Keep Food Safe When You’re ‘Powerless’
COLLEGE PARK. Md.
Those thunderstorms so common
during the summer months can do
more than spoil a Fourth of July
picnic. Heavy winds, excessive
rain, and lightning can wreak ha
voc with utility lines, causing
power failures that leave consum
ers without electricity for hours or
even days.
Although you may be power
less to prevent such incidents, you
can take actions to ensure the safe
ty of your food supply when the
lights go out, according to Dr.
Mark A. Kan tor, a nutrition and
food safety specialist with the
Maryland Cooperative Extension
Service.
“First of all, purchase thermo
meters for the freezer and refrig
erator so you can keep track of the
temperature in case die power fail
s,” he said. “The thermometers
should be sturdy and designed
specifically for this use. Many
hardware stores and supermarkets
carry them.”
If your electricity is off for only
a few hours, you don’t have to
take any special steps to protect
your food supply, except to avoid
opening the refrigerator and freez
er doors. But a longer power fail
ure will require some extra pre
cautions.
If you’re lucky enough to have
a full freezer, Kantor said, you can
expect food to remain frozen for
two days. A half-fell freezer will
keep food frozen for about one
day, although you may be able to
extend this time by grouping
packages together so they retain
the cold more effectively.
You also can help keep food
frozen longer by adding dry ice to
your freezer when the power goes
off. Twenty-five pounds of dry ice
should hold a fell 10-cubic-foot
freezer below freezing for three to
four days. If the freezer is half fall
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the same amount of dry ice will
keep it stable for two to three
days.
“If possible, find out where you
can get dry ice before you need
it,” said Kantor. “Utility compan
ies sometimes distribute dry ice
free of charge during extended
power outages. Listen to radio an
nouncements (on a battery-pow
ered radio) regarding distribution
points. You can also check the
yellow pages in the phone book
for dry ice suppliers.”
If you do purchase dry ice,
make sure you handle it properly.
“Never touch it with your bare
hands.” Kantor said. “It can freeze
your skin quite badly. Instead,
transport it in a cardboard box that
you can place directly in the freez
er, or wear heavy gloves and use
tongs when handling it Keep the
dry ice away from food items or
place a piece of cardboard be
tween the ice and food so items
don’t stick to it.”
When dry ice vaporizes, it
drives out the surrounding oxy
gen. so don’t stick your head intq
the freezer and breathe vapors.
. After a power failure, food will
usually keep for four to six hours
in a refrigerator, depending on
how warm you kitchen is. If pow
er will be out for longer than that,
you may want to add block ice to
the refrigerator. Don’t use dry ice
it can freeze refrigerator items.
You can help insulate your re
frigerator and/or freezer by cover
ing it with a blanket, which will
help prevent the loss of cold air.
Just make sure you don’t cover the
air vents in case the power comes
back on.
Once power has been restored,
it’s time to assess the damage. The
following guidelines will help you
decide which items to keep and
which to throw out.
If ice crystals are visible on
frozen food and its temperature
has remained at4o For below, it is
safe to refreeze, although the
quality of some items may suffer,
ff the food has thawed completely,
but still feeb cold, cook it right
away and then serve or refreeze.
In the case of meat, Kantor re
commends using it in a recipe that
allows for well-done rather than
rare preparation. For example, cut
a roast into thin strips and stir-fry,
or use ground beef for spaghetti
Walnut
Partne
PENNS CREEK (Snyder Co.)
If you had asked Walnut Acres
founder Paul Keene half a century
ago what inspired his pioneering
move into organic agriculture, his
answer might well have been the
same as today’s: “Each generation
should live not as if we’ve bor
rowed it from our children.” Thu
simple quote has quided three
generations of Keene family
farmers.
Celebrating a golden anniver
sary has not slowed the drive of
Paul Keene or his family as they
take America’s most famous
organic farm into the 21st Cen
tury. This year’s Summer Harvest
Festival at Walnut Acres on Satur
day, August 10 promises to be the
biggest yet
Walnut Acres is again teaming
up with the Pennsylvania Associa
tion for Sustainable Agriculture
(PASA) to offer more seminars,
field demonstrations and activities
than ever before including a
special appearance by Organic
Gardening Editor Mike McGrath.
The Walnut Acres story began
in India in the late 19305, when
young Paul Keene met Mahatma
Gandhi while working there. “It
LIQUID
MANURE SPREADER
sauce rather than rare hamburgers
Some foods can tolerate less
time/temperature abuse than
others. For example, fresh meats,
poultry, lunch meats, hot dogs,
eggs and milk should be discarded
if they have been subjected to
temperatures of 40 F or higher for
more than two hours. Bacteria that
cause food poisonings can multi
ply to unsafe levels under these
conditions.
Fruits and vegetables, on the
Acres Celebrates
rship With Nature
was Gandhi’s simple life, his pow
erful personality wluch inspired
me to return to the states and learn
organic food production,” said
Keene. In 1946 he and wife Betty
began a farm of their own where
they could live simply and apply
techniques learned at an organic
fanning school, with a $5,000
loan and just $2OO in cash. Walnut
Acres seemed an ideal choice on
the banks of the clear, pure waters
of Penns Creek in picturesque
Snyder County. There they began
tending the soil in partnership
with nature, constantly building
up the fertility of the soil; always
adding more than was taken away.
As the Keenes built up the soil
they developed the strict program
of crop rotation and natural pest
control that has made Walnut
Acres a model for sustainable
farming. Through good and bad
harvests the Keenes turned Wal
nut Acres into a successful work
ing farm.
Word of Walnut Acres and their
wholesome specialty foods spread
as the Keenes shared their harvest
Their first food product was Apple
Essence, which the Keenes pre
pared from organic apples cooked
over an open fire. One of the high
lights of the PASA Summer
Harvest Festival at Walnut Acres
will be a commemorative apple
butter boil to recreate the magic of
making that fust batch of Apple
Essence.
Visitors to the PASA Summer
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 29, 1998-B7
other hand, can be cooked and
served as long as there is no yeasty
smell, sliminess, or evidence of
mold. Juices can be used, pro
vided they look and smell accept
able. and well-wrapped hard
cheeses, butter and margarine, can
be kept unless mold and rancid od
ors develop.
For answers to food safety
questions, call your local exten
sion home economist.
Harvest Festival at Walnut Acres
can learn to apply the principles of
organic fanning in their own farm
and gardens as field stations
demonstrate the latest in sustain
able fanning techniques. Experts
will give seminars and tours of the
Walnut Acres cannery, mill, and
bakery will be given throughout
the day.
A wealth of activities for the
entire family will include every
thing from country games, music
and hayrides to sheepherding and
draft horse plowing demonstra
tions, an environmental exhibit
featuring birds of prey, and an
actual archeological dig for Native
American artifacts. And of course
there will be plenty of wholesome
organic food for all to enjoy.
The Summer Harvest Festival
at Walnut Acres will be held on
Saturday, August 10 from 10 am
to 5 pm. Admission is $5 for
adults 18 and over and $3 for ages
12-17. Children under 12 are
admitted free. All admission pro
ceeds benefit PASA.
On Friday, August 9 a bus tour
will visit a neaiby organic beef
farm, an oiganic vegetable farm,
and a composting operation.
Advanced registration and a $2O
tour fee are required.
For more information, contact
Walnut Acres at (800) 433-3998
or PASA at (814) 349-9856.