The Rest of the Story on the LDS Canneries

There has been a “rest of the story” kind of story brewing for several weeks since I first wrote and published the article about the LDS Canneries on May 4th of this year. So when the LDS Church finally provided a formal press release today with detailed information on that very topic, I decided that today was just as good of a time as any to write “the rest of the story.” Why in the world did I write the story in the first place and why did I have to add all of the “government conspiracy stuff?” We’ll get to that because I believe that it’s an important facet of this story, but first let’s get to the other important facet of the story.

Today the LDS Church provided a detailed press release that FINALLY substantiates one aspect of the story which I published in May—the part in which I stated that the canneries east of the Mississippi were going to stop all on-site canning activities. The press release stated that in fact, there’s a great deal more locations going through this transition than what I had researched stating that all but 12 of their 101 canneries, aka Home Storage Centers, which are located all over the U.S. and parts of Canada, will halt all on site canning activity. (see a complete the list of all of the U.S. and Canada canneries here: For details on which will be changing, please refer to the press release from the LDS Church)

This means that there will no longer be any volunteers signing up for shifts to come and provide service work. (Typically, that’s how people are able to purchase their food items at such excellent deals—they come and perform 4 hours of service (typically helping to can items) and then at the end of their shift they’re given the opportunity to purchase some of the very same items they’ve canned or other items. It’s changed a little bit here and there over the years, so don't take this as absolute authority on how it's done everywhere.) However, according to the press release, no more canning will take place at any of these facilities. (patrons CAN check out a canner for 4 hours and can their own bulk goods in #10 cans.) To make sure that there’s no misunderstanding, may I redirect our readers to the words “halt canning,” which means something completely different than the words “closing the canneries.” The “closing of the canneries” isn’t something that we’ve ever reported and the LDS Church has clearly confirmed today that these facilities are not going to be closed.  However, it’s clear that the LDS Church, understandably so, is NOT connecting their changes to the canneries with any reports of targeting by U.S. Government entities. While they do admit that “food and safety regulations” “are a factor” in these changes, they stress that such concern over such information is “overstated.”

Clear enough, I believe, but now, I’ll share “the rest of the story.”

When I first decided to write about the changes to the canneries, it was back in the beginning of February. Since the information I had received had only come from two sources and it was what I considered to be a significant change, I chose to confirm the details by contacting several canneries in the Eastern area of the U.S. When I made my primary contact, I wasn’t given the info I needed to write the story and was actually asked not to write it until it could officially be announced to all of the patrons of the cannery. I was given the month of April as an expected time, but that then got pushed back to May. In the early part of May I was told by the cannery directors that they were allowed to announce the changes to their patrons and that I could go ahead with dispensing my information. In fact, I was even able to get my hands on one of the official flyers that one cannery in the Carolinas was passing out to their patrons.

cannery closingsUnderstand that I considered this change to the LDS owned canneries to be significant to our readers—not just to LDS members but to many of our readers in two different countries who have also benefited from the rock bottom prices for quality canned goods. (Most of the canneries permit LDS members and non-members to participate.) Understand that I considered these changes to be rather significant. I mean really…these facilities are known as “canneries”; they’re all paid for—free and clear—including all of their canning equipment inside. Many of them have been operating ever since I could remember. Volunteers operate them and perform much of the upkeep and cleaning, so the only regular costs to run them are the standard utilities and the appropriate non-profit business taxes and permits. So the fact that the majority of the space in these facilities was going to be altered dramatically was a BIG DEAL kind of story to me. I started following the story because I was hoping to get a leg up on the “why” for the change. When I found out that I could officially publish the story and even publish a copy of the notice (see insert on left) that would go out to all of the patrons of one particular facility, I was focused on the “why”. But when I made my first phone call to try and get some of that information, the phone call took me in a very, very different direction than I had expected.

 

During my first real conversation on this matter, I was a bit taken aback when one elderly couple started sharing unexpected information with me. Whether I wholeheartedly believed everything they were saying to me, I still recognized that they were giving me a great deal of trust that I would not betray their confidences by divulging their identities to anyone else. Nor would I disrespect them by jeering or mocking the accounts that they shared with me and their beliefs that the inspections made on their facilities were very much out of the ordinary and definitely not what I expected. They made it perfectly clear to me that they believed that “the unofficial reason for the changes was that the LDS Church was being harassed at the canneries.” I focused on the word “canneries”, not cannery. When I asked why they spoke in plural terms, they encouraged me to contact another cannery and see what they had to say. And so I did.

