by Kellene Bishop

Filling your preparedness pantry doesn't have to cost a bucket load of money. photo c/o www.mcdowelltech.edu

While perusing advertisements for “emergency preparedness” supplies, I saw some pretty hefty price tags just for a year’s worth of food. This doesn’t count the bucket loads of money that one could spend on other gadgets like a solar oven, pressure cooker, first aid supplies, etc. So, let’s get real.  What can a person with only a few hundred bucks a year do to increase their state of preparedness?  Well, here are a few of my suggestions.

First and foremost, spend your money in order of prioritization.  Stick to the priorities. If you’re starting from scratch, review the 10 Areas of Preparedness. Remember that such a list is a prioritized one.  The higher up an area is on the list, the sooner you’ll be confronted with it in need or crisis scenario.  This also means that areas of preparedness further down the list will essentially be at the mercy of your preparedness level on areas of higher prioritization.

The first area is Spiritual preparedness. Fortunately, that area doesn’t require much in the form of funds to implement.

The next area is Mental Preparedness. You could spend a bit of money in that area in the form of books and classes, but a great deal of knowledge, thus mental preparedness, can be provided to you via the library and the internet. 

Physical preparedness is a must in completing the Ten Areas of Preparedness

The next area is Physical preparedness.  Again, this is an area that does not necessarily require money but rather a consciousness effort to get your body in better health. This does not need to come at the cost of expensive supplements and gym memberships.

The next area is Medical Preparedness.  Remember, that this are may require you some preliminary funds in terms of first aid supplies for you and your family and then for others. But keep in mind that providing medical care for you and your family is the first priority. So only spend enough money to take care of that first and foremost.  I have found that with coupons I have been able to acquire a boatload of medical supplies for free or very cheap. Also, in the vein of Medical Preparedness I have taken advantage of whatever free community classes I can that teach CPR, and other areas of commonly necessary medical knowledge. As I review my medical supplies, including medication alternatives, I know that I’ve spent very little by making use of coupons and alternative medical options.

Be sure your 72 hour kit is packed and ready to go. photo c/o coolshadesails.com

The next area is Clothing/Shelter Preparedness.  Most of you are already starting out with some kind of shelter complete with bedding and clothing. So you can usually check that off the list. However, I also recommend folks having a weather-appropriate change of clothes that they can grab and go in a hurry if necessary.  I can assure you that when I created such outfits, I didn’t take them from my existing wardrobe. Instead, I went to the thrift stores and purchased complete outfits for very, very cheap. I then store those outfits in my “get up and go quickly” supplies. That way I’m never stuck with “just the clothes on my back.”  Along with that though is alternative shelter such as blankets and a pup tent for a “get up and go quickly” scenario. Again, these were obtained very cheaply thanks to army surplus and thrift stores.

cheap sources for fuel, such as butane and alcohol complete your preparedness pantry.

Fuel comes next. This is an area in which you can’t cut corners on. As such I would recommend focusing the majority of your available funds in this particular area.  While you will be able to get much of the equipment at an army surplus store, you will need to purchase your fuel via mainstream venues like the rest of us. However, there are less expensive forms of fuel than others such as butane and isopropyl alcohol. I’ve been able to stock up on my cans of butane as cheaply as $1.27 each.  And I’ve been able to get my butane stoves as cheaply as $12 each.  We also have recently purchased lanterns for only $1.97 each!  The key is to keep your eyes open for the equipment you need. Compare prices. If you have the appropriate heating and light equipment, getting a 55 gallon barrel of isopropyl alcohol delivered to your home is very economical and you can keep it outside since it won’t freeze.  See? This is why mental preparedness comes before these other areas-so that you can use these kinds of ideas.

After fuel finally comes your Water Preparedness.  Water is obviously an affordable commodity. There are plenty of corners you can cut. You don’t have to be a purchaser of 2 liter bottles of soda pop to obtain plenty of those kinds of containers from neighbors and friends.  Simply get the used containers from others, wash them out well, and fill them up and store them.  No money necessary.

Then there’s the Food Preparedness.  The most affordable way to have a sufficient amount of food cheaply is to simply utilize coupons in your regular shopping so that you can purchase more of it—at least this is definitely what I’ve discovered to be the case. If you’re one of those people who read this, though, and say that couponing takes too much time, or that you can’t get all that you want with coupons, I recommend that you search on the articles that I’ve

Freeze-Dried Foods are tasty, nutritious, have a long shelf life, and are a real asset to your preparedness pantry.

previously written about couponing. I assure you that there’s very little food stuffs that I haven’t been able to purchase free or cheap. Also keep in mind that freeze-dried produce is actually less expensive than fresh produce, not to mention cleaner, more convenient, lasts longer, etc.  If all you want to do though is to buy some food items and forget it, then I would recommend purchasing whole wheat, sprouts, a quality powdered milk, salt, and a quality honey. None of these items should break the bank if you are prudent in your selections of them. If you spend money on no other food, I would recommend that you at least have these five.

After the Food Preparedness area then you have the areas of Financial Preparedness and Communication. These areas aren’t so much a cost to you as they are disciplines, and perhaps a Ham Radio license.  What I’m trying to get at is that preparedness doesn’t need to cost you much more money than you are already spending living your days. See? Everyday preparedness not only works better, but it costs a heck of a lot less money.

(By the way, Five Star Preparedness has a Group Buy on Raw Honey this month. Just go to www.fivestarpreparedness.com/GroupBuy).

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

By Kellene Bishop

Can you imagine walking along the shores of a fresh water lake, seeing some fossilized algae and saying to yourself, “Hmmmm. I think I’m going to try and eat this?”  Or worse, how about someone who notices that this fossilized algae kills insects and then decides to eat it?  Crazy, huh?  I don’t know how things like Diatomaceous Earth ever get discovered, but I sure am glad they do.

Diatomaceous Earth--a microscopic view. photo c/o www.holocaust-history.org

With Diatomaceous earth, you have one of the most wonderful natural remedies for removing all kinds of toxins in your body AND a highly effective remedy at eliminating pesky bugs from your home, garden, and stored grains.  Allow me to take you into the world of Diatomaceous earth today.

For starters, let’s talk about the vital benefits that Diatomaceous earth has on your body. Personally, I drink about 2 teaspoons of it daily in my water bottle.  (I follow that with 2 teaspoons of Redmond Clay in the next water bottle I fill, but that’s another story.) Why? Because like everyone else who is reading this, I have parasites, tapeworms, bacteria, viruses, and toxins in my body.  Diatomaceous earth is HIGHLY effective at completely removing them from your body.  Since we accumulate these kinds of undesirables in our body every day, I’ve incorporated daily doses of DE in my water every day in order to win the long term battle. If you refuse to take DE regularly, at least give small amounts to your pets and cattle every day. I give my small dogs ½ teaspoon daily for maintenance, and a bit more if they ever get an ear infection or are throwing up. They readily eat it and in fact, when I started them on it, it caused one of the dogs to stop getting into the soil of my plants.

Parasites, tape worm, and weevils--oh my! photo c/o historyfilms.net

How do we get parasites, tape worms, e-coli, etc? Kind of a yucky topic, but let’s put our iron stomachs in for a moment and learn a little bit.  First of all, you can easily get parasites/worms from the foods you eat. For example, if you eat wheat or other whole grains, you are consuming weevils.  It doesn’t matter how often that wheat was cleaned or how much you paid for it, you’ve got weevils. If you consume regular commercial red meat you also have parasites, and most likely some e-coli in your body as well. There are internal and external parasites associated with cattle.  If you eat pork, regardless of how long you cook it, you definitely have parasites and bacteria in your body. The fat in the  pork is made up primarily of the toxins and waste that the pig eats. It’s just a fact of life, folks. Lungworms, which are rampant in the intestines of cattle, cause viral and bacterial pneumonia.  Sushi also houses parasites, salmonella, and a myriad of other bacteria.  The raw fish is the least of my worries.

Dogs, Cats, and most pets carry parasites, which can be transferred to humans. photo c/o www.javno.com

Secondly, if you have pets such as dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, etc. you have parasites as well—that is if you ever pet them, let them sit on you, lick your face, etc. Parasites from pets particularly dwell in your intestines leaching the nutrition that you had otherwise intended for your own body. It is virtually impossible to have pets and not have parasites as a result—unless you use DE in your body and in there’s another story. (I’ll get to that later.)  In fact, just  one kind of internal round worm known as Toxocara, has infected 14 percent of our population according to the CDC. Toxocara comes specifically from dogs and cats. Toxocara is particularly predatory among children. This doesn’t mean that 14 percent of the population has pets. It means that there are sufficient  number of pets in our surroundings. Even those without pets are exposed to parasites that originate from them. Toxocara is easily accessible simply by playing in a sandbox or a playground of dirt or mulch.

Soil is another source of such body invaders. If we work with it in our gardening, we’re going to get it in our bodies.  Hanging out at a farm which uses pesticides and herbicides also brings unwanted toxins in our body.

Giardia and other water-born parasites photo c/o physorg.com

Unfortunately, water, whether it’s treated by the city or not, is one of the biggest culprits of introducing unwanted bacteria and viruses into our bodies.  In a disaster scenario in which we would have to forage for water, we are likely to consume even more. This is another reason why I’m grateful for the existence of Diatomaceous earth.  Not only can I use it to filter any questionable water, but even if I use other methods, I can also consume the DE regularly to help counteract anything I may have missed in my water filtration or cooking.  DE is a very effective water filter!  All you need to do is take a bucket and drape a tight-knitted cloth on top of the bucket, then a cup or two of DE on top of the fabric in a small mound. Slowly pour the questionable water through the DE into the bucket. Not only will you have drinkable water, but you will also have mineral and vitamin enriched water. This is why I often refer to preparedness as a source of peace in my life as opposed to panic. I can’t help but look at DE and say to myself, “Wow, Heavenly Father. You’re just full of nice little miracles all over the place.” I mean really, a substance that kills unwanted bugs of all kinds, but is good for humans and cattle! Cool!

So, what are the consequences of parasites and other like critters in your body? Blindness, obesity, anemia, frequent headaches, weakened immune system, irregular bowel movements, depression, stunted growth, autism, and even death  (although the benefits are so vast and innumerable that it requires a whole “nother article). That’s just what can happen to humans. Imagine what is taking place inside the animals we love or are trying to raise.  The great thing, though, is that de-worming doesn’t need to be an unpleasant one-time event that you hope you’re doing often enough. Keep your body optimal by paying attention to extracting toxins from your body every day by incorporating DE in your daily regime. After watching a medical video about what parasites can do in my body after only 72 hours, I’m definitely converted to the every day approach. Ugh!  Besides, wouldn’t you rather use an organic method of de-worming you and your pets/cattle etc. instead of nasty chemicals?! I know I would. When I teach about water consumption, I teach that adding flavoring to your water changes the chemical make-up and causes the body to have to work harder to process the water into a distilled state so that it can use it. However, when you’re adding the DE, all you’re adding is organic vitamins and minerals that your body will readily assimilate and not have to work hard to extract from the water.  If you must, you can consume the DE in juice or something else like that, but I have found that I seriously don’t notice the taste in the water at all.  Besides, is there anything that can taste bad enough to prevent me from trying to fight THIS? (yuck alert!)

Colonoscopy Demonstrating a Moving Worm

or THIS?!

2008-11-22 – BBC News – Worm removed from woman’s brain

Bacteria can thwarted by minerals and diatomaceous earth. photo c/o www.hubtesting.net

Let’s leave the parasites alone for just a moment. One of the other assets to DE is that is also absorbs bacteria AND viruses.  Bacteria and viruses are essentially the tiniest of little critters. They are no match for DE’s effectiveness.  The fact that you have something that will absorb and get rid of both in your body is great. Even modern medicine isn’t effective at fighting viruses. One of the reasons why bacteria is no match for DE is because of the vast amount of minerals found in DE. Bacteria simply can NOT survive amidst minerals. (This is why I love using mineral make-up. It doesn’t go bad because of bacteria, because the bacteria can’t survive in minerals. Thus I may pay a bit more for my make-up initially but it lasts me a lot longer.) So the more that minerals make up your organs and blood, the less of a happy home it is for the bad guys trying to infect you.

How can DE kills bugs but not people? It’s all about the water content. Suppose that you needed to thicken 5 gallons of a very brothy soup. You wouldn’t expect to accomplish this using only a ¼ teaspoon of corn starch would you? (For those of you who really don’t know you way around the kitchen, the answer is NO WAY! hee hee) So the benefit in using DE  has to do with the overwhelming amount of water content we have in our bodies as opposed to insects. Insects have very little moisture (contrary to what you may believe when you step on a cockroach), whereas our bodies are made up mostly of water.  This is also why DE doesn’t absorb all of the water that it inevitably grows near.  DE has also been used to help clean up toxins and oil spills.

So, what kind of DE do you need to obtain and where can you get it?  Well, that is the most important question.  You must use only FOOD GRADE DE.  If the manufacturer or seller of the product cannot tell you it’s food grade unequivocally, do not purchase it. For the longest time there were only two kinds of DE, pool grade and food grade. However, in an attempt to avoid paying the FDA the necessary fees to call DE “food grade” some manufacturers have started labeling their DE as “filter grade.”  Again, I implore you to accept no substitutes for FOOD grade DE. While you can do just about everything you want with the other forms of DE such as killing insects, detracting flies, using it in your garden etc. you should not consume any DE that isn’t food grade.  The reason is how it is processed. Just like grains intended for animals should not be consumed by humans due to the regulations that permit chemical additives in order to get more out of the product per package, so too should we humans not consume DE that isn’t labeled as food grade.

diatomaceous earth perma guard food grade

You can purchase food grade DE at most health food stores. However, I found that it’s pretty pricey that route. I prefer to get it in larger quantities and save a boat load of money.  I do know that Five Star Preparedness offers DE in two different formats. They offer it in 5 and 10 pound increments that’s simply “food grade” DE. However, for those who want to be extra sure in their internal consumption, they also offer it in as “fossilized phytoplankton powder” (FPP) format.  This is in a 10 ounce jar that runs about $18.00. But I wouldn’t recommend you wasting your money on it since it’s the exact same thing that you can get in the 10 and 20 pound increments,  just with a more friendly “food” label for those who need that kind of reassurance, because for only $25 you can get the 10 pounds (that’s what I use daily). Both are food-grade.  And please don’t buy into the whopper of a lie of a company telling you that the FDA won’t “let” them label their DE food grade. The FDA is all too happy to allow someone to label something food-grade so long as that company pays for the licensing and testing to do so.

