eat your veggies...carefully

I am a pesco-vegetarian, which basically means that I am a vegetarian with a seafood problem. It also means that Sir Paul McCartney thinks I'm living wrong. But, as a mostly-vegetarian, I tend to think that I am safe from most diseases associated with the consumption of meat. However, the last couple of years have proven otherwise.

First, my beloved spinach was victim, as tons of fresh spinach were recalled in September of 2006 due to an e-coli outbreak. I eat spinach every day, and when I say that, I'm not exaggerating. Going to my local grocery store and finding the shelves cleared of spinach was rather depressing. But, with the spinach issue, disaster could be averted by washing the spinach thoroughly enough, or by cooking it.

Now, tomatoes are being recalled all across the United States because of a salmonella scare. And with salmonella, washing doesn't necessarily get rid of the bacteria. You could cook it away, but then you just end up with tomato mush. And this is the time of year when I should be able to buy a tomato, slice it up, add a little fresh basil and mozzarella, and be good to go.

Yep, next year I think I will definitely be joining a CSA, or planting a very large garden in my backyard.

In other food news, Spam and Ramen seem to be making a comeback, due to the rising cost of groceries. Ugh. I think I'd rather take my chances with the tomatoes...