Posted on 02/09/2009 12:36:11 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny
Yahoo ran an interesting article this morning indicating a rise in the number of survivalist communities cropping up around the country. I have been wondering myself how much of the recent energy crisis is causing people to do things like stockpile food and water, grow their own vegetables, etc. Could it be that there are many people out there stockpiling and their increased buying has caused food prices to increase? It’s an interesting theory, but I believe increased food prices have more to do with rising fuel prices as cost-to-market costs have increased and grocers are simply passing those increases along to the consumer. A recent stroll through the camping section of Wal-Mart did give me pause - what kinds of things are prudent to have on hand in the event of a worldwide shortage of food and/or fuel? Survivalist in Training
I’ve been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe that’s why the idea of living off the land appealed to me. My grandfather and I frequently took camping trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and around the Smoky Mountains. Looking back, some of the best times we had were when we stayed at campgrounds without electricity hookups, because it forced us to use what we had to get by. My grandfather was well-prepared with a camp stove and lanterns (which ran off propane), and when the sun went to bed we usually did along with it. We played cards for entertainment, and in the absence of televisions, games, etc. we shared many great conversations. Survivalist in the Neighborhood
Global Food Crisis Called ‘Ticking Time Bomb’
food crisis overshadowed by financial crisis
March 1, 2009
By Mark Pattison
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) — The global food crisis was called a “ticking time bomb” at a Feb. 24 forum during the annual Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington.
Although prices for cereal grains have dropped since their spike last spring, the crisis has not gone away, according to Rajul Pandya-Lorch, chief of staff at the International Food Policy Research Institute and the head of the institute’s initiative, Vision 2020 for Food.
Instead, she said, the food crisis has been overshadowed by the global financial crisis.
The spike in prices was brought about by unregulated speculation in food commodities, Pandya-Lorch said.
While regulations ordinarily limit purchases of cereal grains to 11 million bushels, the U.S. financial houses Morgan Stanley and American International Group, better known as AIG, used loopholes to buy more than 2 billion bushels of grain, keeping it off the market and sending prices soaring. Rice more than tripled in price, and wheat and corn doubled, she said.
Another driver in food price hikes was the use of food for biofuels. Cereal grain use last year was up 5% for food, Pandya-Lorch said, but up 38% for energy.
The price spikes whipsawed producers and consumers alike. Because the price of oil also had spiked, producers found it harder to maintain leases on equipment in order to do more planting and take advantage of the higher prices, Pandya-Lorch said, and poor consumers, especially in developing countries, found themselves spending 50% to 70% of their income on food.
Yet cheap food is not an automatic solution to the food crisis, she said. “People think low food prices are good for the poor in the developing world. They’re not,” Pandya-Lorch declared.
Low prices lead to a flood of cheap imported food from high-yield agricultural nations, creating a disincentive for local farmers to grow their own crops since they cannot compete on price.
A new dynamic in last year’s food price upheavals was a shortage caused by growing demand, according to Pandya-Lorch. Past shortages have been primarily caused by insufficient production.
Even so, the rate of increased yields is declining to about 1% to 2% a year, she noted. In the early 1990s, the rate of increase had been 1.5% to 3%, and in the early 1980s the rate of increase had been 3% to 5%, depending on the type of grain.
The use of grain as animal feed also removes food from the marketplace. It takes 2 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of chicken, she said, but 6 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of beef.
Steve Hilbert, an African affairs policy adviser for the U.S. bishops’ Office of International Justice and Peace, called for calmer markets and the closing of regulatory loopholes.
“We have to say you can’t treat food commodities as you would copper,” Hilbert said.
The Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, which drew 550 participants, was co-sponsored by 18 agencies, including five agencies of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church, the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, Migration and Refugee Services, and the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities.
