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What Do You Think?
We at the Tribune aren't shy about airing our opinions; we certainly want to hear yours. The usual rules apply: no personal attacks or outright lying, and all
letters will be edited to conform to standards of taste and editorial style. All correspondence must be signed, and include a daytime phone number so that we
can verify the author's identity and intent.
Send your comments by e-mail to sseitz@blackrivertribune.com; by fax at 885-2855; or by postal mail at P.O. Box 767, Chester, VT 05143.
We look forward to hearing from you.
We at the Tribune aren't shy about airing our opinions; we certainly want to hear yours. The usual rules apply: no personal attacks or outright lying, and all
letters will be edited to conform to standards of taste and editorial style. All correspondence must be signed, and include a daytime phone number so that we
can verify the author's identity and intent.
Send your comments by e-mail to sseitz@blackrivertribune.com; by fax at 885-2855; or by postal mail at P.O. Box 767, Chester, VT 05143.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Guest Column:
Using a Food Thermometer
by Dianne Lamb,
University of Vermont Extension nutrition specialist
Are you cooking a turkey or other type of poultry or meat for a holiday
feast? Do you know how to tell if your food is cooked? "Is It Done Yet?"
sounds similar to the refrain kids shout from the backseat when going on a
trip, "Are we there yet?" Both questions really don't have a clear cut answer
because it depends.
"Is It Done Yet?" is actually the title of a food safety campaign from the
United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection
Service. (USDA-7515) So the answer to "Is It Done Yet?" is "You Can't Tell
by Looking." Use a food thermometer to be sure that food is cooked to a
safe internal temperature.
Consumers think they can tell when meat, fish, poultry and eggs are done
just by looking. In a 1995 study conducted at Kansas State University,
researchers found that ground beef often turns brown before the meat is
cooked to a safe internal temperature of 160ºF. In nationwide tests, 1 out of
4 hamburgers actually turned brown before the burger was cooked to a safe
internal temperature. In a 2002 consumer food safety survey, the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration and FSIS found only 6 percent of consumers
cooking main meals at home used a food thermometer to check the internal
temperature of a cooked hamburger. Only 10 percent of home cooks checked
the temperature of chicken breasts with a food thermometer.
The only way to know if meats, fish, poultry and eggs have been cooked
to a safe internal temperature is with a food thermometer. Checking the
internal temperature of food is critical especially for segments of the
population that are at increased risk for food borne illnesses: young children,
older adults, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems.
USDA food safety experts encourage people to get and use a food
thermometer , dial or digital. By using a food thermometer to check if meats,
fish, poultry, or egg dishes are done, you also prevent overcooking and
guesswork. Food cooked to a safe internal temperature is juicy and flavorful.
If you use a food thermometer, then you'll know the answer to "Is it done
yet?" You can buy a food thermometer in many grocery, hardware, or
kitchen stores. Here are some tips for using a thermometer:
• Insert the food thermometer into the thickest part of the food, making sure
it doesn’t touch bone, fat or gristle.
• For whole turkey, chicken or duck, check the internal temperature in the
innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast.
Even if your turkey has a "pop-up" thermometer, it is a good idea to also
check the temperature at the innermost part of the thigh and the wing to be
sure the bird has reached the safe minimum temperature of 165°F.
• For beef, pork or lamb roasts, the food thermometer should be placed
midway in the roast, avoiding the bone. Irregularly shaped foods, such as
beef roasts, should have their temperature checked in several places.
• For thinner foods such as meat patties, pork chops and chicken breasts, an
instant-read thermometer may be inserted sideways, if necessary , in the
thickest part, away from the bone, fat or gristle. Insert so the entire sensing
area is positioned through the center of the food. USDA encourages people
to use digital instant-read thermometers for thinner foods -- digital
thermometers don’t need to be inserted as far as dial instant-read
thermometers.
• For casseroles and other combination dishes, place a thermometer into the
thickest portion of the food or the center of the dish. Egg dishes and dishes
containing ground meat and poultry should be checked in several places.
