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Post by Toby Benoit on Jun 14, 2012 7:18:16 GMT 12.75
Folks...the country's in a bad way and it looks like it's gonna get real ugly before it gets any better.
I know we've talked about it often enough on here, but are we really storing up enough foods for a disaster and are we storing the right kinds of food?
What do you think are the top three basic food staples we ought to be hoarding?
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Post by Paws on Jun 14, 2012 10:30:52 GMT 12.75
I store pretty much what I like. What we should be storing, top three foods are rice, dry beans, peanuts or peanut butter. Good balance of carbs, complex carbs, proteins, vitamins and minerals which form a good building block for adding other items that may be avgailable in the wild or a garden plot.
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Post by brittonfaith on Jun 14, 2012 15:48:51 GMT 12.75
I store pretty much what I like. What we should be storing, top three foods are rice, dry beans, peanuts or peanut butter. Good balance of carbs, complex carbs, proteins, vitamins and minerals which form a good building block for adding other items that may be avgailable in the wild or a garden plot. Eek..Don't know if I agree with your plan. When we're talking "storing", how long are we talking. For long-term preparedness in dire food emergencies and circumstances of prolonged famine, it's very realistic to shoot for 15-25 years, or more. Even if you store it in mason jars, if it's already contaminated (pre-hatch stage), rice can get weevil (of course that IS extra protien). Beans draw moisture and can develope toxic levels of mold - unless you plan to continuously be planting, picking and shelling out replacements. Same goes for peanuts and peanut butter, plus because they're oily they can get rancid. Don't count on hunting for foraging because if a dirty bomb or air attack has happened, chances are those souces are also contaminated with whatever was let off. Although the Ball Blue Book says to only can what you can use in a year or two, our gang has eaten 30 yr old beans and 15 yr old salmon that was near the same quality and safety level as when first stick in the jars. Mom, my cousin Marjorie, and I are cabbaging up every mason jar and canner we can find and canning absolutely anything we can get our hands on. Mom's way WAY ahead of us "young'uns" though. Last time we talked, she has close to 30,000 quarts of stuff put up. They have an insulated, double thick, cinder block building that stays at a constant 50 degrees year round and it's filled to the rafters. It used to be a milking parlor. If anything happens to them. I have been told as to where the 15 keys are to get through the various stages of entry doors are stashed. I think cuz may have a set too - if she can make it that far north.
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Post by Paws on Jun 14, 2012 16:40:22 GMT 12.75
Stored stocks are rotated and replaced with new stock as consumption occurs. In any case you'll be using it within 180 days. The time to top off your larders is here. The European banks will reach collapse in the next 90 days along with the European Union. Our banks will follow suit shortly afterward say another month or so. It will take six to nine months to get the banks up and running back on line on a routine basis. Meanwhile merchants who still do business will be doing it primarily be "trust" as bank data access will be minimal. Cash will dry up quickly. We will not print more money to avoid massive inflation and our cash becoming worthless. So, the time we have been expecting for twenty years is here. My best advice to you is to (1) minimize your electronic cash and purchase hard staple goods that you will either consume yourself or that you can use as trade goods. (2) Any cash you have keep low key and use it sparingly. (3) Count your bullets and Band Aides. Italy is going under this week. Spain, France, and Germany are right behind. Germany may jump the gun and basically succede from the EU quickly. So Faith you won't be seeing any weevils, weebles, or wobbles. But if you do, save them for their protein.
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Post by brittonfaith on Jun 15, 2012 10:52:54 GMT 12.75
180 days? 6 to 9 months?? That ain't even as long as what I usually have the larders supplied for normal day-to-day eating. I thought we were talking serious stocking up for a wcs involving famine, rationing, civil war, or bio threats.
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Post by Paws on Jun 15, 2012 12:44:46 GMT 12.75
Figure on a year.
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Post by Paws on Jun 15, 2012 23:55:40 GMT 12.75
Figure one can live on rice, beans, and peanuts given plenty of water, a few greens, and a bite or two of meat every now and then. The next three items are more difficult because the primary consideration is "do I really NEED them? " I figured ; probably salt, pepper and sugars (white and brown)., Must have salt to live, it is nice to have for flavoring too and a must for preserving meat if refrigeration is lost. Pepper pretty much follows and sugars work the same way. These three commodities are also very good trade goods.