I wish that we didn’t need something like DE as a result of our surroundings. But this is just how things are, folks. If it’s there, we get to inhale it, absorb it, or eat it. But I’m sure grateful that there’s a very economical solution out in the world. To see more on what DE can do for the world around you, check out the previous article I wrote about it here Diatomaceous Earth.

Remember, being physically prepared for the future also means being as healthy as you can now. So, let’s have a little DE sprinkled in our life. Cheers.

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

by Kellene Bishop

Independence photo c/o www.textually.org

There were two news pieces this week that reiterated the need for independence from the vulnerabilities that we willingly attach ourselves to.  Keep in mind that to me, preparedness has a great deal to do with independence. Independence from what Wall Street does. Independence from the mistakes of the food manufacturers. Independence from being subjected to a “trend” in medicine that’s short-lived.  I firmly believe that the more independent I am, exclusive of influences that I have no power to check and double check, the healthier, safer, and more peaceful I will be.

For example, article one.

Rulings Restrict Clean Water Act, Foiling E.P.A.

This article demonstrates to me that in spite of laws which are supposed to protect our drinking water supply, the EPA is finding that they are unable to enforce The Clean Water Act in over 50% of their current load of violations.  Fifty percent! And this is just one of the violations that have reached their attention.  And yet they are powerless with all of their money and political connections to ensure that our water sources are not polluted.  To make matters worse, I read recently of a report card of 100 city sewer treatment systems.  70% of those inspected had a problem that needed to be rectified.  What this says to me folks is that we don’t need a war, a severe act of nature, or a financial collapse to give us pause to take preparedness actions now.  We rely on water too heavily for it to be solely in the hands of others.  Again, I beat the drum of independence.

The next article was just posted yesterday.

Ingredient used in many processed foods recalled

Your Preparedness Pantry--a safe bet during food recalls

It revealed that a key manufacturer of a particular flavoring for processed foods was found to have salmonella in their factory. This flavoring, hydrolized vegetable protein, is found in nearly every processed food in our nation.  As a result, millions of pieces of food will have to be recalled. When I read this article, I couldn’t help but think “thank goodness that I have so many food supplies in my household that aren’t reliant upon the honesty and good work ethic of a factory in Las Vegas.” (When you put it that way, it’s kind of ironic, don’t you think?) For example, the freeze-dried foods which I have and use everyday, they are free from such flavorings.  The rice, wheat, grains, sprouts, and canned meats are free from exposure to such foods. Even my Shirley J products which I specifically use instead of mainstream processed foods are free from this particular manufactures dereliction of duties. It’s kind of a coincidence that just last night I taught a class on making bread, sprouting, and wheat meat. I have to say, once again, that the wheat meat was AWESOME. (In fact, I think it turned out better than ever—it’s about time after trying over 60 different recipes, methods, etc.) Anyway, so I thought it was interesting that the same day that this big deal piece of news breaks, I find myself consuming superior quality nutrition–effortlessly–and enjoying it too.  Once again, preparedness sure has a heck of lot to do with independence, folks.

I’m concerned that it seems like so many people feel like the admonition for preparedness is strictly about being prepared for an Armageddon-like scenario. In fact, if we aren’t better prepared for an interruption in our food supplies, the decline of the value of our currency, or how to easily make some of our own food, we  simply won’t be around to worry about “the big one” anyway.

I think that we will all agree that peace of mind is necessary every day of our lives. Preparedness is what ushers that peace in. Independence over factors that most people feel they have no control over is one of the best prescriptions I can think of for the peace.  I’ll beat that drum as long as I’m able. I hope that soon more of you, as well as my friends and loved ones, can “get jiggy” with that particular beat. *grin*.

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

by Kellene Bishop

My dear readers: Over this last year I have come to feel like so many of you are my long-distance pen pals—my good friends. So as such, I’m totally behaving like a “girlfriend” today in sharing with you what I did last night. I was so pleased with how class turned out that I just couldn’t wait until “later” to tell you all about it.  I’m quite certain that if you try out this process and the accompanying recipe that you will LOVE the results as well—and be a bit surprised with how great it is too.

The Wonderful World of Wheat

So last night I was teaching my Wonderful World of Wheat class. I usually demonstrate making bread in about an hour and 15 minutes, how to sprout wheat, and then how to make wheat meat and use it in a “meat focused” dish.  I suppose I could “smuggle” the wheat meat in a dish for starters, but I prefer the “gloves-off approach” in my classes, and then let folks scale back however they’d like. This way they can approach the use of wheat meat in whatever capacity makes them more comfortable, instead of me teaching them to be timid with it in the first place.

So last night I made the wheat meat taste like chicken. Heck, it even looked like chicken. So let me share with how I did that.

First:

Take 2 cups of vital wheat gluten and put it in a bowl. Add about a teaspoon of the Shirley J Onion Seasoning, a dash of salt and pepper, and about a teaspoon of the Shirley J Pizza & Pasta Seasoning and 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast.*  With your hand, just mix it all together.  Then scoop the dry mixture to the sides of the bowl, making a concave hole for the liquid to go into. Then add 2 cups of tepid chicken bouillon into the concave portion. (I make

Preparing wheat meat

 the chicken bouillon with the Shirley J version because it costs less, has less of a salty taste, and no added MSG.) With your hand, gently but quickly work in the dry ingredients into the bouillon.  Keep working the mixture together with your hands. You will end up with a texture similar to silly putty.  You will need to work with it quickly because it quickly gets rather rubbery due to the gluten. Flatten the mixture out a bit and then cut it up into small ¼ in squares.  This recipe will make TWICE as much “chicken” as you will need for the casserole recipe, so I’m going to give you another option to use it for as well.

*nutritional yeast can be purchased in “bulk” at any health food store, and has a nice long shelf-life.  The Shirley J products are on a special sale this month at a “group buy” price through Five Star Preparedness— www.fivestarpreparedness.com/GroupBuy.

In a large pot, put about 6 cups of water and 2 teaspoons of the Shirley J Chicken Bouillon.  Place HALF of your ¼ inch sized pieces of the wheat meat.  (I use my pressure cooker for this portion as it cooks much faster.) Bring the chicken broth to a boil and then gently place the cut wheat meat in the broth.  Allow to boil/simmer until the wheat meat has increased in size about 4 times (if you’re using a pressure cooker, this will take about 15 minutes at high pressure).

Remove the wheat meat and place it in a large mixing bowl.

