Deep thoughts from locals with time to write to the newspaper...
Letter: Never leave food on the ground
I once took a food safety class. In that class the first and most important thing they taught you was to wash your hands.
The second most important thing they taught was nothing goes on the floor. Ever. When a box, bag or carton hits the floor, anything on the ground is now on the bottom of that box, where it then catches a free ride onto your dinner table and kitchen countertops. If you won’t put your shoes on the table, why would you put food on the ground?
When I receive a contactless delivery, I am more worried about getting sick from what might be on the bottom of the package than I am worried about the coronavirus.
If sit-down restaurant dining is back, then we have to assume a normal food delivery exchange process is safe as well.
So, to avoid the spread of fecally transmitted diseases and to avoid eating dirt, please Mr. Delivery Person, stop throwing my food on the ground like I am a dog.
There is a reason I did not check the contactless delivery option.
James Reed, South Salt Lake
And the rebuttal, such as it is…
Letter: How to make deliveries safe
Regarding James Reed’s May 29 letter, “No five-second rule,” I would like to remind him that the people who deliver our food orders, our online orders, our packages and our mail are essential workers who are performing an important service in meeting our needs for meals and other items, and that they deserve our gratitude and respect (and generous tips). None of the delivery people I know “toss food like they would to a dog.”
Of course, Mr. Reed is correct that we don’t want to place on our kitchen counter any packages or food cartons that have been on the ground or on the porch or driveway. We solve this at our house in two ways: We have a table in the garage where we let mail and nonperishable packages remain for several hours before opening them, bringing only the contents inside, tossing the containers in the recycling, and washing our hands.
We unload take-out food there as well, transferring it to our own platters. For larger orders, like several grocery bags, we have an old plastic tablecloth that we drape across the counter while unpacking the bags, so that the bags don’t touch our counter, either.
Maybe these suggestions will help. But please do remember that our delivery folks are doing the best they can in times that are trying for us all.
Sharon Rishe, Millcreek
