A few days ago I watched Sean Penn’s 2007 movie about Chris McCandless, Into The Wild. A true story that I was already familiar with, the film is about an idealistic 24-year-old college graduate from a wealthy family who gave away his life savings and hiked alone into the Alaskan wilderness, where he starved to death after about 112 days. The film gave a shocking look at the deterioration of the human body and mind as the actor apparently lost weight, taking in his belt by cutting new notches several times. Eventually he was totally emaciated and mentally disoriented.
Other symptoms of starvation are anemia, decreased ability to digest food, swelling under the skin, and shrinking vital organs such as the heart and lungs as they lose their ability to function. Mentally it causes irritability and an inability to concentrate. It takes only two to three months of severe malnutrition to die of starvation.
I’m writing about starvation because I’ve been shocked by the specter of high food prices and lack of availability of certain staples. In Asia people have been rioting because they can’t buy rice. Here in America some large stores are restricting the amount of rice people can buy. In Mexico people rioted because they couldn’t afford the new high price of corn tortillas. And in Africa, the wheat crop is ruined by Ug99, the fungus that threatens to destroy wheat crops around the world. I wrote about that a few days ago in Ug99, the Destruction of Wheat Crops, and Prices In Our Local Supermarkets.
So, out of concern for my fellow human beings I am asking you to consider the issue of food storage. I believe most Americans are so accustomed to having our needs provided for, we’re not prepared for the fact that everything could change overnight. If gasoline becomes unavailable, which could happen, trucking companies will not be able to supply supermarkets and our food supplies will be cut off. My significant other, who is pretty good at analyzing news and predicting the future based on what he reads, believes this could happen very quickly if war is declared against Iran.
There’s a way to prepare your family. Food storage. This means buying as much food as you can afford to, and keeping your cabinets fully stocked at all times. Of course when you prepare meals you should use the oldest foods first, and rotate the supplies you store. Food, even canned food, loses some of it’s nutritive value after a while.
I’d like to explore this idea further and will prepare some lists of things that should be stored for an emergency. I don’t want to sound paranoid or fatalistic, but I truly believe this American nation is going through hard times and that things are likely to get worse before they get better. I don’t want to see people starving. I hope with passion that my words will touch someone’s heart so that they’ll get a good supply of food stored and save themselves and their babies from hunger.
Only a few years ago, back in 1999, a fungus was discovered in Africa. This fungus, unfortunately, destroys wheat. This year 70% of the African wheat crop has been lost to Ug99 (also known as Puccinia graminis.) The effects are frightening. According to the Food and Agriculture Office of the United Nations, about 1/4 of the world’s wheat crop is affected by Ug99 this year.
Wheat isn’t the only crop in crisis. During the past year hungry people around the world have been rioting, concerned about the cost of food. In Asia the price of rice has doubled in the last two months and here in the USA, stores are preventing foreigners from buying extra large quantities of rice to send to relatives overseas.
We’re in trouble, folks. Time to think ahead. I’m serious.
A few days ago I went into my local supermarket to buy parmesan cheese, something I’ve purchased regularly for years. Suddenly the price is up from $3.50 to over $6. I took a long look at the shelf and sighed, and decided to price it at the larger markets outside our tiny remote town. For now, I’ll do without. I suspect the cost of gas will be driving up all food prices before long.
The pizza restaurant I work in is small and cozy - a comforting fixture in a town remotely located in a valley in the mountains in the center of a large forest. There, we rely on wheat to make the pizza dough, and the parmesan cheese is an essential condiment. People here would not like losing their pizza parlor, because there are few alternative restaurants locally. But I foresee that the owner may have to raise prices, perhaps drastically. He drives out of town once or twice weekly to get supplies like huge bags of white flour, parmesan cheese, and everything else we need. His gas cost has doubled in the last couple years. The price of gas locally is now $4.22. It didn’t seem quite so bad before it hit that $4.00 mark, but now I look at the pump and cringe. People expect to see gas priced at over $5.00 here this summer.