 

Ultimately I communicated with 25 people that were connected with 14 different canneries. Persons connected with 10 of the 14 canneries all had very similar stories. The instances were different; the players may have come from different entities, and the focus on the events that occurred were emphasized differently but each person I spoke with had a similar tune to the point that I really couldn’t just chalk it up to an affection for the dramatic.  Each person I contacted came across as well-spoken, intelligent, and with an interest to talk and be heard. While I KNEW that writing about their feelings on the matter would most certainly put me in the crosshairs of jeers and downright mean communications from people who have nothing better to do with their time or who have no desire to see anything other than what they want to see, I felt that I would have a tougher time NOT writing about it. (By the way, the other four canneries just gave me the very basic of information just as they would be communicating to their patrons and no elaboration or explanations for the changes were proffered.)

 

Those who know me well know that I don’t back down from a challenge. I’m anything but subtle, meek, or timid.  A jury would have a hard time to convict me as being a wimp or un-American. And while I very much want my fellowmen to wake up and see the evil that surrounds them so that they will get more serious in their preparations to live peacefully in spite of those evils, that doesn’t drive me. I consider it a huge blessing if someone’s life is blessed for the better because of what I share, but I knew when I started this that the only way I was going to stay sane is if I wrote with NO expectations of the approval, gratitude, or applause. And so that’s the agreement I made with myself when I started this journey several years ago. I write because I have a voice of thoughts and my heart that I want to express, and if someone else finds value in that, then so be it. Great. So when I found myself mulling over the negative consequences that I knew I’d endure from people if I wrote about the belief that I had developed after talking to these people, then I knew I HAD to write it if I wanted to stay true to my agreement with myself. I simply couldn’t NOT write about the not-so-wonderful aspect of all of these cannery changes being connected to what I believe are most definitely in part because of unfair and unjust harassment by the FDA/USDA et al, If I avoided writing about it, then I would be completely changing my position and I would be swayed based on something that had no eternal significance to me—the approval of others. Once I realized that then the decision became very clear. I was going to write about what I found out.

There will be many who will judge me harshly for this decision, particularly those with whom I join in the LDS faith, sadly.  But I doubt that any such persons who possess a mere ounce of decency in them could hear what I heard, or read what I read, and just keep quiet about it. One conversation disturbed me greatly after we spoke. The elderly woman described how much of a failure she felt like as she blamed herself for the constant inspections and reports that she worked so hard to do perfectly and with precision. Her voice quivered as she spoke of feeling like no matter what she did “they always found something else wrong” and something else to fine her for. “I didn’t leave my grandkids and great grandkids to cause the LDS church this kind of trouble. I wanted to HELP the Lord with my service, not make things harder for everyone.”

Could you seriously be unaffected by such an account? Could you speak to 25 people all over the U.S. who all had similar stories and simply chalk them up to a bunch of hooey?!! Well, I couldn’t. And I wouldn’t. So I wrote the story the way that I did. Isn’t it illogical that so many can believe that the IRS and the EPA can be used by the U.S. government to bully and manipulate folks into the submission of their agenda, but that it’s absurd to think that the FDA, USDA, FBI, OSHA could do the same??

You might be interested to see the follow-up article I wrote in which I share several examples and concerns from others that were sent to me after the first story broke. In fact, since that first article broke I’ve received no less than 100 e-mails that have shared very similar stories to the ones of those I interviewed, and since I didn’t share the specific details of those stories, I can’t believe that it’s just a coincidence that the stories are so alike, can I?

I think it’s important to understand that no one I spoke with wanted to cause any grief for the LDS Church, themselves, or anyone else. But it was clear that I was speaking to folks who definitely thought something was very wrong and that their fellow Americans needed to wake up and realize that this kind of behavior is really happening.

If I try and stand back and be completely rational about all of this I realize that it’s quite possible that the LDS Church leaders don’t know about all of the instances that were shared with me. Perhaps they know of some, but not all. As such, it’s very likely that they don’t play any role in the changes that are being made. It’s also possible that while they might know of all of these instances, they had already planned to make these changes long before this kind of action started. I don’t have to be right about the “why” this is going on, but I would be absolutely WRONG in my opinion to not have addressed it and gave it plausibility after talking to all of these people. Frankly, if I were the LDS Church, I suspect that even IF this were the reason they were making all of these changes, nothing good could possibly come from them making such a declaration. All it would do if provided from that kind of venue is panic, anger, and contention between faithful members of the LDS Church as well as others who would see themselves as the next likely targets or simply those who are friends of to the LDS Church. I wouldn’t want to say “OK, you big, bad, unconstitutional bully, you got us!” As such I have no problem with them taking the high road on this issue and preaching “peace” and not panic. Panic never does anyone any good. I’ll take the hit from the naysayers. Bring it.