Take 1 cup of Shirley J Universal Sauce and add 2 ½ cups of the hot chicken bouillon. Whisk together until thickened. Add 1 ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of nutmeg, and a dash of pepper to the sauce. Mix well.  Then pour the sauce over the cooked wheat meat in the bowl. Add 2 cups of frozen vegetable and a ½ cup of parmesan cheese.  Mix together until the vegetables and wheat meat is covered in the sauce.

Transfer mixture to a large casserole dish.

In a separate bowl take 3 cups of the Shirley J Biscuit mix and add 1 ¾ cup of water. Whisk together well. Them mixture should represent more of a lumpy cake mix than biscuit dough.  Pour this mixture evenly over your wheat meat mixture in the casserole dish.

Cook at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes.

Make tasty dishes using wheat meat

This wheat meat will simply melt in your mouth.  There is no unpleasant taste or texture about it.  This dish is fantastic and I make the wheat meat specifically so that I can make THIS dish.

I had some leftovers last night that I brought home. I hadn’t had dinner and was SO dang tempted to eat it, but at 9:00 at night I knew that wouldn’t be wise so I put the leftovers in the fridge and went to get a couple more hours of writing in for the night. This morning I was SO looking forward to eating it for breakfast.  But alas, my silly husband gave this scrumptious dish to our two pampered pooches for breakfast! I was so grumpy about that one!

Now, what do you do with the rest of the mock chicken wheat meat?  Well, if it were me, I’d boil it just like you did the previous batch—in 4-6 cups of chicken broth OR I would bake it until it puffs up about 3 to 4 times in size. If you bake it, bake it at about 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Then soak the wheat meat pieces in about 2 cups of buttermilk or soy milk for about 5 minutes. Then dredge them in 3 cups of rice flour or matzo meal. Then deep fry them like you would your own chicken nuggets, and Voila! You’ll have the best tasting, light and crunchy chicken nuggets that you’ve ever had before! (And don’t forget to serve it with the Shirley J BBQ sauce that so many are in love with too. Last night, instead of having “just plain delicious BBQ sauce” we had it mixed with root beer, peach preserves, Worchester sauce and vanilla, and all kinds of other flavor combinations. (Separately, not together, folks) The BBQ sauce was so wonderful that folks had more than one piece of wheat meat—even though I scorched it a bit.  Yup, good BBQ sauce cures all cooking mistakes.

BBQ Wheat Meat

The other option is to grill the pieces or fry them in a non-stick skillet after you boil or bake them. 

Using these options is definitely a way to get wheat meat into your family’s diet and ensure that you’re serving an affordable protein that’s hormone, MSG, antibiotic, and e-coli FREE. Sounds like a delicious and healthy plan to me.

Ok. Now on to finish the diatomaceous earth article that I was supposed to give you today…

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For any questions or comments on this article, please leave a comment on the blog site so that everyone can benefit!

Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

by Kellene Bishop

Preparedness should have nothing to do with panic, dread, gloom, or doom photo c/o dalitdiscussions.wordpress.com

As I shared in yesterday’s article, our preparedness articles should have nothing to do with panic, dread, gloom, or doom.  Even though some may consider the Book of Revelations a bit “dark” it’s actually not if you read it in its full context. While it does outline what is going to happen it’s also emphatic in reminding the reader that this is what’s going to happen, but you can still avoid the anguish and desperation by being prepared and trusting in the Lord.  Knowing this aspect about preparedness is why I have a huge problem with “emergency preparedness” companies that manipulate and take advantage of people’s misunderstanding of what preparedness is.  These companies literally prey on the lack of knowledge and preparedness and confidence in what they sell.

For example, I got my mailer from a local “emergency preparedness” company this weekend, and yes, they do use the name “emergency” in their marketing. I perused through it and was simply disgusted—as usual.  They are offering a “year supply of food” for a “special price” of $649.99.  To be clear, this is NOT a year’s supply of food, at least not in my house. While yes, my home is full of freeze-dried goods, I do not enjoying living off of many of the products which are contained in this so called “years supply.”  And frankly, I know that none of you do either. This isn’t a year’s supply of food. It’s a year supply of suffering. What are these kinds of companies going to sell next, powdered water?!

On yet another page they have a hand-cranked grain mill for “only $64.95.” In the description it states “a simple way to convert your stored grains into wholesome flour or cracked wheat cereal.”  Ok, Folks. I’ve operated this hand crank and there is nothing simple about it. Sure you just load and crank, but do you think anyone would buy this if it said “A difficult way to crank out your whole grains and make them more edible. Cranking only two cups of flour burns the equivalent of a half day’s worth of calories on a regular American diet.”  The same holds true of the “Wonder Clean Washer” which you operate by hand and which barely holds an entire outfit of clothes. I get just as grumpy when I see their so-called “comprehensive emergency kits.” Excuse me while you bleed to death. I have all of this stuff but dont” know what to do with it.”  They advertise freeze-dried items as “entrees” which are barely enough calories for one meal for one person. I nearly have a coronary when I see the page that says “Gourmet Year Supply” for one person “only $3,649.95”!!!

Now THIS is what I call cooking from a preparedness pantry!

Let’s compare for just a moment. I have nice, tender, juicy chicken meat in my basement—an entire pound per jar—for which I paid 98 cents for.  I also have some freeze-dried mixed vegetables which cost me about $1 per casserole dish that I make. And then I have some Bisquick and some Shirley J Universal Sauce that I can mix up to go with this dish at a cost of about .43 cents total (with this month’s special group buy pricing, I can get it even cheaper than that!). When I’m done whipping this dish up, I’ve spent a total of $2.41 and it’s SO yummy—not just tolerable.  The same can be said of my Coq aux Vin, my Pork Green Chile Carnitas, my super sourdough pizza with all of the fixings, and my truly Gourmet Macaroni and Cheese that has horseradish and freeze-dried cauliflower in it. It costs $3.70 each week to make two beautiful loaves of bread (in my solar oven, even!) one pizza with all of the toppings, and one batch of cinnamon rolls! To boot, I can do it all in less than an hour without breaking a sweat! 

The other day I was asked by one of my class attendees what I thought about buying “mixes” or taking the time to pre-make them and then storing them.  In my typical blunt fashion I told her that I thought they were ridiculous if you already have everything handy to make what you need.  Sure, I can see buying sourdough bread mixes, for example, because I don’t want to take the time to find or create a starter. And sure, I like my Shirley J Universal Sauce because I can use it instead of my butter, milk, and cheese sources.  But if a mix is simply a “white bread mix” or “cookie dough mix” in a bag, I’m not going to stock up on those items for any other reason than to provide a bit of physical respite should I become ill or disabled.  Otherwise, how hard is it to measure some flour, oil, yeast, salt, sugar and water?  I really think that some people work awfully hard and spend a lot of energy in the name of making their life easier.

