My home was flooded, impacting food I had stored in cabinets, my pantry, and my fridge. As my home dries out, what do I do with the food?
Many Ohioans have experienced similar problems recently as heavy rains, flash floods, and flooding have caused water-soaked homes and businesses, and evacuation situations across the state.
Because your question is very similar to others that were asked in previous “Chow Line” columns, it’s best answered by reissuing a combination of those columns here.
If your home becomes flooded, it is important to throw away any food that might have come into contact with floodwater. That includes cartons of milk, juice, or eggs, and any raw vegetables and fruits. In fact, unless they were in a waterproof container, any foods in your...
WOOSTER—Have you ever attended a Zoom wedding? If not, you may soon receive an invitation as part of the “new normal” world that we now live in.
The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated changes to in-person gatherings ranging from employee meetings and trainings to annual conferences and yes, even weddings. Event venues on The Ohio State University’s Wooster campus are offering additional services to make virtual events easy to hold.
Nine campus venues, all part of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), are available throughout the year for a variety of Ohio events and meetings.
“We are pleased to announce that, in addition to our offerings of in-person gatherings, we also have the technologies to provide...
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Ohio 4-H camp has been called “the best week of summer.” It’s all about tie-dyeing T-shirts, learning new line dances, singing around a campfire, cool counselors, and sharing a cabin with your new best friends. But how can camp happen in the era of COVID-19?
Virtually.
“The decision to cancel Ohio 4-H camps this summer was not an easy one,” said Hannah Epley, interim associate state 4-H leader and Ohio State University Extension specialist for camping and older youth.
Ohio 4-H, the youth development program of OSU Extension, which is the outreach arm of The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), annually offers or sponsors 4-H camps to youth in all 88 of Ohio’s...
COLUMBUS, Ohio—While you’re spending so much time (stuck) at home these days, you can’t help but notice the home improvement projects you haven’t gotten to or didn’t quite finish.
And then there’s the lawn. How can you not notice your lawn and how green or dandelion-crammed it is compared to say, the neighbor’s lawn – not that you’re into comparing.
You’re a little more Johnny-on-the-spot with mowing because, well, there’s fewer other diversions besides the tiling you need to do in the downstairs bathroom and painting the kitchen cabinets to make them look a bit less 1960s. At least working on the lawn takes you outside.
If the lawn is on your home improvement list or just something to do to avoid cabin fever, here...
Is it safe to eat food or meat if it has been handled by someone who has COVID-19?
According to food safety and meat science experts, the risk of acquiring COVID-19 through the handling of food or meat is extremely low. In fact, there is no evidence at this time that COVID-19 can be transmitted through consumption of contaminated foods, said Lyda G. Garcia, an assistant professor of meat science with The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).
COVID-19 transmits person-to-person through droplets that are produced when an infected individual coughs or sneezes. The virus is most often transferred to another individual when droplets directly reach their nose, mouth, or eyes, or through close contact such as a handshake...
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Buy local foods. The supply is there, despite what you might see in some grocery stores.
That’s the message many local farmers, growers, and livestock producers want consumers to know about food-buying options as the nation continues to navigate the coronavirus pandemic.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions with food processing and distribution link breaks in much of the food chain system nationwide, one segment of the food system that has worked by adapting quickly to overcome these challenges is the local food system.
Local farmers and livestock producers are continuing to plant, harvest, and market food directly to the public allowing consumers to continue to access locally produced fruits, vegetables, poultry, meat, and...
I now wear a mask every time I leave my house, and I plan to do so as long as we are faced with the COVID-19 pandemic. But I haven’t figured out how to eat or drink with a mask on. Do I take it off or pull it up between bites? Any tips on what to do?
As states ease their stay-at-home orders and people return to venturing out of the house, your question of how to eat or drink while wearing a face mask is one that is likely to come up frequently.
According to published reports, some restaurants in Hong Kong, for example, have begun providing patrons with a clean bag to store their masks in while they eat at the restaurant. With that in mind, if you do plan to eat when out in public, you should carefully take your mask off completely without touching the outside of the mask, said...
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Many Ohioans struggling financially have questions, and The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) might have the answers.
With Ohio’s unemployment rate hitting a five-year high as the nation continues to deal with the health and financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, numerous consumers statewide have financial questions as many try to manage the biggest economic challenge they’ve ever faced.
More than 1.1 million Ohioans have filed for unemployment benefits since March, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Nationwide, some 33.5 million Americans are out of work, with 14.7% of the population unemployed, the highest since the Great Depression, economists said today....
Meat prices are up. And some grocery stores have limited how much meat you can buy. While shoppers might be paying more for meat, the prices livestock owners are earning for their pigs, chickens, cattle, and other animals are down—that’s if they can even sell them.
Meatpacking plants have had to shut down fully or partially because of the number of their employees sick with COVID-19 or concerned about catching the disease. As a result, farmers have had to keep their fully grown livestock on the farm, though they were ready to go to market. In some cases, farmers in Ohio and nationwide have had to begin reducing their flocks or herds by euthanizing them.
Stan Smith, a livestock owner and program assistant for Ohio State University Extension in Fairfield County, and Lyda G...
COLUMBUS, Ohio—The COVID-19 pandemic has led farmers to some excruciating decisions to cut their losses, including euthanizing animals.
There’s a financial toll, for sure, but an emotional one as well.
“They’re cringing,” said Lyda Garcia, an assistant professor of meat science with The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). “It really hurts to have to do that.”
With meat processing plants partially or fully closed or backed up with orders, some Ohio farmers who raise pigs and chickens for slaughter are reluctantly turning to reducing their flocks or herds.
It’s not a decision they want to make, nor a decision they ever expected to make.
This is happening amid other...
