Greetings!
Do you enjoy the fall? Fall is one of my favorite seasons. Cozy sweatshirts, warm beverages, crisp walks, and rich, hearty foods. (If you live somewhere without a fall season, you're missing out!)
While walking and admiring the fall colors, I was reminded of a recent conversation about establishing food safety as a shared cultural norm for every American. Our big, broad efforts to change the food handling culture in America come down to individual people making different choices.
Yes, we have big goals, and let’s not discount the value of one conversation. Each conversation is another step toward our goal of reducing the rate of foodborne illnesses in the U.S.
Just like you, I ask: “How do I get my loved ones to value the use of a food thermometer?” and “How do I get them to see safe food handling practices as not ‘practices one should do’ but rather as ‘that’s just what we do?’”
Having spent many holidays discussing food safety with my family, I was the “bad guy.” You can probably relate. Then all of a sudden it changed. I now go to family gatherings and witness handwashing occurring naturally and the immediate storage of leftovers. I’m no longer the “bad guy!”
What does this reveal? Raising awareness of safe food handling practices is key to facilitating that shared cultural norm. People, including my family, are listening, and though it may not be immediate, they are actively taking steps.
New resources like Prep Yourself: Food Is on the Way and The Story of Your Dinner are important programs to enable food safety as a shared cultural norm. They raise awareness of safe food handling practices within specific contexts that are so relatable right now. And, frankly, they address a shared experience among most Americans — delivered foods, holiday meals, and home baking (more below).
Ultimately, we’re all BAC Fighters — in the powerful sense of “change American culture” and the intimate, personal sense of “protect my loved ones.”
Keep having those conversations with your family, friends, colleagues, and community about the importance of safe food handling. While you’re doing that, we’ll make sure health and food safety educators feel motivated and empowered to keep having conversations with their communities!
Because of you, the opportunities and timing for facilitating a shared cultural norm of food safety are ripe. Thank you for working together with us on preventing foodborne illness!
Fighting BAC(teria), together,
