Notes on grassroots food hygiene

Following my championing of indie espresso bars in trailers as a social movement (the kind that are operated outdoors at stations etc.) I have been asked about the technicalities of food hygiene in outdoor environments and how it is to be maintained. I confess, hitherto, it isn't something I'd really thought about. In the spirit of this blog I've done some research on the topic and given it some thought. Here is, thus, a short primer on the subject which I hope might help:

To reassure you, I am always suspicious of food service establishments that look impossibly clean, because it suggests that no real preparation is being done by the staff. Having formerly worked in food service I can attest that it is utterly impossible for an establishment to be spotless when real catering work is being done; the point that ought to be observed is more that prepared food and drink does not enter into contact with bacteriological sources (something even big names fail in!), and that containers/utensils are used for specific purposes. Furthermore, all cooked foodstuffs are raised and maintained at a high enough temperature within safety levels. In this way, the vectors for enteritis-causing bacteria are reduced pretty much to industry-standard levels. I am told by a wonderful Mozambiquian friend of mine that this is how outdoor cooking systems are maintained in the "non-shiny" world (I refuse to use the word "developing"), an art in which we in the Northern Hemisphere are quite outclassed. Thus fancy coloured chopping boards, running water, refrigerators, pressure washers and dangerous chemicals are in no way requisite towards maintaining good standards of food hygiene. 

We can adapt such principles to apply in guerrilla catering initiatives that are working in outdoor environments that can only be dirty: the keynote is to scrupulously avoid contact between foodstuffs and dirty surfaces, and wash your hands religiously.

You may, at this point, wonder why I am going into such detail over food hygiene: this is because in our society, it is important. If people get upset tummies because of indie food stalls, this will create a negative public perception of our efforts and cause our efforts to be hampered severely when the corporate giants are able to get this right. Your competence and expertise will represent the independent movement in general and, in any case, because of our limited exposure to bacteria in our daily lives in the West we are more susceptible to food poisoning than our friends in non-shiny nations, as has been shown time and time again in clinical studies. I hope eventually our guts will get more used to dealing with the real world but, until then, we have to keep very high standards (better than the chains) of food hygiene to ensure success, not least because our goal is to do a good thing for our customers. I will explain a little of the protocols that you will need to maintain.

* Hand-washing facilities. If you can, avoid using a bucket of standing water for hand-washing please -- that is often worse than not washing them at all, as bacteria such as Campylobacter jejuni, the number one cause of stomach upsets in the world, multiply at a staggering rate in lukewarm standing water. If you really must do so because of a lack of available water, add a little chloroxylenol disinfectant (e.g. Dettol) and natural soap to the water. Whilst chloroxylenols (a.k.a. trichlorophenols, which has the dreaded "phenol" word in it hence it is a less common term) are poisonous and marine teratogens, at a concentration of, say, a capful per bucket it is sufficiently dilute so as not to be an environmental issue nor to cause dermatitis (IMHO, but don't count on it - I'll keep you posted here once I've asked an expert about this) and will in any case decompose in a short space of time following disposal. Natural soap flakes have minimal environmental impact when disposed of safely as emulsions of saponified fats are fully biodegradable. I will publish here shortly my design for a simple foot-pump operated portable sink that is cheap and easy to build, requires no specialised parts, and has a water-saving spray nozzle that distributes the output over the widest possible surface area in addition to a greywater collection tank. With a sink-type configuration, ordinary natural soap will be sufficient for the purpose; in standing water it is not because of the bacterial growth and cross-contamination risks. For projects such as espresso bars, this is probably not so much of an issue but certainly when handling raw meat you will have to be highly vigilant. An alcohol-based hand sanitiser can be used to assist with maintaining proper hand hygiene when dealing with raw meat, as this will kill both Campylobacter as well as less common threats (including, I might add, the dreaded methicillinase-resistant strains).

* Utensil-washing facilities. These must be separate to hand-washing facilities and care to avoid cross-contamination is paramount. Again, this will vary as to your project; the above notes on hand washing apply equally well here. Ensure that utensils are not left at the "danger zone" lukewarm temperatures to be subsequently used with foodstuffs. Ensure they are also not exposed to contaminants and this includes dirty hands.