All that being said, if the pure, unadulterated truth be told, neither I, nor any of the persons I spoke to can say with any authority or perfect knowledge that the reason for all of these changes is as a result of the harassment of the Federal Government, but regardless of what the reasons “really are” the perceptions of these and many others who have read my articles that this sure did play a role in causing these changes and that’s enough to be very upsetting and an indicator that all is not well in the world. Our food is being poisoned and degraded with nods from the FDA and USDA in the form of approved sprays, dyes, “cleaning agents” and GMOs. The nutritional content has depleted into nearly nothing in our fruits and vegetables while the meats and grains are polluted with agents that make our body sick in at least a 101 different ways. There are back room deals being made left and right to manipulate the cost of the food we purchase while the quality of the food is getting worse and worse. (Remember the days when a head of lettuce actually lasted in our refrigerator for more than a week?) This whole LDS Cannery incident isn’t THE thing to focus on; it’s merely a part of the whole landscape. At the very least though this whole incident is one more reason why we cannot be lackadaisical in our efforts to learn how to make our own food.

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Comments

Of course the changes are from Gov. pressures. What I don't get is why people get all worked up when you just state the simple truth. I personally prefer the truth, reguardless of how unflattering it is to anyone or anything......which is why I like reading your blog.

Thank you for this information. As the 'serpent' in this case is under the employ of 'we the people,' to be our servants, it is our responsibility to get them in check as they are out. of. control.

The Church leadership is led by the principle which the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr. taught, admonishing us not to poke the serpent, "How will the serpent ever lose his venom, while the servants of God possess the same disposition, and continue to make war upon it?"

Thanks for being true to your conscience, Kellene. Whatever the implications of all this, you are wise to focus on the main takeaway, which is that people need to take responsibility for their own health. We have all been amply warned of what to do throughout our entire lives and time grows short.

God bless you for leading out.

Hm.

That's an interesting take on the major changes for sure. I know the people I've talked to at our local cannery said the changes were purely based on money... apparently it doesn't cost any more to can and ship foods at their warehouses rather than do the work at the local cannery.

If it's only a cost reason then I'm all for the changes. I've canned several times and, to be honest, would much rather prefer to simply show up and buy what I want if the prices are the same (or less) and food quality hasn't changed.

Do you really believe that it is just as cost effective to can and ship items than to have volunteers do it on the spot? Maybe that is true but I have a hard time seeing that correlation.

Wow! Your followup here had me all emotional for the elderly gal. How heartbreaking for her. Worse part I doubt she did anything wrong. Heck a CAFO is sick, dirty, and diseased. A standard USDA approved processing plant for CAFO meats is often diseased. I seriously doubt that gals cannery or any LDS cannery was messy in any way. Even without your article, it doesn't take a genius to see that our legal food options are being crushed by the controlling government. Made poisonous by wonderful folks @Monsanto and so add changes to a practice thats been happening a long while based off trump accusations. Yep I'd say conspiracy too. Nice job! Some of my relatives are 2 generation members. They have a polite way of preaching preparedness. This is one small part of a much bigger attack. I won't get into my thoughts folks would call me crazy. Thanks for sharing yours!

I agree, oppressive governments always try to control the food , if you control the food you control the populaces and if you want to get rid of certain groups you blame them for the lack. Everyone needs to know how to grow and preserve their own food, how to make things how to make do that may be the only way to survive in the coming days. I came to this realization late in my life and unfortunately I have on grown child who thinks I am nuts and refuses to see the writing on the wall. Luckily my other child sees the same things I do and he and his wife are trying to prepare themselves .
We are not under grand oppression yet but it is coming , I pray for the ability to live peaceably as much as I possibly can and I pray for our country and its politicians so many of who are so misguided. I am not living in fear, I am just trying to be practical and prepare for the worst and be joyous if that does not happen!

I have been concerned about food quality for a long time now. It has been several years since the last time I went to my local cannery, a trip that takes about ninety minutes. I especially worry about all of the recalls because of tainted produce and meats. I try to get things locally whenever I can but it sometimes seems that the government is attempting to force us to buy what is in the big stores.

