I'll Take My Bologna With Lard

Did you know that bologna (Baloney) is the closest thing to dog food that you can eat without actually eating dog food? This thought was going through my mind while making me a bologna sandwich, with cheese. I don't know where it came from, since I've been eating bologna almost all of my life. It was a staple in my house as I was growing up. Talk about an "aha" moment.

Here's what's in bologna. Bologna sausage is an American version of the Italian mortadella (a finely hashed/ground pork sausage with lard pieces). The American version can alternatively be made out of chicken, turkey, beef, pork, or soybeans.

It's got lard in it! (that's why it's so shiny) I wouldn't give lard to my dog!!! OK? Pork AND lard cannot be good for you. So......now I'm back. Here's something to think about. Any part that comes from a cow is considered 100% beef… any part, except for the hooves. Same applies to pork, lamb or whatever. You ain't gonna get a burger made from rib eye or sirloin. You couldn't afford it. Think about it. Think very hard about it. That's all I have to say.

Now. On to my original post. I had to get that in there. It's a Fool thing.

Annnnd. In keeping with the food theme. Some times back in one of my posts, I mentioned that growing your own food in a community garden was a good way to bring together a neighborhood and a way to get to know the people who share this reality with you. Well, it seems I might have been wrong about that. Check this out.

City Destroys Fruit Puree During Kitchen Inspection

City health inspectors (in Chicago) used bleach to destroy hundreds of pounds of

frozen fruit puree and threw out other food in a West Town kitchen on Thursday night, citing not safety violations but a lack of proper licensing.

The fruit -- apples, plums, raspberries, pears, blueberries and peaches from local growers harvested and frozen last summer -- belonged to pastry chef Flora Lazar, who valued it at thousands of dollars.

Lazar had rented space for her business, Flora Confections, at Kitchen Chicago, a shared cooking facility for small artisan bakers, candy makers and caterers. A second business, the caterer Sunday Dinner Club, said it lost more than $1,000 in discarded cassoulet, granola bars and baking supplies.

Both businesses said they have sought licenses from the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection to operate at the kitchen, 324 N. Leavitt St. At first, they said, they were told multiple business licenses could not be issued to the same address.

Two weeks ago, the department issued a cease-and-desist order to the firms and said they could apply for the licenses. Spokeswoman Efrat Stein said it has had a consistent policy on shared kitchens since August.

The companies applied, paid the fees and invited the Chicago Department of Health inspectors. Lazar said they didn't know the inspectors would destroy any food that appeared to have been cooked, processed or opened before they arrived.

Lazar, who had planned to use the purees to make fruit gelees for Valentine's Day, tried to give the fruit to her son, but an inspector called in the Chicago Police Department to intervene. The bags of fruit were then slashed open and treated with bleach.

"We didn't know how the food would be handled after it left so we could not allow it to be moved," said Frances Guichard, food protection director at the health department.

"This puts me out of business for six months," Lazar said after losing the "irreplaceable" fruit. "I have done everything by the rules. Instead of making the food at home, which I could easily do, I sought out and rented space in a licensed kitchen. When [the city] finally said we could apply for a separate license, I did that. I paid my $600 and invited the inspectors here today."

Kitchen Chicago owner Alexis Leverenz said the city's rules seem to penalize small businesses like hers. Each time a renter applies to work in her kitchen, the health department inspects it again. Even Chicago's busiest restaurants may be inspected just once a year.

Even harsher, she said, is the department's threat to fine all of her clients if they find any one of them has committed a violation. "That's like giving everyone in the car their own ticket when a driver is stopped by the police," she said.

"Businesses like ours are good for the city," Leverenz said. "We have launched successful, well-loved businesses, created jobs and gotten people out of their unlicensed home kitchens. By making it so difficult they are sending people back home to work instead of going to a licensed facilities like ours."

Leverenz said the inspectors told her they would return Monday and that no food remaining in her kitchen was to be touched before then.

What can I say? It's back to bologna. They got you coming and going.

The people carrying out these orders are clogs in the machine. The same clogs existed in post World War 2 Germany whose only answers to cross examinations during the war crime trials was: "I was just following orders" These clogs will take your houses, they will call you at all hours of the day or night, they will lie to you, cheat you and steal from you and if you call them on it they will all say the same thing: "I have a job to do. I am just following orders."

These people are protected by layers of bureaucratic paperwork, which gives them a sense of anonymity and relieves them of any personal or moral responsibility. Some of them, maybe a lot, are just plain evil and enjoy the hell out of making other peoples lives as miserable as possible. And you wonder why I call them Big Giant Heads.

This country is changing right before your very eyes and you better find your place before it's too late, because the underclass can offer no resistance. You need to educate yourselves. You need to keep abreast of what's going on. You need to know what your options are. Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber and Brad Pitt don't give a shit about you. In this day and age, "I didn't know" is one of the lamest excuses you can give. Nobody cares about: "I didn't know". You see all of that tiny print in a document and you don't pull out your glasses? You don't see: "two year contract?" Is that what you want? Do you want to keep eating Boloney with lard in it? Yall need to quit.

And they call me a fool?