The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Baby boomers concentrate on keepin’ on during the coronavirus pandemic

I’m working on my book about my journalism career, so these days of staying at home are going by quickly for me. I have plenty of food (and toilet paper) and just found out I can order groceries, expect frozen food, from my local food co-op. I was ready to try Safeway or Fred Meyer thinking eating nonorganic food would be a lesser risk than going to the co-op to shop.

Then, I wrote about the Dirty Dozen, a list of the produce with the highest pesticide residues offered yearly by the Environmental Working Group. Topping the list are strawberries, spinach, and kale. The EWG recommends that whenever possible, consumers purchase organic versions of produce on the Dirty Dozen list.

Raisins, which hadn’t been tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 2007, had the most pesticide residues. The EWG recommends eating organic raisins or prunes. Prunes, USDA tests found, had much lower pesticide residues than either conventional and organic raisins.

Meanwhile, boomer bloggers are writing about:

Grower’s edge vaporizers are being recalled by Hawthorne Hydroponics due to shock, burn, and fire hazards

Hawthorne Hydroponics is recalling about 60,000 grower’s edge vaporizers in the United States and about 340 in Canada.

The vaporizers can overheat, and the vaporized materials can pose a burn risk if spilled or cause a fire if they fall onto a combustible surface. The deluxe model vaporizer also poses an electrical shock hazard if a consumer touches a small copper piece at the base of the vaporizer while it’s being used.

Hawthorne has received 11 reports of overheating or fire, nine for the deluxe and two for the commercial model. Hawthorne has received one report of property damage as a result of vaporizer use. No injuries have been reported.

Strawberries, spinach, and kale top this year’s Dirty Dozen list for pesticide residue, but raisins are worse

Nearly 70 percent of the fresh produce sold in the United States contains residues of potentially harmful chemical pesticides, according to the Environmental Working Group’s 2020 Dirty Dozen. This year’s Dirty Dozen are:

1. Strawberries
2. Spinach
3. Kale
4. Nectarines
5. Apples
6. Grapes
7. Peaches
8. Cherries
9. Pears
10. Tomatoes
11. Celery
12. Potatoes

Meat industry wins another round in its continual efforts to cut back federal meat inspection programs despite sharply increasing hazardous recalls

Tyson Foods received a waiver on Thursday from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service from requirements for government inspectors at its Holcomb, Kansas beef slaughter plant.

Last summer, Tyson requested a regulatory wavier that would allow it to rely on company employees, rather than government inspectors, to conduct postmortem inspection activities, including identifying and trimming “isolated defects” and identifying conditions that would require additional disposition by a government public health veterinarian.

The Consumer Federation of America said it’s disappointed by the USDA’s action.

Scientists call for the elimination of hazardous chemicals that come in contact with food, such as in food packaging

Many chemicals can migrate into food from packaging and equipment used to manufacture and process food. Some of these chemicals are known to have hazardous properties such as carcinogenicity, toxicity for reproduction, persistence and bioaccumulation, or endocrine disruption. In addition, the safety of other chemicals hasn’t been adequately assessed.

Thirty-three international scientists published a scientific consensus statement on food contact chemicals and human health Monday in Environmental Health.

The statement sends a message that the system for protecting consumers from food contact chemicals is broken, said Lisa Y. Lefferts, senior scientist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Ads for 2020 Super Bowl mostly violent, unimaginative

For some reason, the Super Bowl this year seemed to be so violent and sexist.

I'm not a football fan, but I watch the Super Bowl every year to comment on the ads to see if they continue to be violent, sexist, and ageist.

This year, the game itself and the ads this were so violent, with dozens of ads for violent TV shows and violent movies. It was discouraging. After being blasted with all the violent ads, it hard to even concentrate on the others to see if there was anything worthwhile.

I was also disappointed with the half time performance. When it came time for women can take part in the Super Bowl, we had scantily clad women singing and dancing. It was so discouraging that women's role in the Super Bowl and on TV continues to be as sex objects. As one of my friends said when I commented on this on Facebook, let's have a marching band.

However, I didn’t see any sexist or ageist ads, which is a big improvement from years past.