Other co-sponsors were the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, Catholic Charities USA, the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, the Catholic Health Association, Catholic Relief Services, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, JustFaith, the Ladies of Charity, the National Catholic Partnership on Disability, the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, the National Council of Catholic Women, the National Pastoral Life Center, the Roundtable Association of Diocesan Social Action Directors, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0900904.htm
A Tiny California Town Prepares for ‘Armageddon’
March 1, 2009
By Ken McLaughlin
Mercury News
FIREBAUGH — Shawn Coburn is barreling down a country road in his white Ford F-150 pickup, talking about how California’s water crisis darkly reminds him of a scene from a movie aptly named “Armageddon.”
“Billy Bob Thornton tells Bruce Willis that a huge asteroid is approaching Earth,’’ says Coburn, 40. “Willis asks Thornton who will get hurt, and Thornton tells him that he just doesn’t get it — that everyone will be dead, that the game is over.’’
The disaster coming this spring and summer is no movie, and nothing menacing is falling from the sky. It’s about what’s not falling from the sky — rain. After three years of below-average rain and snowfall, coupled with new pumping restrictions to protect endangered fish, California’s farmers are running out of water. The devastating impact has trickled down to dozens of small Central Valley farming communities.
This is the story about one of those towns:
Firebaugh.
It’s also about Armando Ramirez, a 63-year-old barbershop owner on Firebaugh’s main street who says business is down 90% from last year. It’s about Manuel Rivera, 20, who is hoping against hope that he can keep the lights on at his clothing and jewelry store across the street.
And it’s about Randy, Frank, Steve and Larry Gonzales, four friendly brothers who say their family’s half-century-old auto-parts and repair business around the corner is withering because farmworkers are driving less and getting laid off in droves.
The farmers who will be slammed the hardest are those who depend on the Central Valley Project, the massive federal system of dams, reservoirs, pumps and canals that helped spawn California’s $36 billion farming industry — the state’s largest.
MANY TOWNS WORRIED
Within a couple of years, Coburn says, numerous small towns like Firebaugh could die and hundreds of thousands of once-profitable acres could turn into fields of dust. Beginning today, the federal water spigot in California has been turned off for the first time. And just as in “Armageddon,’’ the game might be over.
Across the Central Valley, warns a new University of California-Davis study, 80,000 jobs could be lost this year.
In Firebaugh, a historic town of 7,000, one of the first casualties could be the Silver Creek Almond Co., which Coburn co-founded five years ago to pack and market the almonds he grows on 1,500 acres.
All of the water used to nourish Coburn’s orchards comes from the Central Valley Project. And on Feb. 20, federal water officials announced a “zero allocation’’ to farmers — most likely for the rest of the year. Farmers who depend on water from the State Water Project are only slightly luckier — they have been told their allocation will be 15% of normal.
“In a few years this will all be gone,’’ Coburn predicted as he walked through a cavernous warehouse stacked with bins containing 10 million pounds of almonds, about 70% of which will be sent overseas.
“Think of the business that will be lost at the Port of Oakland,’’ Coburn said. “This is all going toward reducing our trade deficit.’’
BUSINESS WAY DOWN
Back on O Street, the main drag of downtown Firebaugh, is shrouded in sadness.
Ramirez, the barber, says he understands why many of his longtime customers can no longer afford even a $10 haircut. Rivera, who owns the clothing and jewelry store Xavier & Sariah Styles with his mom, says his business is down the same as Ramirez’s — 90% from a year ago.
“We’re now ringing up only $50 in sales a day,’’ Rivera said.
The rough times for Firebaugh started in August 2007 when U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger reduced the amount of water pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to protect the delta smelt, a tiny fish, from extinction.
The new restrictions decreased farming on the west side of the Central Valley, which is much more dependent on federal water than the east side.
The water nightmare caused by the pumping restrictions and dry weather has hit Main Street at a time when the recession and housing foreclosure crisis already are pummeling valley towns.
In the past year, a third of Firebaugh’s downtown businesses have closed. They include an ice cream shop, a Western clothing store and a once-popular Mexican restaurant. Even the lone bar catering to farm laborers was shuttered.
Firebaugh, settled during the Gold Rush as a major ferry crossing for prospectors heading up the San Joaquin River, is now about 90% Latino.