• Check manufacturer’s instructions as to how far the thermometer must be
inserted in a food to give an accurate reading. If instructions are not
available, check the stem of the thermometer for an indentation or "dimple"
that shows the end of the sensing device. The probe must be inserted the full
length of the sensing area. For dial instant-read thermometers, this is usually
2 to 3 inches and less for digital instant-read thermometers.
• Cook food until the thermometer shows an internal temperature of 160º F
for ground meats, pork, and egg dishes; 145ºF for steaks, roasts and fish;
165º for chicken breasts; and 165ºF for whole poultry.
• Clean your food thermometer with hot, soapy water before and after each
use.
• USDA has changed the temperature recommendation for cooking poultry.
165°F is the recommendation for a safe minimum internal temperature to
cook poultry : turkey, chicken, or duck whether whole, in pieces or ground.
Some people prefer to cook poultry to a higher temperature as poultry
cooked to 165°F may still be slightly pink.
The FSIS has created a website to provide consumers with recommended
internal temperatures and instructions on how to use a food thermometer,
www.IsItDoneYet.gov.
For food safety information, call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at
(888) 674-6854 or TTY at (800) 256-7072. The year-round toll-free hotline
can be called Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 4 PM EST. The
hotline will also be staffed on Thanksgiving Day from 8 AM to 2 PM, EST.
An extensive selection of timely food safety messages also is available at the
same number 24 hours a day.
A food thermometer is definitely a "must have" tool for today's kitchen!
Take the guesswork out of cooking meats, fish, poultry and eggs -- use a
thermometer!
Dianne Lamb is a Nutrition & Food Specialist with the University of
Vermont Extension. The University of Vermont Extension and USDA,
cooperating, offer education and employment to everyone without regard to
race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs,
sexual orientation, and marital or familial status.
Using a Food Thermometer
by Dianne Lamb,
University of Vermont Extension nutrition specialist
Are you cooking a turkey or other type of poultry or meat for a holiday
feast? Do you know how to tell if your food is cooked? "Is It Done Yet?"
sounds similar to the refrain kids shout from the backseat when going on a
trip, "Are we there yet?" Both questions really don't have a clear cut answer
because it depends.
"Is It Done Yet?" is actually the title of a food safety campaign from the
United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection
Service. (USDA-7515) So the answer to "Is It Done Yet?" is "You Can't Tell
by Looking." Use a food thermometer to be sure that food is cooked to a
safe internal temperature.
Consumers think they can tell when meat, fish, poultry and eggs are done
just by looking. In a 1995 study conducted at Kansas State University,
researchers found that ground beef often turns brown before the meat is
cooked to a safe internal temperature of 160ºF. In nationwide tests, 1 out of
4 hamburgers actually turned brown before the burger was cooked to a safe
internal temperature. In a 2002 consumer food safety survey, the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration and FSIS found only 6 percent of consumers
cooking main meals at home used a food thermometer to check the internal
temperature of a cooked hamburger. Only 10 percent of home cooks checked
the temperature of chicken breasts with a food thermometer.
The only way to know if meats, fish, poultry and eggs have been cooked
to a safe internal temperature is with a food thermometer. Checking the
internal temperature of food is critical especially for segments of the
population that are at increased risk for food borne illnesses: young children,
older adults, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems.
USDA food safety experts encourage people to get and use a food
thermometer , dial or digital. By using a food thermometer to check if meats,
fish, poultry, or egg dishes are done, you also prevent overcooking and
guesswork. Food cooked to a safe internal temperature is juicy and flavorful.
If you use a food thermometer, then you'll know the answer to "Is it done
yet?" You can buy a food thermometer in many grocery, hardware, or
kitchen stores. Here are some tips for using a thermometer:
• Insert the food thermometer into the thickest part of the food, making sure
it doesn’t touch bone, fat or gristle.
• For whole turkey, chicken or duck, check the internal temperature in the
innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast.
Even if your turkey has a "pop-up" thermometer, it is a good idea to also
check the temperature at the innermost part of the thigh and the wing to be
sure the bird has reached the safe minimum temperature of 165°F.
• For beef, pork or lamb roasts, the food thermometer should be placed
midway in the roast, avoiding the bone. Irregularly shaped foods, such as
beef roasts, should have their temperature checked in several places.
