Posted on 04/24/2008 7:01:53 PM PDT by paulat
LOL! I would love to know from folks what survives well and what doesn't....canned corn, etc.
I loved the tip from the guy who said the pineapple didn't hold up well.
The farmer rarely sells to his customer. His grain is sold to a broker, usually at a grain elevator, who then sells the grain to whoever wants it.
I buy beef from the farm, processed for a little over $2.00 a lb. It is nice having a full freezer and i can walk by those 6 and 8 dollar a pound roasts and steaks.
I could buy grain directly from the farm also if i wanted to process it myself. And a nice garden gives us plenty of fresh veggies all summer long, and stocks the freezer and canning pantry nicely. About the only things we stil have to buy is dairy and fruit.
I guarantee the farmer will take cash money for his stuff over moving it on so the middle men can get a huge cut.
When I can buy beef for $2.00 a lb, for steaks, roasts, ribs and burger, someone is making a huge mark up.
The best way to gain self sufficiency and keep hold of your money is to broker your own deals with local producers and cut out the middle man and the value added charges, including transportation costs. People are spoiled into thinking that everything has to be ready to heat and eat. But convenience is mighty costly.
City people are pretty much screwed regardless of what kind of local disaster awaits them. It would do them good to bet back to the farm, or get friendly with a farmer.
Cut out the middle man, and you will always have a good supply at a reasonable cost.
To paraphrase Marie Antoinette, “Let them drink bio-fuel.”
Wow, you will be able to party like it's 1999! Kudoes to you on your efforts. See also my post #40.
we've also seen several food disasters around the world..Viet Nam, Australia, China among some nations that have had or going to have poor crops...
I've been known to do that from time to time. :^)
canned frostings have expiration dates and I notice that they deteriorate if kept too long....
I've begun to mark all my food.
Thinking on it some more, I had some other food items.... flour, sugar, boxed dry pastas, dry beans. The flour, sugar, and beans I individually vacuum-sealed back in 1999. Then, all of the aforementioned went into either (A) 5-gallon buckets with locking seals or (B) big Rubbermaid blanket boxes. Both were reasonably airtight and, more importantly, bug-proof.
Have been cooking and eating the dry pastas for about 2 months, no problems. The flour and sugar were hard as a brick, but I suspect that was from the vacuum-sealing, not from storage. Once I loosened them up, they were fine.
If you have some good ones, let us know...it would be helpful to know what held up and what didn't.
Thanks, lainie...for the life of me...I don’t understand this new system and I try to do all the correct things!
“The Greenies thought that adding ethanol to gasoline would be more “Earth friendly.” So corn, a perfectly good food, is converted to alcohol because it is “renewable” and burned for fuel. Problem is, the corn crop is now going into your fuel tank.”
The excess grains used in ethanol used to be what was sold to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations. Just kidding. But If they want to burn us on buying oil, we can burn them on buying corn. Better yet, we can burn the corn if we want. It belongs to American farmers last time I looked and if they want to burn it or make ethanol out of it, so what?
So called hungry people do not own our food, but they are quite capable of producing their own if they would quit fighting their tribal wars and jihads. And they are more than welcome to pay the going price for grain because the American people are sick and tired of subsidizing cheap food to ungrateful ingrates overseas.
It appears that agricultural commodities are about the only thing still made in America. We barely make any more steel. We make just a few of our cars. Just what is still made in America besides Grain? Are we going to just give that industry away too because someone claims to be hungry or can’t afford food?
There were a lot of starving people around long before ethanol. Don’t ever forget that fact and please, quit ignoring the obvious class warfare entitlement indoctrinations.
That was a great read. Thanks for posting it.
It really is eye-opening. Famine leads to totalitarianism, in almost every case.
“I’ve begun to mark all my food. “
That works if you throw out the old stuff. I have an unopened jar of mayo in the pantry with an exp. date of 8/31/00.
I hear ya.
I went to McDonalds today and got an entire chicken sandwich for $1!
We stored up for Y2K as well. I think it’s always a good idea to have a pantry, even in good times. Never know when the next storm will come and you can’t get out. Want some batteries and tomato soup???
My pantry is laden.
About 25 wild turkeys in the yard, begging today...some will get their wish; others will get roasted.
Three deer in the driveway, checking to see if the flowers are coming up & the trees leafing out, so they can chomp’m. I just got a new, 1,100’ roll of freezer paper to introduce to one or two of them.
The wild asparagus, and feral rhubarb are starting to sprout.
The wild apples, chokecherries, and currents are looking good.
The cottontails are the fattest I've seen in years.
The garden is ready to plant; last fall's garlic & onions are up & doing well.
Corn in the crib; wheat in the bin; beans & four types of rice in several sealed gallon jars. Plenty of canned staples on the shelves.
If all else fails, one neighbor raises sheep, and most raise beef. ;-)
I'm not Mormon, but that "keep a year's supply of food" thing of theirs does make sense...even if some of it is 'stored' on the hoof.
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