an extra cost that would have to be accounted for.

The same is with tanker trucks. There are enough milk trucks to pick up every farm every 48 hours. But there isn’t a fleet waiting for more. That would be an extra cost that no one has wanted to pay. So once it’s picked up, it has to be unloaded within the day.

That brings us to processors. And I feel for all of them right now.
Before this started, demand was pretty constant. Tim Hortons would need a pretty steady amount of cream week to week. My Loblaws store would need a pretty steady amount of 2%.

Processors would be able to adapt to small increases or decreases. But what’s happened over the last few weeks is nothing short of a absolute shock to the system. Plus, many are working with new rules of physical distancing for employees to make sure they stay healthy & operating

Figures out of the US (Cdn #’s should come soon) show increases through retail of 53% in milk, 84% in cheese, 127% for butter. All while food service demand collapsed.

Keep in mind food service wants buckets of sour cream, not tubs, or 10lb bags of shredded cheese, not packets. Think even cream where Tim’s uses a big bag of cream through a SureShot machine, while you want 500ml at a time.

show full post on front page

Those processing lines can’t change overnight. It takes millions in new equipment and packaging to convert those. So you’ve got retail lines that can’t keep up while food service lines are completely backed up or shut down.

Having processing lines just sitting waiting for this occassion would be another cost that no one wanted to cover. It would have been passed on to consumers that typically don’t want to pay more than they have to.

Finally you’ve got retail logistics. If it took 2 truck loads a day to keep a grocery store stocked in February, all the extra demand means it now might take 3 or 4. That’s more trucks. More drivers.

Unfortunately all that combined meant something have to break. In our business of milk, some raw milk had no where to go. So a few hundred farms out of the 3900 in Ontario were asked to dump 2 days worth of production. The next question is what about food banks?

It’s a great question. But again we run into the challenge of it being raw and unpasteurized. A food bank can do nothing with a 40,000L tanker at its back door. They aren’t processors.

If anyone knows of an available line that can pastueruize, process and package milk I’d love to hear from them. But all those lines are tied up filling orders for grocers. And foodservice lines aren’t packaging in a usable form for food banks.

Fortunately, as dairy farmers in ON we’re donating close to 100K litres each month to food banks. Not because of the crisis, but because hundreds of farms have done it for many years. That milk was donated last month, the month before and the month before that. It will continue.

We can do better though. But the food chain can’t evolve overnight. @modernfarmer had a great thread on this subject. It’s pinned on his profile so look it up & make sure you’re following his story as a pig farmer.

“Producers stuck with vast quantities of food they cannot sell are dumping milk, throwing out chicken-hatching eggs and rendering pork bellies into lard instead of bacon. They can’t easily shift products bound for restaurants into the sizes, packages & labels for supermarkets.”

— Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) April 10, 2020


Keep in mind that a lot of American ‘family’ farmers are now subcontractors to giant agribusiness chains — their never-generous profits depend on the calculation by non-farming MBAs as to what will be most profitable for stocks and taxes, not food supply to hungry consumers…

"As much as 7% of all milk produced in the U.S. last week was dumped, Mr. Rodenbaugh said, and he anticipates that percentage will continue to increase…Howard Bohl, who milks 450 cows in east-central Wisconsin, said he sent about 20 cows to slaughter last week."

— Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) April 10, 2020

Important to note that this is also happening with vegetable crops: https://t.co/pU9Rc5ootv

— Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) April 11, 2020

Disruptions from the novel coronavirus pandemic are threatening to cut off supply chains and increase food insecurity. But the issue isn’t food scarcity — at least, not yet. Rather, it’s the world’s drastic measures in response to the virus. https://t.co/BdiwVUBdJa

— CNN International (@cnni) April 11, 2020

… “Supermarket shelves remain stocked for now,” the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in a report released late last month. “But a protracted pandemic crisis could quickly put a strain on the food supply chains, a complex web of interactions involving farmers, agricultural inputs, processing plants, shipping, retailers and more.”

The issue, however, is not food scarcity — at least, not yet. Rather, it’s the world’s drastic measures in response to the virus.

Border closures, movement restrictions, and disruptions in the shipping and aviation industries have made it harder to continue food production and transport goods internationally — placing countries with few alternative food sources at high risk.

Airlines have grounded thousands of planes and ports have closed — stranding containers of food, medicine, and other products on tarmacs and holding areas, said the UN Conference on Trade and Development on March 25.

Heightened instability in global food supply will affect the poorest citizens most, warned the UN’s Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in a paper last month…

Click the link for more information on how logistics are affecting countries like China, Australia, and the island nations in Southeast Asia & the Pacific, which faced the first brunt of the pandemic.

Open Thread: Pandemic-Related Trouble in the FieldsPost + Comments (188)

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Go to page 5
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 51
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Biden-Harris Inauguration

Biden-Harris Inauguration Website
Watch Inauguration events above ⬆

Kakistocracy
I believe In My Fellow Americans
Defeat Them
Turning Bystanders Into Activists
UFOs and Officers
First Up, COVID
Idiots and Maniacs
Our National Illness
Libraries
You Have One Job

Do Something!

Call Your Senators & Representatives
Directory of US Senators
Directory of US Representatives
Letter to Elected Officials – Albatrossity
Letter to Elected Officials – Martin

I Got the Shot!

🎈Ways to Support Our Site

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal
Shop Amazon via this link to support Balloon Juice ⬇  

Recent Comments

  • Gravenstone on Open Thread (Jan 22, 2021 @ 11:22pm)
  • Jay on Open Thread (Jan 22, 2021 @ 11:22pm)
  • WaterGirl on Open Thread (Jan 22, 2021 @ 11:21pm)
  • Ken on Open Thread (Jan 22, 2021 @ 11:20pm)
  • CaseyL on Open Thread (Jan 22, 2021 @ 11:19pm)

Team Claire, and Family

Help for David’s Niece Claire
Claire Updates
Claire update for the holidays 12/23

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year

Featuring

John Cole
Silverman on Security
COVID-19 Coronavirus
Medium Cool with BGinCHI
Information Is Power

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Submit Photos to On the Road
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Meetups: Proof of Life
2021 Pets of Balloon Juice Calendar

Culture: Books, Film, TV, Music, Games, Podcasts

Noir: Favorites in Film, Books, TV
Book Recommendations & Indy Recs
Mystery Recommendations
Medium Cool: What If (Books & Films)
Netflix Favorites
Amazon Prime Favorites
Netflix Suggestions in July
Fun Music Thread
Longmire & Netflix Suggestions
Medium Cool: Places!
Medium Cool: Games!
Medium Cool: Watch or Read Again

Twitter

John Cole’s Twitter

[custom-twitter-feeds]

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc