The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

USDA, meatpacking industry downplay covid-19 risks resulting in worker illnesses and deaths

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the meatpacking industry worked together to downplay and disregard risks to worker health during the pandemic, as shown in documents obtained by Public Citizen and American Oversight.

“While we knew that the meatpacking industry was lobbying the Trump administration to take steps to protect its profits regardless of the cost to workers’ lives, the degree of collaboration these documents show is astounding,” said Adam Pulver, attorney for Public Citizen.

Pulver said as outbreaks continue to emerge in meatpacking plants, it’s stunning to see the cavalier attitude officials took to the health and safety of workers in the early part of the pandemic.

CO2 canisters are being recalled by Soda Sense due to injury hazard

Soda Sense is recalling about 19,200 Soda Sense CO2 canisters.

A valve in the canister can break, allowing CO2 to forcefully eject the top valve, posing an injury hazard to consumers.

Soda Sense has received 18 reports of the canister’s top valve ejecting, resulting in minor property damage, such as damage to the home soda machine if the canister was in the machine when the valve broke. Or when the valve in the canister broke, damage was caused to surrounding property such as glasses, plates, or other fragile items if knocked into by the machine, the valve, or the canister.

No injuries have been reported.

This recall involves type 2 Soda Sense 0.6 liter CO2 canisters sold through the Soda Sense mail order exchange program. The metal, cylinder canisters are silver with a black cap.

Places to travel for Labor Day 2020? As close to home as possible

Miami, Orlando, New York City, Las Vegas, Chicago, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Denver, San Francisco.

These are cities that have been on the top of my lists for Labor Day travel in past years. But not this year.

It’s a pandemic. This year’s recommendation is stay close to home, limit non-essential travel, and have a backup plan if your location is already crowded. Only 10 percent of people plan to travel on Labor Day.

Facebook and WhatsApp offers of free covid-19 help are scams

If you see a message on WhatsApp or Facebook offering you free help during the pandemic, watch out. People are reporting seeing messages that seem to be from Pepsi, Walmart, Whole Foods, Target, and other well-known companies.

These messages offer money to people who need it – through grants, coupons for food support, or other giveaways. But they’re all fake, and not from those companies, said Diana Shiller, investigator for the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Marketing Practices.

You might receive this message, in English or Spanish, from a friend or contact. The message tells you to click a link to get your money. If you click, you might find a survey to take. Or it might ask you to enter your name, address, phone number, or other information. And it might ask you to forward the message to several friends to be eligible to collect.

Pandemic still changing everything, but people are trying a few things

On Aug. 18, 1920, Tennessee legislators voted to ratify the 19^th amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing the right for women to vote. It was the largest granting of suffrage in the history of the United States.

As with the cancelation of everything else, events to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of women’s suffrage were canceled.

However, on the 100^th anniversary of the Tennessee General Assembly’s vote, women in my community gathered at a the state library next to a statue of Mark Twain to celebrate. Mark Twain said women should have the right to vote.

It was fun to celebrate such a joyous occasion.

Meanwhile, boomer bloggers are writing about:

35 tips for reducing your food costs

Like many people these days, you're probably feeling the pinch of tough economic times.

If you're looking for ways to reduce your food costs, here are 35 suggestions:

1. Go through your checkbook and credit cards to see how much you've spent in the last one to three months on food eaten at home and in restaurants. Check the "USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food" and determine the level of spending you'd like to reach. Four food plans are discussed: thrifty, low-cost, moderate-cost, and liberal. The amounts are for food eaten at home only.
2. Set up a meeting with members of the household to determine what changes can be made and who will do what jobs.
3. Plan menus for a week. Making menus means there will be less food wasted and shopping trips can be reduced.
4. Use a shopping list based on the menus when buying groceries.
5. Compare prices among stores using weekly ads.
6. Compare serving prices among brands in the store.
7. Find ways to reduce or stretch the amount of meat served. Eating more beans, lentils, and rice is one way to do this. Serve salads as a main dish to make meat, chicken, and fish go further. Serve omelets loaded with vegetables as a main dish.
8. Cook from scratch more. Use less processed food.
9. Buy store brands rather than more costly brand names.
10. Check out buying in bulk. Food co-ops and some grocery and health food stores offer bulk items. The savings are astounding on spices.
11. Eat out less often. Look for buy-one-entree-get-one-free coupons for restaurants. Be sure to read the details on the coupon. See my article "Read the Fine Print, Even on a Coupon." One survey indicated people eat out 1.9 times a week.
12. Buy the largest containers or packages of food that you can use before it spoils. Large items generally cost less per serving than smaller ones. Be sure to compare the per serving costs.
13. Buy fruits and vegetables in season. See if you can find a farmers' market with good prices or check to see if farms in your area sell directly to consumers. Try u-pick opportunities and freeze the fruits and vegetables. I love to u-pick raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries.
14. Try thrifty food recipes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
15. Make your own master-mix for items such as pancakes and biscuits.
16. Try collecting coupons to see if you can find any that will help you save money. Many coupons are for brand name food and using them may be more expensive than buying the store brand. Keep coupons in your car.
17. Cook more of a main dish and eat leftovers for lunch or freeze the remaining amount for a dinner next week.
18. Take a class in cooking vegetables with herbs to bring new, exciting variety to your meals.
19. Grow a vegetable or herb garden. If you don't have a yard, try container gardening or a community garden.
20. Invite friends to share in a cooking party. Make meals you can freeze to use later in the week.
21. Don't shop when you're hungry, or take children with you to the store.
22. Invite friends for a potluck rather than an expensive dinner party.
23. Compare prices for organic food so you can begin or continue to eat it. See Rebecca Blood's blog, Rebecca's Pocket, to learn how she lived on the amount of money food stamp recipients receive using organic food.
24. Serve smaller portions.
25. Eat less food.
26. Cut out sweets and chips.
27. Make your own salad dressings.
28. Try tofu. It doesn't have much flavor so mix it with beans, lentils, rice, sauces, or herbs and spices. See the allrecipies for "Vegetarian Tofu Main Dish Recipes."
29. Cut alcohol consumption.
30. Avoid fast food and junk food.
31. Cook oatmeal, corn meal, and rice cereal you buy in bulk instead of eating more expensive, processed dry cereals.
32. Figure out an alternative to drinking bottled water. Research how much it would cost to filter water in your home, or buy distilled water at a food co-op or store.
33. Make your meals attractive. Serve foods with different textures and colors.
34. Pack lunches rather than eating out.
35. Review "Dietary Guidelines for Americans" to make sure you're meeting nutritional needs with your new, cost-cutting plans.

