Common Sense

I try to keep up on current events in order to have interesting and engaging conversations with my customers and fellow vendors on Sunday. The majority of my time during the week is spent with livestock. Discussions are somewhat one-sided as they could care less about what’s going on past the perimeters of their pastures.As time goes on, I’ve gotten to know what topic of discourse to expect from my weekly encounters. There are the geeks who make me grateful my cubicle is now a tent at the farmers market but keep me up to date on the industry as a whole. I would much rather be physically assaulted by an ill-tempered sheep than walk into a job where there are three thousand servers and no written documentation of the naming convention for the network. There are the jetsetters always regaling me with their latest global adventure, the political activists carrying the torch for the next set of elected officials and my fellow farmers with who I can truly commiserate with over issues that would leave most city folk questioning our sanity. And of course, there are the foodies.But last week there was one issue that’s been on everyone’s mind, ousting politics, recipe ideas and banter about the latest opera season at the Kennedy Center—the Corona Virus. Yes, you can’t get away from it, even here at Dishing the Dirt.For five solid hours it was the topic du jour among vendors and customers alike. It ran the spectrum from treading lightly by asking, “So, what do you think?” to customers doubling and tripling their normal order with the justification of better safe than sorry. “If nothing much happens at least I’ll have a good supply in the freezer,” said one customer, a former Peace Corp volunteer.As someone with freezer storage larger than a DC studio apartment, the concept of having to stock up doesn’t compute for me. When the summer bounty is shared among fellow vendors at the end of the day, Mondays always include some type of preservation, be it canning or freezing. Currently I am enjoying blueberries, strawberries and black berries with my breakfast, both canned and frozen stashes. There are jars of tomato puree, peaches, cherries, dehydrated mushrooms and peppers, pickled cucumbers, jalapenos, beets, carrots, okra and dilly beans, and my personal favorite—sauerkraut. Advice to stock up for me is a non sequitur.The longer I farm livestock, though, the less I see in differences between humans and other species. There are certain truths that in our society many have the luxury of choosing to ignore until the inevitable occurs, but for me, it’s a full-frontal assault in reality on a daily basis. The what-if scenarios are always several steps ahead in planning and action.For example, isolation and quarantine are routine on the farm. When a new stud muffin arrives to service the ladies he isn’t immediately turned out in the general population, but instead given his own private digs away from everyone for a few weeks while being monitored for contagious diseases. One infected animal is much easier to deal with than hundreds. Raise livestock long enough and there will be an outbreak of some sort of scourge specific to the species you’ll have to deal with. My two biggest nightmares that have led to this vigilance are sore mouth (virus) and foot rot (bacteria).Most viral infections in livestock run their course with little remedy other than supportive care such as lots of fluids with electrolytes, highly palatable, nutritious foods and a well-bedded pen away from the bustle of everyone else. Sound familiar?Yet at other times, the outcome isn’t as gentle. One year, a bout of highly contagious interstitial pneumonia decimated an entire season of kid goats that were all housed together. I was inconsolable until a fellow farmer shared that a hailstorm in late June the year before had destroyed his entire crop of cherries. “You cry about it for a little and then get over it. That’s farming,” he said; advice I have taken to heart.Did you know that in agriculture there are some diseases that if found, the entire herd or flock will be seized by the USDA and destroyed?For anyone who tried to persuade me as to the evils and inconveniences of potential isolation and quarantine, sorry, but as a farmer, my opinion on that subject has evolved out of experience. I have no crystal ball to foretell the spread of the COVID-19 virus, but the prevention of pestilence is always on my radar.It’s not my place to determine if some reactions to this potential pandemic are prudent or underestimated. However, there are basic measures we can all take at the farmers market to ward off the spread of all seasonal viruses.

1. If you are sick—fever, chills, coughing, sneezing, digestive upset, etc.—STAY HOME. If you absolutely must have something, ask a family member or neighbor to shop for you. Don’t be afraid to contact the vendor and pre-order something to be picked up for you.
2. Since not everyone will follow #1, WASH YOUR PRODUCE {which you should be doing anyway} How many times do we idly eat fruit or vegetables straight from the stand because they look so delicious?
3. WASH YOUR HANDS Wash them before going to the market and afterwards. Use hand sanitizer.
4. Use proper sampling etiquette if a vendor offers samples. Parents, please handle samples for your children instead of letting little hands grab for themselves.
5. If you do need to cough or sneeze, please move away from open displays of food items, and sneeze into your elbow or cover your mouth with a tissue (which must be promptly thrown away). While you may know it’s just allergies, everyone around you is thinking something different.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO), in the event of a Corona virus outbreak, we should be prepared to isolate ourselves for a few weeks. Being prepared is no different than for those who live in areas of the country prone to natural disasters.  Be thankful you’re not a new animal on the farm or I’d have you sequestered for at least a month.