Who can afford "emergency food" at these prices? photo c/o scrapetv.com

In spite of all of this, I see this business and many others like it thrive. They are thriving on ignorance, apathy, and laziness—the very same attributes which will destroy a community over the course of a few years of every day living, and in a matter of minutes in the event of a disaster. I feel ashamed that these kinds of companies are competing against panic rather than product convenience, quality and nutrition. So the uglier the picture of the anorexic, desperate child is, the more products they sell. Businesses like these make me fume because it’s no wonder more people don’t get prepared! With a price tags like this and miserable amounts of work involved to get the gadgets to work, who in their right mind wants to “be prepared?”

Don’t let the prospect of panic alter your sound, logical knowledge. There will inevitably be events in your life that will force you to change your everyday habits, but for the most part, we all have a lot more control over how we react to our financial and our food and water scenarios than businesses like this give us credit for.  The difference between you paying three grand for a years’ supply of food, and paying less than 4 bucks for three meals for a family with lots of leftovers is knowledge—pure and simple. Knowledge gives you just as long of a shelf life, better taste, more security in knowing that the food was prepared safely, and more money in your pocket.  Storing up your preparedness pantry in this manner allows you to purchase the really important things in life such as a solar oven, pressure cooker, or reinforcing the roof on your home, etc.

In closing I just want to say that I find it ironic that resisting the urge to splurge on unrealistic foods and gadgets in the name of a panic-induced emergency preparedness is critical for us to truly be prepared. We’ll be more sound financially, have more confidence in using what we’ve got because we use it everyday already, and we won’t be quite as stressed if we ever have to see our years supply of bogus, yet highly expensive, “gourmet foods” get sucked up in the mouth of an earthquake.

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Copyright 2010 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to www.PreparednessPro.com & Kellene Bishop

by Kellene Bishop

Hey folks. We’ve got lots going on today and I’m in the midst of prepping for our first live webinar on Thursday. So I’m just going to share a little tidbit with you today—not profound, or highly significant, but something to gnaw on nonetheless.

What's for dinner? photo c/o cabinetdepthrefrigerator.co.

Yesterday was a very busy and draining day. I’m not ashamed to say that when it came time to cook dinner, I was not up to creating some gourmet, drool-worthy dish. I didn’t even want to go downstairs to my pantry to get some inspiration. Seriously, I didn’t want to even walk the 12 stair steps.  So I decided to forage right in my immediate cabinets to see what I could make do with.  Chicken in the refrigerator. Ok, so I just throw that into the pressure cooker with a couple cups of water. Bisquick in the cabinet. Hmmm…maybe I can make chicken and dumplings although that’s not my hubby’s favorite, it would be more for me.  Mixed veggies in the freezer. Check.  Hmmm maybe I could just make a chicken pot pie.  Nope. Honestly I don’t even want to go downstairs to get a can of cream of chicken soup. How’s that for AWFUL!? So I find this package of “Universal Sauce” that my husband brought home for me to “experiment” with. His business had decided to carry it and he wanted my two cents. Ok. Well, no better time than when I’m lazy, right? Well guess what? It turned out so dang yummy and I ended up with a scrumptious comfort dish. When I was finished making it I took extra pleasure in knowing that everything I used could have easily come out of my pantry. That made me feel so dang good knowing that more and more of my meals are created this way. I could have used a can of mixed veggies, and some of my canned chicken and the taste would still have been enjoyable.  Although I just made up this recipe on the fly, I am definitely putting all of the supplies in one of my 4 gallon square buckets and have it for the future.  Yum-mee!

I’d really like to encourage you all to have more and more of your meals created this way.  And I think that really great, quality products make all of the difference. Some of you are stressed about getting enough honey, wheat, and salt, etc.  Yet there’s so much more to thriving amidst chaos than that. Start thinking in terms of yellow curry paste, Worchester Sauce, great seasonings, coconut milk, etc to add to your foundation items so that you can fully enjoy what you’ve got.  Just focus on creating one meal at a time and build up from there. (And by the way, a lot of the Shirley J stuff like the Universal Sauce is definitely going into my pantry/dishes.)  Keep experimenting. There are unlimited easy recipes that you can be prepared to make for your family with little effort, fuel, time, and energy—so even those lazy nights can still be successful.

And by the way, here’s my recipe for this yummy chicken pot pie—the herbed sauce really makes it happen!

Easy Chicken Pot Pie:

Chicken Pot Pie photo c/o sburedhot.files.wordpress.com

• 2 cups of cooked chicken, diced or shredded (fresh or canned)
• 1 ½ cups of mixed veggies (frozen or canned, drained)
• ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of Shirley J Pizza Pasta Seasoning
• Dash of salt and pepper
• 1 ½ cups of chicken broth (I always use the broth I create when I cook the chicken, or at least the liquid from the canned chicken)
• 5 ounces of Shirley J Universal Sauce (It’s a powder that you make into a sauce. You just want the powder for this recipe)
• 1 cup of Bisquick
• ½ cup of milk
• ¼ cup of parmesan cheese
• 1 egg

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, mix the Shirley J Universal Sauce with the chicken broth. Whisk briefly until the sauce thickens.

Mix the chicken, veggies, cinnamon, salt, pepper, Pizza Pasta Seasoning and prepared sauce together in a bowl.  Place it in a non-stick sprayed 9 x 13 casserole dish.

In a small bowl mix the Bisquick, milk, cheese, and egg. Beat until smooth. Pour over the chicken mixture in the casserole dish. Bake at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. (The sauce and herbs definitely makes this dish!)

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Copyright 2010 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to www.PreparednessPro.com & Kellene Bishop.

by Kellene Bishop

A great deal of my articles attempt to be a conversation between myself and those who haven’t quite got on the preparedness bandwagon.  However, today I’d like to address those of you who have begun your preparedness efforts in earnest in hopes that I might add just a bit of redirection for you (If it’s necessary, of course).

Consider your picky eaters, allergies, and recipes when filling your preparedness pantry photo c/o digitallydelicious.files.wordpress.com

I hope that those of you who are actually going through the time, effort, and expense to be more independent are not doing so only to find yourself miserable when the time comes to rely on your efforts. What I mean by that is that many of you, by your own choice—more so than by financial circumstances—have set aside items that are intended to assist you during a crisis that you already know you’re going to despise when the time comes where you’ll have to use them.  As an over-the-top example, I actually had a woman come up to me and tell me she has a year’s supply of wheat, but that she is severely allergic to wheat.  I asked her, “how long have you had your wheat?  How long have you had these allergies?”  She informed me that the wheat was about 8 years old and her allergies are about 10 years old.  I will spare you the details of the rest of that conversation. Yes, this is a bit in the extreme offense against common sense, but I use this example because for some of you it’s more appropriate than you think.

Let’s say that you have a great varied supply of food, fuel, and other essentials on hand.  Let’s look closer at them.  So, you’ve got 3 cases of Ramen noodles.  Does the thought of eating Ramen noodles make you happy?  I mean really, happy?  Or does the anticipation of having to live off of what you’ve got stored in your basement make you cringe?  How about that solar oven you have stored away that you’ve never used yet?  Does the anticipation of having to use that thing make your cringe?