This year, the most expensive 30-second ads cost advertisers $5.6 million.

Best ads

Google: An older man asks Google to see photos of his late wife, Loretta.

Jeep Gladiator: An older Bill Murray, of “Groundhog Day” movie fame, finds an orange Jeep in downtown Punxsutawney, kidnaps the groundhog, and goes on a series of adventures, saying “No day is the same in a Jeep Gladiator.”

Consumers, businesses need to reject single-use food packaging, group says

Consumers overlook the environmental impact of food packaging, an analysis by FoodPrint, an organization that studies food production practices, reports.

“If concern about climate change, the environment, or your personal health are motivating factors for you when it comes to deciding what you eat, it’s important to realize that those same issues are factors when it comes to food packaging,” Jerusha Klemperer, director of FoodPrint, said.

Klemperer said massive environmental issues occur with the way food packaging is made and with how much consumers use and throw away, adding dangerous materials also are present in food packaging.

Top consumer stories for 2019

As usual, most of the end-of-the-year, round-up articles are about national issues or corporations. If consumers are mentioned, it’s usually about how they’re responding to some corporation.

For the most part, it’s been a grim year for consumers. With the Trump administration that is so probusiness and anti-consumer, the not much is happening for consumers that's positive.

1. President Donald Trump is impeached.

We have a president who puts his personal interests above the public interest. He tried to bribe the Ukrainian president to get him to investigate a political rival. As a result, he’s been impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. This is incredible.

How a percentage of the American can support Trump is a great mystery to me. He and his administration announce anti-consumer proposals almost daily.

In addition, we have a president who lies. Since he was elected, Trump has told more than 15,000 false or misleading claims. In 2019, he’s said that the U.S. economy today is the best in history, he passed the biggest tax cut in history, the U.S. has lost money on trade deficits, article II of the Constitution lets him do whatever he wants, windmills cause cancer, and toilet flushes are up. All are untrue.

2. Consumer rights and programs are under continual attack from President Trump and his administration.

The Republican conservatives want to reduce the size of government and give corporations more power. Almost daily, we read about how the Trump administration has done it or is planning to do it. Some examples include:

• The Trump administration’s decision to roll back light bulb standards will cost consumers billions.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s rule speeding up pork lines and reducing inspectors endangers the lives and safety of consumers and workers. 
• Corporations keep breaking the law due to declining federal prosecutions.
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and seven states launch an “innovation network” that will approve new, risky financial products and protect them from enforcement.
• The CFPB fails consumers by not carrying out the payday lending rule.
• Fewer children’s products were recalled in 2018.
• Under Trump, enforcement of consumer financial laws drops sharply, especially in areas with the highest complaints.

The list goes on and on. Government regulations and programs help consumers. Reducing the size of government and slashing consumer regulations just helps corporations make more profits at the expense of consumers.

Hard-boiled eggs from Almark Foods’ Gainesville plant are being recalled due to link to listeria outbreak

Almark Foods is recalling bulk, fresh hard-boiled eggs that were produced by its plant in Gainesville, Georgia, due to a multistate outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to the eggs, the company announced Friday.

Seven people infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes have been reported in five states – Florida, Maine, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Four were hospitalized, with one death occurring in Texas.

The illnesses occurred between April 2017 and Nov. 12, 2019.

Eight consumers sickened in three states from E. coli linked to Fresh Express Sunflower Crisp chopped salad kits

State and federal agencies are investigating a multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to Fresh Express Sunflower Crisp chopped salad kits. The eight people infected are from North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

Consumers shouldn’t eat food from the salad kits with this identifying information: UPC 0 71279 30906 4, beginning with lot code Z, and a best-before date up to and including 07DEC19. This information is printed on the front of the bag in the top right corner.

Health officials advise consumers to check their refrigerators for the salad kits. If they find one, they should:

• Not eat it. Throw it away. Even if some of the kit was eaten and no one got sick, throw the rest away.
• Wash and sanitize drawers or shelves in refrigerators where the salad kit was stored. Follow these five steps to clean your refrigerator.