Yeah, I realized that just after I had posted. I'd venture that many heirloom seeds are already more expensive than gold by weight. Fortunately, we live in one of the epicenters for small, organic farms, so proper seeds sources are fairly easy to come by around here.
How long would your household food supply last?
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Yeah, I realized that just after I had posted. I'd venture that many heirloom seeds are already more expensive than gold by weight. Fortunately, we live in one of the epicenters for small, organic farms, so proper seeds sources are fairly easy to come by around here.
And, of course, even at gold+ prices, you only need to buy them once. My heirloom tomatoes are into the fourth generation. I can get all of next year's seed supply by scraping the cutting board after making salad.
You know about this cool thing?
Well, I don't think my attitude towards obesity comes across sounding terribly sympathetic. Probably my worst irrational prejudice.
While ultimately being victims of corporate capitalism and an ubiquitous propaganda machine, there are matters where individual responsibility cannot be ignored. And when people make no effort to remove themselves from the abomination of industrialized animal agriculture, inflict their shitty consumer and eating habits--along with the litany of accompanying ailments and diseases--upon their children, and confuse embracement for acceptance (alcoholics shouldn't be shamed or feel ashamed, but they're also encouraged to acknowledge that alcoholism is indeed problematic), it's really difficult for me to be sympathetic.
Of course, I'm also just overly defensive about being of a rapidly disappearing minority. While "fat shaming" has largely morphed into the more inclusive "body shaming," skinny people still get the short end of the stick in so many ways. For some reason, it stilll seems acceptable to draw an inordinate amount of attention to the fact. Only the priciest of clothing manufacturers produce the right sizes, and vintage stock (when they still made the small-and-tall sizes) is fast vanishing. And people make a lot of weird assumptions.
For the most part, we've tried to avoid hybrid seeds altogether. They just make me... angry. Only one sort of entity is benefitting from that, and apart from making money, their only other concern is for ridding the world of the self-sufficient and self-sustaining.
No, I didn't. Thank you for this. (Now I'm wondering about the likelihood of being able to book a show on that remote island in the Svalbard archipelago--or a neighboring island, if it's otherwise uninhabited.)
Americans fight for ther right to eat an feed ther kids crap an ther winnin the battle… so at least they got that goin for ‘em
A couple of years ago we had breakfast at a restaurant... i ordered decaf... an after about half a cup i asked the waitress if it was decaf an she no it isnt... so sorry an brout me some decaf... the eggs an orange juice was ok but the tiny dish of grits were cool an skinned-over on top... an i had ordered dry toast but they slathered on the "butter" anyway.!!!
When we are gonna be on the road for a while we take home-made frozen nut-butter bars that also has all-bran-cereal an raisins in it... an if we buy anythang on the way its a small pack of french fries an some decaf coffee.!!!
Oh, that reminds of my first trip to the US! Camping and trying to cook staples like cornmeal over little wet fires. Rain followed us the whole way to Florida and back; the customs official nearly fainted when she opened the trunk: every single thing we owned had been packed wet.
But the home-made granola bars held up pretty well.
(In a restaurant I just order cherry cheesecake and a beer - that's a covers all the food groups, no?)
The survival of one wet meal might make for a fun story to tell... but that whole round trip sounds purely miserable...
Been a while sinse i studied food groups... but lets see... you got you'r fruit... dairy... cake an beer... yep... all covered
Try it with two kids in a freshly-amalgamated family, on their long-promised spring break vacation, who don't like cornmeal or camping, in a diesel station wagon with gasket issues. Our best night was in Tennessee - had to stay overnight waiting for that new gasket. The motel had a pool where we could park the kids while we had a glass of wine in the restaurant. Okay, so it was a house red with some chrytalline sediment in the bottom of the glass. The hostess said, "I surely don know, Honey; never seen that before." What the hay - we drank it and tipped her.
I have a supermarket within easy walk so I actually have very little food in the house. Probably enough to live on for a few days only, and even then it wouldn't be too enticing. I usually stop at the store on the way home from work every other day and pick up fresh stuff.
Wine, on the other hand... if man could live on wine alone (and I have tried!) then I could go for a loooong time!
