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Food crisis and economy, ways to survive it.

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The food shortage is here. Economy in turmoil.

 

The image here depicts an empty cooler bin where meat is stored at the grocery store.

The food shortage is here if you haven't noticed the price of food lately or haven't picked up a newspaper or watched it on tv. You can easily search about it or watch the videos on this site.. I am here to help ease the dilemma we are facing. It is better to be prepared then to sit back and do nothing and watch yourself, your family and friends suffer needlessly.

This isn't some kind of scare tactic like Y2K was but I am sure some of you prepared for the unforeseen. You had no idea as did many higher ups were also afraid that we may not have electricity, water, gas, and shortages of food, but this is real and the suffering has begun.

Now that our economy is in turmoil, it would be wise to grow your own food, buy in bulk if you can, you never know if you might have to barter.

The days of the American Dream are over and has been for some time. You may have to live below your means just to survive. The unemployment rate is up to 6.1% now as of 9/30/08 and it will climb higher as jobs and hours are cut. Price of food is going up as I type along with gas. Pretty much all goods and services will go up. Start preparing because it's not going to be pretty.

Video of food crisis and how we got there. 

World Food Crisis

Is a change of diet key to solving global warming & food crisis. Some facts While 100 million tons of grain are being diverted to make fuel this year, over seven times as much (760 million tons) will be used to feed animals. The world's passion for meat is a much bigger cause of global hunger than its passion for the car. To maximise food production it is best to be vegan. According to Simon Fairlie, in his magazine The Land, it would take just 3 million hectares of arable land to meet Britain's food needs, half the current total, if the population were vegan. * To produce 1 lb of meat, an average of 40 lbs of vegetation is used. * 12 lbs of wheat produce 12 loaves of bread and only 1hamburger. * It takes 3.25 acres of land to produce food for a meat eater on a continuing basis, while it takes 1/3 of an acre for someone eating a diet of plants and dairy and 1/6 of an acre for a person eating totally plant based diet (vegan). * A University of California Study shows that to produce 1 lb of meat it takes an average of 2,500 gallons of water, it takes 966 gallons of water to produce one gallon of cow's milk and on the other hand plant foods such as wheat, corn, apples etc. take 20 to 50 gallons of water to produce one pound of food. * Eating food crops first hand produces a tremendous energy savings. To produce one pound of protein derived from beef requires 20 times as much fossil fuel energy as the same one pound of protein derived from corn or wheat. Protein from beef requires 40 times more fossil fuel energy than the same amount of protein derived from soybeans. * The waste released in the atmosphere by the U.S. Meat and Dairy Industry is 230,000 pounds per second, thus polluting earth, air and water systems. * It is estimated that it takes 75,000 trees to print a Sunday edition of The New York Times for the readers. These staggering numbers are a wake up-call for us to make a difference now. Human Welfare * Twenty vegetarians can be fed on the amount of land needed to feed one person consuming a meat-based diet. * If America reduced their intake of meat by 10 percent, 60 million people can be adequately fed by grain saved. * A cow has to eat 7 lbs of grain and soy bean protein to produce 1 lb of meat protein. If the same land were to produce food for humans directly, 7 times more people could eat. * More than half of all the water used in the United States is used in live stock production that can be used where there is water shortage. When we become aware of these facts and change our lifestyle and go vegan we can increase the amount of grain available to feed people elsewhere, reduce pollution, save water and energy, cease contributing to the clearing of forests and the most important we can save thousands of sentient beings from torture and pain. Today the dairy cows have become milking machines for human beings. The cows are kept pregnant every year for a consecutive 9-10 year period by artificial insemination. As soon as the cows stop yielding milk, they are dragged to the slaughter house for beef meat. Poor calves are forcefully dragged away from their mothers, depriving them of their mother's milk that is rightfully theirs. If the calves are female they are raised as dairy cows and are exploited as their mothers and at the end face the same fate as them. If the calves are male they are fattened by hormone injections and kept in dark sheds away from sunlight in oppressed conditions, preparing them for veal meat. This ultimately ends the lives of the cows and calves prematurely and cruelly.

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Video on the food crisis. 

Inside Story - What is behind the food crisis -15 May 08 -P2

Is increased consumption really driving the prices up so dramatically?