Please, people can deny government involvement all they want, it's here and here to stay. They are attempting to cripple people so that we are dependent on them. DO NOT be a sheeple. Get busy, get prepared. What's the worse case scenario, you live off your storage for a few years?

As one who occasionally finds themselves surprised or naive about how QUICKLY we are sliding down the slippery slope, let me add my thanks for your research and courage. Once in awhile I find myself saying, "Nah, it couldn't be that bad YET!" but time and time again, it really is that bad. Thank you for the education and the patience/fortitude it takes to be a voice of warning.

Its is all the feds usda osha, irs, etc Hence your govt that is controlling and suppressing you. They realize you disagree with them and they FEAR you. they will intimidate you into submission that is how they work. If you don't stand up to them for yourself and your neighbors they win. The unfountnate part to this is they will use FORCE if their regulations don't work. And they are preparing for this. I never thought this could happen in my country but our country has been hijacked. There is only one way out. Look at what is happening around the world. Different cultures same problem.
Keep your EYE,EARS open and take note, Its coming.
Patrick Henry's statement is here again!.........Bill

bill, that's the kind of

bill, that's the kind of response that will keep the feds coming. smh

Thanks for not giving in and telling like it is.We have been "preparing" for over 15 years and growing all we can,all non-GMO,canning,dehydrating and vacuum sealing all of the foods we don't eat. Keep up the GREAT work.

If this article wont change people's mind about the Church's long standing admonition on preparing and getting your year+ supplies and learn how to use them nothing will. Fellow Saints do your family-self a favor and get something now while you still can. The Church can help little or at all if there is a major problem, we are to spread out and to many. if you plan on relying on the government for help your short term memory needs updating on the recent disasters. Nuff said... Kellene, Thanks much

Interesting that the Lethbridge, Alberta location is listed (touted?) as one of the 12 that will still have self-canning. That may be but the church closed the wet pack capability there some time ago. The only canning going on is dry, a substantial reduction in what it was able previously do.

Thank you for alerting us to this situation. I have never been to a cannery due to distance and finances. I have wanted to and hope to in the not-too-distant future. I have great respect for LDS in matters of character and integrity. As we all know, Mitt Romney and Harry Reid are LDS members; however, they seem to be diametrically opposed in their political views. How can this be? My comment is based on personal experience and knowledge over a long period of time. A great number of huge corporations (many having won government contracts worth billions) are populated, top down, by LDS members. These (mostly) men are qualified without question to run corporations. The observation I have made over time is that as younger members begin their careers, they are fast tracked on the corporate ladder in greater proportion to non LDS members having equal credentials. They seem to have genius business skills, as exhibited by Governor Romney. I have not done an exhaustive search to determine the proportion of LDS members in our national political realm. If I am able to determine that it is a large number, my question will be, why do we not see more conservative members in the two bodies of Congress that could help us defeat this national disastrous creeping toward the destruction of the United States, one Nation, Under God. Utah currently has 1 wonderful conservative Senator in Mike Lee, and the weasely progressive Orin Hatch. They have sent to the House of Representatives, my champion, Jason Chaffetz. Thank you, Utah, and thank you, Kellene

Thank you so much for all the diligent research and fearless posting. What a blessing you are to us all! The thing with truth is that even when it is discouraging it is exactly what we need to help us make rational decisions about our prepping efforts. Thanks again for all you do to keep us informed ... and forearmed! Blessings to you!

You know what is amazing to me, is how often those who try to help others, are constantly defending the fact that they are trying to help. Thank you Kellene for being one of the ones who care enough for others. So many want to know whats going on, but open your mouth and speak, you get slammed for it. GOD will bless you for what you do.

I wouldn't think so, but apparently the LDS Church is able to make it efficient. If you consider all of the fines and such that they will now be able to avoid, perhaps it IS cheaper.

Thank you for your follow up articles. I'm in Rexburg, ID and the BYU-I newspaper the Scroll had a whole page article about your blog and this topic. I'm grateful for all the clarification and the effort you put into keeping us informed.

I have been told at my local cannery that they suspect big brother wants us to be dependant on big government for all our needs, and that being able to get goods at the cannery mmakes us more independant which is not what the nanny state wants, John.

Grains, pasta, and other dry goods, but I've been to them when canning things like chili and spaghetti sauce. I haven't been to a cannery in nearly a decade though because where I live the volunteer slots fill up so fast. So things could have changed quite a bit, but the foundation of their purposes have remained the same, I'm sure. I just couldn't knowledgeably give you details on what they've been canning regularly, recently.