(emphasis mine)
I clarified this bit in a subsequent post--the sources citing (well, not citing really--I don't know where they're getting it from) the "3 days" figure are addressing the matter of food security as an aspect of emergency preparedness. So basic sustenance is the only concern here.
When I live/lived in cities, I just had sufficient produce for a few days. But non-perishables? No one buys a half a cup of rice, or legumes, or pasta, and so forth. Even when I lived within a couple of minutes of various markets, I always a variety of rice, legumes, pastas, etc. that would easily exceed ten pounds (dried) combined.
I've never really considered myself a picky eater, and my only dietary restrictions are entirely self-imposed--no animal products, anything else is (within reason, obviously) acceptable. But I suppose it really comes down to how one defines "picky." Considering coffee alone: Well, I used to roast coffee, so I'm kinda particular about the beans. And the roast. And the method of preparation. And the proper attention and diligence applied in the preparation. And that's just coffee. So... maybe I am a picky eater?
The other day, I scrolled through a few hundred images of apple pies, via a google image search. I had just made one, and the subject of proper lattice work came up. Out of several hundred apple pies, only one had, what I consider, proper lattice work. With most, the slats were either too wide, or there was too much or too little space between. On a couple of the pies, they weren't even latticed: a few parallel strips were laid down, and then a few more perpendicular and entirely atop the others--wtf?!
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After the apocalypse, I'm not even going to bother with the pie. I'm going to just make a crumble.
I guess you're not merely a picky eater, but a super-picky food critic.
You are never invited to my house for apple pie.
My chili and my moussaka are pretty good, the other guy makes decent enough curry; the kale and chard coming in from the hydroponic pool has freshness going for it, but generally the food around here is mediocre both in preparation and presentation.
But at least it could last a long time.
I suspect a lot of city people - particularly those with full-time jobs - don't buy staples in the format you describe. They won't get the 10lb sack of dry kidney beans, but a couple of cans - one meal each. They won't buy the large, or even medium bag of Basmati rice, but the little box of 'instant', or worse, the single-serving pouches. Storage space is a consideration, but the biggest decider is how much time they have for cooking.
I'm even more particular about how a crumble ought to look.
I don't think I want to be your room-mate after the apocalypse.
After the apocalypse, we won't have roommates. Hell, most of us won't have rooms! How much food can you stow in a pup-tent. Make sure you stock up on matches until you learn to identify flint-stone.
PS - I want to watch the Great Canadian Baking Show where Parmalee is a judge.
A couple of decades ago, a friend of mine introduced me to the principles governing Thai cooking. He had lived with a Thai family for a couple of years, and they were strong advocates for the street varieties (versus the royal). Western cuisines--well, really, European--seem to really diminish the import of aesthetics when it comes to peasant fare. In some respects, that is emblematic of everything that is wrong with the proletariat in western cultures--particularly, the vanishing lumpen proles. It's turning a sisyphean task into an utterly futile and pointless one.
Parboiled rice and... euggghhh... prepared rice in pouches. What actually is being "saved?" Time? Not really. Expense? Certainly not. It's a total loss, and possibly the biggest swindle in the history of the world.
That honour is shared by coffee pods and "lunchables"
What I'm really getting at regarding preparation and presentation is mindfulness. I suppose I could have said that in the first place, but I didn't. I really don't care for fancy food, I just care that it looks and tastes like someone cared.
When I lived in southern Mexico, I would occasionally eat in the market stalls. Mexico isn't especially easy for vegetarians--especially the non-touristy areas--but people make an effort to accommodate. One elderly woman would make me enchiladas with plantain, onion, and cilantro--simple and straightforward, but they were incredible.
I don't really know how to articulate the qualities that make for "looking like someone cared," and I suppose it's entirely possible that I could be fooled (doubtful though), but there is... something. Can I really tell if the bagel has been blessed by a rabbi? I dunno, but I think I can tell whether the rabbi was invested, or was just phoning it in. Also, in spite of our disparate beliefs (though most rabbis are, in fact, atheists), we share a mutual appreciation for the Book of Job, which is pretty much where this inarticulable, or ineffable, notion is coming from in the first place.