growing and learning

food shortages

02:34 PM, Monday, May 5, 2008 .. 9 comments .. Link

A lot of people are talking about the rice/ grain shortages. I feel a lot of peace about it. At least for my family. See, after we moved into our new house with the huge empty basement, I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to start buying a years supply of food. I took some extra cash we have every month (we have been blessed with that) and started buying food storage items. I quickly bought a 5-gal (60 lb) of honey from a honey store here, and slowly bought wheat or sugar at Costco.
Last spring, I would guess about a year ago, I walked into my normal grocery store and saw that they were having a "food storage" sale - 6-gal buckets of rice, wheat, oats, etc. So I splurged and bought 9 buckets at $13.99 each. I thought I was doing great, and continued with my allotted amount a month otherwise. Oh, if I had known then, I would have bought MORE at that time, we could afford it, but I already felt like I was going over budget...
Fast forward to today. We have a room downstairs filled with buckets (these are 6-gal and hold various weights, depending on the item):
8 Soft White Wheat
8 hard White Wheat
4 Hard Red Wheat
4 reg oats
3 quick oats
6 basmati rice
2 brown rice
2 black beans
2 white beans
2 white flour
2 popcorn
1 each of:
white sugar
pinto beans
kidney beans
cornmeal (which has SHOT up from $23 to $84 in 2 months)
lentils
bread flour
Gretchka (Kasha/ toasted buckwheat)
raw buckwheat

still on order (with my prices locked in!):
1 bucket spelt
4 buckets egg noodles

and yet I wonder if I have enough! I read these news articles, like those posted by "the Intentional Peasant" and Deanna and fultoncountymama. and I wonder if I have enough to last the coming storm! ai ai ai! fret not, I also have some canned and dried fruits and veggies, but not near what we need. I do have 200 empty canning jars all with the screw-top lids for whatever my garden might give us. I am hoping to do tomatoes and peaches again for sure! I am studying ways to store potatoes and hope to have a bumper crop of those as well! I am getting a split half of grass-fed beef in July (which is a quarter of a cow, splitting the whole half with a SIL and a BIL)
we are taking gun classes this month and next and will start on an arsenal as well as food storage. I think that if you have a supply of food, that gun may well be what keeps your food yours in a crisis. Is that a mercenary way to think? I do not feel so. I would gladly share my food with those who cannot afford to stock up right now, but I think there may well be a lot of angry people who lived for today and their toys and did not plan for the winter ahead, for the coming "seven years of famine" (not that I am saying there will be 7 years, but referencing the experiences of Joseph in Egypt)
I am trying to cook out of our storage. my children do not like beans, but we have them at least once a week anyway. I think maybe we will go to twice a week, actually. We try to have rice once a week, and I am trying bread recipe after bread recipe trying to find a wheat bread dh feels is light enough (and crust soft enough) for sandwiches. so if you have any suggestions, do let me know!

Dh and I are trying to prepare for the coming storm. I, being a student of history, have seen this coming for years. YEARS. I pray daily we have another couple of years before the storm really hits, so we have time to pay off the house and get an alternative source of energy for the well and the freezers.

This summer I am borrowing my mom's dutch oven and going to start experimenting with that method of cooking. something that I can use and do even if we have no power or no propane in our tanks.

well, off to reorganize that storage room, actually - it is packed and hard to get into!
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03:18 PM, Monday, May 5, 2008 .. Posted by Vickie
It looks like you've got everything well stocked. Great job!

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04:41 PM, Monday, May 5, 2008 .. Posted by AnIntentionalPeasant
Looks like your doing a really great job preparing for your family. A lot of forethought, I love it! The Proverbs 31 woman was concerned for her family, that they were warm and fed. Its part of our jobs as wives and mothers. Also by doing what your doing your an example to others to prepare so that they can be a blessing. Keep up the good work!
The Intentional Peasant

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05:15 AM, Tuesday, May 6, 2008 .. Posted by gokings13
I went to Sams yesterday........and I read the sign over the rice.........
It "looks like to me" that they are limiting the amount of rice because 'chineese restaurants' are hoggin' it all up!
It 'appears' that Sams has a better price than the distributors who deliver, and chineese restaurant owners are coming in and cleaning the shelves out..........and regular consumers, such as you and I, don't have an opportunity to buy the rice.
It "looks like" this is no different than any other store having a great sale price and then saying "LIMIT 2".........

Have I missed something? Are there pieces of information I don't have? Or is the media scaring people again??
Laura

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06:06 PM, Wednesday, May 7, 2008 .. Posted by oldfashionedgirl
we live in trying times don't we! I don't think that it's crazy to have guns. One of our good friends said that if someone comes to their house in a famine, they will say... "which member of my family do you want to die?" Makes you think of things in a whole new light! We have lots, and lots of storage, but I still wish we had more! I just pray that in times of famine, that we will we blessed with buckets like the oil and meal of the widow that fed Elijah!! Good luck with everything! You are doing great!!

Alex

Edited by oldfashionedgirl on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 07:10 PM

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08:05 AM, Thursday, May 8, 2008 .. Posted by a1health
Goodness Gracious! How wonderful that you are prepared! Blessings for your work!
~Farrah

Lacto-fermentation

03:16 PM, Friday, May 9, 2008 .. Posted by dhcfarm
Hi!

Whenever "Nourishing Traditions" talks about Lacto-fermentation, think of sauerkraut. The food ferments but it doesn't have an alcohol content. Yogurt, kefir, soy sauce, etc., are also lacto-fermented, I also believe that sour dough is also fermented. Basically they are talking about "souring", not turning into alcohol. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions!

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09:42 PM, Wednesday, May 21, 2008 .. Posted by KimMC
What type of bread recipe are you looking for? By hand, mixer or bread machine?

Just remember that every step toward preparing means a LOT. When you think of what you don't have just try to use it as a focus list but be reassured by what you HAVE been able to do so far.
Much Blessings,
Kim

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08:14 PM, Wednesday, May 28, 2008 .. Posted by findingcontentment
You are certianly preparing your family for the coming hard times. Good job!

I can get big bags rice, beans, sugar, flour, etc. The problem is that I have no idea how to store them. Especially things like sugar that attract ants. Did you buy those 6 gallon buckets? Any ideas for storage?

Barb J.

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10:00 AM, Wednesday, June 4, 2008 .. Posted by Anonymous
It's great to be stocking up. I have been doing the same thing, but have little room. I'm pleased with what I have, though. I would love if our Costco carried wheat! They only carry white rice and pinto beans. I get my wheat through our food co-op.

As for arming yourselves, it's only logical. It's your right as an American, and soon it will be much harder to do. Now is the time! I am in process to get my CCW, and when the stimulus package came, we purchased another firearm with it. It's a good thing to have.

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