Getting outdoors to enjoy the beautiful weather is one of the perks of this time of year. If picnics are part of your plans, you might be wondering what extra steps you need to take to do so safely in this era of COVID-19. Here are some tips:
SPREAD OUT
If your typical picnic set up includes one big table for all of the food, consider breaking it up. You can put sides on one table, desserts on another and so on. Spacing out the food will help to naturally space out your guests too.
REDUCE HIGH TOUCH AREAS
While the risk of spreading COVID-19 through surfaces is thought to be low, it is one that is relatively easy to address. Instead of putting a serving spoon in each dish, encourage people to serve themselves with their own, clean, disposable utensil. Use toothpicks for smaller items. Focus on individual items instead of bulk dishes like casseroles. Many popular casseroles can be made single serve by preparing them in muffin tins. Pre-plating items can also help reduce the frequency of everyone touching the same surface. Make utensil roll-ups for each person with fork, knife and spoon wrapped in a napkin.
FOLLOW YOUR LOCAL RULES
Each area of the country is at a different point with the spread of COVID-19 and local rules around staying at home or social gatherings generally reflect this.
IF YOU ARE SICK, STAY HOME
No one wants to miss out on fun activities but if you are sick you really need to sit this one out and encourage your guests to do the same.
BEYOND COVID-19
While our current focus is on preventing COVID-19, foodborne illness at picnics is still a very real risk. To make sure that illness doesn’t spoil your outdoor eating, make sure to wash your hands often, maintain food temperatures and handle leftovers carefully. More food safety tips can be found at
homefoodsafety.org.
Written by Jennifer M. Roberts, MS, RDN
JULY 2020
weeatlivedowell.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment