Doctors Warn: Avoid Genetically Modified Food

Do Cheetos count???  Really this is scary – info about GM food.  It hits home with me b/c our daughter has severe eczema and asthma.  I can’t help believe stuff like this is part of our problem.  Read full article here. Below is the first paragraph.

On May 19th, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) called on “Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM (genetically modified) foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks.”[1] They called for a moratorium on GM foods, long-term independent studies, and labeling. AAEM’s position paper stated, “Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food,” including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system. They conclude, “There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation,” as defined by recognized scientific criteria. “The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies.”

Food close to home

Here’s a new video of my friend who runs a veggie coop.  I’m not a vegan or vegatarian, but I still love this coop.  The food is fabulous and the cause is worthy.  She is trying to increase the demand for local farmers to grow food close to home.  It tastes different.   A bell pepper tastes like the one my grandpa used to grow.

The food in the supermarket is just not the same as what used to come out of my grandparent’s garden.  I grew up in a small town in deep East Texas.  Back then, many people gardened, canned, hunted and fished for their food.  I could have cared less and couldn’t wait to get out of the “back woods.”  I hated picking green beans or pulling weeds in the hot Texas sun.  Now I would love to be back in that life.  I can remember running purple-hull peas through the sheller and the kitchen smelling like fresh peas and ham.  Yum. Yum.

Then I moved to the city and started a new life chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  Married a wonderful man and have great kids.  When I went back home, my grandpa called the girls the concrete kids.  It is so true.  Most kids in Houston are concrete kids.  They have no idea how food is grown and how much work / skill it takes.

We’re in trouble because we’ve lost this good growing knowledge close to home and our country is a net importer of food.  Can you believe the United States of America does not grow enough food to feed its people?  That is a travesty.

Little house on the prairie – living off grid

Yesterday afternoon I watched 4 hours of Little House on the Prairie.   We took a break and came downstairs for a snack.  The girls told Dave what we were doing and they were so excited Mom was watching the show with them.  Dave got a grin on his face and proceeded to tell them that I wasn’t watching Little House on the Prairie but was watching living off the grid.  That was really funny and partially true.  I love living off the grid stories…. even if they are a few steps from true living off the grid reality.  I wish someone would do a real show on this life.  We have the Les Stroud show, but it is not representative of what really happens.

Les Stroud – living off the grid

I just watched the “coolest” video.  Les Stroud’s (survivorman) family in Canada moved from their city home onto 150 acres.  And they set up a cabin off grid. I’ve seen stories of others doing this, but I enjoyed this one the most because this family has young kids about the same age as my older two.  They didn’t give up all modern conveniences, but definitely had to sacrifice.  I love these stories.

It is 7 parts on you tube:  first one here.

End times events blog

There’s a blog I regularly read that I have not included on my blogroll.  There are many views of end times in the Christian community, and even many more in the non-Christian community.   It is hard to find info on this topic that I completely agree with, which is why I haven’t put many on my blogroll.  However, I am fascinated with end times.  Especially with the current events we are witnessing.  I love seeing God be God.  God is so amazing.

This site takes current events each day and ties them to end times scriptures.  I do not always agree with his analysis, but it is thought provoking.   Since there’s even more going on in the middle east and our world right now, I thought I’d share this resource with my disclaimer.   When you’re reading analysis, remember you are reading man’s opinion, not God’s ultimate Word.

http://frankdimora.typepad.com/the_last_chronicles/

What about those who do not prepare for a disaster?

When I was a little girl, I remember reading about the grasshopper and ant.  It was summertime and at my grandmother’s house in the country… I can still hear my grandmother’s voice reading.  The theme was that the grasshopper enjoyed all summer.  He ate, wrote poetry, socialized and took long summer naps.  The ant worked all summer while the grasshopper watched and laughed.  Then, of course, winter came and the ant was ready.  The grasshopper died.  The end.  Very short story but tells everything.  It is the natural law, which we’ve changed in our society.

If there was such a book today, it would be as follows.  The grasshopper enjoyed all summer.  The grasshopper was entitled to this time because it was a green grasshopper and worshiped the sun god.  Its ancestors had also done the same thing and it was born that way…. to enjoy the summer.  So he should follow his heart.  The insect government borrowed money from the reptiles so they could build the grasshopper a home, because the grasshopper was entitled to a home.  Then all the other grasshoppers wanted their own homes, so pretty soon the grasshoppers all had new homes.  And the grasshopper didn’t like getting hot jumping through the fields, so he borrowed money from the birds and got an insectmobile.

The ant thought this was crazy, but could not stop the trend.  The ant had a really nice ant hill he’d worked generations to build.  But pretty soon he had a hard time keeping his hill because the insect gov’t taxed the nice hill.  It wasn’t fair that the ant hill was nicer than the grasshopper’s house.  But the ant was debt free and kept his head above water for a while.  In the meantime, the insect gov’t kept borrowing from others to build a wonderful kingdom.  All this time, the ant stored away food and survival items.  The ant did not get into credit card debt and tried to save a little money.

Then winter hit.  Many insect leaders had told the insects that winter would only be 72 hours and the gov’t would show up after that time.  But the winter went on for months.  The birds, reptiles and others refused to loan the insect kingdom any more money.  The insect currency collapsed and social chaos erupted.  The grasshoppers came after the ant for food and other items.  The ant pulled out its stinger and there was an internal insect conflict.   In the meantime, the other kingdoms where really mad at the insects for defaulting and decided to take action against them.  Things got really bad.  The end.

There was a wonderful post yesterday at preparednesspro about this subject:  A crisis of choice.    This is really worth a read.  I don’t see many on the preparedness blogs addressing this subject and she did an excellent job with this hot potato subject.

I’m trying to be an ant.  I used to think I was an ant, but after Ike I really got serious on this subject.  Obtaining preparedness knowledge does not happen overnight.  There are people out there who are really prepared for the uncertainties of life.  There are others who laugh or insult you.  Others encourage you but have no desire to do anything themselves.  Since I’ve started talking about this subject, I get…. “I’m coming to your house if…..”.   If all these people come, we’re good for about 48 hours.

Preparedness is mental and physical.  For me, the mental part is about God.  I want to be in His will first and foremost.  I don’t know the future and any plans I make can be tossed aside in seconds by events in this world.    That does not mean I do nothing.  The Bible is full of stories about people getting ready for the future.  Sometimes He didn’t allow them to store food so they would be totally dependent on Him…..  Jews in the desert eating manna.  However, there are more examples about God’s people being prepared.  God told Joseph to store grain.

Being prepared is not just about food.  It will be different for each family. Housing, age, health, etc.  all play a role in what each individual can do.  And each will get prepared to varying degrees.  One basic strategy is debt.  Debt kills.  Another is knowledge.  What do you need in your area?  I’m in Houston, so I need to be ready for a hurricane or 9/11 type event.

In today’s culture, I think this translates to observing our world and doing our best to prepare for what may be ahead.  The proverbs 31 woman did exactly this.  When I look at our world, I see the potential for hyperinflation, increased natural disasters, pandemics, famines, increased crime and global war.  That sounds depressing, but it is realistic.  Much of our country doesn’t choose to think about these things.  But if we did, our society would be a better place.

So if this has peaked your interest… head on over to preparednessedpro and read more.

What would you do in 30 minutes????

I read a thought provoking article from preparednesspro on how fast grocery stores could be depleted in the event of a major emergency. See full article here.

“If there ever is a cause for a run on the grocery stores, the supplies will be depleted in thirty minutes. That’s it.  One half hour warning is all you will have to get more food, more water, more produce, more seeds, more medical supplies, etc.—you and the rest of your community.  Yet in that thirty minutes, your local stores will only be able to supply less than 1% of your community with the goods they would need or hoard.  Do you really want to risk that you’ll be a part of that lucky 1% and that you’re fast enough to get all of your necessary goods available in that one half hour?”

I am concerned because our society is not ready to deal with emergencies.  Hurricane Ike really changed me because I saw people standing in FEMA lines 48 hours after the storm.  These people were desperate.   Desperate people are very dangerous.  We also got a glimpse with the “pandemic”.  People were paying $90 plus for masks on the black market or standing in line to buy one from the drug store.  In fact, they were in the drug store (where sick people go for meds) with no mask breathing in the germs which terrified them so.  We are a reactionary society.

Another thing we may be facing is serious inflation.  I heard Glenn Beck talking about it on his radio show.  A caller was asking him what to do if you don’t have money to buy gold.  Glenn responded that folks should get extra groceries if they have any extra money because with the type of money our gov’t will print to pay for the spending, we will have major inflation.  He said next time you’re at Walmart, buy extra food that you normally eat if you have any extra funds.  This is a major news guy saying it on the radio.  It makes all the sense to me that major or hyper inflation is on the way, so why not get extra home commodities while the price is low and they are available.  You can get 50 pounds of rice at a major warehouse for about $25.  That is so cheap and will make a lot of meals.  If you don’t have a warehouse membership, then go to an Asian market.  I got 50 pounds of broken jasmine rice at the Houston Hong Kong market for less than $25.  This has a wonderful flavor and unique texture.   Of you might pay a small amount more to get the same amount of rice at walmart.

