From Indrani Sen at the NYT:
Swine flu, or H1N1 flu, cannot be transmitted through pork or pork products, experts and public health officials have repeatedly reassured us. Yet several countries have banned American pork, and Egypt last week culled thousands of pigs. Here in America, some consumers are steering clear of pork chops, pork commodity prices have fallen, and hog farmers’ worry that the flu will make a large dent in sales.
It’s a perfect excuse to declare my personal “Support Pork Week.” How often can one feel righteous about eating pork?
Jennifer Small, co-owner of Flying Pigs Farm in Shushan, NY, applauded my selfless decision. “That’s what I like to hear!” she told me, before laying out a slightly daunting schedule: “You can start with bacon for breakfast on day one,” she said. “Then on day two you can have a ham sandwich at lunch. Sausage and peppers and onions for dinner on day three. Then you can take the leftovers and eat them for breakfast on day four. On day five for lunch you can eat one of those awesome Vietnamese sandwiches, or even better, a Cuban sandwich from Harlem… I think a pork liver pâté as an hors d’oeuvre on day six. On day seven, if I had my way, I’d do something like proscuitto and eggs for breakfast.”
Hear, hear. Dedicated readers may recall that, back in those halcyon pre-swine-flu days, I was already preaching the joys of the Bacon Explosion, a novel BBQ recipe that could keep Jennifer Small in funds for some time. Next up, why not try a Bacon Crust Pizza?*
* Of course I know why, but it won’t give you swine flu!