• For thinner foods such as meat patties, pork chops and chicken breasts, an
instant-read thermometer may be inserted sideways, if necessary , in the
thickest part, away from the bone, fat or gristle. Insert so the entire sensing
area is positioned through the center of the food. USDA encourages people
to use digital instant-read thermometers for thinner foods -- digital
thermometers don’t need to be inserted as far as dial instant-read
thermometers.
• For casseroles and other combination dishes, place a thermometer into the
thickest portion of the food or the center of the dish. Egg dishes and dishes
containing ground meat and poultry should be checked in several places.
• Check manufacturer’s instructions as to how far the thermometer must be
inserted in a food to give an accurate reading. If instructions are not
available, check the stem of the thermometer for an indentation or "dimple"
that shows the end of the sensing device. The probe must be inserted the full
length of the sensing area. For dial instant-read thermometers, this is usually
2 to 3 inches and less for digital instant-read thermometers.
• Cook food until the thermometer shows an internal temperature of 160º F
for ground meats, pork, and egg dishes; 145ºF for steaks, roasts and fish;
165º for chicken breasts; and 165ºF for whole poultry.
• Clean your food thermometer with hot, soapy water before and after each
use.
• USDA has changed the temperature recommendation for cooking poultry.
165°F is the recommendation for a safe minimum internal temperature to
cook poultry : turkey, chicken, or duck whether whole, in pieces or ground.
Some people prefer to cook poultry to a higher temperature as poultry
cooked to 165°F may still be slightly pink.
The FSIS has created a website to provide consumers with recommended
internal temperatures and instructions on how to use a food thermometer,
www.IsItDoneYet.gov.
For food safety information, call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at
(888) 674-6854 or TTY at (800) 256-7072. The year-round toll-free hotline
can be called Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 4 PM EST. The
hotline will also be staffed on Thanksgiving Day from 8 AM to 2 PM, EST.
An extensive selection of timely food safety messages also is available at the
same number 24 hours a day.
A food thermometer is definitely a "must have" tool for today's kitchen!
Take the guesswork out of cooking meats, fish, poultry and eggs -- use a
thermometer!
Dianne Lamb is a Nutrition & Food Specialist with the University of
Vermont Extension. The University of Vermont Extension and USDA,
cooperating, offer education and employment to everyone without regard to
race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs,
sexual orientation, and marital or familial status.
Stop the Gauntlet
Vermont enjoys much larger voter turnout than do most other states in the
Union; this is true of New England in general but Vermont in particular.
Vermonters have a long and proud tradition of voter participation in local,
state-wide, and national elections. The Town Meeting in Vermont predates
Vermont statehood and even the Republic itself. Vermonters are rightly proud
of their level of involvement in democracy.
As always, there is room for improvement. There is one area where Vermont
is sadly deficient in its defense of democracy and in its encouragement of even
greater levels of voter participation at the polls: the gauntlet Vermonters must
run on their way to exercise their near-sacred right to vote.
In Vermont, campaigning is prohibited within a scant 50 feet of a polling
place. In much of the rest of the country that prohibition is one of 500 feet.
As a result, citizens approaching the polling place must walk between
competing candidates hoping to win election to either state or local offices.
The candidates call out to approaching voters - in our small town most of the
voters and candidates recognize each other - as if in friendship but in fact they
are hustling votes. The voter than has to decide which candidate to whom to
return this faux friendship. It is uncomfortable for all concerned.
In Chester, at the recent election, barricades were erected on each side of the
entrance to Town Hall, which is Chester’s polling place. Voters were forced
to walk between the barricades where they were, well, "accosted" seems a
strong word but perhaps not too strong, by the candidates for State
Representative, Mike LeClair and Kathy Pellett. At least one candidate was
not above hugging supposed supporters on their way into the polls. Humans
being humans, the candidate one intended to vote for got a more effusive
return-of-greeting than the candidate one did not intend to vote for. In a way it
removes the “secret” part of secret ballot.
At best this is unseemly; at worst it is causes enough discomfort to discourage
some voters from going to the polls. If even one voter is put off by the blatant
if-you-are-my-friend-you’ll-vote-for-me pitch that is one voter too many and
we are all diminished by the absence of that voter. In a state that prides itself
on the leaving well enough alone, of a citizenry that minds its own business
and finds virtue in that, and in a culture that demands politeness at the least
because there are too few of us to have real feuds the gauntlet has no place.
