2020 ends with my first dose of vaccine, potential end to our national nightmare

As a volunteer at Englewood Health, formerly known as Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, I was offered a first dose of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine to prevent the coronavirus disease, which has killed more than 340,000 Americans this year. 

After I entered the hospital on Wednesday, I was asked to put on a mask over the mask I was wearing and to sanitize my hands. Other visitors were subjected to temperature checks, and the hospital cafeteria was closed to outsiders, including me. 

We ate healthy and stayed healthy, explored the great outdoors

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- "Lines." 

That is my answer to the headline on the front of The New York Times for Kids section last Sunday:

"If I had to describe my 2020 in one word, it would be _____."

When the quarantine began in March, nine long months ago, I stopped going to the gym and no longer was able to visit patients as a volunteer at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, now known as Englewood Health.

That meant that as an older American, food shopping was my only means of exercise, and on my trips to Costco Wholesale, Whole Foods Market, ShopRite and H Mart, I encountered long lines of masked shopper shifting from foot to foot as they waited to get in.

Monotony

The second word I'd use to describe 2020 is "monotony." 

I pretty much get up every day before 6 a.m.

First, I make coffee, then after showering, I eat a big breakfast of leftovers or prepare an egg white omelet for other family members.

I also go food shopping early during senior hours, take a midday nap, eat or prepare dinner as early as 3 p.m., settle down in front of the TV around 4 or go for a short drive to a nearby town, then go to bed around 10:30 p.m., and get up during the night 2 or 3 times to go to the bathroom.

We spend a lot more money on food than most families of 4 because I am a pescatarian who hasn't eaten beef, pork, lamb or poultry for a decade, and my wife, son and mother-in-law are dedicated meat eaters.

This year also has seen us buying as much organic, pesticide-free food and produce as possible; only wild-caught seafood; and making sure they only eat meat and poultry raised without harmful pesticides and growth hormones.

And as an older American and amateur cook, I also have had to watch out when using recipes from The Times and other sources that are filled with artery clogging butter and cream, excessive sodium and sugar.

Beside covid in 2020, another health concern that was exposed by Consumer Reports magazine is the real danger of microplastics in our air, and our food and water supplies.

That prompted me to replace all of our plastic food-storage containers with glass, and brew our morning coffee in a stainless-steel percolator my mother used more than 30 years ago.

The water never comes in contact with plastic because the Farberware percolator has no plastic parts, unlike the cheap Mr. Coffee machines I used for years.

2021 and beyond

Amid the surge of new coronavirus cases after Thanksgiving and Christmas, I got a lift when I received an email from the hospital, inviting me and other volunteers as "members of our health-care team" to get a first dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, and I already have an appointment for the second and final dose.

That means the volunteer program at the Englewood hospital may resume, possibly as early as March, and I can once again visit patients to comfort them and offer words of encouragement after their open-heart surgeries (I got a new heart valve in September 2011).

I'd like to see my wife, son and mother-in-law get the Covid vaccine, too.

The Jan. 20 inauguration of Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president also is something to look forward to, and I hope they can speed up the vaccination program nationwide, and end our national nightmare.

Read: Pandemic sees resurgence of family meals

Read: Bored to tears, fearing long food lines

Read: Cartoonists slam Trump's many failures

Read: What about a sudden loss of intimacy?

Panic buying in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic resulted in long lines of older American like me during the senior hour at the Costco Wholesale warehouse in Teterboro, above. Despite signs urging social distancing, below, shoppers with carts had a hard time keeping away from each other.

After I shopped during the senior hour at Whole Foods Market in Paramus, I stopped on the way to my car to take this photo of millenials and other younger shoppers who had lined up to get into the organic and natural foods supermarket.

For our Sunday fresh fish dinner, I often waited on line at the H Mart in Ridgefield, above, until the Korean chain opened a new supermarket in Little Ferry on Dec. 23, 2020, nearly 18 months after the old Little Ferry H Mart closed.

We started off our Christmas dinner with a cooked seafood salad of Alaskan King Crab, Canadian Lobster Tails and Argentinian Red Shrimp dressed with fresh lemon juice, Dijon Mustard and ground cumin.

One of the rare high points of 2020 was the availability of previously frozen wild Sockeye Salmon fillets at Costco Wholesale after the fresh wild salmon season ended in early October. I grilled these portions on the stovetop for 8 minutes and dressed them with a saute of fresh tomatoes and sliced garlic.

 

On Saturday afternoons, we usually order takeout from nearby restaurants, including Seafood Gourmet in Maywood, above; Lotus Cafe in Hackensack for great Chinese-style seafood and vegetables; and Kinyobi in Hackensack or BCD Tofu in Fort Lee for delicious Korean specialties. We also enjoyed takeout from the U Pie & Lobster Co. in Englewood and Greenhouse Juices & Cafe in Teaneck.