Copyright 2020, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

How to make a sugar-free, gluten-free berry cobbler

For decades, I’ve been working on cutting sugar out of my diet. It’s a worthy goal because more and more research is coming out about how harmful sugar is to health.

I’ve made sugar-free raspberry pie for years. You make a pie crust with olive oil, pat it in a pie plate, thicken the raspberries, sprinkle some of the crust on top, and bake.

But lately, I’ve had a yen for raspberry cobbler. I tried three recipes. The first one was O.K., the second one was a disaster, and the third one worked like a charm.

Late last year, I started on the FODMAP diet to reduce bloating. It’s gluten free, so I’ve been learning more about flours other than wheat.

Berry Cobbler - Recipe No. 1

It was O.K. I used a Paleo recipe. The filling was runny, and with just raspberries and no sugar, it was too tart. I used almond flour for the topping. It tasted good, but I would have liked to have more topping.

20 books to read about food this summer

The world as we know it is changing due to the coronavirus pandemic. But as it exposes inequities in the health and food systems, many people hope that the pandemic offers an opportunity to build a new and more sustainable food system.

To understand what it will take to move forward, the Food Tank has compiled its summer reading list to examine the issues that affect the country's food system today. These 20 books provide insight into food access and justice in black communities, food relief and school nutrition programs, the effects of technology on global food supply chains, the relationship between climate change and food production, and more:

1. "Be My Guest: Reflections on Food, Community, and the Meaning of Generosity" by Priya Basil. Forthcoming November 2020

Priya Basil explores the meaning of hospitality within a variety of cultural, linguistic, and sociopolitical contexts. Basil uses her cross-cultural experience to illustrate how food amplifies discourse within families and touches on the hospitality and the lack thereof that migrants and refugees experience.

Pandemic continues to alter lives of baby boomers

One of the big things that’s been canceled in my life due to the pandemic is all the celebrations that were being planned in my community to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of women winning the vote in the United States. Events and parades have been canceled.

So, some scenes with themes were organized around town last week. A videographer recorded them and I took photos.

It was fun to get out and at least have some opportunity to celebrate this important event.

Here’s what boomers are writing about during pandemic times:

One of the problems faced by almost everyone during the past few months has been the shortage of basic household items. Toilet paper has been, perhaps, the most difficult, at times, to find. Meryl Baer of Beach Boomer Bulletin laments the shortage of toilet paper, and recalls the good old days of abundance. 

As Tom Sightings at Sightings Over Sixty explains in “We've All Canceled Plans,”  he's had to cancel travel plans this summer. Have you?

Laurie Stone of Musings, Rants & Scribbles saw a poignant sight recently. A little restaurant near her home had converted part of its parking lot to an outdoor eating space. Tables were set and socially distanced. It was about 5 p.m. Raindrops started falling on her windshield as she sat watching, waiting at a stoplight. One of the waitstaff started scrambling to gather up napkins and menus. Most likely, no dinner shift for them tonight. Her heart broke a little.

Over at A Healing Spirit, Carol Cassara admits she's had to work hard to find peace and perspective during these trying times. In "The Rocky Route From Prayer Flags to Perspective," she shares her thoughts about the need for us to manage through this together.

It’s exciting when a woman over 60 decides to get out of her comfort zone and do something she’s never done before. Tracey Thomas decided to make a documentary film in which she asked other baby boomers what they thought about aging. During filming, her cameraman/boyfriend passed away and the film took another turn. Rebecca Olkowski, with BabyBoomster.com, interviewed her about her journey making “My First and Last Film.”

This is the Best of Boomer Blogs #660. When you take a look at the articles, be sure to join in the conversations. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2020, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Most Americans think owners should be able to deny service to those who don’t social distance, and a majority say they’re taking precautions in public spaces, survey shows

A majority of Americans, 75 percent, support states enacting legislation giving business owners the right to deny service to customers who don’t social distance, including 53 percent who strongly support the measures, according to a survey from Consumer Reports, a consumer testing and advocacy organization. About one in six oppose these measures, and another 9 percent are unsure. 

The Consumer Reports survey was done between June 4 to 16, just before the surge in cases now occurring across America. It included questions on the pandemic’s impact on consumers’ attitudes, behaviors, and finances. The respondents said they were very concerned about the potential threat posed by covid-19 to their communities, and many reported taking some action to deal with the pandemic.

“Just prior to the current surge in cases across many parts of the country, most Americans were still very concerned about the continued spread of COVID in their local communities,” said Kristen Purcell, chief research officer for Consumer Reports. “And while a majority also told us they were following recommended safety measures most of the time, the survey data show sizable segments of the population were not adhering to CDC guidelines at that time. It’s not surprising then that many Americans would support measures to encourage greater compliance.”