Sunday, July 6, 2014

The Economy is Not Improving

     This gentleman, with whom I am not familiar, expresses many of my concerns.








6 comments:

Sunnybrook Farm said...

The thing that he didn't touch on is how dependent our food supply is becoming on the government. Farmers don't plow and raise their own seed anymore. They use petroleum based weed killer and insecticide along with GMO seeds. All of this is pretty much a government allowed monopoly and should that monopoly fail for any number of reasons, the supply of food will become drastically different. They are burning the land out for ethanol production that takes nearly as much fuel to produce as what you end up with. The government is running the food supply like it does everything else.

lotta joy said...

When is the time to get scared? When your hero gets scared. On the day that canned chicken went for "buy one get one", we went immediately to stock up. Someone else got there before us. I don't think that complete shelf got emptied by people buying two cans at a time.

JaneofVirginia said...

Yes, that's an important point. I wasn't truly scared until we tried this year to grow as much food for our family as possible. This is a difficult place in which to grow sufficient food or eat a balanced diet. I can see that if we were truly dependent upon growing it ourselves that the life expectancy of my neighbors and myself would decline sharply. (From simply a food standpoint, not considering a medical issue one.)

JaneofVirginia said...

LJ,

There are cans of chicken in packages of I believe, 8, at Sam's Club for ten dollars or thereabouts. They also have tuna sized cans of salmon. These are a good value and it's worth either borrowing a card to go, or going shopping with a friend who has one.
In my neck of the woods the good food buys are still there because the families simply can't afford to buy ahead. I think rather than being scared, we should be attentive and move forward. I no longer have the energy to be scared.

Linda said...

Jane,
I think that growing potatoes is easy anywhere. I know a diet of potatoes is not good for anyone, much less diabetics. BUT, eating them to excess and full of fattening ingredients is mostly the problem with potatoes. They are very nutritious. And, they can be grown in bucket to save plowing and digging. Fruit trees, greens, and what grows well and can be stored seems the way to eating healthfully in times of less abundance. Between stocking up and eating wild things that can actually be planted for our use I am not and should be, but even growing wild dandelions can be a source of early greens.

I know I might some day have to go without bananas and Washington state grown Delicious apples. But, I have started making a list of foods and their nutrients. Actually, I get them from the internet. I probably cannot get oranges, but I can get Vitamin C elsewhere. My problem would be not getting familiar foods. But, I can adjust and dream of bananas. I can eat local apples if available.

I cannot stand okra, but I know the leaves are edible. I hate turnips, but love the greens. Plus, the little finger sized turnips were devoured raw by exbf on his salad.

As for the canned salmon, the small can is just right for me and could be shared by another person if refrigeration ever became a problem. Of course, I have no problem eating the whole can by myself. I get coupons for canned chicken that makes the price 1/2 off, the best bargain I can find on canned chicken.

JaneofVirginia said...

Linda,
Thanks for the post. Yes, we are growing potatoes this year. The potatoes have not done spectacularly, but we do have them. I do grow dwarf lemon and orange trees for Vitamin C, and those are doing well. My problem is that with such a large family, we need large amounts of food. I might be able to grow enough for two of us.