Original Poster here. Wow! I can't believe how much response this thread is getting. I've been reading posts every day trying to catch up. Of course all your responses have generated dozens of more questions, each one worthy of hours of discussion. So here are some summaries of my responses for what y'all have written:
Books: I just picked up Animal, Vegetable, Miracle a couple of days ago at the recommendations of so many of you. So far, I love it. I've been preaching a lot about local food and nonsustainable communities to friends and familes. As I was writing the original post, I was finishing a book refered to in A,V,M. It's called Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally; by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon. As I read it, I found myself agreeing with, yet disliking, the authors more and more. It's another good inspiration tale if you can find it. (They also have a website: 100milediet.org) Another book I can recommend is Better Off by Eric Brende, which is the tale of a MIT grad and his family, who decided to live with an extremely conservative community of people he calls the Minimites (He keeps their identities and location annonymous).
Chickens: Since the first few responses to the post, I've been giving my chickens a lot of what was previously thrown on the compost pile. They love the zucchini, watermelon, green bean, cucumber, and radish scraps! They are about a month or two from full maturity, so I assume they are still eating a little more than they eventually will. I haven't been able to tell if the table and garden scraps reduce the ammount of feed they eat, but I can't imagine it not making a difference.
Self-Sufficiency: We live on 0.84 acres which is mostly wooded and sloped. We're not allowed to grow veggies in the front yard, so I have very limited space for a garden. My "garden" is actually several tiny areas wherever I get some sun. I'll post some pics eventually. I'm finding it takes a few years until you get it right; this is the first year I got radishes to bulb out; I'm getting tons of green beans after 2 failed years; tomatoes will come soon; I get a small handful of pea pods every day. And I'm trying to learn seed-saving- a must for self-sufficient gardens. I have a 2 year old compost pile which will be good for next year's garden. My three hens will start laying soon. This spring I made maple syrup for the cost of a large roasting pan- I boiled it all outside on a wood fire. We also get about half of our winter heating (a lot in MN) with a woodstove. I'm going to spend this summer and fall learning a few ways to preserve food, and next year I'll reacquaint myself with fishing, filleting, and frying! I also want to learn how to cook small game and tan their hides (Anyone like squirrel? Come get some of ours!) One last project I've been trying to work on the last several years is making an ice store. I know it isn't feasible in a lot of places but it is here. I think my record is ice at the end of April.
Society, Etc.: Don't get me started
I agree it takes cooperation, especially for things like flour and salt. It is troubling to think about what the millions of city-dwellers would do if it all hit the fan. I could see a war between the country folk who have all the resources and the urbanites who have all the people. Let's hope it never happens, but anything we can do to help ourselves, our families, and those around us will delay such disasters and lessen their effects by lightening the load on the centralized providers.
Questions:
I've read that dog poop contains harmful viruses and shouldn't be used in compost. Why is chicken manure ok? Isn't there salmonella present?
Someone mentioned canning lids and this has always bothered me about canning. What did people do before commercially made lids? The only thing I can think of is a cork seal or something.
Does anyone know where I can find info about keeping ice into the summer? I can only find brief descriptions about how it was done. I find no formulas on ice melting, no explanations on insulation properties of natural materials, and no in-depth instructions or reports of modern attempts.
Thanks for all your responses! Let's keep discussing!!