The city’s official jobless rate is 23%. But Jose Ramirez, Firebaugh’s city manager, estimates it’s probably closer to 35% because so many undocumented workers don’t make it into the official statistics. In the past year, sales tax revenue has plunged more than 40%.
And the nightmare is just beginning.
WELLS NO SOLUTION
The huge Westlands Water District, wholly dependent on federal water, predicts up to 400,000 acres of its 611,000 acres of farmland will lie fallow this year. Farmers such as Coburn are spending millions of dollars desperately digging wells. But the water underground contains so much salt and boron it will kill orchards and vineyards in two or three years.
“Putting our well water on almond trees is like giving them chemotherapy,’’ Coburn said. “It will fry them.’’
Back in town, Steve Malanca, general manager of the John Deere dealership, gazes at a former alfalfa field across the street.
Malanca doesn’t just see bare dirt. He conjures up the image of the tractor and the 30-foot-wide disk needed to prepare the field to grow alfalfa. He sees all the irrigation and seeding equipment — and crews — needed to get the alfalfa seeds in the ground; the companies needed to make the fertilizers and insecticides to ensure that the seeds germinate; the experts with advanced degrees needed to inspect the fields and help farmers design their battle plans against pests and disease.
He sees four other pieces of equipment — a swather, hay rake, baler and harrow bed — that are needed before a semitrailer with a forklift loads the hay for delivery to a dairy.
“Without water,’’ Malanca said, “none of that will happen.’’
The stress and depression that often accompany layoffs are taking their toll.
Firebaugh Police Chief Elsa Lopez has noticed a recent uptick in domestic violence calls. And the number of people arrested on drunken-driving charges in January was double what it was a year ago.
With sales tax revenue tanking, the city is asking its employees to take one furlough day a month to try to head off layoffs. But Lopez resisted calls for furloughs for her 12 sworn officers, fearing that layoffs on the farms will increase drug use, which in turn will lead to more burglaries and robberies. In lieu of the furloughs, Ramirez is asking that the cops not be paid for any holidays.
MANY SUFFER DEPRESSION
If things in Firebaugh weren’t difficult enough, Premier Paso, the town’s lone substance-abuse center, closed in September because state legislators were late passing a budget.
“Losing them was a sad day for us,’’ Lopez said.
Dr. Marcia Sablan and her husband, Dr. Oscar Sablan, who for the past 27 years have run a Firebaugh medical clinic, say they are treating many more farm employees for depression.
On Wednesday, Maria Linares, 38, brought her 17-year-old son to the clinic because he was sick. While she was there, she spoke to “Dr. Marcia,’’ who also happens to be the town’s mayor, about the anxiety at home.
Linares’ husband, an irrigation supervisor at an almond ranch in Firebaugh, is losing self-esteem, she said. He is now working only one or two days a week and fears he’ll lose his job. And her job is also at risk: She works on the almond processing line at Coburn’s Silver Creek Almond Co.
If her husband does lose his job, Linares said, they will probably be forced to leave the trailer they paid $35,000 for three years ago so they could live on the almond ranch.
Once upon a time they looked forward to moving from the trailer into a house in the heart of town.
“But that dream,’’ she said, “has all been erased because we have no water.’’
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_11809845
Recession Raises Food Prices
March 2, 2009
Colin D’Mello
680 News - Toronto
The recession may be good for the gas pumps but it’s bad for the dinner table. A new study out says grocery bills are more expensive this year than last.
Statistics Canada has compared food prices from January 2008 to January 2009 and says there has been a dramatic rise around the world.
The average grocery cart now costs 9% more than it did only a year ago.
A dozen eggs is now $0.13 more expensive, a kilo of apples costs $0.88 extra, and 4-kilos of potatoes are $1.57 more than last year.
Mushrooms, chicken, beef and flour are also on the list of higher priced products with an almost one dollar rise each.
Experts say that this rise in food costs will likely effect lower income houses the most, who may have to choose lower cost foods with lower nutritional value over higher priced, healthier foods.
