Lots of interesting points and I also was surprised by the foods on the list, most all of them being my favorites. Annie brings up an interesting point by saying that her old doc said "we were sanitizing ourselves to death." I couldn't agree more. Growing up, I stayed with my grandmother most every weekend or school break. Another cousin that lived close by did the same and we were outside and dirty from sun up to down. We ate whatever my grandmother fixed without complaint because we were so hungry from active play EVERYTHING tasted good. She bought staples from the store like salt, sugar and flour but everything else was raised or grown on the farm. When our cousins from out-of-state came for a week or two, their mother polished and fussed about them, forcing vitamins down their throats. They were very picky eaters as well. They didn't get dirty or if they did and their mother happened to see some mud on their clothes, they were wisked off for bathing and changing. I must qualify that I do understand the difference between getting dirty and filth. We bathed every day, mind you, with clean hands and face when we sat down to eat. Anyway, long story short, those kids were sick ALL the time. Their mother felt like we "country cousins" were quite primative ;) There is no better way to ward off illness than to have clean hands and work place when dealing with food. I have had fun learning safe canning practices here as well. That does not mean I shower my home in "sterilizing" agents but certain surfaces do get a bit of bleach in the soapy water once in a while and especially my counters and sink if I have been dealing with meat. That was the way my grandmother did it all those years ago, too. I don't know, I think common sense goes a long way. Those "super bugs" are out there now thanks to over-use of everything so we do need to be cautious. I want my house to be clean, not sterile. One more point I wanted to make or comment on (and I'll try to keep this short, sorry) is the use of antibacterial soaps and antibiotics. I am a nurse and have to use the antibacterial soaps (really strong stuff) on a very regular basis. About once a year I get this horrid painful rash on my hands and the first time it happened I went to my doctor about it. Seems that the bacteria, both bad and GOOD had been wiped off my hands and allowed some kind of viral thing to happen. The same thing happens when we take antibiotics and get various yeast infections. The good bugs are there for a reason! If we need the antibiotics, I'm glad they are there because they can be life-saving. I just think they are over-prescribed and many people aren't satisfied if they come away from the doctor's office without some. Lori

Be careful about offering relish, pickles, salsas, chow-chows, chutney, and other acidified foods - I recommend that you do not until you find out the rules and plan to follow them. The FDA has very strict laws about them being produced in a home kitchen (as well as commercially - the same rules apply) and they have to be made under the supervision of one who has taken the FDA course for acid and acidified food manufacturing, has each product listed with them (usually after having a Food Safety Lab testing done), along with their "food manufacturing facility" being registered with them, and that has a written plan for national recall in the event of contamination or botulism in their acidified product. I know a lot of little old ladies sell their brined pickles at farm stands and Markets but they are usually totally illegal. On the other hand, fermented pickles are not regulated and can be sold without any FDA involvement. Go figure. Also, nothing canned using a home pressure canner is allowed to be sold in the US. Most jams and jellies are fine as there is no risk of botulism because of the sugar content and naturally occurring acid in fruits (low pH). I've been selling at Market for 5 years now. I expanded my 65 varieties of jam offerings with old fashioned baked goods and then added gluten free baked goods. If you go GF you must be so very careful about cross contamination with wheat flour (which can hang microscopically in the air for days and can stay in the "pores" of metal baking pans even after washing). I am the only "retail bakery" in NC to have approval by the NC Dept of Ag to offer both wheat based and gluten free products from the same "facility". Think of gluten as being a deadly virus and that is how you must treat baking gluten free, it is not just substituting wheat flour for another non-gluten flour. For both baked goods offerings the things that sell best are cookies to walk around with to eat, but not by the dozen, and breads/rolls of any kind to take home, and scones. Cupcakes and pies never sell no matter how pretty, slices of cake don't either unless they are pound cake or angel food. Even candy sits there though people comment, "Oh, look there's fudge", they don't buy it. Don't bother with fancy packaging but do be mindful of labeling, display of prices, and you must have a list of ingredients either on each product or on a paper they can take with them. Another guarantee is that diabetics will always come to your sweets table. Since I do not use chemicals in my products, I do not have anything they can eat. If you want to appease them you'll have to do a whole lot of research for cals and carbs. Nancy

As a Diamond distributer we got a letter from Diamond that unknown to them American Nutrition put rice gluten in some of their products and they recalled these. UNKNOWN TO THEM! I can hardly belive that! We distribute Diamond because they told us they make their own products, they don't. boopadaboo, I was driving down the highway the other day and thought about the recall and all the animals people love and gave them the best they could give them. I thought about you and Sadie, it was as if my heart was breaking I started crying and just couldn't stop, well I did stop my truck and just sat on the side of the highway and cried. It is sad enough knowing about the cats and dogs not valued but I always thought when they get their good home they will be safe. We are so powerless. There is someway we can take our power back from the companies that are controling our food supply, by making them accountable. It is only about money for them.

bump