We’re also seeing attacks on our food supply from government and corporations.  I’m usually pro-corporation.  I worked for one 16 years and one currently employs my husband.  However, I’m concerned that the major food corporations are doing downright evil things with our food and to our soil.  In addition, the gov’t is trying to pass laws making it harder on local farmers.  We’re also using our land and water supplies to produce food used in fuel production such as ethanol.   We are raping our land / aquifers and will pay one day.  I don’t know when, but I do believe we will see food shortages in America during my lifetime.

Emergency Preparedness – Water

Hurricane season is right around the corner.  The last few years have been rough on the Gulf Coast.  I’m still stinging from the Ike experience.  I thought I was prepared, but I was not.  One thing that I needed was a water purifier.  We had stocked up on bottled water, but with 5 kids, 2 adults and 2 dogs in the house… we were going through water very quickly.   If our situation had to continued for much longer we would have run out.  I had a gas stove so I could boil water to use in cooking.  We were concerned our water system had been compromised, so we didn’t want to drink from the tap.  But folks with an electric range had no electricity and were in FEMA lines.

Standing in a FEMA line sounds like hell on earth to me.  I am not counting on our goverment at all during an emergency.

One thing you can do for water is to buy a water filtration system and they are not that expensive.  You can get a decent Berkey system for under $300.  Here’s a site with some general info about these.  We purchased ours using Microsoft Live’s new search engine which give dollars back on certain Ebay purchases.  Each day the microsoft live % changes.  That’s the best deal we found on these systems.  I don’t care where you get one b/c I get no $$$$ from this blog or referrals.  I just want my friends and family prepared.

Living off the Grid

Check out this site:  http://www.coyotecottage.com/why/why.htm.  This couple built a 500 sq foot rustic cabin in Washington State and are living off the grid.  I’ve never known a person to actually do this but the concept FASCINATES me.  I would love not to be tied to a utility company and still have power. They don’t use much water, and I’d have a hard time getting adjusted to that.  I run the dishwasher at least twice a day and our family of five has lots of flushes.

I love their cabin and how they didn’t do fancy trim.  It is very functional.  The older I get, the more appealing that becomes.  When I first got married, I was all into china, crystal and the niceties of life.  Maybe it will swing back around, but now I appreciate the simple.  That came after chasing the pot of gold and burnout.  This couple only has a cell phone bill, car ins and property tax.  I wonder what they do about health ins?

I really love their bedroom and the windows looking out onto the mountains.  You can really see God’s hand in this type of nature.  It is harder to see God’s beauty in concrete, but it is still there if we look.  Back to the cabin… I cannot imagine seeing stars at night.  What a concept.   Yes, I have cabin envy.  I tried talking Dave into a double wide in Lufkin Texas, but he looked at me like I had two noses on my face.  This morning I suggested a 500 sq ft rustic cabin.  Hmmm.

Ryan, there is an apple orchard for sale down the road from this place.  There are lots of unreached people groups on Washington State.  I know Julie would love to live off the grid.  Especially the part where you use the potty bucket outside!

I would love to live like this for a few months.  I don’t know how I’d do long term, but it sounds like a really nice break from the city.  I think I’d miss being around people.  But you’d be very busy just doing everyday life.  But I’m in the city and need to bloom where I’m planted.  Even so, it doesn’t hurt to long for the stars every now and then.

Enjoy!

Peak Oil Problem – What are you doing?

A friend of mine forwarded this article on peak oil. Pretty timely with my Urban Homestead “phase. ” Check out the article here: Peak Oil

The peak oil theory makes sense to me. What we cannot predict is when it will happen or the scientific progress at the time of this “peak” and decline. I’ve recently heard that half the population of the world now lives in the city. If we lose electricity in the city for a long period of time, I cannot see how you survive. I got a taste of no power during Ike. No power equals no water pressure. No pressure means no sewer. Even if you have food, the disease from lack of sanitation will kill many. And garbage will be huge. People will have to burn it, so we’ll have a lot more house and apt fires.

I’ve read about people who are moving to remote locations and developing a self staining lifestyle because they believe today’s lifestyle will be over and they want to be ready. But that would not be fun either. Most in your country could be dying and you’d be in your pocket holding down until a vast number of people perish. And you’d need lots of ammo to protect your pocket. Will you shoot a mom who comes to your property begging for food for her baby? What will life be like after that? And what if the next pandemic hits during all this……WOW. We’re up for a serious strain of flu. Cheered you up yet?

For us, they answer is not buying a farm, a goat and a gun. I’m trying to do all I can to be as self sufficient in our little plot of land near downtown Houston. We’re going to even plant a garden this Spring. We’re trying to cut back on processed stuff and live more frugally than we have in the past. Even so, we still rely on the system for our livelihood. The city provides water, elect, nat gas and garbage pickup. Our groc store provides food and a corporation provides a job.

I don’t think we stick our head in the sand, rather we must be aware of the real threats in our world so we can prepare as much as possible within our current circumstance.

What are you doing???