Reckless

A half-cooked hamburger with fried onions on a soft bread roll... A cardboard plate with three slightly charred satays, barely visible under a splatter of peanut sauce... The vague uneasiness whether it is safe, washed away with beer from a plastic cup. 

Who would have thought that I would long for that? I am lying in a garden chair in the sun, surrounded by the silence of our back garden, and think of previous editions of Kings Day. Of balloon competitions (no longer allowed) and pavement chalking with the children.

We like to celebrate Kings Day in sunny cheerfulness, in orange or with red-white-and-blue stripes on our cheeks. With games, flea markets, beer and music. And, of course, with food on the streets. Our Majesty's birthday is thus traditionally also the high time for getting food poisoning. On this day, however, we took that risk for granted. 

Apparently, on Kings Day 2021, half of the Dutch population longed for the days of old; when this day offered the ultimate opportunity to become seriously ill again through a micro-organism (now that our food can generally be called quite safe). They gathered in the cities and threw all the corona rules into the springtime wind. What do you mean 'stay at home', no need to keep one and a half metres of distance! There were no food stalls, but the physical proximity of so many people seemed to offer the perfect alternative: corona.

Of course, the food industry cannot afford such recklessness for a day, not even for a second. You always have to be sharp, always pay full attention to the here and now. Always comply with the rules. Because 'quite safe' is not enough. 

And in order to monitor food safety even more preventively instead of reactively, you should have spotted problems that might present themselves in one or a few years' time, even yesterday. What is the impact of climate change, of longer and international food production chains, of changing consumption patterns such as more plant-based products, ready-made and consuming raw vegetables after harvest? 

It is late afternoon and pleasantly warm in our backyard. I have fallen asleep and feel my skin glowing; burnt. Stupid, I should have used more sun cream. The hubby starts the barbecue. The home-made hamburgers can go on the grill. My Belgian beer is served in a glass (because we don't use disposable plastic any more). 

"Are they done yet?" the children ask, hungry and impatient. 

"Just a little longer," I say.

Judith Witte
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