Ug99 and the wheat crop crisis comes on the heels of a corn crisis and a rice crisis. For all these formerly-abundant items we consider “staples” and “necessities”, the price is going up.
Prepare now for the future, for your families.
On a similar note, do you realize how dependent we are on the trucking industry for the diversity of foods offered in our stores? My significant other is an ex-trucker, so we think about this often. He expects the flow of food availability to halt sometime within the coming years. It is up to each of us to help our families by preparing with food storage. Another way we should prepare is to develop our gardening capabilities. Raise as much of the food you use yourself and you won’t be devastated when your favorite items disappear from the supermarket shelves, or get priced beyond your ability to pay.
A few years ago I fasted for ten days using the lemonade diet - a wonderful cleansing ritual that is amazingly healthy. The essential ingredients are lemons and maple syrup (the real stuff, not imitation). How was I to know that the next year lemons would be priced so high I’d cringe at the thought of buying them. I still want so much to do another lemonade cleansing diet, but every time I see that locally lemons cost 79 cents each, I realize it just isn’t a possibility for me right now.
Ug99 isn’t in the USA yet; that doesn’t mean it won’t be. We live in a global civilization and we need to be aware that what affects one person affects us all. Scientists are saying the fungus could spread as spores on the wind to reach other locations throughout the world including the United States.
I’ve been having pain in my left thumb for a few years. I thought it was from an injury, but since I started working at the pizza place it spread to my right thumb and right ankle. I went to the doctor and found out it is arthritis. Some days at work, the pain was acute. Of course the doctor’s office didn’t offer anything but motrin to cover up the pain.
I’ve been doing some research, and discovered that wheat contributes to the problem, so I’ve been working on cutting wheat out of my diet, for the most part. And since I’ve been avoiding wheat, the arthritis pain has 90% disappeared. That’s the good news.
Because of my switch from using wheat, I’ve been experimenting with making things from rice flour, using no yeast. I made some great tortillas. Flour tortillas are easy to make - they are simply flour, salt, oil, and water. Here’s my recipe:
Flour Tortillas
A couple cups of flour, more or less.
Mix the flour with about a teaspoon of salt, more or less.
Into the flour/salt mixture, pour some olive oil. I probably use about 1 tablespoon or 2. Sorry I don’t have exact amounts, but this is how I cook.
Stir that up, as well as possible, then add warm water until you have a nice paste that sticks together a bit.
Take the flour mixture out of the bowl and knead it on a flour-covered board. I just use the drain board next to my kitchen sink.
Nice floury mess. I like that.
Then put it back into the bowl. You can let it sit for an hour or so, then knead again.
This time make little balls out of the flour. The balls should be about two or three inches across. Let them sit a while, then get ready to roll them out.
Heat up a large skillet or other flat surface. I use a flat griddle sort of thing. Prepare it with cooking oil to coat the surface.
Now the rolling pin thing is a matter of choice. I used to use a regular rolling pin, but the Mexican cook who taught me to make tortillas used a simple round piece of wood about the thickness of the bar you put your clothing on in the bedroom closet. Recently I saw such a piece of wood in a hardware store, bought it, and asked my boyfriend to cut a 12″ length for me. This is perfect for rolling out tortillas. I just push it back and forth rather than using handles.
Anyhow, roll out the tortillas. They have to be super thin. You may have to experiment with this for a time until you find the thickness that works best, according to your tastes. And as soon as that puppy is rolled out, toss it onto the hot griddle.
As that tortilla browns, start rolling out another one. Turn the tortilla over once to do the other side. If there are air pockets rising while it cooks, you know you did the right thing. Those are the best.
When cooked, the tortillas can rest in a warm bed made from a bathroom towel. Yes, cover them completely to keep them warm for dinner.
