by Amy S.
Mainstream media and propaganda outs say that America’s economy and the strength of the United States Dollar has never been stronger. That is a lie. Never before in history has the wage to cost of living gap been as detrimental to the well being of the American people during times of peace as it is today. A minimum-wage worker needs 2.5 full-time jobs to afford a one-bedroom apartment in most of the USA Many minimum-wage workers can’t even afford a modest one-bedroom apartment, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s annual report.
The national housing wage for a modest one-bedroom apartment is $17.90, while the federal minimum wage is $7.25. A low-income worker earning the federal minimum wage would need 2.5 jobs to afford a one-bedroom apartment. What do you get when you combine minimum wage with increasing apartment rents? Many workers who can’t afford a place to live.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s (NLIHC) annual report recently took a look at the Housing Wage, an estimate of the hourly wage a full-time worker needs to earn to afford a rental home at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s fair-market rent. That means spending no more than 30% of their income on housing costs — the typical rule of thumb when budgeting for housing. Don’t believe the lies. Start preparing today. Get Rice and canned goods as soon as this weekend. Start building up your personal preparedness stores so that when the entire economy breaks, you and your family will be ready.
Defense Strategy and Capabilities .Conflicts and alliances around the globe are shifting constantly, enhancing the need for reliable and timely research and analysis. CSIS analyzes a wide range of issues related to defense strategy and capabilities.
HOW TO GET PREPARED
We never know what emergency may befall us during which we may not be able to obtain food or drink.
The emergency may be loss of job or inability to work due to accident or illness. This may result in a situation where financial resources to purchase food would not be available or may be decreased appreciably. Natural catastrophe such as flood, earthquake or storms may result in temporary inability to distribute food to supermarkets.
Under these conditions even having money to purchase food does not mean it can be obtained.
Even in the United States each of the above conditions occurs occasionally. Because of the possibility of such emergencies the Civil Defense recommends storing food and drink adequate for your family’s needs for a two-week period. Certain church organizations have recommended their members “Have on hand a year’s supply of food, fuel, clothing and where possible money.”
Food Items
Enough people have eaten for a long enough period of time that some conclusions on “What to Eat?” can be drawn from experience.
Some average amounts of the nutrients required for growth, maintenance and reproduction of the human system have been published.
These nutrients are distributed among the food groups:
l) milk/cheese,
2) meat/poultry/fish
3) vegetables
4) fruit,
5) bread/cereal, and
6) fat/alcohol/sweets/other.
Appropriate servings from each food group combined into a daily intake will provide an adequate nutrient supply.
Food storage is viewed as a part of emergency preparedness. It is also a part of the program of a gardener to preserve and store away some of the fruits of his or her labor.
Whatever the reason a person has for storing food beyond immediate needs, planning must be done to avoid waste.
When you are canning meat products remember these things.
Here’s just a glimpse of what you’ll find inside Carnivore’s Bible:
You’ll discover the ancient meat preservation method that will make your mouth water. Enjoying the delicious sweet-smoky taste of beef, pork, or link sausages for months to come… without ANY refrigeration, chemicals, preservatives, or additives!
And you can prepare everything in your back-yard (or balcony) in one afternoon– I promise it will be more relaxing than taking the day off to go fishing.
You’ll also learn how to get rid of the toxic canned food from the supermarket… and preserve your own healthy & delicious vegetables and fruits. All you need is Granddad Bob’s secret canning trick to instantly kill bacteria and parasites…
There are a number of approaches to building a food storage program. Only two wil be outlined, which can be adapted to fit individual needs. A major reason for not having food storage is the expense. A simple way to avoid a large cash outlay is to merely purchase double the items on the grocery list with each shopping excursion. The extra items are then marked with the purchase date and put into storage to be rotated out and replaced on the next shopping trip.
Perishable items such as fluid milk or eggs are difficult to work into this system.
Therefore substitutes such as nonfat dried milk may be purchased for storage. Keep in mind, however, that there is a limit to the length of time that even these semi-perishable or dehydrated items can be stored.
