The problem of Fogs (So, chicken?)
Just can’t see with fogs.
They all obscure.
Can’t avoid dangers. Can’t run to what might be a save.
No matter what kind, fogs hinder.
Trees flirting with clouds while no one can see.
Warm coastal moisture teases cooler temperatures into quiet foggy rendezvous.
Oblivious drivers just drive faster.
Depending on roadway’s constant predictability, commuting habits, and muscle memory.
Brain fog. Easily observable today.
Trying to get back in working gear after a long holiday weekend.
Struggling with the after effects of Valentine sugar high. Chocolate as gone as the flowers.
Shaky grip on routine.
Just too fuzzy to think through the mental fog.
Fog lets terror walk with you. The unseen.
Well known fact to Hollywood and Halloween venues.
Mists hide the wires, the special effect wizards pushing the buttons.
Whispers of “They don’t really want to know” is perfectly true.
Fog keeps things hidden from viewers. Scares protected.
Done for you?
Or to you?
See to sea?
While you were overwhelmed –
enthralled
completely occupied
soothed and engulfed by endorphins
brains totally fogged
with warm fuzzy lovie Valentines.
The FDA did a chicken dance.
They ruled that chickens grown and raised here may be shipped to China for processing, then shipped back to the US to be used in foods for consumers.
China.
Where multiple large chicken processing plants sit idle since their own diseased chicken flocks had to be destroyed.
China, Where so many chicken plant workers are out of jobs and need to work. (Odd, sounds familiar – like here. Is exporting chickens part of the promise of keeping jobs and manufacturing in the USA?)
China. That place where baby formula contaminated with mercury was produced and sold for their own children.
China. That place where melamine contaminated milk powder sickened over 300,000 Chinese children. Several died.
China. Where toys are produced still containing lead and shipped to US ToysRUs stores despite regulations and standards.
China. Who doesn’t always play by the rules and is willing to put their own people – children – at risk.
China. Would you seriously trust China not to slip in meat from diseased chickens – or other animals lying around? Their factories are not regulated/monitored like those in the US.
China. Bargaining? “Allow us process your chicken, and maybe we’ll let US beef be imported.”
How do you feel about the FDA/US government putting the interests of multi-national food industry corporations above safeguarding our own food supply and children’s health?
If sight is obscured here, who could expect to see what’s happening at a distance?
Think that recent Farm Bill (oink oink) will protect you? Oopsie!
The Farm Bill mandates labeling for country of origin/where it’s raised.
Labels will not show where the food is processed/prepared.
If you loved that pink slime stuff in beef, you’ll love the FDA’s ruling.
Get the facts:
“FDA: allows US chicken processed in China to be sold here” (CBS local news article.) Read what Bettina Siegel, mom and food safety blogger who help raise awareness of “pink slime” in meat, has to say. Remember, China is a country with a very poor safety record. They will transport chicken 7,000 miles to process, then a return trip to US processed food.(Transporting chicken is tricky, right? Read the existing warning labels on chicken packages.)
2 News Videos (From Austin and Houston) about Chinese processing US Chicken
“Cluck it. (Stupid birds)” Previous post. No way eatin’ that stuff. Information/dangers of Chinese production/links to articles.
Dr. Oz. “Buyer Beware” Food Safety Alert. Chicken from China, part 1.
Petition: “Keep Chinese chicken out of our schools and supermarkets” Articles: Forbes, WSJ, Business Week, Bloomberg, The Hill, NY Times and by food safety advocates. Even the Chinese people are wary of Chinese Chicken. Protect the US food supply.
Oh, duh! Must be in a fog!
Gatekeepers of fog.
It suddenly dawns on me, it’s all for our own good.
Washington keeps nagging about healthy eating.
Trying to limiting portions of this and that.
Asking people to lose weight.
Well, looks like losing weight’s bound to happen.
- Sorry, Fast Foods restaurants. Eat no more: chicken nuggets, chicken strips, chicken patties, chicken wraps, salads with chicken.
- Sorry, sit-down restaurants. Not sure where you got it: Chinese take-outs, fancy salads with chicken, and specialty chicken pizzas. Worried, so no: chicken parmesan, chicken tacos, chicken enchiladas, chicken wings (those have to go somewhere). Basically any chicken unless I know for a fact only US born, raised, and processed chicken is used.
- Sorry, grocery store: Not buying any more frozen potentially dangerous chicks: those quick and easy microwave meals, chicken nuggets/strips/patties, those “dinner for two” bags – no matter which famous chef. And no more chicken noodle soup – and other chicken soups, either. (And I’m reading labels for chicken broth…who knows?)
