Posted on 04/24/2008 4:59:23 PM PDT by Nachum
I don't want to alarm anybody, but maybe it's time for Americans to start stockpiling food.
No, this is not a drill.
You've seen the TV footage of food riots in parts of the developing world. Yes, they're a long way away from the U.S. But most foodstuffs operate in a global market. When the cost of wheat soars in Asia, it will do the same here.
Reality: Food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund. And there are very good reasons to believe prices on the shelves are about to start rising a lot faster.
"Load up the pantry," says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street's top investors and the manager of the Quaker Strategic Growth mutual fund. "I think prices are going higher. People are too complacent. They think it isn't going to happen here. But I don't know how the food companies can absorb higher costs." (Full disclosure: I am an investor in Quaker Strategic)
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
5 gallon buckets with sealable lids. That’s the solution to your problem.
Throw in a piece of dry ice, put the lid on loosly, wait until the dry ice is all gone, then seal it up. It will kill any bugs and remove all the oxygen.
I was just going to ask about bugs. I have a terrible time with my bird food here in GA. I put it in the freezer every few weeks.
We've been preparing for over two years now. We rotate our stock and either use it or give it to the area food bank.
When hubby was out of work for nearly four months, our storage food pulled us through. Being prepared means more than a national crisis happening.
I’ve given some thought to keeping rabbits. Our township doesn’t permit livestock, but I really wonder who would ever know if we had some rabbits. It’s not as though they make any noise, and we’re on a wooded acre where nobody snoops around. We have friends who got permission to keep up to 7 chickens, as long as they’re kept as pets. They can enjoy the eggs, but aren’t permitted to slaughter them or to keep a rooster.
Thinking learning to ride a bike again
I won't ride a bike. Besides, a butt the size of mine has no business being on a bicycle seat. lol
Now walking, I never tire of distance walking.
Depends on the individual city’s regulations. I know a lot of people who have chickens and rabbits. The neighbors know, cause the rabbits dig into the yards surrounding their home.
No, sarcastic about your (seemingly nonchalant?) comment concerning the government coming for your stockpile if the need arises. Not in a million years, at my house.
Not in a million years, at my house.
Nor in ours.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKKvP9wWrlY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV4FxzprGfg
Electric vehicles are finally practical...provided you are talking about electric bicycles with the the latest state of the art technology...brushless motors and nano-phosphate batteries.
Even going uphill pulling a trailer, this guy’s legs can’t keep up with the electric motor even when in the highest gear.
I’m seriously thinking about doing this. But my current bike(an aluminum framed cannondale) isn’t strong enough to use with these powerfull electric motors. They recommend old fashioned heavy frames made of steel. The kind of bike I’m thinking of using is one of these old jobbies...problem is, finding one.
http://www.raleigh.dk/Default.aspx?ID=438&M=Shop&PID=657&ProductID=2169
http://www.pashley.co.uk/products/roadster-sovereign.html
They have heavy steel frames, long wheelbases, long cranks, raked forks, fully enclosed drive chains, full fenders, and the very old fashioned 700B european wheel size. I want one with rod actuated rim brakes and a 5speed derailer syle gear cluster. It would be nice if it had 40spoke wheels. Even more spokes would be better.
Somewhere on youtube, I saw a vid of a guy demonstrating a motor controller that controls two electric motors simultaneously and synchronized. If that really works as slick as it seems to, I might put a motor on each wheel for a two wheel drive electric bike.
If you have a fenced in yard and you keep your rabbits in good, quality, clean, rabbit hutches, and you maintain your property well, nobody is going to bother you.
You would probably be safe keeping a few “pets” in nice clean hutches. Rabbits are not smelly if you keep the droppings cleaned up. They are also very good eating. During the war, in the city of Huntsville, Ala. we had 150 in the back yard. We ate rabbit stew, fried young rabbit, bar-B-qued rabbit, baked rabbit; all very good. My brother was the rabbit keeper. I guess it was after the war that he finally got rid of them. We went back to eating chicken, and drinking real milk. During the days of rationing, we never felt deprived because we were so much better off than we had been before the war, during the depression, back in Tenn. I actually thought we had grown rich. We had electricity, running water and indoor plumbing. How rich can you get?
I love walking too. My problem is finding enough time in my busy schedule to walk. I “have” to be here, there and yonder in quick time in my profession. I’m only 74, but one of these days I’m going to retire.
pretty neat bicycle in the video. I would break my neck.
I hear ya. My days are so full. Now the mosquitoes are out so that makes late evening walks out. I must have the best tasting blood in our area. The four or us would go out and not a single dang mosquito would have anything to do with them - it was my blood those female critters wanted. lol
I’m only 74, but one of these days I’m going to retire.
My hubby says he'll retire when he dies. Can't afford to now. :)
Where I live, rabbits in outdoor hutches are called “sit-down meals for black bears.” The bears can climb over (or rip through) most fences; and unless the rabbit hutch is made of poured concrete, that wouldn’t be a barrier either.
“This smells a lot like the manufactured California electricity crisis in 2001. REEKS like it. Remember E N R O N? Cherchez la profit.”
Exactly, the ENRON scam, but on a much larger scale.
Fortunately, we don't seem to have bears here. I guess we're just a bit too close to Philadelphia. We certainly have racoons though, and foxes, so we'd need to be careful. The deer eat anything green except poison ivy, but they're no danger to bunnies.
We have lots of family in Tennessee, mostly in and around Jackson. They lived through some mighty tough times in the depression, and would surely do well in another crisis. A family member is considering selling a small farm there. I have a nagging temptation to buy it as a fallback in case things go really haywire in this world. We could eke out an existence there on comparatively little, and have family nearby as well.
You can fumigate bird food or pet food with dry ice pretty easily. Just put the bag or container inside a garbage bag and put some dry ice on top of it and close it up. The CO2 from the dry ice will tend to sink to the bottom of the contain and push the air (oxygen) out the top. It'll suffocate the bugs, and won't leave anything behind that might harm the birds or pets.
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