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"The truth
is...no one really knows for sure. Prepare for the worst, hope
for the best, and weigh the risk of preparation with the risk
of non-preparation? "
---George Grindley (State
Rep. District 35 Marietta, Georgia)
"It's better to have a plan for an
emergency that doesn't come than to have an emergency and no
plan." -- Red Cross
You are NOT
going to live on a steady diet of freeze-dried beef stroganoff.
That is not living, that is just surviving (though we can't disagree
with at least surviving), even if you got a great deal
on a thousand packets. Buy your usual sort of food, as long as
it has a long shelf life and can be stored without electricity,
just in case. Think about recent emergencies like Hurricane Floyd.
Through the grapevine we heard that some Ulster County residents
reported waiting for three hours for dry ice from Central Hudson,
only to be told that there wasn't any more. Think of the ice
storms in NY State that have left people isolated for weeks.
Think about what would happen if Y2k happened at the same time
as a major ice storm, or a major California earthquake. There
are some things that even being perfectly compliant can't account
for or control.
How much to lay in? You will have to be the one who determines
that. We have some information that will help you decide that
once you decide how long you feel it is prudent to prepare for.
You're the one who'll have to sit down here and do all the research
for solutions appropriate for your own situation, because if
you estimate wrong the consequences could be real severe. You
could, of course, make your decisions based on your Y2k information
that comes as public relations hand-outs written by company lawyers,
or the dismissive media comments that go for good sound bites
. How much of a gambler are you? Consider this -- if your assumptions
are wrong about Y2k and nothing much happens, you'll still have
plenty of peanut butter , rice and beans to eat with that crow.
But if you are wrong, and unprepared...?
Your neighbors didn't believe, thought Y2k was just media hype,
and now they are knocking at your door? The food pantries at
the churches are bare (they tend to get wiped out real fast these
days), you can't send them there? What about the more vulnerable
people in your community, the elderly, the exhausted young single
mothers, those who have special needs? Who looks after
them in a crisis? Don't mutter that the Red Cross will, the Red
Cross will be spread pretty thin if there is a simultaneous crisis,
and it will be up to us to make sure everyone in our neighborhoods
is okay. We are only as strong as our weakest links. Buy a few
extra sacks of beans and rice for your neighbors. Store them
away safely. In a crisis that food may be badly needed, if it
is not needed perhaps your local soup kitchen can use the food
later.
Remember to watch out for appetite fatigue. You can survive on
the same sacks of rice and beans, but you'll be a lot happier
if your Y2k pantry includes a well-rounded diet that includes
many of your favorite foods, especially those "comfort foods"
that make life worthwhile in the event of a Y2k disruption. Note
that this becomes very important if you have children or someone
who is ill and doesn't have much of an appetite as it is. Make
sure that you have multi-vitamins for all.
Word is that the cocoa producing countries are not well along
in their Y2k remediation efforts, so make sure that you have
some chocolate stored up for? uh, "medicinal purposes."
Go ahead, you have permission to look yourself in the eye in
the mirror and try to say that with a straight face. Chocolate
for medicinal purposes. Mountain Y2k gives you permission. And
if sparkly blue toenail polish is one of your necessities
of life, throw some in your shopping basket too, even if only
the cat will see it. Life is too short and unpredictable not
to.
One family's basic family shopping list
http://www.fortunecity.com/millennium/tinkywinky/999/shop.html
Done
in table form for comparison shopping notes. It is maximised
for some popular Ulster County supermarkets, substitute your
local stores at the column headings if need be, customize the
food lists for your own needs by downloading and inserting your
own items or just hand-write corrections. In northern Ulster
County, Walmart has the real edge, of course. You may think of
Walmart as evil incarnate, but you may decide that if you
are buying a lot of food and paying up front you need the price
differential. We'll not pass judgement in this unique situation.
Storage Life of Groceries
http://www.enter-2000.com/Tips/shlflife.html
Food
shelf-life recommendations. Print out these and the following
websites which offer similar information, so that you can have
it while shopping.
