food disease panic boredom

"Neither was there (which I wondered much at) any want of bakers or ovens kept open to supply the people with the bread; but this was indeed alleged by some families, viz., that their maidservants, going to the bakehouses with their dough to be baked, which was then the custom, sometimes came home with the sickness (that is to say the plague) upon them." daniel defoe. a journal of the plague year.

food's in the news and no wonder...with water ( and the utility company has suspended shut offs, turned shut of water back on, suspended late charges, and is being reasonable...hats off ) and oxygen a very basic necessity...

last time i went to the store ( tuesday ) people were there waiting when it opened ...

and while the toilet paper aisle is mostly barren you can see down at the end that the selection of soda in cases of twelve cans is in peak condition...take out food is available everywhere you look...from macdonalds to the local diners and pizza joints...

the media are telling us it is safe to eat because covid isn't salmonella or listeria...it does not enter the body through food...

and that those shelves that are empty will not remain so because the supply chain is intact...processed food producers have not ceased industrial production...hot pockets will flow ( or extrude ) again...

additionally, we shouldn't overdo the pantry stocking...pounding down the grocery aisles on a daily basis is taking up resources the lees fortunate who do not have everyday access may need...give it a rest people...stay home...the waffling governor still has that order in effect until 11:59 p.m. next tuesday...

working from home? we need to avoid eating out of boredom...an easy habit to fall into ( i have begun to think consciously about what and how much i am eating while on "furlough" ) and. like most habits. a difficult one to break ( touched your face lately? )...there's not a lot going on ( as evidenced by the frequency of these posts ) and how much can you binge watch netflix with out , say, some popcorn or chips and salsa, or nachos? we are somewhat overcooked in eating terms as a society...enforced idleness will not help...do you really need those cheese doodles?

and yet, despite the reassuring voice of big media, there is a subtext of fear...born of thousands of generations of the co-evolution of humans and food insecurity...the source of the "More!" button that is perverted into all sorts of addictions, from opioid to alcohol to filthy lucre, but is rooted in a primal fear of where ( and when ) the next meal is coming from...this particular habit drives the hoarding and i am thinking it is not going to be an easy one to break...try being rational...buy one bag of brown rice instead of two...leave some behind you...you aren't the only one eating...and, in a pinch, there's always long john silvers.