We’re lucky there are local and organic farms nearby. We eat pretty light anyway with veggies and stuff. So we’ll cook more, eat out less, and save money.
Sorry about all the US workers and companies that won’t be getting business.
Maybe you’ll find new customers who aren’t so picky.
Probably overseas?
Then you can just skip that dangerous shipping of processed chicken back here.
Simply sell it there! (Well, probably China won’t allow that or put huge tariffs on it.)
Will a light suddenly click on to illuminate?
Or maybe someone in DC will pull their head out of the fog.
Federal agencies: Stop operating under Fog Navigation Rules to slip actions through.
Stop pretending people don’t care.
Stop saying you know what’s best for us. Most people aren’t living in a brain fog.
Stop favoring other countries and big corporations over the health and safety of your own citizens.
Do it for the children. Stop the foggy thinking.
Hold the clucks. Keep our chicks here.
Phil, the Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge
Oh, it’s complicated. Too many twists and turns to comprehend.
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31 Comments
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Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge 
The FDA is not on our side. We are fortunate to own some land and can raise our own chickens. Won’t eat any fish as most is farmed. Don’t trust beef in stores….we raise our own. Can’t eat out anymore without getting sick….really. We are slowly being poisoned. Shop local farmers markets and organic, if you can
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A big concern is how may people aren’t aware of what’s going on. This chicken thing is very serious – especially for kids and those with compromised immune systems.
We have options here, too,(and grew up with farmers and cattle) but not everyone has. The food supply has to be protected. Thanks tossing in a comment
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Wow, that Farm Bill does indeed have a lot of hidden agendas. Shipping our chicken to China and then back again? I’ve already given up red meat. Maybe I’ll become a vegetarian after all. I’ll have to look into this more. (One more thing on my long list of things I want to research…)
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One of our local farms caught on quick and is running TV ads showing their chicks and farm. The FDA did not have to allow this. Several big chicken producers and multi-national companies are pushing this (labor is cheaper in China, so it will make them money, but…for how long and at what risk?) Veggies are good…and a nice steak, too once in a while. But no to processed chicken products. Thanks for scratching up a comment
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Facepalm.
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Nuts.Totally nuts.Thanks for the appropriate reaction.
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I live close to farms and markets thank goodness, plus I’m in Canada, I do hope Canada doesn’t follow suit with the US.
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Maybe the cooler weather will prevent brain fog in Canada. Certainly hope so. Thanks for trudging through the cloudy thoughts here
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Gross. By the way, ever since returning here, I’ve noticed a huge difference in the way my body reacts to & processes food. Chicken processed in China probably won’t make things better. 😐
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That’s an interesting observation. A bit of a worry.They are keeping us safe once again, right? Thanks for wandering along
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There used to be a cheesy comedian over here call Fogwell Flax. Doesn’t add to the debate but thought you might like to know
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Fogwell Flax! Funniest name ever – will have to look him up. They say the flooding still bad. Saw a cruise ship got smacked by a big wave in the channel…the wave was probably caused by desperate chickens flapping trying to escape. Never enough comedy – appreciate the heads-up on Fogwell.
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Don’t blame me if you don’t laugh, not many did sadly
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Most people ARE living in a brain fog. Part of the problem. This presses all my buttons. Globalisation and ghastly factory farming and processing and not eating ‘real’ food. Vegetarians have our own problems, but this ain’t one of them. Still doesn’t make it right.
Nice foggy pix. I like fog. Nearest we get to it is the levanter when it lies low enough, or a sea fret in Spain. But catch it quickly because the sun always shines in Andalucía and it breaks through that cloud in no time.
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It does have it all. Think one of the reasons we are so healthy now is that we always had big gardens and farms and ate fresh as kids. A little more difficult now and having to think a bit more differently.(do appreciate your meal idea posts) Even have to watch the origin of veggies/fruits as rather picky about what goes on the crops and fields.
Foggy again this morning – and a front coming across tomorrow. One day shorts – the next sweatshirts (sweaters already stored)
Molly is shedding like crazy…wish the birds would start picking up the discarded hair for nests soon – it’s very soft, birds! Thanks for running along
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I’ve been aware of this for a little while, and have been doing some light research on chicken. One store brand I’ve used and liked is BARE chicken, currently stocked at Target. It seems to have everything going for it, from being grain fed to no additives at all (including water or saline) and also being traceable. That is, you can enter the code from the package of chicken you bought and find out exactly which farm it came from. You can roam around the site from that link to the tracing page.
The question now is, where is their processing done? If it’s here in the US (as I suspect it is) it’s going to be a good alternative for people who don’t have access to organic chicken in farmers’ markets and such. One thing I’ve noticed about it is that there’s no shrinkage whatsoever when it’s cooked – a sign that that “no water or saline” claim is real. And it tastes good.
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Glad to hear about documented BARE chicken at target – if they are smart, they will start advertising – like that small local chicken farm has started doing on TV. People who know will buy safe chicken.
If you talk to any one in the oil/gas equipment industry, you know that bunch found out years ago that quality control is impossible in China. Lots of job bid requests(world wide) state very clearly that Chinese production/materials/products are unacceptable for the job – and that documentation must be given for origin of materials and location of manufacturing.
Seems like the most simple things in life are getting very complicated. Thanks for checking on the chicken
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NPR’s Morning Edition also seems to be focusing on Chicken this week. I wonder if this will be among the stories. It seems insane to me that you’d export the chicken in order to import back. After all the fun with dog treats and other contaminated products, who would trust this meat?
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One of the petition’s creators writes for NPR. This has been cooking for some time. The fact that the FDA ruled right at Valentines/Presidents’ Day irritates me..sneaking it through despite controversy?
This is a dangerous situation. If moms aren’t aware, there’s a real possibility that there will be some sick kids. 80% of school lunch meat can be processed outside of the US.(FDA rule) Those who have suppressed immune systems are at risk – survived the cancer, only to be sickened by contaminated chicken? A big risk is that the general public isn’t aware. Thanks for flying through the fog
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Well said. ‘Tis a sorry state that we, the people, are in when the FDA goes rogue. I’m seeing a mostly vegetarian future. Chick peas, anyone?
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Ditto. (If enough boycott chicken, it will affect the economy.)
It’s got to be a sneaky way to improve our health, right? Oh, you guys! Promoting home gardening.
Thanks for flapping along.
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The Target where I buy our non-organic foods has huge signs on the frozen chicken cases at all chicken products are from chickens hatched, raised and processed in the US. Of course, that doesn’t cover meals in a box. But I can let my daughter have a chicken patty. I buy the unprocessed chickens from Whole Foods, where I get all of our meat.
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We’ve all gotten more selective about grocery shopping. Some stores are pretty good about posting information, thank goodness – expect those places will be getting more business. Some of the small local organic certified farms here beginning to advertise more. (How many time have I begged Whole Foods to open over here – Sprouts(Co. based) and Fresh Market(local version of Whole Foods) are expanding – good timing.
Have to worry about those who are in a brain fog and not aware of the risk. Buyer beware needs to be chanted loudly.
Thanks for soaring in with great information
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With all our rules and regs, we still have a problem with contamination in our own chicken processing plants. I shudder to think what goes on in China. Not to mention the mere thought of sending chicken all the way to China for processing and bringing it all the way back is just disgusting. Once-fresh chicken becomes how many days (or weeks?) old on that trip … ??
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Risky stuff – in many so ways. Thanks for flying along
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I see our chicken consumption going down with this. Maybe if enough people boycott the stuff they can’t track, business interests will force the FDA to reconsider. Of course, business interests are the problem in the first place….
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The big farms operations – and big food producers tried to stop the USDA’s new regulation about labeling meat sources(origin, where raised), but the Farm Bill did passed with that – unfortunately the label addition saying where meat was processed was blocked. The FDA could have done that, but no. All I can say is that I’m not buying unknown chicken products. Boycott is about the only chance…but so many people don’t know/care what they are feeding their kids/families. Just nuts. Thanks for scratching up a comment
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Fog is scary… and so is our food going to China for processing. I just can’t see how this could be a benefit for anyone (except maybe beef exporters, if the bargaining is what they’re going for.) Very concerning. I *used* to eat a lot of chicken…
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Tyson foods and the big factory farms wanted this. The USDA forced stores to label meat’s origin, where raised, where slaughtered – and that seriously angered Big Ag. companies. They tried to have labeling mandate annulled in the Farm Bill, but were blocked. The FDA did not have to allow overseas processing, but gave in – it’s an attempt to get China to allow Big Ag. beef in, political. Big business not caring about what people want.
Not buying/eating processed chicken anymore. If enough people stop – and fast food places/grocery stores see a drop in purchases, maybe DC will notice. Thanks for flying in with a comment
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Who can you trust these days?
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The old saying “No one will take care of you as good as yourself” is more true than ever? Thanks for carving up a comment to leave
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