Im new to canning and food preservation. So much information..".to trust or not to trust." Yet even though I hear the bottom line is to trust only the approved testing, I find that I still have questions and have a hard time trusting my end product simply because of the possibility of human error. I read that there is a field test similar to a home pregnancy test that they use to detect botulinum in 20 minutes. Has this been made available to the public and if not, why? It's a great business plan if someone can come up with the science behind it. And Ill buy it. Home testing might also make it possible for others to continue testing since the government quit. But while we're waiting for that, I would like for someone to clarify some information. I know botulinum is the bacteria which produce the toxin (gases) that can hurt us. The bacteria die at a certain temp for a certain time. I have heard some people suggest to boil a home-canned product thoroughly after opening/before eating it to kill the bacteria, but this seems insufficient as the toxins would still be present. It is not the live bacteria that are toxic but the gases that they produce. Also the bacteria die when exposed to oxygen. Does boiling somehow neutralize toxins? Or is this just false information? Lastly, since bacteria produce gases, is it safe to conclude that jars tainted with bacteria would definitely have some outward visible signs of contamination? I know that other bacteria can infect food, but in my short studies I have been led to believe that botulinum is the hardest to kill. But do all bacteria produce gases and therefore provide some indication that food isn't safe?

I haven't commented yet and had tried to stay away from it as I try to avoid politics and policies on garden forums. Also till recently I hadn't studied it a lot. I did know most of the farmers here were against it. I have some concerns. Not about what will happen immediately but in the future. One of my concerns is why Monsanto and a few others lobbied so hard for it and also spent a fair amount in support of some legislators. I don't feel it will impact the small garden grower saving seeds for a long time if ever. Another concern is it may in time affect small seed vendors. I remember when Cargill and a few others got laws passed that eventually forced many of the small locker plants out of business. I was good friends and did business with several of them and know what happened. The initial law didn't do it but allowed the means to gradually tighten the screw till many were forced out. I can remember in the 70's when there were 8 locker plants within 60 miles. For the last 10 years there has been 2. Now with the increase in demand of people wanting either to fatten their own or buy meat they know how it was raised and also some easing of a few regulations there has been another open up. The goal of any corporation is too obtain a bigger share of the market. Whether that be a packing plant or a seed business. One way to eliminate competition is by legislation. And one way to get laws passed is too say it is for food safety. I have emailed one of my legislators asking questions. Other than that not a lot I can do but keep informed and watch how it plays out. Personally I try not to get too worked up over things I have no control of. Jay

I always prep ahead for travel. But i agree that more than 24hrs for a marinade is too much. We prep in kits. I do all the prep in separate containers and bags and add together at the proper time. Having everything washed and sliced and ready to go saves headaches. I even prep and portion lunch meats and cheeses in foodsaver bags. Veggie snacks like carrots and celery sticks and some snap peas all washed and packed together to have with hummus or goat cheese. We travel with two coolers. One is packed with frozen meals and i freeze water bottles with iced tea and lemon to let thaw for a beverage and freeze gallon water jugs as the ice...freezing water in qrt zip-locks flat frozen is another way to keep frozen foods frozen. Those little camper fridges are small and when stuffed are not that efficient. I used to pack my unfrozen meats with a frozen water bottle in the bag when we traveled with our camper. We recently did 3 days in the truck and about to do it again. Tailgate chopping is not fun. So i have been prepping all morning. Even a charcuterie plate for the long ferry ride. I've chopped and prepped all the fixings for the tuna salad... olives, celery, apple, nuts, red pepper, artichoke hearts in the marinade...add the tuna on the road. Same mix for a small pasta salad and a potato salad. (feta and sundried tomatoes with the pasta, a bit of mustard in the potato salad). Zip-locks are great as they double as mixing bowls. And pack flat. Not sure if i would do the eggs ahead of time. The flavors might meld and not 'taste like home'. Though we just found our old favorite corn cake recipe and it is better if made 24 hrs ahead of time. Some egg batter mixes are best a day or two later.

Well, I was going to recommend a Samsung fridge as we've been happy with ours and, at least back when we last bought, they had versions without ice makers and cold water. We've found the pull out bottom freezer and french door uppers pretty good in use of space. There is a pull out tray in the top of the bottom freezer so it isn't all one deep hole. However, our approximately 10 year old fridge has stopped working this weekend. At first, it seemed that it was just the freezer as the fridge part was maintaining temperature fine. That wasn't too bad because we have a chest freezer so we can do without having the bottom freezer while we wait for repair. But now that I've emptied out the thawing stuff from the freezer portion, the fridge seems to be having trouble holding temp. Was the remaining cold below helping keep the top cool? Of course we discovered that the freezer wasn't quite up to snuff on Saturday and haven't been able to get in touch with a repair person over the weekend. We called a couple who said they do Sunday repairs, but just got answering machines and no response. This hasn't been a good summer for our appliances - first the oven and now the fridge.