Filling: The fillings I’ve been making lately have started with cooked lentils. I love lentils. This week I combined the lentils with rice and dried green peas. I put them in olive oil, smash them together with a fork, and simply warm them. I cooked the lentils with garlic and onion and salt, but at this point I like to add more garlic powder. I love that garlic taste.
Toppings for the tortillas - use whatever you have that you like:
Diced fresh tomatoes
Chopped onions
Grated cheese
Sprouts or lettuce
Sautéed mushrooms
Note: On days I don’t feel like making my own flour tortillas, I use corn tortillas instead.
It is product day here at Country Kitchen Pantry, and today I’m going to tell you what I’ve been eating for breakfast every day lately.
Clif Bars are perfect for taking on a long hike, and eating in the woods. Alternatively, they’re great for a quick, nutritious breakfast when you’re in a hurry to blog then get ready for work. They are clean and neat to eat right at the computer keyboard. No crumbs! And they taste wonderful. At least I like them, especially my current favorite flavor, “Peanut Toffee Buzz”.
The buzz comes from a bit of green tea content. Not a lot, but it is a bit of a pick-me-up which I appreciate due to the fact I quit drinking coffee over a year ago. Green tea is much better for us than coffee. We all know that!
Here are the ingredients for the Clif Bar I ate this morning:
There’s a warning for allergic people: Contains soy and peanuts. May contain traces of dairy and tree nuts. We source ingredients which do not contain wheat, dairy, and are not genetically engineered.
As you can see, Clif Bars use lots of organic ingredients. The label says, “70% Organic Ingredients”. I think that’s pretty good. Sure tastes good, anyhow.
There’s also a cute story on the label about how the founder of Clif Bars had an epiphany in 1990 when he was eating an energy bar, and realized he could make better energy bars at home. He experimented for two years in his mother’s kitchen. His business is an incredible success because his products are outstandingly good. If you haven’t tried a Clif Bar yet, maybe you will now that you’ve read about how much I’m enjoying them.
[Note: I’m not being paid for my recommendation. I don’t do pay-per-post blogging.]
Eczema hit me during my first pregnancy. I went from having wonderful, clear skin to having dry scaly itchy patches all over my arms and legs. My obstetrician told me, “Pregnancy brings on all sorts of unexpected changes.” Fortunately this dreadful skin condition went away and didn’t return again until my next pregnancy, six years later. After that, it never quite went away completely until recently.
I believe my recovery is mainly due to taking high quality multi-vitamins and a hair and skin supplement. This is a great start toward better skin health, but in the meantime an essential oil blend may help ease the discomfort of itchy, dry skin.
To make an essential oil blend for eczema skin care start with a nourishing carrier oil such as:
Avocado Oil
Evening Primrose Oil
Hazelnut Oil
Jojoba Oil
Wheatgerm Oil
If these aren’t available, you could try Almond Oil, or even Olive Oil.
The carrier oil should be 97% of the solution, at least.
Add a few drops of one of the oils listed below. You may have to experiment to see what works well for you.
Balsam Oil
*Bergamot Oil
Cade Oil
Carrot Seed Oil
Cedarwood Oil
*Chamomile Oil (German Chamomile or Roman Chamomile)
[Note: There are creams that doctors can prescribe to alleviate eczema symptoms. Nothing in this article is meant to discourage treatment by a qualified medical doctor. I am not a doctor - I’m a self-trained herbal practitioner.]
Hi, my name is Linda. This is my personal home and hearth journal.
I am a self-trained herbal practitioner. I became a vegetarian when I was a teenager in the 1960s. I was a San Francisco Bay Area hippie in the 60s and early 70s. Then I became a mom - the most important job I've ever had.
Now I live in a very small mountain community. The nearest fast food restaurant is more than forty miles during summer, and more than seventy miles in winter when the pass is snowed under. I've never owned a cell phone, but I talked on one once.
I've started using FriendFeed to keep in touch with people. It is a wonderful site where you can combine all your feeds and connect with friends. You're invited to join me there. For more information - see How To Use FriendFeed.
