I am an unapologetic omnivore. Actually I’d be perfectly content never eating a vegetable again even though I include one vegetable serving in my evening meal. I favor beef, chicken, and bacon, I like cheese, and I eat eggs for breakfast every other morning alternating with cereal usually with almond or oat milk.
Until the social isolation at the senior facility where I live I miss part of my morning routine which was going to our coffee shop and sitting at a big round table with a lovely view with six of my vegan friends and others who stopped by to join us.
The vegans often talked about food and the health benefits of a vegan diet but I could sometimes move the discussion into politics. I miss this get-together a lot as I know they do.
When the first news broke about Covid-19 infectious at meat packing plants I went a little overboard and put in the order (right) to the delivery service at our local big box grocery story Fred Meyer’s (owned by Kroger).
Presently there is reporting that the country may be looking at meat shortages because the packing plants are incubators for viral infection. They are the last stop for the animals that are destined for Styrofoam cellophane wrapped packages on store shelves and, in the good old days, restaurants.
My reading about the fish industry is limited but from what I can tell the fish we eat comes either from the sea or fish farms.
No matter the source my common sense tells me that getting the fish from either place to the market and your table requires far fewer people, and easier social distancing, than the other industries.
I decided to check this out. Below are two videos show how fish are processed. Note in the first video made before the pandemic that the workers are already standing about six feet apart.
In the following 10 minute video you can see how much automation has contributed to fish processing:
It appears that fish, conveniently for us and inconveniently for them, only require having their heads removed and being filleted, and that the factories are where workers can do their jobs in comparative safety with masks and social distancing.
I am quite ready to change my diet if I have to. I am one of those people who generally eats to live rather than live to eat. I was spoiled for 40 years by having a wife who was an excellent cook and always tried new recipes from one of her 300 cookbooks.
I used to enjoy eating out at two small local restaurants, Thai Smile and Cha! Cha! Cha! in nearby Milwaukie, Oregon.
I am not going to become a vegan or vegetarian but I am not particularly worried about changing my diet. Fortunately the special Hill’s dog food for sensitive stomachs that my two Westies eat is made from salmon and vegetables. Worst comes to worst, I can eat that.
Bonus video:
For the poll: What’s the Difference Between Vegan and Vegetarian?