The Vermont Legislature should, before Town Meeting Day next, enact
legislation that bans campaigning within 500 feet of a polling place. That
would be the end of the gauntlet and the end of the false patter between semi-
groveling candidates and scurrying voters many of whom are, understandably
in my view, hoping to get into the polling place without having to make eye
contact with electoral hopefuls.
Perhaps the exponential growth of early voting in Vermont will eliminate the
problem because so many ballots will have been cast before Election Day that
the gauntlet will have been rendered moot, but I doubt it.
I like going to the polls on Election Day and casting my ballot then and there -
it seems more real to me than voting early. I detest having to walk the gauntlet
of competing grovelers. I shouldn’t have to choose between those conflicting
emotions; no one should have to choose.
In a simple bold stroke the Vermont Legislature can strike a blow for dignity
and honesty (pretty good, eh?). All they have to do is make the campaign
limit 500 feet away from a polling place which will eliminate the gauntlet,
encourage increased voter participation, and inject some much needed dignity
into the campaign process.
LFG
Vermont enjoys much larger voter turnout than do most other states in the
Union; this is true of New England in general but Vermont in particular.
Vermonters have a long and proud tradition of voter participation in local,
state-wide, and national elections. The Town Meeting in Vermont predates
Vermont statehood and even the Republic itself. Vermonters are rightly proud
of their level of involvement in democracy.
As always, there is room for improvement. There is one area where Vermont
is sadly deficient in its defense of democracy and in its encouragement of even
greater levels of voter participation at the polls: the gauntlet Vermonters must
run on their way to exercise their near-sacred right to vote.
In Vermont, campaigning is prohibited within a scant 50 feet of a polling
place. In much of the rest of the country that prohibition is one of 500 feet.
As a result, citizens approaching the polling place must walk between
competing candidates hoping to win election to either state or local offices.
The candidates call out to approaching voters - in our small town most of the
voters and candidates recognize each other - as if in friendship but in fact they
are hustling votes. The voter than has to decide which candidate to whom to
return this faux friendship. It is uncomfortable for all concerned.
In Chester, at the recent election, barricades were erected on each side of the
entrance to Town Hall, which is Chester’s polling place. Voters were forced
to walk between the barricades where they were, well, "accosted" seems a
strong word but perhaps not too strong, by the candidates for State
Representative, Mike LeClair and Kathy Pellett. At least one candidate was
not above hugging supposed supporters on their way into the polls. Humans
being humans, the candidate one intended to vote for got a more effusive
return-of-greeting than the candidate one did not intend to vote for. In a way it
removes the “secret” part of secret ballot.
At best this is unseemly; at worst it is causes enough discomfort to discourage
some voters from going to the polls. If even one voter is put off by the blatant
if-you-are-my-friend-you’ll-vote-for-me pitch that is one voter too many and
we are all diminished by the absence of that voter. In a state that prides itself
on the leaving well enough alone, of a citizenry that minds its own business
and finds virtue in that, and in a culture that demands politeness at the least
because there are too few of us to have real feuds the gauntlet has no place.
The Vermont Legislature should, before Town Meeting Day next, enact
legislation that bans campaigning within 500 feet of a polling place. That
would be the end of the gauntlet and the end of the false patter between semi-
groveling candidates and scurrying voters many of whom are, understandably
in my view, hoping to get into the polling place without having to make eye
contact with electoral hopefuls.
Perhaps the exponential growth of early voting in Vermont will eliminate the
problem because so many ballots will have been cast before Election Day that
the gauntlet will have been rendered moot, but I doubt it.
I like going to the polls on Election Day and casting my ballot then and there -
it seems more real to me than voting early. I detest having to walk the gauntlet
of competing grovelers. I shouldn’t have to choose between those conflicting
emotions; no one should have to choose.
In a simple bold stroke the Vermont Legislature can strike a blow for dignity
and honesty (pretty good, eh?). All they have to do is make the campaign
limit 500 feet away from a polling place which will eliminate the gauntlet,
encourage increased voter participation, and inject some much needed dignity
into the campaign process.
LFG