My Resources Are Minimal Much Of The Time, But I Can Pretty Much Always Pick Up A Piece Of Trash Or Something,

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huge recall of frozen waffles due to listeria in the US and canada

october 18, 2024

the source is treehouse foods, who provides frozen waffles to dozens of brands in north america. eggo is not affected.

brands affected: always save, best choice, bettergoods, breakfast best, clover valley, compliments, essentials, food lion, foodhold, giant eagle, good & gather, great value, hannaford, harris teeter, H-E-B higher harvest, kodiak cakes, no name, pics by price chopper, publix, schnucks, se grocers, selection, simple truth, tops, western family.

if you have any frozen waffles from any of these brands in your freezer, please check here for a full list of the recalled food and their lot codes and best by dates, and here for the pictures of the labels (PDF). treehouse says you can return the recalled items to get credit from the place of purchase.

consider sanitizing anything the waffles may have touched, or anything that you may have touched after touching the waffles. listeria is a very resilient fucker.

no illnesses have been associated with this recall so far. but keep in mind that listeria can take months to cause illness, and then weeks to officially connect an illness with a certain recall or outbreak.

again, while most people exposed to listeria will not get sick, listeria can take months to cause illness after exposure. listeria can be deadly, especially to high-risk groups. if you are in a high-risk group or have any concerns due to eating the recalled waffles, talk to your healthcare provider. if they deem it necessary, there are antibiotics you can be prescribed even if you do not have any symptoms.

as a general reminder for this and every listeria recall: although cooking to 165F/74C can kill off listeria itself, heating the food cannot eliminate toxins that may have already been excreted by listeria, which can also be harmful. this especially applies if the waffles have been defrosted or stored in the refrigerator.

You are Vulnerable to Conspiracy Theories

Right now, with tensions high over the situation in Gaza, there is a prime environment for conspiracy theories to take hold. Conspiracy theories are particularly dangerous in places where there is low trust in media, a rapidly changing situation, and high emotional tensions. When humans are stressed and scared we look for answers, and most often the easiest and most comforting answer is to make a big bad guy that’s at fault for everything. Already, I’ve seen a number of false conspiracy theories that have alleged things like this. The most recent example was someone claiming spotify wrapped was released to drown out a pro-Palestine movement. This post ignored that Spotify wrapped is always released on Wednesday the week after thanksgiving. It’s the same time it always releases. I’ve seen half a dozen other ones about McDonald’s french fries or any other mundane corporate nonsense. I understand this is a very scary time, but this sort of thing isn’t helpful.

You are vulnerable to conspiracy theories. All human beings are vulnerable to them. They are actively dangerous and they harm actual efforts to confront the actual problems of the world, and a lot of them tie back to antisemitic ideas, blaming a jewish cabal that controls all the strings of the media/world. Spreading these conspiracy theories is not helpful to Palestine, and it actively endangers Jewish people. It means people’s efforts and anger is misdirected and makes the movement to help Palestine less effective. Every person has a responsibility to help prevent the spread of misinformation, and that includes you.

IF IN DOUBT, STOP, DON’T SHARE. DO NOT SHARE INFORMATION YOU CANNOT VERIFY.

European Commission

Identifying conspiracy theories

Identifying conspiracy theories

This is a guide put together by the European Commission for COVID-19 conspiracy theories, but the same basic principles hold true. I’ve added the two most relevant infographics below. Plain text versions of these can be found at the link above.

ALT

ALT

Some of you may have heard about Monarch butterflies being added to the Threatened species list in the US and be planning to immediately rush out in spring and buy all the milkweed you can manage to do your part and help the species.

And that's fantastic!! Starting a pollinator garden and/or encouraging people and businesses around you to do the same is an excellent way to help not just Monarchs but many other threatened and at-risk pollinator species!

However.

Please please PLEASE do not obtain Tropical Milkweed for this purpose!

Tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica)--also commonly known as bloodflower, Mexican butterflyweed, and scarlet milkweed--will likely be the first species of milkweed you find for sale at most nurseries. It'll be fairly cheap, too, and it grows and propagates so easily you'll just want to grab it! But do not do that!

Tropical milkweed can cause a host of issues that can ultimately harm the butterflies you're trying to help, such as--

Harboring a protozoan parasite called OE (which has been linked to lower migration success, reductions in body mass, lifespan, mating success, and flight ability) for long periods of time

Remaining alive for longer periods, encouraging breeding during migration time/overwintering time as well as keeping monarchs in an area until a hard freeze wherein which they die

Actually becoming toxic to monarch caterpillars when exposed to warmer temperatures associated with climate change

However--do not be discouraged!! There are over 100 species of milkweed native to the United States, and plenty of resources on which are native to your state specifically! From there, you can find the nurseries dedicated to selling native milkweeds, or buy/trade for/collect seeds to grow them yourself!!

The world of native milkweeds is vast and enchanting, and I'm sure you'll soon find a favorite species native to your area that suits your growing space! There's tons of amazing options--whether you choose the beautiful pink vanilla-smelling swamp milkweed, the sophisticated redring milkweed, the elusive purple milkweed, the alluring green antelopehorn milkweed, or the charming heartleaf milkweed, or even something I didn't list!

And there's tons of resources and lots of people willing to help you on your native milkweed journey! Like me! Feel free to shoot me an ask if you have any questions!

Just. PLEASE. Leave the tropical milkweed alone. Stay away.

TLDR: Start a pollinator garden to help the monarchs! Just don't plant tropical milkweed. There's hundreds of other milkweeds to grow instead!

This pandemic is really proving that government has the means to solve all problems they just choose not to

dont cry. colossal squid seen for the first time ever in its natural habitat, ok?

just wanted to share the National Down Syndrome Society’s message for this year’s World Down Syndrome Day (21st March) 💛💙

Yup.

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The last sentence is everything.

What I was taught growing up: Wild edible plants and animals were just so naturally abundant that the indigenous people of my area, namely western Washington state, didn't have to develop agriculture and could just easily forage/hunt for all their needs.

The first pebble in what would become a landslide: Native peoples practiced intentional fire, which kept the trees from growing over the camas praire.

The next: PNW native peoples intentionally planted and cultivated forest gardens, and we can still see the increase in biodiversity where these gardens were today.

The next: We have an oak prairie savanna ecosystem that was intentionally maintained via intentional fire (which they were banned from doing for like, 100 years and we're just now starting to do again), and this ecosystem is disappearing as Douglas firs spread, invasive species take over, and land is turned into European-style agricultural systems.

The Land Slide: Actually, the native peoples had a complex agricultural and food processing system that allowed them to meet all their needs throughout the year, including storing food for the long, wet, dark winter. They collected a wide variety of plant foods (along with the salmon, deer, and other animals they hunted), from seaweeds to roots to berries, and they also managed these food systems via not only burning, but pruning, weeding, planting, digging/tilling, selectively harvesting root crops so that smaller ones were left behind to grow and the biggest were left to reseed, and careful harvesting at particular times for each species that both ensured their perennial (!) crops would continue thriving and that harvest occurred at the best time for the best quality food. American settlers were willfully ignorant of the complex agricultural system, because being thus allowed them to claim the land wasn't being used. Native peoples were actively managing the ecosystem to produce their food, in a sustainable manner that increased biodiversity, thus benefiting not only themselves but other species as well.

So that's cool. If you want to read more, I suggest "Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge: Ethnobotany and Ecological Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples of Northwestern North America" by Nancy J. Turner