Hey Fae Friend,
How’s your summer going? I can’t believe it’s already July! It feels like this year is going by slowly, but somehow super fast. Independence Day is just a few days away, and you know what that means: Friends, fun, and food!
COVID-19 is still a concern in our area (See the current numbers here), so make sure you party safely. Grab your mask, distance your lawn chairs, and assign someone to handle the food. I know parties are typically a self-serve buffet style, but it didn't even occur to me until a few days ago: Can COVID be spread through food?
There's no evidence currently showing COVID spreading through food. However, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) warns it could spread through people congregating around the food table and sharing the same serving utensils.
Lisa Peacock, a health officer at the Health Department of Northwest Michigan suggests having a volunteer wear gloves and serve everyone their food. This minimizes the risk of the virus spreading from people continuously touching the same serving utensils.
Another option you can try is creating individually wrapped food items. For example, you can serve individual bags of chips rather than having everyone dig their hand into a giant bowl of chips.
Basically, we don't want everyone touching and sharing stuff (this includes dishes, drinking glasses, cups, and eating utensils). However, we do want to encourage everyone to use hand sanitizer. The volunteer could pump a few drops onto everyone's hands before they receive their plate of food (Make sure the volunteer washes/sanitizes their hands before eating, too!).
And just like that, you can have a safer Fourth of July party! What did you think of the tips? Feel free to share some of your own, and let me know how you're going to celebrate in the comments below!