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Americas Economy 

Ivan Canas: The US economy is in turmoil. Who to blame? An accomplice elite: Greenspan & the Bankers somebody must go to jail. Please read the 'more info' section.

Who to Blame? Robert Reich, of the University of California at Berkeley, is a former US labour secretary. Some greed is necessary to keep capitalism going. But too much greed will bring it down. Even Adam Smith, the father of economics, understood that capitalism requires some degree of trust. Yet the greed that's taken over our banking system is undermining the trust of investors, who are necessary if there's going to be any money in the banking system to invest. Here in America, the authorities are now chasing down investment bankers who recommended their giant hedge funds to investors, even when the bankers knew the funds were about to implode. Greedy bankers like them have been running a giant con-game. They figure if they can persuade investors to buy something that's actually worth nothing, it might appear to be worth something, which lets them persuade others to buy even more, because - after all - by this time lots of investors are buying it. And then when the bubble bursts and investors lose their shirts, the bankers keep their fat commissions and a percentage of the upside gains. But what they've left out of the calculation is the trust needed next time a banker claims something's a good deal. You see, trust is a precious commodity. And it's eroding fast - which is why the credit crunch continues. Now, we've been here before: the late 1920s and an anything-goes banking system filled with bankers ready to sell securities to the biggest sucker to come along next. Wealth then was as concentrated as it is today; debt piling up as high as it is today; greed as rampant as it is today. And then what happened? The bubble of all bubbles burst on 21 October 1929, ushering in the Great Depression. Franklin D Roosevelt told Americans they had nothing to fear but fear itself. But the fact was, the financial system had let them down - and they wouldn't trust it again for decades. Greedy bankers beware.

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Turmoil in World Stock Markets 

Americas Economy

Turmoil in World Stock Markets

Stocks tumbled across the globe Monday as two Wall Street institutions became the latest casualties of the worst housing crisis in decades. Lehman Brothers, once the fourth largest investment bank in the U.S. filed for bankruptcy on Monday. And Merrill Lynch, one of the largest brokerage firms in the world, was forced to sell its assets to deal with mounting losses. Some analysts say it may be the biggest shakeup in financial markets since the Great Depression. VOA's Mil Arcega reports.

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9/26/08 Pres. Debate 

9/26/08 Pres. Debate: Candidates' Opening Statements on Economy/Bailout

First question--"Where do you stand at this moment on the bailout?"

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Turmoil in US economy 

Turmoil in US economy - Lateline 25_.m4v

Turmoil in US economy - Lateline 25_.m4v

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"Don't think for a moment that USA is safe. We get most of our grain, wheat and rice from overseas!"

Graph showing bans and protest countries

What you can do now 

First off, plant a garden. Even if you have little
space or knowledge. For those who have little to no space, you can find space between flowers in your flower garden and shrubs and plant tomato plants, carrots, radishes, brussel sprouts, herbs, etc.. You can also plant indoors and there are many books on how to start the project.

You can dig up a backyard flower garden and replace it with veggies. I know what you're saying "but my flowers!" Well look at it this way, you can't eat them and you'll save a bundle at the grocery store.

If you have NEVER grown a vegetable garden, it's not that hard, trust me I have done it myself and have a decent size one right now with good results in less then perfect soil. Just weed when necessary, look for bugs and spray with soapy water "liquid hand soap and water" works best and water in the morning or evening every 2 to 3 days if it hasn't rained. Real simple isn't it?

What joy it is to know it barely cost you anything, where it came from and how it was handle. I want to keep my tips and ideas as simple as I can for those who have never tried a vegetable garden.

Where to get vegetable seeds 

From my experience I usually go to Wal-Mart or Dollar General or Family Dollar. At Wal-Mart, you can obtain a packet of seeds for as little as 77 cents. The Dollar stores are usually a dollar a packet. You can also go to any garden center in town.

We want to save money so these recommendations are the cheapest I know for now.

Vegetable gardening books 

Books on vegetable gardening to help even the less then experienced gardener. You don't have to be a farmer.

Prospering as God\'s Sharecropper: Vegetable Gardening Made Easy

Amazon Price: $14.00 (as of 10/12/2008)

Companion Planting Made Easy

Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)

More books on vegetable gardening. 

Vegetable Gardening in Florida

Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 10/12/2008)

Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades: The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening

Amazon Price: $14.93 (as of 10/12/2008)

Burpee : The Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener : A Guide to Growing Your Garden Organically

Amazon Price: $26.37 (as of 10/12/2008)

Growing Vegetables Indoors. 

