How many of you really think it is possible??

[Wifezilla]

I know that we can only afford enough food for a week at a time. You must be pretty well off to have 2 years worth of food lying around!!!!

Actually we are not well off. It doesn't take a lot of money to build up a food stash and you don't have to do it all at one time. I was able to build up my stash in less than a year. Every time I went to the store no matter what I was getting I got 1 thing for my stash. If I only had a little change in the bottom of my purse I got a bag of dry split peas (88 cents) or a single can of tuna (60 cents). If I had more money available I would buy a bottle of olive oil ($6), or a couple cans of chicken ($2.98 each).

These items are locked in a chest so they don't disappear on me because of foraging activities by my youngest son and husband

I also grew a garden this year and I have fruit trees. I have several pounds of grapes in the freezer, apple sauce and pear butter I canned and a good supply of dried tomatoes.

When our local stores had ridiculous sale prices on turkeys, I bought one every time I went to the store. I ended up with 12 for the freezer and even one to donate. I paid between $5 and $7 each for the turkeys.

We aren't living on steak here. Lots of hamburger based meals and I use our duck and quail eggs a lot. Making quiche today in fact.

You don't have to spend a lot of money to store food for an emergency. It can be done gradually and a few cents at a time even on a very tight budget.​

 

[FourPawz]

When our local stores had ridiculous sale prices on turkeys, I bought one every time I went to the store. I ended up with 12 for the freezer and even one to donate. I paid between $5 and $7 each for the turkeys.

WZ, do you have a back-up generator to protect your frozen food? We're out a bit in the sticks and the big thing I worry about is an ice storm that knocks out power for any extended period. I keep the pantry stocked more with canned meat/tuna (and even some Spam for DIRE emergencies - yuck!) especially in winter because our roads get nailed and it takes time to get them cleared of snow and ice. We've thought about a generator, but they're horribly expensive and then there's the problem of storing gasoline to run the things.

As for the possibility of civil unrest, I think most of us in rural settings won't see anything besides whatever is carried on the nightly news. I'm old enough to remember the riots back in the '60's in some of the major cities, though, so I really hope the people in cities don't have to go through a protracted period of strife. That said, should the economic safety nets fail, all bets are going to be off especially in the big cities. Hunger makes a person cranky and the predators in our midst are not going to be satisfied with empty bellies.​

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

Quote:
You need to save it for when they reenact Prohibition.

They'll never do that again. The people that would do something like that are mostly drunkards. Not Doomsayer. Soothsayer may be more accurate though.

Dang...I drank all the emergency rum

Must go to the still in the basement and start brewing..... heck with Prohibition!

No Soothsayer for you Dun...I agree with Doomsayer

Our world has changed dramatically in the past 30 years, both for the better and for the worst. I for one am doing much better now then I would have ever dreamed of 30 years ago.

Sure there will be civil unrest and rebellion in certain parts of our country....there has been for years....and there will be for years to come....remember the 60s?

As for the end of the world....well, I am a scientist...and sure that will also happen..eventually, but I really do not think myself nor my grand kids or their kids or theirs...you get the point....will have to worry about that!

 

[nivtup]

In my opinion, civil unrest is possible.

I think there is like a 10 day buffer that keeps us going.

Look at what happened in NO after Katrina, in a matter of days things things came pretty much unhinged.

Assume that a disaster on a national or global scale occurs, and be prepared to take cover.

Assume everything continues on without major issues, and we will experience death by a thousand cuts.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Each time we have another anomalous weather event we stretch the resources.

Each time we have a down turn and no one is held accountable for the open fraud, we weaken the social bonds. My student s point out ot me frequently that they see the good get shafted and the bad get rewarded. The more you erode the social bonds the less likely people are to obey the rules.

Every day people hurl themselves at high velocity at paces that are currently filled by other cars. They speed on in the belief that the other car will be gone by the time they get there.

They aim straight at other cars in the belief that the other car will stay on its side of the road. It is only our agreed upon belief in the meaning of PAINT on the ground that keeps that working.

The tension lies between the fragility of the social binds and the inert nature of american behavior.

What worries me is our inability to agree upon any one enemy or any one issue. While that works well in the intent of keeping the people from bonding enough to revolt, it also sows the seeds of discord. If you are working on social control this is a serious tightrope to walk.

 

[jasonm11]

Quote:
WZ, do you have a back-up generator to protect your frozen food? We're out a bit in the sticks and the big thing I worry about is an ice storm that knocks out power for any extended period. I keep the pantry stocked more with canned meat/tuna (and even some Spam for DIRE emergencies - yuck!) especially in winter because our roads get nailed and it takes time to get them cleared of snow and ice. We've thought about a generator, but they're horribly expensive and then there's the problem of storing gasoline to run the things.

As for the possibility of civil unrest, I think most of us in rural settings won't see anything besides whatever is carried on the nightly news. I'm old enough to remember the riots back in the '60's in some of the major cities, though, so I really hope the people in cities don't have to go through a protracted period of strife. That said, should the economic safety nets fail, all bets are going to be off especially in the big cities. Hunger makes a person cranky and the predators in our midst are not going to be satisfied with empty bellies.

BUY A USED YANMAR DIESEL GENERATOR (5-7K WATT) USED AND CONVERT TO BIODIESEL TOTAL INVESTMENT LESS THAT $1000

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

I have WHAT in my yard? :

Each time we have another anomalous weather event we stretch the resources.

Each time we have a down turn and no one is held accountable for the open fraud, we weaken the social bonds. My student s point out ot me frequently that they see the good get shafted and the bad get rewarded. The more you erode the social bonds the less likely people are to obey the rules.

Every day people hurl themselves at high velocity at paces that are currently filled by other cars. They speed on in the belief that the other car will be gone by the time they get there.

They aim straight at other cars in the belief that the other car will stay on its side of the road. It is only our agreed upon belief in the meaning of PAINT on the ground that keeps that working.

The tension lies between the fragility of the social binds and the inert nature of american behavior.

What worries me is our inability to agree upon any one enemy or any one issue. While that works well in the intent of keeping the people from bonding enough to revolt, it also sows the seeds of discord. If you are working on social control this is a serious tightrope to walk.

OOh my head hurts...you can definitely tell you are a Sociologist! LOL

I think we have walked that tight rope since the beginning of life....just with different conditions.

I would expound, but that would turn in to a theses, and I would not what to be graded on my sociology skills!!

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

I patently refuse to do anything that looks even vaguely like grading here!!! This is where I go to relax!!!!!! And be myself.





(So, a big part of me is a geek

mostly people here are OK with that.)

So expound.... I am genuinely curious. We have walked and always will walk the tightrope, but the times when it frays fascinate and scare me. The tnesions are clearer now than they have been in a very long time. I too remember the riots of the 60s and 70s, but the group (subgroup) that was disenfranchised was a particular group. Today it is more wide spread and diverse.

 

[Wifezilla]

WZ, do you have a back-up generator to protect your frozen food?

Not yet but it is on the list. One thing we do in the mean time is have several 1 gallon containers of water in the freezer too. That way we have emergency water if we need it, ice for the cooler if we need it, and about a week cushion if we lose electric. If power is off longer than that, then someone is going to be making lots of turkey jerky!

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

We do what wifezilla does AND we have a generator. My concern is if fuel becomes hard to get for even a short term we have to have alternate methods.....