Genuinely unsure if IABU

[devildeepbluesea]

My lovely neighbour (rented property) told me on moving in that she works nights as a HCP. This is borne out, as far as it goes - she’s clearly out overnight but only for 1-2 nights per week.

In the meantime I’m pretty sure she’s running a commercial kitchen from her home, and making her living mostly from this.

Are there any circumstances where this is ok? I don’t want to knacker her income stream but equally I’m a bit worried about vermin (lots of evidence of food prep outside in the garden).

Apparently, it's fucking impossible for them to actually explain what the neighbour is doing.

This is so random it has to be a reverse surely.

🤣🤣🤣I thought this 😵‍💫

For goodness sake, just talk to the woman. She may be making meals for a soup kitchen or some other sort of outreach. Perhaps her HCP work involves drug addicts and/or sex workers. If she was simply doing the night shift in a nursing home, she'd likely say 'I'm a care assistant'. Please at least try to find out more.

Exactly my thoughts!

Honestly you need to get a life…

worried about food smells. 😂

I'm very interested in what food she's prepping outside ?

Peeling onions ?

Does she sit at a table, so many questions .

I can understand your concern. Wasn’t there a child in Wales who died of E. coli, outbreak due to contaminated food? Call environmental health at local council just say your concerns , no need to give your name or address.

What kind of food?

This would absolutely have sickened me -

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6100597/amp/Back-garden-butchers-Hygiene-probe-family-hack-animal-carcasses-Eid-East-London.html

Another one here who is desperate to know exactly what food prep is going on in the garden?

The butchering of sheep and calves to make a lasagne?

A solar powered blender to make soups?

As an aside, I live next to a family who recently moved to England from Africa and bloody hell, the amazing food smells that come out of their house….I can’t even put into words how delicious they are!! I purposefully go and sit in my garden if they’re cooking so I can soak up the smells 😂

At first glance I thought that said: “Does she shit at a table” and wondered what kind of food prep goes on in your house 😂

I can totally see your concern tbh. I think other posters aren’t seeing the bigger picture on this. This kind of unregulated food prep shouldn’t be normalised.

On the other hand, if she’s financially precarious, you could be bringing a world of suffering and hardship to one individual if you report her.

I’d be compassionate (but maybe log some notes in case things worsen, eg vermin).

It’s what the government is pushing us up to do: turn us against the people around us and blame them for tiny infractions, when the Tories have systemically fucked up and troughed out the country to the tune of billions.

Jesus. The replies on here. The reasn why councils inspect food premises is because people can get very sick or die from unclean premises.

I bet you'd all be shouting if your mother / sister / child got ill from food prepared in unregulated premises. I can see the headlines now 'Neighbours were concerned but did nothing'. And the outrage.

If she's leaving food waste or debris around the garden I think I'd ask her nicely to make sure it was all cleared away, to discourage vermin. That would be all.

could be time for 🤓

My brother lived next to a B&B (in Ireland) where the owner just dumped the uneaten breakfast fry-ups outside. I saw the rats. So that’s influencing my view tbh.

Vermin? Sounds like an ideal excuse to get a cat. 😀

This. I doubt op would be as bothered by her neighbour cooking shepherd's pie or egg and chips.

I think you mind your own business tbh. Does she have a compost heap? Is she leaving scraps of food just strewn about? I think you're overly interested in her business tbh. If you see vermin then I'd have a word with her.

Given that it has rained nearly every day for most of August how is she managing to time the outdoor food prep between the showers?

During lockdown we lived for a while next to an Italian family -- he was a chef and had just lost his job as the restaurant closed down.
So he set up a pizza oven and made pizzas (collection only, payment online and no contact) -- they were divine, the best I've had ouside Italy. And we were happy to help by buying his goods.
He actually got a very good hygiene rating from the council after a little while.

'Is the food <clutches pearls> ethnic by any chance?'
*
No idea. Smells great though, I’ll give her that.*

...yet you've listed the smell as one of two reasons that the situation bothers you. I'm confused.

Your neighbour won't be prepping food in the garden all year round if you are in England.

If she bags up and disposes of food waste properly when she finishes prepping and cooking, I see no problem regarding vermin. In any case, there is always some vermin lurking outside, that is life. It won't harm you if it doesn't come into your house. I had a few mice a while back, bought some rodent repellant spray and a couple of plug in things which deterred them. No mice now. I still have the plug in things, one in living room, one in kitchen and one in the hall, just in case.

Food smells are a problem even if someone isn't cooking commercially if you live close together. However, some food smells are quite nice and appetising. I like the smell of a barbecue.

As for landlord, not your business. Who cares? I doubt he/she will even know.

HCPs do not earn a lot, you couldn't blame someone for wanting to make a bit more money, it is actually quite enterprising.

I think you are making a lot out of nothing. For goodness sake whatever you do, do not report her to anyone, that would be so mean. She's not a drug dealer or sex worker with dodgy people in and out of her house all day. Leave her alone! Live and let live.

Get a hobby

If she's selling/preparing the food from her home then she HAS to display a food hygiene rating in Wales and Northern Ireland, voluntary for those in England.

But prepping food in the garden? Not sure how I'd feel about that but yet again it's no difference to having a BBQ 🤣

But guys seriously... What vermin? 🤔🥴