* Greywater disposal. I am currently investigating portable charcoal filtration systems that might provide a better option. For the time being I suggest that you either dispose of greywater in the standard sewage system (and never ever in storm drains and I mean that) or, where this is not possible, on ground that is as far as possible from water courses. For real diehards: you can dispose of your greywater in evaporation ponds - metal trays into which the water is poured - which undoubtedly is the best method for preventing contaminants from entering into the environment. This will only be effective in summer conditions, however.

* Keep chilled things chilled and heated things heated (applies largely to food service). Even though you may not have access to a refrigerator on-site, you can still ensure this is kept within decent margins. You might want to consider preparing cold-chain ingredients off-site prior to arrival, as one option. You can also create a "cold box", which can be as simple as a metal container with ice packs within it, to keep things at an acceptable level. Don't get freaked out, but don't be complacent either. When cooking food (particularly meat) it must not be left to become tepid; this is when bacteria will have a field day on your food, and have a field day in your customers' digestive tracts.

A long overdue post: The Nature of Impossibility

Dear all, I should like to apologise most sincerely for my recent hiatus from posting here, and this is indeed a grave circumstance where a blog is as new as this one. (It certainly seems to be the case that many blogs rise up from the ashes as the apocryphal phoenix, and then return to them in comparatively short order.) To allay concerns expressed from some of you kind readers via e-mail, I am safe and well, albeit in the process of extricating myself from a series of entangled obstacles. I refuse, however, to talk about myself here, as this is not the place.

Now, what I am going to talk to you about today is something that has been called to my attention recently as being a principal issue that many people raise in conversation, when an enthusiastic would-be activist tries to explain the importance of social action to someone who feels that the status quo is perfectly fine. I believe people are entitled to their opinion, and those of us charged with the responsibility of educating others about social change at the level of the individual should not attempt to strong-arm them into believing otherwise, for that is to become the very thing we rebel against.

The flaws in such a view are, of course, obvious, given the plethora of information thrust upon us on the numerous problems that our world's population faces, be they trivial or important. However, I must emphasise that this is not the point and should not be the matter to address. Instead, what should be talked about is the following: the "impossible" trap. Usually this pitfall runs thus, to use a cliche: "There's no point in trying to stop global warming, because nobody will change in time, and the corporations are too big." An alternate version runs along the lines of, "The world works like this, everybody is doing it now, so there's no way of stopping it." It's perhaps the most damaging "social virus", if you like, to afflict humanity -- because when people consider something utterly impossible there is no way they will invest effort towards its achievement; hence it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I believe this erroneous attitude to be responsible for a good deal of the ideological issues we face in society where people are markedly dissatisfied with what is happening, but yet do nothing about it.

At this point I'm probably going to be seen as a traitor by some, and quite possibly I like that idea, so such a concern is not going to stop me. (I like nothing better than to be disagreed with fervently.) It's become abundantly clear to me, however, that those people who identify themselves as social activists in one way or another -- environmentalists, animal rights activists, feminists, LGBT rights advocates, anti-capitalists, etc -- quite possibly do not understand this point themselves. It's an utterly damning reflection that the very people who should be championing the idea that people work towards seemingly insurmountable goals fail to understand this crucial point; they do so in a number of ways.

Some seem to believe that, without some kind of "revolution" in the sense of sudden upheaval and overthrow (a different sense to mine, of change at the level of the individual), nothing will happen -- or perhaps, rather, that nothing is achievable. It's as if they know what they dislike, but can't quite bring themselves to admit that something ought to be done about it now, and satisfy themselves by holding placards and shouting about things they have opinions on. There is a subset of people who do absolutely nothing else, and I think they do so because the issue then becomes someone else's problem and the fault of someone else; they can then blame "the system", "politicians", "America", their parents, their pet dog, their sex toy manufacturer, and an infinite series of other individuals for the plight of which they complain. 

This means that they feel no personal culpability themselves to roll their sleeves up and start working on the problem themselves, and thus leading by example as they ought to be. A fortuitous fact for those of us engaged in the effort of social change is that people will follow from the example of others quite naturally when they see benefits to doing so and the reason that lies behind those actions; they need no harassment from self-important "prophets of the future" who, it must be said, have done no more than the person they are trying to convert to address the problem. Such self-appointed individuals who believe they own a monopoly on the truth do genuinely seem to think that things are impossible under present circumstances, that the only way things will change will be if everyone concurs with their opinion, and so unwittingly fall into the age-old trap of inaction.

One thing that genuinely is impossible is to become further away from a major goal by working towards it. Another thing that is genuinely impossible is to achieve things whilst believing that there is no point in working towards them because of the formidable nature of the task ahead, unless it happens through circumstances foreign to oneself. The third, and most obvious, thing that is impossible is to influence things that cannot be controlled by their very nature, such as to be able to switch off the earth's gravity or achieve results in double-blind trials of homeopathy that are better than an equivalent placebo! (Again, I reveal my biases, but I hope the point still stands to those who believe in homeopathic medicine.) If you understand these points, and the subtle lines that lie between them, you will achieve anything you want to. I promise.

If you're thinking at this point, "Oh how ridiculously obvious. I don't need some jumped-up young British queer to tell me that I need to get off my behind and do things," I invite you to re-read the above paragraph and notice areas in your life where you have given up on things because you thought impossible. All effort expended in striving to reach goals is never wasted, provided you do not get too wrapped up in the minor struggles that you face on a daily basis.

I love you all. Keep the e-mails coming!

The Queen xx

minor edits made; my grammar was sloppy

Postscript on Emma Goldman: death is not an option

There is one thing that I should like to point out regarding Goldman that I failed to address in my previous post and, I think it is something that should be considered by everyone who is engaged in social revolution. Emma Goldman advocated murder of major industrialists of her day and, indeed, with her lover Alexander Bergman, planned the attempted assasination of industrialist Henry Clay Flick in revenge for steel workers who were killed by private security forces in strikes against the industrialist's company. In 1892 Bergman attempted to act on this plan, failing to succeed, and was sentenced to a lengthy prison term for it.

Murder is never, ever acceptable under any circumstances, even when undertaken in revenge for actions that amount to the same. Nor is, I might add, planning murder or advocating it as a political strategem. We can see around the world evidence of dictators who, possessing no vision of more intelligent and humanistic means of restoring balance, resort to wholesale murder (sometimes eugenics) to keep themselves in power -- and it is solely this end that is achieved, along with unconscionable deaths of individuals who are frequently innocent and uninvolved parties. Becoming a murderer in the name of social change and believing violence to be a reasonable option is to become the very thing that one is rebelling against and will never create a peaceful and collaborative society in which people may live.

I also believe that Goldman's philosophy that I detailed below regarding enjoyment and beauty in revolution is the right course of action in opposition to this, and the two are irreconcilable: one cannot advocate freedom and self-expression, and yet on the other hand advocate its suppression when it comes to those you see as enemies. I believe that Goldman, in this regard, failed to follow her own truths. But do I think that her advocacy of violence and direct complicity in murder means we should discount her wisdom in many other regards? No, I certainly don't. True words stand as true words regardless of who wrote them; progress stands as progress regardless of who it is that brought it into action.

But I wish to emphasise clearly that under no circumstances must you ever engage in violence in an attempt to improve conditions for humanity. I abhor Goldman's attitude with regard to violence and believe it to be disgraceful and devoid; I do not consider her a source of inspiration in this regard, but a case in point to be fought against. It is never acceptable and is stooping to the level of the worst autocrats that exist in our world, the very people who we intend to be working against. Remember that truth and harmony will always ultimately prevail over primal wishes of revenge, the latter of which causes suffering and hardship. Keep your hearts focused towards your goals; do not allow the behaviour of others to cloud the purity of our vision, under any circumstances. Live your life focused towards unleashing the urge towards constructive strength and hope in yourself, and in others: and take those who advocate violence, no matter what end it is meant to achieve, to task without hesitation.

If I can't propagate apocryphal quotes...

