Around the Homestead

We have some new ideas with this series.  And sharing a short story form a friend about the economic stance.

Last night hubby went out to get more fire wood.  He opened the door to the wood cubby and almost stepped on a skunk!  Little critter didn’t want to take off.  He had to encourage him a little. lol

Color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph showing Salmonella typhimurium (red) invading cultured human cells

The news headlines read of salmonella outbreaks and recalls.  I’m always so sad to see this as it almost always ends in very ill people or worse.

HVP produced by Basic Food Flavors Inc was detected to have been contaminated seven weeks ago.   Now it’s been confirmed  at the factory and all products produced there since Sept. 17, 2009 maybe recalled.  Although in my opinion how much has already been consumed?  I’m surprised that it has take seven weeks to confirm a problem in the factory.  Surely if a problem was suspected they could have moved a little faster on this.

To see the latest products in the recalls you can visit the FDA in the USA and in Canada visit Health Canada.  The latter as of yet has not added the recall list to their site.

You might be wondering what is HVP?  HVP is short for Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein this might sound like a natural product but it’s not.  HVP is basically MSG, if you have an allergy to MSG you can not eat products containing HVP since they contain large amounts of MSG.

HVP is made by boiling cereal grains or legumes in hydrochloric acid.  Then sodium hydroxide is used to neutralize it.  The acid breaks down the protein into amino acid components.  The resulting liquid contains glutamic acid a form of MSG.  This is the used as a flavor enhancer for processed foods.

There is plenty of documentation showing the dangers of MSG and similar food additives.  So one might ask why do people continue to eat it.

Jack Fastag, president of the Society of Flavor Chemists, said that without added flavorings, it would be impossible to preserve the type of consistency in taste that consumers have come to expect from brand label foods.

“It goes hand-in-hand with industrialization,” he said. “Consumers expect that certain products will taste the same every time, but in reality, that’s quite difficult to accomplish. Things will change from crop to crop, year to year.”

With the development of flavor technology, this type of consistency is made possible, he said, and is now indispensable to food manufacturers.^*

What do you think?  Is it the consumer that demands consistency in food taste?  Do you expect your burger or hot dog to always taste exactly like the last?  Or is the the manufacture that just claims the consumer does?

*Quote from Salmonella Scare Leads to FDA Recall of Processed Foods

Related articles

• March 2010 Nationwide Food Recall Expected to Grow – HVP Food Flavors Salmonella (wholefoodandmore.net)
• FDA orders widespread food recall (msnbc.msn.com)
• Products Recalled Over Salmonella (online.wsj.com)
• Contamination scare leading to food recalls in Canada (ctv.ca)

As things are still barley chugging along, what can we expect in the months to come?

Found a couple of new fee surcharges (taxes) on our daily living expenses.  Also shout outs  to some great YouTube channels.  Links are on our YouTube page.

Banks May Use Payday-Style Loans to Replace Lost Overdraft Fees

Baird announces new flight fees for airport security

A winter storm came through Southern Ontario and the Eastern USA yesterday.  We were just on the edge of it.  For most of the day we had pretty steady snow and as the day went on stronger and stronger winds.  All night we could hear the winds howling.  Compared to many we are very lucky.  We simply had a driveway to blow out as it had drifted in badly.  Over a million people lost power in the USA from the storm, close to 5000 in Ontario.  The news is reporting that not one highway in the Toronto area was accident free.  Mainly from people not driving to conditions.  We have had such a mild winter here and people seem slow to remember you need to slow down when the weather is bad.

Snow fall in Dutchess County New York

New York had 40cm of snow and for the 2nd time in a month (4th time in 6 years) had to close schools.

I do sit and wonder when I read the news how many people are really prepared for emergencies?

Especially in the Eastern USA that rarely gets heavy snow storms.  They certainly have been hit hard this year.  I have seen photos showing empty store shelves when heavy storms are predicted.  If  that is any indication, it is obvious that most people are not prepared for emergencies.

How many people wake up to no power and have no way to heat their homes?  Or no food on hand that can be prepared easily?  Many people don’t even own a manual can opener.  It is so important to have our family’s prepared for emergencies.  I honestly can’t count how many times having a well stocked pantry has helped our family.  When a sudden job loss, storm, or blackout hits you don’t have to worry about how or what to cook.

Hubby took this vid this morning, having some fun blowing out our long driveway.  The second video was shot last year.  You can really see how much more snow we had then!

A quick vid about the hummer deal that I have been following.

Hummer to close after collapse of Chinese deal

I LOVE finding good deals so when I found out about swag bucks I joined.  Swag Bucks is one of the easiest point systems I’ve used.  You don’t have to do anything special to win.  I simply use their search bar when I’m looking online.   As you search you win swag bucks that you can redeem for prizes in their store.  My favorite is Amazon gift cards!  We love books in our house and as homeschoolers use a lot!  Also keep your eyes open for swag buck codes to earn extra points!

Recalled cribs as shown on Health Canada's website.

1,200 drop side cribs have been recalled in Canada.   This follows a recall earlier this month for the same brand in the

USA.   The cribs were sold under the names Generation 2 Worldwide and ChildESIGNS.

For more information visit Health Canada.

Rod and Staff is a great curriculum and I use some of their courses in our school.  I was very excited to see they are having a spring sale!  Save 10% off on curriculum until April 15th.