It can be done even if you live in an apartment or have very little outdoor space for planting. Certain vegetables can be grown right in pots or containers. When Fall and Winter come, we want to at least grow our own veggies so we are stocked for the cooler seasons. Here is an excellent, in depth site on growing vegetables indoors. Indoor Vegetable Gardening

Books on Indoor Gardening. 

Creative Vegetable Gardening

Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 10/12/2008)

Gardens from Garbage: How to Grow Indoor Plants from Recycled Kitchen Scraps

Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)

The Indoor Kitchen Garden: Vegetable Growing in Limited Space

Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)

Gardening wizardry for kids

Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)

More Indoor Vegetable Gardening Books. 

Get Growing!: Exciting Indoor Plant Projects for Kids

Amazon Price: $15.95 (as of 10/12/2008)

Indoor Vegetable Gardening: How to Grow Fresh Foods All Year Long

Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)

The Indoor Vegetable Garden

Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)

Storing your new harvest. 

Once you have harvested your crops, and you will probably have a lot, you will want to preserve and store these vegetables for as long as you can. My first recommendation is to invest in a food dehydrator. You can cut up your veggies in slices or pieces and read the food dehydrator manual to know the proper settings and how long to dehydrate for.

Once they are dehydrated you can store them in tightly sealed plastic zip lock bags, preferably freezer bags and store them in your freezer or pantry. The longevity of dehydrating is more so then just freezing without dehydrating them first.

You can cut up fresh veggies and put them in the freezer without dehydration for a long time but be aware of freezer burn. Most vegetables can be frozen except for lettuce, cucumbers and I believe radishes. For some reason they form a mucus, slimy look. But they can be dehydrated.

Food dehydrators 

A must have for storing and keeping fresh vegetables, fruits and even meat for a very long time. Making beef jerky to add protein to your diet.

This is a much easier way to keep the longevity of food. You can also (can) but what I have read about canning is rather cumbersome, a little more expensive since there are a lot more items needed for the canning process and can be dangerous if you're not sure what you are doing.

Nesco American Harvest FD-75PR 700-Watt Food Dehydrator

Amazon Price: $67.80 (as of 10/12/2008)

Nesco American Harvest FD-1010 Gardenmaster Food Dehydrator

I have owned this dehydrator and from experience, it works well and never had any problems. Drying times are quick. Also many satisfied customers wrote in the Amazon review section.

Amazon Price: $121.67 (as of 10/12/2008)

More food dehydrator selections. 

Nesco FD-60 Snackmaster Express Food Dehydrator

Amazon Price: $66.50 (as of 10/12/2008)

Ronco FD1005WHGEN 5-Tray Electric Food Dehydrator

Amazon Price: $39.99 (as of 10/12/2008)

Sausage Maker Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator, D10

Don't let the name "Sausage Maker" sway your decision. I have no idea why the company chose that name. This is a very large food dehydrator and has nothing to do with sausage making.

Amazon Price: $322.95 (as of 10/12/2008)

Freeze dried food packages 

For those who would rather cut to the chase then plant a garden. There is a wide variety of MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) Also think in terms of disaster emergency preparedness.

You can really stock up on already dehydrated food when you're unable to plant a garden due to the season or for what ever reason you have for not planting one.

We never know when we will be hit with a disaster and be without electricity, gas or even water. These utilities are essential for preparing food and we take it for granted.

For MRE's all you need is water so prepare to store several 2 gallon milk jugs full. I served in the military and know from experience that MRE's are not all that bad tasting and some are rather tasty and you get the necessary condiments, snacks and even candy in each pouch.

Genuine G.I. MRE Entrees

Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)

Mainstay Emergency Food Rations - Case of 10 Packs

Amazon Price: $48.00 (as of 10/12/2008)

AlpineAire Foods Freeze-Dried Meals (Six Packages)

Amazon Price: $33.52 (as of 10/12/2008)

MainstayTM 2400 Food Ration (20 Pack)

Amazon Price: $110.50 (as of 10/12/2008)

More freeze dried food and emergency kits 

Whether you're preparing for a disaster, going on a trip, or just going for a drive, I can't express enough how important it is to have some form of emergency food on hand.