A disadvantage of the double purchase system is that it is not as easy to benefit from sales prices. One advantage is that items are only purchased that are routinely used in menu planning, thereby reducing waste and improving rotation.
Another approach to beginning a food storage program is to use a lump sum of money such as a tax refund or a bonus check to purchase a large amount of basics for your family.
The pamphlet “Essentials of Food Storage” has suggested that basics should include wheat, sugar or honey, salt and nonfat dried milk. While it is true that these items do store well, it is important that the family will use what they store. This list could be modified to include grain products such as wheat and white
flour, pasta products, rolled oats, rice, dried beans, split peas, lentils and other
dehydrated fruits and vegetables.
Cracked or whole wheat products do not store well
14 gallons of water per person (2 week supply)
1 pound of dry matter per person per day of dried foods
because the membranes are broken that keep the oil in the wheat germ away from the iron and other minerals in the endosperm and the bran layer. Rancidity occurs at a rapid rate. Rolled oats are heat treated which destroys the lipase enzyme and therefore will store quite well.
When establishing a food storage program do not forget:
1. Store only those items you will use. If you do not currently include a food in your diet it is not likely that you will use it.
2. Do not purchase more than you will rotate and use within a 2 to 3 year period of time
to reduce waste.
3. Insure that the quality of the item you purchase is acceptable. Quality does not improve upon storage for most foods.
Planning before you begin a food storage program will help to avoid pitfalls.
Physical Methods of Controlling Insects in Food
Clean, cool, dry storage areas are preferred. Avoid storing food in open containers on shelves. Keep food storage areas free of spilled food and food particles. Good housekeeping helps prevent insect infestations.
Deep Freeze Control for Grain
Small quantities of grain, 1 to 10 pounds, can be put in medium to heavy food grade plastic bags and placed in a deep freeze for 2 to 3 days. This will usually destroy all stages of any insect pests which are present.
As a check spread the deep freeze treated grain on a cookie tray at room temperature until thawed. If live insects are present they will probably be seen crawling about. If they are present, repeat the process. If not, remove any insect fragments, put the grain in an approved container and store it in a cool, dry place.
Heat Treatment—Air
When packaged goods such as beans, cereals, whole grains, nut meats, and similar dried foods become infested they may be “sterilized” by heating in an open oven as follows.
Spread a shallow layer of wheat in a cookie tray or large pan. Pre-heat the oven to about 140° to 150°F. Put the tray in the preheated oven and leave it there for 30 minutes or more. The oven door should be left slightly open to avoid overheating. This treatment should destroy all stages of the insect if the layer of grain on the tray is not too thick (1/2 inch). Next, remove the tray and cool the wheat thoroughly before returning it to a clean, dry storage container. As necessary, use a fan to blow off any existing insect fragments. Where large quantities of dry food are to be treated, this method is not practical.
Heat is detrimental to the proteins in wheat and may reduce the ability of the bread to rise properly. Some reduced loaf volume and heavier texture may be apparent when using heat treated grains.
Some have seen this problem coming for a long time and changed their entire way of life by going off-grid. They have foundalternative sourcessuch as solar, wind and diesel to power their homes and machinery. A majority of us, who have not gone off-grid, are making a concerted effort to avoid dependence on this ailing infrastructure andpreparing for lifewithout it.
Dry Ice
Food may be fumigated with dry ice as previously described.
Bay Leaves, Chewing Gum, Chanting Words and Phrases
We receive numerous inquiries asking about exotic treatments to prevent insect
infestations in stored grain. In unofficial experiments we have conducted, it was noted that some insects will continue to feed when enclosed in containers with tight fitting lids, even in the presence of these exotic suggestions. We have also concluded that chanting words and phrases fall upon deaf ears. Some consumers have reported on the effectiveness of many exotic treatments. Our investigations have shown these instances to only be effective when no insects were initially present in the food.
There are a number of different options for emergency cooking. Before we get started: For those who are new to preparedness, using an emergency generator to power an electric stove or microwave is not a good allocation of resources. Stoves and microwaves use a lot of power in a short amount of time. It’s much more practical to use other means to heat/cook your food.