Food at Potlucks- Am I the only one?

Bumpyroad wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

Farm kids who shoveled out the stalls and slopped the pigs, tend to get sick far less often than those brought up in an anti-bacterial bubble. Unfortuantely more and more kids are being brought up in that bubble.

link to that study please
bumpy

Common knowledge bumpy, just as children who were raised with pets have less allergies. They develop a healthy immune system over those raised in a sterile environment.

Kind of like vaccines where the dead virus is injected into the person to build immunity to the live virus. Where you run into problems is when a new strain appears that we do not have immunity built up.

We all eat foods that involved bacteria. Without it no aged beef witch makes it tender. No cheese, buttermilk or sour cream. How about yeast, without there would be no bread, beer, wine or whiskey.

Exactly why should I take potluck? I know what I like, and I know how to cook it, or where to buy it.

IMO potluck dinners should be turned into organized parties where people are assigned certain foods to bring.
On second thought, this would turn it into work,....forget THAT!

Eat whatever you like, in moderation....:B

Bumpyroad wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

Farm kids who shoveled out the stalls and slopped the pigs, tend to get sick far less often than those brought up in an anti-bacterial bubble. Unfortuantely more and more kids are being brought up in that bubble.

link to that study please
bumpy

While not directly on point with getting sick it is still a very important study showing kids growing up on sterile 'city' food have far more food allergies than they're rural counterparts do.

Study on food allergies amongst children.

MeanderMan wrote:
I have to say I'm stunned by the number of people who won't eat at pot lucks or at restaurants. To us, as long term full timers, the fun of sharing a meal with fellow volunteers, Escapee Members, or family, whether at a pot luck or a restaurant, is key to our lifestyle. Otherwise, why even venture out of your house? Use common sense and live your life - eating is probably the least of your worries.

But what if you were someone like my DW with several severe food allergies?

Literally, someone touching certain foods then handling something she was to eat, or a single drop falling off a shrimp or lobster falling on her meal would be life-threatening.

Not the sort of thing you'd seek out far from home.

Statistics say more than 20 million people have food allergies, some data says 1 in every 13 children under 18 have some form of food allergies.

Bumpyroad wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

Farm kids who shoveled out the stalls and slopped the pigs, tend to get sick far less often than those brought up in an anti-bacterial bubble. Unfortuantely more and more kids are being brought up in that bubble.

link to that study please
bumpy

A simple google search on the subject brings back several pages worth of articles on the subject. Some are better sourced than others. I'll leave it to you to sort the wheat from the chaff.

How strong or exactly how they relate is still open to some debate but there is no question our immune systems react and learn based on what they are exposed to, so it's quite logical that if you never expose them, they won't know how to deal with exposure.

One point of order, this doesn't necessarily apply in a hospital or nursing home setting. If you have someone already on deaths door the teaching may kill the student, so these locations are a special case.

Thought the point of potlucks is sharing food. I am still alive so I guess eating all the other food is ok.

Geocritter wrote:

Personally, I'd rather risk death than live a life of fear.

Steve

Very good point. Living a life of fear is not really living. My father used to tell me that he was not afraid of dieing, but he was very afraid of 'not living'. Unless I missed a memo we only get one go around at this thing called life, best make the most of it.

I have to say I'm stunned by the number of people who won't eat at pot lucks or at restaurants. To us, as long term full timers, the fun of sharing a meal with fellow volunteers, Escapee Members, or family, whether at a pot luck or a restaurant, is key to our lifestyle. Otherwise, why even venture out of your house? Use common sense and live your life - eating is probably the least of your worries.

holstein13 wrote:
I think some of the commenters may be missing an important point. All those who wrote about surviving without seat belts, helmets, washed hands, drinking out of hoses, etc. are all survivors. By definition, survivors get to write forum comments -- Non-survivors don't. Yes, you survived those risks, but there are still some risks associated with those behaviors. That's why we've changed as society.

Granted, it's very debatable and I'd suggest that we have gone too far in terms of precautions (taking off our shoes at the airport, for example) but that doesn't mean that there is no risk.

We need to hear from all the people who died from eating at the pot luck. Where are those people? Come on folks. If you ate at a potluck and died, we'd like to hear from you. I'll wait.




(Hears sound of crickets)

I guess it's safe then. ;-)

The last time I ate at a potluck I got so sick that I was wishing I would die. First potluck of the season at our park in Texas two years ago. All it takes is a mouth full of something bad to make you sick. No Thanks. I haven't attended another. I don't eat out much either.

RobWNY wrote:
We went to our first potluck dinner (more of a chicken BBQ-Bring a dish to pass type thing) put on by a campground we stayed at this past summer. 10% off your stay if you chose to go to the dinner and bring a dish to pass. We will NEVER go to one again. Being camping newbies, we thought it would be a good way to meet people and have a good time. We couldn't have been more wrong! The food wasn't the issue. There was quite a variety and it all looked good. The problem was the campground owners treated everyone like they were 5 years old. The chicken wasn't quite ready at the time the dinner was supposed to start and people were hungry and impatient. They stood in line waiting. Then those that had been drinking started yapping about how long it was taking and the language became colorful. No one could get the other food while they waited. You had to get the chicken first. Meanwhile, the hot foods people brought were getting cold. After you got your chicken and other foods, you couldn't get a desert. You had to wait until everyone was done eating their dinner and then you had to wait to have your table called to get a brownie or a cookie or a piece of pie or whatever. Everyone sat with their own group of people and no one introduced themselves or made any attempt to meet anyone else. When we tried to break the ice with the others sitting nearby by making small talk, it was like we weren't even there. I'm sure there are some very nice and friendly potluck events but we will never know because we won't subject ourselves to that kind of situation again. We'll just introduce ourselves to those that are camping near our site and if they are nice people, enjoy getting to know them during our stay.

Now that's a first for me...I've never been to such a meal ever. Not at a campground or at a church or work or family reunion or holiday potluck. I'm sorry you had such a lousy experience and this would not sit well with my family at all.

We've always enjoyed the fellowship with our fellow diners as much as and often even more than the meal. Don't know what kind of CG this was, but I am wondering how this place is run now...JMHO.