Are you cringing at the thought of actually having to USE your food storage? photo c/o blog.jdubrecords.org/

Here’s my point, if you aren’t emotionally satisfied with the tools and supplies that you are intending to use when things get tough, then you are certainly not going to be your same-old competent self in the midst of turmoil.  Your mental strength is too powerful and too important to be at the mercy of some prelude shortsightedness.  If doing “just enough” to cross something off of your list doesn’t work for your emotional peace of mind today, it’s NOT going to provide you with some much needed emotional strength when things are tough.

Here’s an alternative example. Power’s out. Pipes are frozen. Eight feet of snow on the ground. No problem.  Grab the remote controlled long-life battery lamps, pull out the butane stove, make a scrumptious Thai Coconut Curry chicken in your pressure cooker with rice, have everyone settle down in front of the Lil Buddy Heater which doesn’t require any ventilation, and play a rallying game of “Shoots and Ladders.” Afterwards pull out the graham crackers and peanut butter, with a little bit of milk that your family enjoys, read a

Have an enjoyable evening with your family--even during an emergency scenario. photo c/o wonderfuloldgames.com/

bedtime story by lamplight. Make sure everyone goes to the bathroom using your biodegradable Chemsan bags rigged on your toilet, and tuck everyone in to their beds which have comfortably been made on cots and blow up mattresses. Diffuse a little bit of lavender oil to help everyone rest peacefully. Then you go and enjoy a hot eucalyptus shower with your propane heated shower in your portable “privacy hut”—positioned just outside the back door. Afterwards, you snuggle down in your flannel PJ’s and read that fictional book you’ve been hoping to get to all of this time. Enjoy the comfortable family respite.

No, I haven’t been sniffing the fairy dust.  Sure not every moment can be this great amidst a serious challenge. But it would sure stink if you didn’t even have the capability of making it that way simply because you prepared to be miserable. You need to PLAN for great moments. You need to plan for comfort food. You need to plan for happiness.  If the thought of using your preparedness supplies makes you more stressed and strung out with worry, then you are going about it all wrong. I’m telling you, the opposite is very real. You can actually look forward to such a time of challenge knowing that all will be well. Such knowledge will bring peace and comfort and sanity to you and your loved ones. You literally have a choice. Prepare to be miserable or prepare to be comfortable.

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For any questions or comments on this article, please leave a comment on the blog site so that everyone can benefit!

Copyright 2010 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to www.PreparednessPro.com & Kellene Bishop.

by Kellene Bishop

In the last two segments in this series on Food, I’ve attempted to address our vulnerable reliance on our world’s food supply. When there is a shortage, we pay for it dearly. When a great deal of products are reliant upon one particular crop, we give away much of our freedom as well.  When the core of our habits for feeding and enjoying are based on a particular product, we are also subjected to the price demands which come with such dependence.  I’m sure that many of you remember how difficult it was to adjust our monthly budgets to meet the drastic increase in fuel prices.  Not long after that shock, over 70% of all credit card holders had their minimum payments on their credit cards increase substantially.  Thus far I’ve addressed the availability and the cost of our foods due to our system at present and how our preparedness efforts can counteract such unpleasant realities.  Today, I believe I’m addressing an even more important aspect of food though—it’s compromised nutrition.

Is the nutritional content in our foods what it used to be? photo c/o www.chinadaily.com

I think we’d all like to believe that if we have a clump of broccoli on our plates, that it’s good for us.  We’d also like to assume that if we have a fresh piece of tuna seared to perfection, that it too is beneficial to our body, right?  Unfortunately, in the name of control, technological advances, bigger crop yields, and down right greed, the nutritional content of our food is not all it’s cracked up to be in our minds.

I don’t know if many of my readers will remember this, but there was a time in which the FDA actually said that one cigarette a day was good for you. In fact, they even went so far as to have two DOCTORS make this statement for all of the media to see.  (See “The World Without Cancer” by G. Edward Griffin) Eventually they lowered their tone a bit and simply claimed that cigarettes were not harmful. Regardless of how their tone changed, keep in mind that all along the way, the USDA and the FDA stood by their approval of the use of cigarettes. After all, it was an ideal money maker for all involved.

Unfortunately, it’s true what they say about history repeating itself. Sure there are different characters, altered acts, and varied dollar amounts, but it all boils down to the same plot. Group A (the instigators) has a product that they want to promote in order to save more money, make more money, and produce more product. Group B (the backers) approves the idea. Group C (the cautious) rebel against the idea due to valid concerns. Then Group A and B  hire the sharp legal minds of Group D to keep Group C out of the picture so that they everyone in Group A, B, and D can make money by selling their wares to Group E. (That’s E, for Everyone else.)  Ok. So what realistic A,B, & D showdowns do we have going on right now?

(First of all, here’s a disclaimer.  I do not write this article as an attack on farmers.  It is my opinion that farmers as a whole are the recipients of this corporate shakedown. I do wish, however, that farmers of courage and intelligence could stand united and put a stop to all of this, much like the courageous David against Goliath…)

Poultry Farms photo c/o whyfiles.org

Ammonia is now added to your poultry and beef in order to help kill the e-coli virus. Wait. How do they get e-coli?  Well, they are raised knee-deep in their own feces, in darkened facilities (to promote docility).  Instead of being raised on the fruits of God’s green earth and sunshine, they are raised on massive amounts of nutritionally deficit fillers in order to substantially increase their yield. Specifically when it comes to chickens, this method enables the industry to grow a chicken twice as big in half of the time! The average chicken farmer spends roughly 20% of their budget on the anti-bacterial ingredients that they feed their chickens! Yup. Kind of freakish, if you ask me. I’ll spare you the details of the consequences of such a Frankensteinian method.  Unfortunately, the filler feed and “housing” conditions cause severe health problems for the flocks and herds which then resorts to the industry regularly injecting their herds with antibiotics.  Did you know that the average person eats 200 pounds of meat per year?!  That’s an awful lot of hormones and antibiotics that we’re putting into our bodies!

During the documentary, “Food Inc.” one of the chicken farmers was interviewed while cleaning his chickens out in an open field. He claims that the USDA attempted to put a halt to his method of cleaning his chickens “out in the open like that” because it was “unsanitary.”  Unsanitary, huh? Yet hormones, antibiotics, ammonia, and feces are perfectly acceptable, eh?  In addition, the farmer states that the way he won his case in this matter was to have his chickens tested by an independent laboratory. Comparing his whole chicken to a standard industrialized chicken from the grocery store, the test concluded that his chicken had only 133 CFU whereas the industrialized chicken had a whomping 3,600 CFU—and THAT was after several chlorine baths! (CFU denotes the count of colonies of microscopic bacteria—“colony forming unit”)