The spike in prices is due to raw materials costs rising, and the drop of the Canadian dollar in the market.
http://www.680news.com/news/more.jsp?content=20090301_093231_5180
Recession Raises Food Prices
March 2, 2009
Colin D’Mello
680 News - Toronto
The recession may be good for the gas pumps but it’s bad for the dinner table. A new study out says grocery bills are more expensive this year than last.
Statistics Canada has compared food prices from January 2008 to January 2009 and says there has been a dramatic rise around the world.
The average grocery cart now costs 9% more than it did only a year ago.
A dozen eggs is now $0.13 more expensive, a kilo of apples costs $0.88 extra, and 4-kilos of potatoes are $1.57 more than last year.
Mushrooms, chicken, beef and flour are also on the list of higher priced products with an almost one dollar rise each.
Experts say that this rise in food costs will likely effect lower income houses the most, who may have to choose lower cost foods with lower nutritional value over higher priced, healthier foods.
The spike in prices is due to raw materials costs rising, and the drop of the Canadian dollar in the market.
http://www.680news.com/news/more.jsp?content=20090301_093231_5180
Drought Bad for Wheat
We’re very dry. The wheat crop is terrible. If we don’t get rain soon, there won’t be much grain production. —Dana Bay, Oklahoma State. Univ.
March 1, 2009
By Michelle Seeber MCT Regional News
Tulsa World
“Terrible.”
That was the word OSU Extension Agent Dana Bay used to describe current wheat conditions in the area, all caused by lack of rain.
‘’We’re very dry,” Bay said. “The wheat crop is terrible. If we don’t get rain soon, there won’t be much grain production.”
Bay said wheat is now at a critical stage known as hollow stem. Hollow stem occurs when the developing head is still below the soil surface. Rain is critical to further growth.
‘’The wheat is very drought stressed at this time,” Bay said. “We need a good soaking rain to come pretty quickly.”
Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Terry Peach described the situation as “fighting to survive” in an address on his website. He also described the outcome of lack of rain as an economic disaster.
In a phone interview Friday, he said, “In a good year, the state averages 140 million bushels of production. Without rain in the next 10 days, it could drop to the 70 million to 80 million range.”
According to the National Weather Service in Norman, there is no rain predicted into next Tuesday.
Even with irrigation techniques in place, the situation is serious because farmers can’t afford to pay for the fuel it takes to irrigate their land, Peach said.
Farmers are not only fighting the drought, he said, they are fighting increased costs.
‘’Today our farmers ... fighting to survive this tenacious drought also are struggling with a problem our forbears didn’t face: greatly increased input costs,” Peach said. “Fuel, fertilizer and seed grain prices have increased up to four times during the past year.”
According to Woodward Emergency Manager Matt Lehenbauer, Woodward County has received only an average of .3 inches of rain so far this year.
‘’Harper County has received .13 inches of rain and Ellis County .25,” Lehenbauer said.
All of which is “well below” the amount of precipitation that is typically seen around the area this time of year, he said.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=298&articleid=20090301_298_0_Terrib881676
>>>We stubbornly hold on to our beliefs and still argue over it.<<<
LOL Maybe that is why I always side-stepped that...
I keep asking myself - how - why and can’t wrap my arms around the answers.
Haven’t heard from Wneighbor for a while...
Saw this and am hoping this isn’t the reason...
Wildfires Destroy 25 Homes in Central Texas
BASTROP, Texas — A wildfire fueled by grass, brush and trees has destroyed at least 25 homes and three businesses in central Texas.
Officials say two National Guard helicopters joined other aircraft Sunday in dropping water on the blaze near the towns of Bastrop and Smithville.
Gov. Rick Perry has activated state resources, including four Blackhawk helicopters equipped to drop water and fire retardant, firefighters and equipment.
The wildfire has charred just over a square mile since it was started Saturday by a fallen power line.
Texas Forest Service spokesman Lewis Kearney says the fire is about 70 percent contained and that no additional structures are threatened.
Residents who were evacuated during the night were being escorted back into the area Sunday to identify their property.