It breaks my heart when I read the news about families being stranded, lost or have suffered the effects of disasters. Just do the right thing and prepare so you can have peace of mind.

Mountain House 72-Hour Emergency Meal Kit

Amazon Price: $42.30 (as of 10/12/2008)

Mountain House Vegetable Stew With Real Beef

Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)

Super Ark Emergency Food Bar and Survival Kit

Amazon Price: $26.00 (as of 10/12/2008)

aPack Self-Heating Emergency MRE Meals (12 Pack)

Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)

Books on surviving the crisis 

Eating Fossil Fuels: Oil, Food and the Coming Crisis in Agriculture

Amazon Price: $9.56 (as of 10/12/2008)

Ordinary Poverty: A Little Food and Cold Storage (Labor In Crisis)

Amazon Price: $24.95 (as of 10/12/2008)

Farming for Profit in a Hungry World: Capital and the Crisis in Agriculture

Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)

Books on surviving hard times. 

Surviving Hard Times

Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)

Surviving Unemployment: A Family Handbook for Weathering Hard Times

Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)

Tips on saving money in hard times. 

Saving Money with the Tightwad Twins: More Than 1,000 Practical Tips for Women on a Budget

Amazon Price: $9.31 (as of 10/12/2008)

Shop for a Day with Jaci Rae - How to Get Almost Anything for Free

Amazon Price: $28.76 (as of 10/12/2008)

A Tip a Day with Ellie Kay: 12 Months' Worth of Money-Saving Ideas

Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 10/12/2008)

Links on the global food shortage. 

Additional reading so you can be updated, aware and prepare for the food shortage crisis.
SRI LANKA: Rice from Myanmar
Rice from Myanmar to help offset high local prices.
Tag: corn wheat rice shortage food crisis WFP farmers Doha WTO ...
Rome, 1 May 2008 - Following President Bush's call on Congress to step up with an additional US$ 770 million for food aid and development programmes, ...
YouTube - From Feast to Famine: Facts Behind Food Crisis
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=food%20crisis%. ... Related Videos. From Feast to Famine: The Facts Behind the Food Crisis ...
Food Crisis - washingtonpost.com
THE SKYROCKETING commodity prices that have made the Farm Belt one of the most prosperous regions of the United States have had a rather different impact on ...
The World Food Crisis
The only surprising thing about the global food crisis to Jim Goodman is the notion that anyone finds it surprising. "So," says the Wisconsin dairy farmer, ...
American Thinker: The Food Crisis
Apr 29, 2008 ... As everyone knows by this point, we are in the midst of a food crisis. Domestic prices of basic foods have risen by 46% over the past year, ...
U.N. expert: Food crisis 'a silent tsunami' - CNN.com
Those battling global warming by promoting biofuels may unintentionally be adding to skyrocketing world food prices, creating what one expert calls "a ...
Food crisis threatens security, says UN chief | Environment | The ...
Apr 21, 2008 ... Rapidly rising prices trigger riots as threat of hunger looms in dozens of countries.
Food crisis threatens security, says UN chief | Environment | The ...
Apr 21, 2008 ... Rapidly rising prices trigger riots as threat of hunger looms in dozens of countries.
ABC News: 'Silent Tsunami': The Food Price Crisis
Apr 20, 2008 ... Why Are So Many Fighting For Food? WATCH: Global Food Crisis. Rioting in Haiti brought the issue into sharp focus, but for weeks, ...
Global Food Crisis Expected to Produce Social Unrest -- 04/03/2008
Apr 3, 2008 ... (CNSNews.com) - World Bank President Robert Zoellick says a global food crisis demands the immediate attention of world leaders. ...
Food Crisis Feared as Fertile Land Runs Out
Dec 6, 2005 ... Food Crisis Feared as Fertile Land Runs Out Maps show 40% of Earth's land is used for agriculture Growing human 'footprint' a risk to the ...

Preparing for the food shortage 

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Reader Feedback 

StephenC

Nice lens! Good stuff, enjoyed the visit!
Fight High Gas Prices
StephenC

Posted September 30, 2008

BABYKITTY

Not sure it will ever get to the crisis stage in the US, but I do believe it will times will get tight if something isn't done to bring the jobs back home so the blue-collar workers can make a decent wage again.

5 stars, favorite and lensrolled--good lense!

Posted July 30, 2008