... then I ain't an anarchocollectivist. In my introductory post I quoted the maxim "If I can't dance, it ain't my revolution", a principle I agree with wholeheartedly and that expresses a beautiful ideal of progress with happiness. Forms of this quote are attributed to Emma Goldman (1869-1940), a remarkable woman in her own right who pioneered both liberal politics at the level of individual participation and the promotion of feminist causes through modern means. I have just found that in fact Goldman never said this, despite it being a very Goldman sentiment. From an essay called Dances with Feminists by Alix Shulman that I have just found on Google (Women's Review of Books IX:3, 1991) it appears the root of this quote is, well, a lovely reminder of how we social revolutionaries have hearts. It was actually a misquote on a printed t-shirt for an anarchist festival. The tale behind the shirts runs thus:

Several days later, when I picked up my shirts along with my precious glossy, I was surprised to find a succinct abridgement of Emma's dance story spread boldly acoss the shirt--the first (and most common) version of the now-famous slogan: "If I can't dance I don't want to be in your revolution."

I searched Emma's texts for the statement; it was nowhere to be found. But Jack was so pleased, the festival was so soon, Emma looked so lively printed in red and black on a variety of rich background colors, that I hadn't the heart to register an objection in the name of scholarship. After all, the apocrypha appeared on a mere gross or two of T-shirts, which surely could not require the same standards of accuracy as, say, book blurbs extracted from book reviews--and the sentiment expressed was pure Emma indeed.

But history (and fashion) exploded so quickly in those hungrily feminist days that the slogan on the original shirt-run was soon dispersed and copied and broadcast nationwide and abroad, underground and above, sometimes, absent a text to be checked against, changing along the way like a child's game of Telephone, until Jack's initial lighthearted liberties had taken wing as quotable lore and soared up into the realms of myth.

So there you go. Still, the quote does represent a perfect distillation of her philosophy, and it has been emblazoned on so many banners, t-shirts, canvasses, books and included in so many speeches that it has become part of our social consciousness regardless of who said it. Certainly, also, it represents excellent wisdom and I stand by it absolutely as an expression of my beliefs -- we shall have a damn good time when building this new world of ours, for what good is creating happiness if one is expected to be solemn and miserable in so doing? It is, to be blunt, a contradiction in terms and a futile endeavour. I shall finish with quoting (from the essay) what Goldman actually said in her autobiography Living My Life -- and I'm going to put this on my wall somewhere at home. I think this is actually far more beautiful, even though it isn't as succinct:

I insisted that our Cause could not expect me to become a nun and that the movement should not be turned into a cloister. If it meant that, I did not want it. "I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody's right to beautiful, radiant things." Anarchism meant that to me, and I would live it in spite of the whole world -- prisons, persecution, everything. Yes, even in spite of the condemnation of my own comrades I would live my beautiful ideal.

I really could not have expressed my own beliefs better. Above all, that quote in the middle of the paragraph stands out most of all: "I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody's right to beautiful, radiant things." That is so precisely what I intend to achieve, and is truly the most lovely and noble spirit anyone can have in this world.

The First Post: what this is all about

I'm Nicholas Turnbull; and I hope, here in this blog, to share with you some of my ideas for practical action towards solving humanity's continued problems. Allow me to explain a little about what I mean by this and what I hope to achieve.

The media is replete with discussion with what's wrong with the world: we read regularly in The Daily Slime about world disaster, brutal attacks, corrupt and hedonistic politicians, big businesses bullying their customers into handing over money, and devastating afflictions of poverty and disease that afflicts those "developing" nations of whom we as a population only have a passing knowledge. On television we are bombarded by news reports of these occurrences, along with doses of "no pain, no gain" philosophy when it comes to squalid restrictions on civil liberties meted out by the government that is allegedly representing us and those nations we collaborate with. We also read of massive numbers of people on state benefits; those sent to jail for fraud, barratry and murder; continued political gyrations of the British Parliament of one alleged "sweeping change" after another that appears to do absolutely nothing but make things worse. In short, as a population, we certainly know that things are wrong. In Britain (as I cannot speak for the world here) we also have no difficulty in complaining about this, at least in those times where it affects us personally.