During the spring and summer, we made day trips to Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, above, and Wave Hill Public Garden and Cultural Center in the Bronx, below.

Using a list I copied from The New York Times many years ago, we also visited public sculptures and monuments in Manhattan, including this tribute to Duke Ellington, the legendary jazz band leader, in Harlem.

Closer to home, I was wowed by this dramatic sunrise over Hackensack as I drove down Euclid Avenue on the way to Home Depot to pick up a large recycling bin I had ordered online.

We were walloped with a big snowstorm on Dec. 17, 2020. I grimaced when I was watching TV and heard one of the anchors of the CBS Morning News introduce a report from Suffern, N.Y., and call the town "Sufferin', N.Y."

'Don't Panic, Eat Organic' are wise words to live by during the pandemic or any time

DIRTY DOZEN: I buy organic strawberries at Whole Foods Market in Paramus because conventionally grown strawberries top the Dirty Dozen, 12 crops that farmers typically use the most pesticides on, according to the Environmental Working Group. And they are most likely to contain pesticide residue even after they are washed, AARP says.

CHEAPER THAN AT COSTCO:  I also buy Organic Carrots at Whole Foods Market because they are cheaper by the pound at the Paramus supermarket than they are at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

AARP article distills new book

on organic food, eating local

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- With the U.S. death toll from the Covid-19 virus passing 50,000, many of us are spending more time at home preparing our own meals and taking another look at what we eat.

Many people in quarantine are stocking up and binging on cookies, cakes and other sweets, according to news reports.

But in my home, we are pretty much staying the course, trying to buy as many organics as possible and eating only wild-caught seafood, and meat and poultry free of harmful antibiotics.

Now, AARP, the nonprofit interest group for older Americans, is exploring whether the health benefits of eating organic and locally grown food are worth the cost.

The short answer is yes.

Eating organic

"Why Eating Organic Matters" is the main headline over an article in the March 2020 issue of AARP Bulletin, a glossy tabloid, adapted from a book by Mark Bittman and Dr. David L. Katz.

The book, "How to Eat: All Your Food and Diet Questions Answered," cites a recent study in France, where researchers found "a significant difference in cancer incidence between those who eat organic routinely versus those who don't," AARP reports.

"Those people who ate organic had the least cancer, as you'd expect," according to the article.

ORGANIC V. NON-ORGANIC: Organic apples can have no more than 5% of the pesticides in conventional produce, but 80 percent of non-organic apples are treated with diphenylamine, which is banned by the European Union as a potential carcinogen, AARP says.

If you can't afford organic?

"A non-organic apple is better than no apple, and better than most other choices," the AARP article reports.

"So, yes, get the non-organic apples and wash them well [to reduce pesticide residue]. It's almost safe to say, 'Never pass up an apple.'"

As for eating local, AARP says, "No one but a fanatic could eat only local food, but concentrating on these attributes would mean you are eating better, more ethically, more sustainably."

"If you know your produce is being grown on a local farm where chemicals are not being used, you know that you are avoiding those chemicals," AARP reports.

Grass-fed animals

"When animals graze on grass, as opposed to grains, they keep the soil healthy and produce better meat."

"And pasture-raised animals may have lower risks of industrial food-borne scourges, like E. coli 0157:H7, a strain that can cause severe infection and even kidney failure," the AARP article says.

The article concludes:

"It's ... important to have a plant-dominant diet, along with balance and variety."

Costco Wholesale carries 100% grass-fed burgers (beef or lamb), Polish sausage and sirloin steak.

AARP headlines

Thanks to AARP Bulletin for the headline on this post, "Don't Panic, Eat Organic."

But I disagree with a subheadline that says "organic and locally grown foods are all the rage."

The organic movement began decades ago, and residents of New Jersey (and many other states) have always prized local food, including Jersey tomatoes, corn, wild-caught fish and other seafood.

I'd also like to point out the Your Health article on why eating organic matters contrasts with others AARP has published in recent years on food of dubious quality:

Read: The last place seniors

 should go for nutrition advice 

MORE AFFORDABLE: On Thursday, I shopped for organics at Whole Foods Market in Paramus during the senior hour -- 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.  Above, as an Amazon Prime member, this woman, like me, gets special deals and an extra 10% off on sale items. I also get 5% cash back by using the Amazon Prime credit card to pay for my purchases.

LINING UP TO SHOP: At 9 a.m., a long line of shoppers under 60 year old began to enter the natural and organic food supermarket.

TURNING A CORNER: The line wrapped around the corner of the building at the Bergen Town Center.