Bastrop is about 30 miles southeast of Austin.
http://www.collegeathome.com/blog/2008/06/18/57-useful-google-tools-youve-never-heard-of/
Learn Anything: 100 Places to Find Free Webinars and Tutorials 100 Useful Niche Search Engines to Focus and Finetune Your Academic Research
57 Useful Google Tools Scholars, Students, and Hobbyists
If you’re like most people, you use Google’s products several times a day to search for information or check email. Most people don’t know, however, how many useful tools Google has to make research and time management much easier. Here are just a few of the products Google offers that may be worth trying whether you’re a scholar, student, or hobbyist.
Must Haves
These Google products can make the most basic of computing tasks easy and are a must for any Google devotee.
1. Reader: Reader is a Web-based news aggregator that reads Atom and RSS feeds to allows users to easily subscribe, organize and share news items. It even has a mobile version allowing you to
[snipped....several worth using.]
# Goofresh: Want to know what’s fresh to the Internet? This site allows you to use Google to search for sites that have been added today, yesterday or within the last week or month.
# Cooking With Google: Have some random ingredients in the fridge but aren’t sure what to make with them? Maybe this Google-based tool can help. Enter in a few ingredients and it will give you recipes in several different categories.
# Babelplex: Want to search through Google in multiple languages? This tool can help you do that, acting as a cross between a search engine and a translation tool for 29 language combinations.
“You got me thinking that I need to go buy more smaller sized canning jars - the kind I can can in if need be. “
Hubby went to the store for me tonight to get me some OJ (I’ve got a cold coming on) and I had him p/u some canning jars, rings w/lids, and just lids. 12 qt. jars/$7.79; 12 rings w/lids/$2.99; 12 lids/$1.49. Are these prices reasonable for these things?
I’m in the suburbs in N.IL. I am thinking of checking with my MIL to see what kind of deals she can find in WI. I know there are Amish/Mennonite stores up there.
>>>12 qt. jars/$7.79; 12 rings w/lids/$2.99; 12 lids/$1.49.<<<
VERY good prices!
Last year I got 12 pints for $6.50, and 12 Quarts for $8.49
I checked today and lids at local feed store were $1.99 - The ones I got last summer were 99¢ (I bought them out - so am stocked up for this year, but plan to try to keep a year’s supply ahead)
We use a lot of pint and half pint jars - 3 of us and I don’t like to have a bunch of leftovers.
bump for later reading. Great post!
I’ll have to keep track of this section. I ordered peanuts for the garden this year. Don’t know how well they’ll do, but thought it would be fun to try.
About 20 years ago, we had a house in the older part of a town. About 6 houses on a city block. My husband decided to try to grow peanuts. Well, there were a lot of squirrels in the neighborhood. My husband saw a squirrel digging in his peanuts over in the side yard and took a shot at him from the 2nd floor bedroom window. I wasn’t home when this happened, which was probably a good thing. I’m surprised one of the neighbors didn’t call the police.
We still joke about it. We have several acres where we are now and are zoned Ag, so we can have the guns here to keep the varmints out of our barn and such.
>>> 12 qt. jars/$7.79; 12 rings w/lids/$2.99; 12 lids/$1.49. Are these prices reasonable for these things? <<<
YES ,in West NC jars are around $9 doz. rings lids 2.96-3.49, lids 2.99 avg. send him back for more (HA!)
I have been thinking about my oil lamps. I have several, but I think some may be in the attic. I will have to hunt them down. I had an old, pretty large one that the chimney broke. We have several craft type stores around that I might be able to find a replacement for it. I was thinking too, about replacement wicks. Does Lehman’s sell wicks? My hubby suggested I weave new wicks out of thread or cotton string. I wonder if that would work in a pinch. I’d much rather have some replacements on hand. Also need to look for lamp oil/kerosene.
HELP Granny! - did you can and pickle by moon signs?<<<
I do not know.
I am a novice at following the moon signs, but have read about how they affect the plants and it makes sense, in that if you want below the ground level roots and fruits, it is planted in the dark, so they are dark/underground longer.