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Post by Two Tales on Jun 16, 2012 1:17:59 GMT 12.75
how many of ya'll know how to build a still? the products from a still are needed..not just the booze end of it..meds, fuel..water purification etc....sugars are in all sorts of plants...and most, with knowledge, can be retracted...salt is vital..it'll never spoil..can be cleaned and stored realatively easy..pepper if kept dry will last near forever...loss of the power grid..not a problem...folks lived without electric for 100's of thousands of years before it was captured...lots of stuff to make light and heat out of...the biggest threat is not the lack of basic stuff it's keeping what you have from those that would try and take it from you...or you from it...ie the zombies
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Post by Paws on Jun 16, 2012 2:00:49 GMT 12.75
how many of ya'll know how to build a still? the products from a still are needed..not just the booze end of it..meds, fuel..water purification etc....sugars are in all sorts of plants...and most, with knowledge, can be retracted...salt is vital..it'll never spoil..can be cleaned and stored realatively easy..pepper if kept dry will last near forever...loss of the power grid..not a problem...folks lived without electric for 100's of thousands of years before it was captured...lots of stuff to make light and heat out of...the biggest threat is not the lack of basic stuff it's keeping what you have from those that would try and take it from you...or you from it...ie the zombies ;D My next three are wheat flour, yeast, and baking powder. I like white bread, biscuits and if I need to make hard tack.... well; and so do other folk! Then comes cooking oil, Crisco etc, honey, and coffee. So you can see we begin to move from absolute must haves to nice to have things. Everybody remember how to make sourdough using ptato peels? How about pectin with aple skins? The next are probably cocoa powder, liquor, tobacco, ... you got ther idea. More contributions and rationale please. A simple still is a great idea TT.
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Post by Paws on Jun 16, 2012 4:48:42 GMT 12.75
This brought tears to my eyes and it is so worth sharing. Please give it to your friends. From a Sarajevo War Survivor: Experiencing horrible things that can happen in war - death of parents and friends, hunger and malnutrition, endless freezing cold, fear, sniper attacks. 1. Stockpiling helps, but you never no how long trouble will last, so locate near renewable food sources. 2. Living near a well with manual pump is like being in Eden. 3. After awhile, even gold can lose its luster. But there is no luxury in war quite like toilet paper. Its surplus value is greater than gold's. 4. If you had to go without one utility, lose electricity - it's the easiest to do without (unless you're in a very nice climate with no need for heat). 5. Canned foods are awesome, especially if their contents are tasty without heating. One of the best things to stockpile is canned gravy - it makes a lot of the dry unappetizing things you find to eat in war somewhat edible. Only needs enough heat to "warm", not to cook. It's cheap too, especially if you buy it in bulk. 6. Bring some books - escapist ones like romance or mysteries become more valuable as the war continues. Sure it's great to have a lot of survival guides, but you'll figure most of that out on your own anyway - trust me, you'll have a lot of time on your hands. 7. The feeling that you're human can fade pretty fast. I can't tell you how many people I knew who would have traded a much needed meal for just a little bit of toothpaste, rouge, soap, or cologne. Not much point in fighting if you have to lose your humanity. These things are moral-builders like nothing else. 8. Slow burning candles and matches, matches, matches. [/size] Read more: ohiocampcooks.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=survival&thread=3890&page=1#45768#ixzz1xsVrUNVQ
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Post by Paws on Jun 16, 2012 9:31:21 GMT 12.75
I have 720 meals in stores plus, 240 pounds of dog on the hoof and about a hundred pounds of cat. Still need to stock up on some luxury items.
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Post by brittonfaith on Jun 16, 2012 10:57:04 GMT 12.75
Lot the way I started thinking when we were in the Guysville Death Camp, err trailer. Not a hole lot of learning to it. When things get bad, and if you can keep your head on your shoulders, a lot of it just comes naturally. Having lots of books comes in real handy for heat and cooking fuel too!! You'll be too busy just trying to scrap things up to survive to read any of them.
BUT if I had to suggest a book for kids 8-14 yrs old (heck even for adults) to suggest how bad things can get and what one has to take to endure them, I'd have to suggest "BUT NOT FORSAKEN" by Helen G. Brenneman. The author served in a Mennonite Central Committee refugee camp in Gronau, Germany, from 1947-48. It's based on the true story of a large family that was separated by the Communist in East Germany and tells what they did to survive starvation, find shelter, and seek freedom in the west. While it is a fiction novel, it is very factual in how things were and should be done.
Don't know if any libraries has it or can get it. It is available on Amazon. I had to read it when mom was homeschooling us. For somebody who hates reading, I certainly was drawn into this book! (ISBN: 9780878136889, Pages: 266, Binding: Paperback, Publisher: Christian Light Publications, Harrisonburg, VA)
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