Whilst people are very good at complaining, there is little to no serious effort to do anything about these things that we moan about daily. Global warming is raised as a subject and feeble initiatives postulated to try and halt its progress: how many of us seriously go home and think about what we could do, in the here and now, to contribute towards world issues? When told of strife elsewhere in the world we simply voice our dissatisfaction, carry on with our insulated lives, and set the cooker on Gas Mark 5 for the evening's dinner (if we eat at home at all) forgetting entirely about our prior thoughts and carrying on with the infinite hamster-wheel of organised society, achieving very little of value in progress. Vast charities overtly beg for money in all forms of media and contact, promising us to take care of so many of these things and yet simply paying themselves to carry on their endless token efforts towards absolutely nothing with that money. The homeless sell copies of worthless magazines in order to earn money for their next hit of heroin, and some of us are motivated by guilt to effectively pay their drug dealers for them.

Instead of asking for assistance from others to rise beyond their suffering, they ask for sums of money that will do nothing for them but harm them -- which is truly suffering indeed; do not assume I am at all belittling the plight of homeless people within our nation of "Great Britain", nor elsewhere in the world. These people deserve help; it is, in my view, unconscionable to witness suffering and do nothing. But what they do not deserve is simply our attitude of paying off problems we encounter, motivated by the vague hope that somehow everything will be fine if only we throw enough money at the problem. In truth, creating things within the world of any scope and scale tends to be cursed by the availability of funds: when people sincerely set out to achieve something other people who sincerely wish that to happen will offer something far more precious, their work and material supplies towards the cause and they will do so entirely from their own resources.

And now, this brings me to the most major point of all: the wealth of a single individual in terms of potential to take action is far greater than all of the currency in the entire world. People do not starve where physical raw materials, motivation and a spirit of unity are available to them: nor do they sit on streets feeling despair and suffering: nor shall they wish to exact revenge and destruction upon their world when they can think freely and are educated as to the truth that prevails in humanity, the truth of the human heart.

The topic of this blog is thus how we, as individuals in our daily lives, can act as footsoldiers in a new revolution to call an end to society's inhuman heartlessness and self-destruction by transforming it into genuine, heartfelt desire for change. I do not advocate political overthrow in the style of the Soviet Socialist Republics, and I abhor calls for moral opprobrium, conceit and superiority in the name of "solidarity". 

What I call for is the following: Whenever you see something wrong in the world, never think, "Oh, how terrible! - anyway, I must be getting to the supermarket". Instead, think along the lines of, "What can I personally do, from this moment on, to change this? What could be done about it and how can I encourage others to do the same?". And when you see a person suffering, do not walk by and do not further their suffering, which you may be doing by acquiescing to what they believe is good for them. Instead, offer sincere help which you know will lead them to a positive direction. I don't think I need to instruct you as to what is right and wrong: you know that in your heart.

There is also no need to feel that you are somehow debasing yourself or have need to sacrifice your pleasures, because someone who commits themselves will always be happy by virtue of being able to live a life they are truly proud of. You will also find that others of a like mind will provide you with whatever assistance in your life you require, because they know that you will not squander it. Never, ever forget how beautiful and precious you are as a person, and how beautiful and precious others are to you; and I promise you that you will be happy.

This blog will examine the following: practical courses of action that individuals can take to reducing human suffering; attitudes of interaction and thought that will assist creating this approach; technological ideas and systems towards these goals; analysis of changes in the world and what courses of action could be applied to these changes. But what I do hope is that you will read my thoughts and feel inspired to work in your everyday activities to build happiness for yourself and for other people; this may seem a solemn endeavour but I assure you that it is anything but a hard slog; you will enjoy yourself at every step of this revolution. I forget who it was who said "If I can't dance, it ain't my revolution" (or words to that effect) but the maxim certainly applies, and you have no need to sacrifice yourself in your efforts.

At all times I seek your feedback, something which is inordinately precious and useful to me. I advocate democracy and so in many ways this is your blog: let me know if there is something you would like to contribute, something you'd like me to consider or write about, or if you think what I've written is completely incorrect and misguided. If you don't like going through Blogger's system you can always e-mail me at nicholas (dot-sign) turnbull (at-sign) gmail (dot-sign) com -- replacing the things in brackets with their appropriate characters.

Thank you for joining me. I look forward to your participation.

Technical note: I would like to apologise for the bare and visually-painful appearance of this blog which I assure you will improve beyond the stock Google template and become something rather better. I have stripped out the worst of the elements that I came across. Once I've learned the customised HTML stuff for Blogger styles, it will look much more attractive.