Shelf Life and Expiration date codes
http://www.a1usa.net/gary/expire.html
Table
of shelf life and some common expiration codes.
Can lid codes
http://www.waltonfeed.com/grain/faqs/vb.html
Can
lid codes, with more substantial background information
Can lid codes
http://www.waltonfeed.com/self/lid.html
Another
list, smaller than the above.
Shopping rules
http://www.justpeace.org/win.htm
Fifteen shopping
rules to save you money at grocery stores. Read this before you
begin your shopping.
Sam's Club shopping list
http://home.att.net/~ofuzzy1/shopping.htm
Don't forget
to check expiration dates on bargain food!
One Month in a Box
http://home.att.net/~ofuzzy1/monthbox.htm
"I
found a 23 inches by 21 inches by 10 inches computer box, and
all of above food fit into the box, with the lid folding flat
and would fit underneath a bed or table..." --
Robert Waldrop
Waldrop is not a trained nutritionist, but for those doing their
preparation in a minimalist fashion this is not a bad basic list.
Throw in a box of multivitamins, perhaps?
Y2k food shopping
http://www.y2kkitchen.com/
Guide
and recipes.
Insects as food
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/misc/insectsasfood.html
Not
everyone thinks of these as only a food of last resort. Insects
as food, insect recipes from Iowa State University. Learn
to stop fighting your flour moths and think of them as ambient
protein. I remember Miss Angelbeck passing around the chocolate
covered ants in ninth grade social studies class, they weren't
half bad -- though dipping anything in chocolate always helps
(you haven't forgotten to put chocolate on your list, have you?).
Cheesemaking
http://www.cheesemaking.com/
Home
of "Ricki's Thirty Minute Mozzarella and Ricotta Kit."
Workers, seize the means of production! You have nothing to lose
but your chains, and will gain some fine cheese to replace
store-bought factory fodder.
Boy Scout Dutch Oven cooking
http://www.macscouter.com/Cooking/DutchOven.html
Food storage FAQ
http://www.survival-center.com/foodfaq/ff1-toc.htm
("Frequently
Asked Questions")
Rec.Food.Preserving FAQ
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/1962/rff1.html
From
one of the newsgroups
The Solar Cooking Archive
http://solarcooking.org
Lots
of solar cooking resources, plans for simple solar ovens.
The "Quick and Easy Veggie Meals Under a $1.50"
FAQ
http://home.earthlink.net/~jonceramic/cheap.html
Not
so much recipes as ideas for seat-of-the-pants meal preparations,
aimed at those who live on take-out, we suspect. How could you
not respect the musical soul of someone who suggests as a pizza
dough, "The kind in a tube that goes "Thuck" when
you open it" ? (Note to amateur cooks: cans that go "thuck"
will not survive lack of refrigeration well, and a standard
tin can that goes "thuck" when you open it may not
help you survive either?). What is the sound of one can
"thuck"ing?
Water
You think you'll
just mosey on down to the stream and pick up a few gallons of
water every day, boil it up? One person in our local Y2k group
did that for a while a few years back. She says by the third
day of doing that in the winter, the path becomes as slick as
an otter slide. Have a little whistle in your pocket to call
for help? Maybe have some big drums instead for storage (food
grade for potable water, please)? Will your local fire department
have the generator on and let you get some from their tap? See
Mountain Y2k's Security, home and apartment
safety section for a discussion on
how much water is needed for toilets.
Food, water storage, and preparation discussion forum
http://webm926e.ntx.net/food/
Home preservation of
dried foods and grains
http://waltonfeed.com/self/upack/bugs2.html
Water storage basics
http://www.y2knapa.com/familyprep.html#water
A simple solar water
pasteurizer
http://www.accessone.com/~sbcn/spasteur.htm
Importance of water in survival situations
http://www.zoomnet.net/~grsc/bible/water.html
Prudent Food Storage
http://www.ocweb.com/y2k/PFS.htm
Information
on long term food storage. |
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