E-coli photo c/o homepage.usask.ca

So, question for ya. Do you think that ammonia kills nutrients as well? Ok. That’s your protein source.  Let’s look at your produce.As you know, the bacteria salmonella has been found in tomatoes, peppers, spinach, and lettuce as of late. Why? Well, here’s one reason.  In part, it’s because salmonella is readily found in animal related food products.  When it comes to animal related foods, 4 companies control over 80% of the processing market.  Currently only a small handful of companies actually handle the majority of ALL of our food system. So, if only one company decides to cut corners and not treat the foods being imported from Thailand, India, China, or Egypt and you’ve got a salmonella outbreak in your dog food, Black Angus beef, peanut butter, Little Debbie Snack Cakes, and your table black pepper.  Supposedly, the only CHEAP way to take care of salmonella or other like bacteria is through an irradiation process.  Yes, it’s a form of radiation, much like that used to kill cancer cells. As you know radiation kills ALL of the good and the bad bacteria.  (Not only does irradiation compromise the nutritional content of your foods, but it’s also used on pharmaceutical products. As such, it’s blamed for compromising the effectiveness of many pharmaceutical supplies.)  Yup, Folks. We’ve got nutritional compromise at its best.   On top of that you have pesticides, depleted nutritional content of the soil, and the mandatory use of genetically modified seeds (Note: Monsanto currently OWNS over 90% of all of the soybean seeds used in our crops and actively seeks to SUE/punish the last holdouts for “patent infringement” – in many instances crippling the hold-out heroes by depleting their entire financial worth in the process—(Do an internet search on “Monsanto vs. farmers”)  Here’s another awful truth.  Unless you are a highly vigilant consumer, you eat genetically modified food everyday.  Over 70-75% of all processed foods on our shelves have GMO content. http://www.thetruthaboutgmos.com/index.html (For those of you who aren’t aware of the consequences of GMO foods, check out this medical study http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm)

Salmonella photo c/o www.salmonellablog.com

Ok. So should we stop buying our produce from manufacturers, and pay the much higher prices for cleaner food? Ouch. Thanks to hyper-inflation, deep recession, fuel increase, I don’t think that my budget can handle much of that. So what about growing my own produce?  Well, that’s great, although there is a fly in that ointment as well. Monsanto has already obtained some legal standing to make it a criminal act to save your seeds so that you can reuse them for chemical and genetic-free food—instead of constantly buying hybrid seeds—this coming from the primary provider of hybrid seeds in the world! http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-875 Yes. The plot thickens.  As you can see, our daily nutrition intake is unwittingly being determined in the board rooms, not at our dinner tables or even the doctor’s offices.

Unfortunately, addressing it all is making this article WAY too long for one day. So tune in tomorrow for the rest of this piece.  Sorry to leave you hanging in an agitated state.  Allow me to tell you that I do have some sound solutions for you that play a roll in your food preparedness efforts and they are easily done.  It’s a matter of being aware.

Till then…

Copyright 2010 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to www.PreparednessPro.com & Kellene Bishop.

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by Kellene Bishop

You might be surprised to learn what is made from corn. photo c/o www.faqs.org/

Did you know that batteries, diapers, cheese, peanut butter, Coco-cola, Motrin, vanilla extract, baking powder, white vinegar, saccharin, Sweet and Low, charcoal, a slew of household cleaners, drinking alcohol, condiments, toothpaste, dental floss, toilet paper, iodide salt, finger paint, crayons,  and margarine all have corn products in them? This list is in addition to the obvious corn products that you are already no doubt familiar with.  Corn is in a slew of food additives as well such as maltodextrin, pumaric acid, di-glycerides, Ethel acetate, xanathan gum, semolina, absorbic acid, gluten, citrus cloud emulsion, saccharin, calcium stearate, xylitol, and sorbitol as well as a litany of other “ides, ites, and tols.”  Did you also know that fish, meat, poultry, and pork usually contain corn and have been fed the cheap food of corn? In fact, it’s nearly impossible for anyone to completely avoid contact with CORN nowadays!  Corn starch is dusted on your frozen vegetables, corn wax is coated on your fresh vegetables, fish is washed in a corn-derived citric acid, and even when you make that homemade bread from scratch, you’ve still got corn because the baking yeasts often feed on corn based ethanol.  (As a bigger eye opener, you may want to view the movie “King Corn” or enjoy blogs authored by Chris Ellis)

So, OK. Our life is permeated with corn. It’s come to be such thanks to the fact that corn has historically been a cheap commodity. But what happens when corn stops becoming cheap but we find ourselves in a society that’s wholly dependent on corn?  You see, the price of your diapers are what they are today based in part on the easy and cheap access to corn. What happens when the price of corn goes way up or corn becomes hard to come by?

Corn crops: 2009. Too wet to plant until late in the season. Too wet to properly fertilize to get a greater yield. Too wet to harvest. Harvested corn repeatedly tested as too wet for dietary corn and storage. And finally there’s also the demand to meet the standard ethanol productions. While drying portions of the crop is possible, it’s also very costly. Corn is typically sold at 10-15% moisture. However this year some of the largest corn growing areas are harvesting it at an average of 22% moisture.  (Remember, the more moisture, the more expense to either dry it, or the faster it will go rancid, thus causing a loss of product.  Ironically, there have also been some spotty bouts of shortages on propane which is necessary for the drying process.  Hmmm…(*note to me, get more propane tanks filled.*) All of this following a 2008 growing season that experienced dramatic rise and drops in harvest prices and expensive fuel prices making harvesting nearly 12% more expensive than previous years. In the first week of January, USDA estimated that 29% of the Midwestern corn crops were STILL in the fields. That is the demise of our nation’s corn crops this year resulting in anticipated high prices with high demand. http://www.commodityonline.com/crops-weather/IowaIllinois-corn-harvests-extend-to-December-2009-12-03-23491-3-1.html The domino effect continues as late corn and soybean harvests delay winter planting as well.

Have your food pantry stocked and ready to go!

So, how does all of this translate into for your preparedness efforts?  Understand how your food production is reliant on a system as equally tenable as a tightrope act. Pay attention to how the key players are affected so that you can strategically acquire necessary goods before the price hikes come into affect.  Attempt to eliminate any food scenarios in which you’re wholly reliant on what is given to you as opposed to what you really want for your family. Become as self-reliant for your nutrition and medical needs as possible. It’s primarily a matter of education and planning.

In parting, I just had another thought.  What if 90% of our corn crop were infiltrated solely with genetically modified seed like the soy crops have been? Hmm…

Copyright 2010 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to www.PreparednessPro.com & Kellene Bishop.

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Will your pantry shelves mirror the store shelves in an emergency or food shortage? photo c/o www.pandemic-flu-guide.com

We don’t have to wait any longer folks. There is a serious food supply emergency going on right now. In fact, I would say we are at Level Orange with very little more required to push us to Level Red.  No. I’m not spewing fear and chaos. I’m trying to share information with you laid out in a rational, factual manner so that you can be aware and to take measures to insure that you are affected by this food crisis as minimally as possible. Remember. I don’t teach fear. I teach preparedness.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t see this crisis. I feel like our blindness of this crisis has a very accurate analogy. It’s much like the battered woman who simply does not see that she and her children are in imminent danger. She’s blinded to the danger due to her belief system in herself, her spouse, and her desperate emotions. Why are we likely as blind to our aggressor?  Well, to be frank, because there’s an awful lot of money at stake which is specifically focused to make sure that we don’t see it. Unfortunately, it’s those who are supposed to be protecting us that are the biggest stake holders in the success of our demise. They, too, are either woefully blind or meanly aware of their actions. As such, there is a great deal that most of us Americans are unaware of when it comes to their food supplies.  We are so trusting and assuming that organizations such as the FDA, the USDA and our government as a whole will protect us—especially when it comes to something so vital as our food sources.  Unfortunately, at the risk of sounding like a cliché,  I can honestly say that I know that what we don’t know will, indeed, kill us.