This link has a search engine on the site:
http://www.almanac.com/astrology/index.php
Used search:
http://www.almanac.com/search/index.php?q=canning
The Best Days for Certain Activities
by Celeste Longacre
Here is an astrological timetable, based on the Moon, showing the best days for certain activities during the current and next month.
Activity March 2009 April 2009 Future Months
Begin diet to gain weight
1,28
6,25
Click for Instant Access to a Full Year Astrological Timetable for only $5
A printable timetable for the entire year.
Begin diet to lose weight
14,24
10,20
Begin logging
19,20
15,16,17
Breed animals
14,15
10,11,12
Can, pickle, or make sauerkraut
14,15
11,20,21
Castrate animals
21,22,23
18,19
Cut hair to discourage growth
12,13
20,21
Cut hair to encourage growth
1,2,7,8
4,5,8
Cut hay
26,27
22,23,24
Destroy pests and weeds
26,27
22,23,24
End projects
24,25
23,24
Entertain
7,8
4,5
Go camping
16,17,18
13,14
Graft or pollinate
5,6
2,3,29,30
Harvest aboveground crops
1,2,28,29
6,7,26
Harvest belowground crops
19,20
15,16,17
Have dental care
9,10,11
6,7
Plant aboveground crops
5,6,28,29
3,29,30
Plant belowground crops
14,15,24,25
10,11,20,21
Potty train children
14,24
10,20
Prune to discourage growth
16,17,18
13,14,23,24
Prune to encourage growth
7,8,27
4,5
Quit smoking
14,24
10,20
Set chicken eggs
11,12,13
8,9,16,17,18
Set posts or pour concrete
19,20
15,16,17
Slaughter livestock
14,15
10,11,12
Start projects
27,28
26,27
Wean animals or children
14,24
10,20
http://www.almanac.com/recipe/for/canning-okra-for-frying/10164
Canning Okra for Frying
Miscellaneous Recipes | Vegetables Recipes
SAVERATEEMAILPRINT
Yield: 4 quarts
When canned like this it tastes just like fresh okra from the garden in the middle of winter.
* 4 quarts water
* 4 quarts Okra (cut)
* 1/2 cups vinegar
* 4 tablespoons Canning Salt
Place all ingredients in a pot on stove and bring to a boil and then turn heat off, you do not want to cook the okra.
Heat lids and jars for canning per normal canning guidelines.
Fill jars to within 1/2” of head space and seal.
Turn upside down and leave for 2 days.
When you are ready to fry, dump the jar of okra into a strainer, do not rinse. Take the okra and toss in cornmeal and fry as normal.
This recipe was submitted by one of our readers and has not been tested by our food editors. We are not responsible for errors in this recipe, but if you find one, please let us know in our feedback form.
Find Similar Recipes
* By Category
o Miscellaneous Recipes
o Vegetables Recipes
Fire is so final, I hate it and join in prayers for all who are involved in this one.
I hope all the people are safe.
I listened to a night of fire in Denver last night, 3 buildings and 8 dumpster containers all burning at the same time.
The Officers were working, chasing the arsonist and the Fire Fighters were fighting as hard as they could.
All your news articles were good ones, thank you and thanks for answering questions.
Can I find them online? Maybe I will check them out and see what all they have. We can’t really plant here till mid-May, so I still have time to order seeds.
Did it stop raining over there?<<<
Yes and then it has threatened more for the last 3 days.
I am trying, to post as I can and send the copy to yahoo on some of them.
You are welcome to the potato recipes, I figure that we all could use fresh ideas for potatoes and rice.
Last year a lot of folks that I read, said they were growing their potatoes above ground.
I am no help, I have had good crops from planting the potato peelings and and bad ones from doing it the right way.
Keep us posted on how they do, and if you like them.
“Ace hardware has extra wick material. always a good thing to have stashed away in case of prolonged dependence on the lamps.”
We have a store nearby. I will check to see if mine has any wicks. That would be quicker than mail order.
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