Be Oyster Aware

As a preschooler, there were many occasions that I had oysters for dinner or an appetizer without hesitation. My dad would shuck them and lay them on a cracker. I would slip it down my throat. It is just what you did as a kid in the panhandle of Florida- you ate Gulf oysters.

As I got older, I learned that oysters could contain a pearl inside. What a wonderful adventure for a young person to think they just might find a pearl in those shells!

What if you could choose what you would find in an oyster?!?! I bet more people would be farming them and shucking them if they could make a wish and it would appear in an oyster!

As a child, I would have probably wished for something silly- $100, a new doll, some great toy. Now I would wish for the keys to a BMW or a book with the secrets to raising a preschooler!

One key to searching and eating any oyster is knowing how and when to eat oysters. The problem with oysters is warm months. The rule, if you don't know it, is to only eat oysters in the months that have an "r" in it. The reason is because Vibrio vulnificus. This is a bacterium that occurs naturally in warm, unpolluted seawater. "Vibrio vulnificus abundance is positively correlated with seawater temperature, and warmer water temperatures are linked to an increase in Vibrio vulnificus related illnesses, i.e., warmer summer months have a significantly higher number of Vibrio vulnificus related illnesses reported than do cooler winter months." Hence, winter months have "r's" in them.

If you are an oyster lover as I was as a preschooler, check out the Be Oyster Aware website for more educational information on oyster safety. Not to mention they have some terrific recipes!