To add insult to injury the crisis is actually two-fold. We are in danger of a free-falling supply of food as well as a serious crisis of nutrition in our foods.

In an effort to properly educate us and PROTECT us so that we can  prepare ahead of time in the areas of physical mental and food storage, I’m writing this series about our nations food supplies. What’s in it? Who controls it? What are the vulnerabilities? What about an actual food shortage? And what we can all do to ensure that we are in the best health possible in spite of a serious failure to provide nutritious foods For starters, I’m just going to do a little overview of the food supple scene as it is now. Remember, in spite of the length of this article, this is only scratching the surface.

Medical Anomalies

“Taking Charge of Your Fertility” by Toni Weschler, MPH photo c/o

Have you noticed the overwhelming number of girls who are starting their menses at only 10 years old? Even instances of girls being only 8 years old are on the rise.  In 1980 the average age of girls beginning menstruation was 12.8.  In such girls who experience early menstruation their height is stilted as well. Why?  (“Taking Charge of Your Fertility” by Toni Weschler, MPH)

Did you know that 1 in 3 Americans born after the year 2000 WILL have some type of onset diabetes?  That’s up from “only” 6.2% of Americans having diabetes as reported as late as 2000. With minority groups, that number goes up to 1 in 2! Yes, HALF of all minorities are expected to have onset diabetes. Yup, diabetes, that same disease which causes blindness, neuropathy, stroke, and death. (“Food Inc.”)

Were you aware that the food allergies have increased by over 40% just in the last 10 years?  In my opinion, it is just another one of those things that are misnamed in order to be politically correct. It shouldn’t be “food allergies.” It should be appropriately called chemical allergies. What’s even more alarming is that for every case of food allergy that’s reported, there are another 2 or 3 that are not! http://www.nature.com/embor/journal/v7/n11/full/7400846.html, http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diet/story?id=1355795

For the first time in history, this generation of children is expected to have a SHORTER life span than their parents. Why?  (“Food Inc.”)

The occurrence of pediatric kidney stones is on the rise. Conservatively speaking it’s risen an astonishing 500% over the last five years. For an example, at the Childrens Hospital in Philadelphia, they used to get 10 pediatric kidney patients a year. Now, they are seeing that many every week! 10 years ago it would be rare to have a child with a kidney stone. (ChildrensHospital.org)

Food Safety

Food Contaminants are on the rise photo c/o www.smartchoices.ttu.edu

Did you know that the last 5 years have involved more instances of contaminants, and recalls of our food supply than all of the previous years put together? (Author’s own study using various sources of statistics)

In 2008, the FDA only did 9,164 food production inspections, whereas they did over 50,000 of them in 1972.  Doesn’t make much sense considering the dramatic INCREASE in food production companies in the U.S.—not a decrease, eh? It also doesn’t make sense when our taxes are raised substantially to provide for these kinds of services and yet we’re getting less of them. What’s changed? The power of the food production has trickled to a select few, providing these few production companies with as much power as the head of the Federal Reserve. For example, in 1970 the top meat producers controlled only 25% of the market. Now a mere 4 companies control 80% of the meat market.

As the industrialization of food production spreads through our country and subsequently the world, true blue farmers are nearing extinction status. Today you are more likely to personally know a child pedophile than you are a farmer. Only 1 in 5,000 homes actually try to raise some of their own produce, meat, and dairy supplies. This is primarily due to the deep recession we are experiencing, not because of a desire for more nutritious foods.

The Monsanto group has crafted a truly evil regime in which they take mafia-like tactics towards any farmer who refuses to grow their GMO altered soybean. This unrelenting posture forces uncooperative farmers into bankruptcy or giving in rather than fighting.  Monsanto has even gone so far as to hire their own, large,  full-time group of thugs to secretly investigate farms all over the U.S. and encourage a Nazi-like tattle tale system in order to reveal any farmers who may be storing their own seeds! (No law enforcement here folks. Just hired civilian thugs which wield the power to bring any farmer to their knees if they don’t cooperate.)  In fact, at the risk of sounding dramatic, while doing some more research for this story I was warned that they could come after ME and ruin my life for criticizing their tactics or products.  Even worse, the USDA has no authority to actually shut down a repeat offender of food production. Regardless of how many times they’ve been found to have fecal matter in their food or chemical contaminants, the USDA is powerless to penalize them with anything substantial but money. They simply cannot shut them down for consistently ignoring the safety of their product.  In addition, the food recalls that do see the light of day are slow to make their way into the media. In spite of a deadly virus such as e-coli or salmonella found in a food source (which can kill in a matter of hours) it can take as much as ten days to alert the public.

What kind of poison is in the food you are consuming? Do you know? photo c/o scarybulbs.wordpress.com

I find a bit more than annoying that I have to sign some major disclosure when I go to the health food store to purchase good, wholesome, whole milk right from a dairy farmer, but there’s no requirement for the food manufacturers to tell me where my food is produced, full disclosure of chemicals used in the growth process, nor any disclosure that a product is GMO. I also take exception of the fact that McDonald’s doesn’t have to disclose that their meat has fillers in it, which contain ammonia.  Last time I checked, any bottle of ammonia I have in the house had a “poison symbol” on it.

The good news is that organic food farms have increased by 20% every year for the past 3 years. The bad news is that they are being purchased by the same food production offenders armed with deep pockets and still intent on making nutrition decisions based on bank accounts.

So, what does this have to do with your preparedness efforts? Everything. Let’s face it. Our nutrition isn’t being decided by nutritionists and well-informed consumers. It’s being decided in the boardrooms all over the world. That is a crisis in and of itself. We have to make decisions today and take the appropriate actions to better control the food supply that is used by our household.  Here are just a few ideas that I suggest.

• Storing and stocking up now will prevent us from being helpless subjects to enormous price increases when the real food shortages begin to hit us this year.

• Learning how to sprout our nutrition will provide us with a healthy source of high nutrients completely void of pesticides, hormones, and chemicals.

• Utilizing freeze-dried foods in our diet which have been cleaned of chemicals prior to the freezing process.

• Learning how to garden in a small amount of space using natural insecticides such as Diatomaceous Earth.

• Counteracting the nasty foods we are exposed to by committing to a nutrition regime which actually penetrates to the cellular level of our body.

• Learn how to make and utilize “wheat meat” in our kitchen dishes so that we can have clean protein in our bodies.

This article is just scraping the surface regarding our food and nutrition supply. I’ll deal more in depth with several of the issues I’ve introduced throughout this week. In the meantime, do a little bit of research yourself on what you’re regularly bringing into your home.

Remember, Peaceful Preparedness.

Copyright 2010 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to www.PreparednessPro.com & Kellene Bishop.

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