What type of things do they can in these canneries? Is it unprocessed foods or what? Also, we are curious to know where is the closest one to us.

I've tracked these stories for a while now, as unofficial reports have come out here and there. An LDS cannery near me opened up it's doors even wider and promoted it even more, recently, and that scared me most, as if they're trying to get everyone in as much as they can before halting, except they haven't announced the halting in as widespread a manner (yet) so people don't know to hurry up unless following their gut or inspiration, or whatever you believe it to be.

After all of the IRS revelations that they targeted, and still target, Tea Party groups; after the whole Snowden scandal with the NSA; after liars like Susan Rice are promoted so that they are protected-and people still doubt you on the canneries story? Good grief. Do we need to beat the public with a 4x4 to "get it"?? This group of subversives running our government can and will do anything-the end justifies the means. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that I have known, would and have done anything that helps their fellow man and helps their church. I regard Mormans as very very selfless. I cannot imagine that this older couple did anything but try to serve God and the church. They had no hidden agenda to smear any 3 initial government agency. Thanks for some honest articles with no spin, Kellene.

It is pretty obvious to me that those people (Saints or not) who dismiss the possibility of a government conspiracy in any area are simply uninformed about the truth (otherwise called ignorant of the facts.) Ether 8, Mormon 8, and the opening of D&C 89 all foretell and WARN of conspiracies in the latter/last days which is our times, and specifically refers to us as Americans in our situation. To disregard these warnings is dereliction of duty. Our government is determined to eliminate all self-sufficiency among the people through many long planned programs and covert efforts. They need the people to be totally dependent on the government so that they can control us through the control of the necessities of food, water, energy, money, transportation, and medical care. What can't be accomplished by the introduction of GMO seeds into the agriculture of the world will be fulfilled by Cass Sunstein's regulatory chains being forged behind closed doors. They will start with the smaller things first and then expand it to include other areas until they DO, in fact, succeed in forcing the closure of ALL the canneries. When they have done that, they will confiscate all other Church and personal food storage items and capabilities by application of some contrived regulation that cannot be realistically adhered to. They have already begun an effort to confiscate the food storage of the well-publicized "preppers". Church members will be next. Every citizen, but especially those who are Saints ("or those who call themselves Saints") should be armed with the scriptures and all that has been provided to us by God, and the Constitution is one of them. NO Executive Order, NO Executive Branch regulation, NO Congressional law passed, NO Supreme Court interpretation of those laws, can supersede or override, the Constitution and its written intent. It is inviolable as long as We The People demand honesty & integrity in government and are spiritually faithful to God's commandments. For those that remain with their heads in the sand to hide their senses from detecting danger, will fall under the warnings in Ezekiel 33. Kellene IS warning us! Too many who should know better, are waiting to be commanded in all things, and will be among the lukewarm who are spit out at the end.

When you are talking about food the government will try to CONTROL often using the argument it's "ONLY TO HELP US". Mom(from a small town in Idaho then later moved to Bell Flower, California) was 27 during WWII and she described how store owners would put rationed goods back for friends, relatives or small town mucky mucks. Even if you had a RATION COUPON for example BUTTER that didn't mean butter was on the shelf to buy. Also, her Grandmother Daniels purchased a few cans of food from the Church. She had to use her ration stamps to purchase them. History is important that's why little or "tweaked" history is taught in our schools.

If the LDSchurch knows this

If the LDSchurch knows this targeting is going on and decides to keep quiet about it, then they are just as responsible as the ones targeting them. They will be part to blame when the next group is targeted. I believe in turning the other cheek, but there are times when you speak up and fight. The Jews turned the other cheek during their persecution and we all know how that ended. (I am not comparing in severity, just in the moral of the story). The LDS church leaders will make their congregations sitting ducks and many other congregations after that the same. Bullies always see how far they can go. Someone always gets hurt...either the victim or the bully. I would rather the bully suffer.

The American government is

The American government is out of control! I watch our skies and the chemtrails anger me. We now have aluminum in water from nano particles they are spraying. Our government is spraying us WITHOUT our permission. Most people believe the stripes in our skies are contrails (from condensation). NOT so, Now the Hammond and Bundy land grab is more corruption. There are UN mercenaries posing as FBI agents and police~but, they are not police. I am also disgusted with FDA and AMA going after health providers who are actually healing people with cancer. Last year 5 of these doctors were killed. Why? Because cancer is a $500,000,000 money maker for big pharma. Now this situation with our canneries. This is truly the last days!

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