Getting Your Family on Board with Storing Food

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Archives2010/AstykFood.html

Good advice. best-mg

By Sharon Astyk

I imagine after the last few weeks, the idea of storing food isn't seeming quite so crazy to a lot of folks in the country, but still, I hear all the time "I want to start building up a reserve but my husband/sister/mother in law thinks this is nuts." So I thought I would repost this piece, on how to get your family on board (and what not to say).



Ok, I've convinced you - you need a reserve of food, you want to learn to can and dehydrate, you want to start eating more local foods. But you haven't done anything yet, because, well, the rest of your household isn't on board. Before you go there, you need to convince them. So I offer up this handy guide of answers to common protests about food storage and preservation. I also offer up some suggestions on what not to say, just in case you need them, mostly because that part was fun for me to write .



Protest #1: It will be too expensive! We can't afford extra food.



Bad answer: "But honey, the world is going to come to an end soon, and male life expectancy is going to drop into the 50s, so you won't need your retirement savings anyway. Let's spend it on food so I have something to eat in my old age."



Good answer: "I'm glad you are so concerned about our finances, and I share your concern. I think in the longer term this will save us money, allowing us to buy food at lower bulk prices and when it is at its cheapest and on sale, and thus will insulate us from rising prices. But let's sit down and make a budget for what we think it is appropriate to spend on food storage."



Protest #2: No one has time to can and preserve food anymore! Isn't that a leftover form the bad old days?



Bad answer: "Of course you'll have time to do it, sweetie - can't you get up before the kids do to make pickles? You already get 5 hours of sleep a night, so what's the problem? Here, read this woman's blog and you'll start feeling guilty that you don't love the kids enough to make your own salsa."



Good answer: "What I think will end up happening is that we'll save time later from effort spent now - and we'll know that our food supply is nutritious and safe - I don't feel good giving the kids processed foods with all the recalls and contaminations. But let's definitely start slowly - I'll make some sauerkraut, and then if you think we should, we'll look into plans for a dehydrator. But we'll do it together.



Protest #3: Where are we going to put all that stuff? There's no way it will fit!



Bad answer: "On those shelves where you keep all your old vinyl records, silly. As soon as I get that stuff out to the trash, we'll be ready to build our pantry."



Good answer: "I think there's some unused space in that guest room, and if I clean out this closet, I know we could put shelves up and store some food. I guess I should think about cleaning out some of my junk, right?"



Protest #4: Storing food is for wacko-survivalist types - that's not us.



Bad answer: "Oh, didn't you read that stuff by Nostradamus that I gave you? Oh, and do you know how to use an uzi?"



Good answer: "No, storing food is what my grandmother did to get through the great depression. Nothing really awful has to happen for us to need it - we could just have a bad storm or one of us could lose our job. It is pretty normal, actually - so normal that FEMA and the American Red Cross recommend that every American store two weeks worth of food."



Protest #5: Nobody in our house is going to eat Garbanzo beans. I'm certainly not going to - they make we want to puke!



Bad answer:"Oh, you'll eat those beans, young lady, or you'll spend the rest of your life in your room!"



Good answer: "Ok, you don't like chickpeas. That's ok - what would you suggest we get instead? Would you like to come with me to the bulk store and help me pick out some storage food? It needs to be about 1/3 protein sources to grains - what would you suggest?"

(full commentary at link)

mountaingirl/NM wrote:http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Archives2010/AstykFood.html

Good advice. best-mg

By Sharon Astyk

I imagine after the last few weeks, the idea of storing food isn't seeming quite so crazy to a lot of folks in the country, but still, I hear all the time "I want to start building up a reserve but my husband/sister/mother in law thinks this is nuts." So I thought I would repost this piece, on how to get your family on board (and what not to say).



Ok, I've convinced you - you need a reserve of food, you want to learn to can and dehydrate, you want to start eating more local foods. But you haven't done anything yet, because, well, the rest of your household isn't on board. Before you go there, you need to convince them. So I offer up this handy guide of answers to common protests about food storage and preservation. I also offer up some suggestions on what not to say, just in case you need them, mostly because that part was fun for me to write .



Protest #1: It will be too expensive! We can't afford extra food.



Bad answer: "But honey, the world is going to come to an end soon, and male life expectancy is going to drop into the 50s, so you won't need your retirement savings anyway. Let's spend it on food so I have something to eat in my old age."



Good answer: "I'm glad you are so concerned about our finances, and I share your concern. I think in the longer term this will save us money, allowing us to buy food at lower bulk prices and when it is at its cheapest and on sale, and thus will insulate us from rising prices. But let's sit down and make a budget for what we think it is appropriate to spend on food storage."



Protest #2: No one has time to can and preserve food anymore! Isn't that a leftover form the bad old days?



Bad answer: "Of course you'll have time to do it, sweetie - can't you get up before the kids do to make pickles? You already get 5 hours of sleep a night, so what's the problem? Here, read this woman's blog and you'll start feeling guilty that you don't love the kids enough to make your own salsa."



Good answer: "What I think will end up happening is that we'll save time later from effort spent now - and we'll know that our food supply is nutritious and safe - I don't feel good giving the kids processed foods with all the recalls and contaminations. But let's definitely start slowly - I'll make some sauerkraut, and then if you think we should, we'll look into plans for a dehydrator. But we'll do it together.



Protest #3: Where are we going to put all that stuff? There's no way it will fit!



Bad answer: "On those shelves where you keep all your old vinyl records, silly. As soon as I get that stuff out to the trash, we'll be ready to build our pantry."



Good answer: "I think there's some unused space in that guest room, and if I clean out this closet, I know we could put shelves up and store some food. I guess I should think about cleaning out some of my junk, right?"



Protest #4: Storing food is for wacko-survivalist types - that's not us.



Bad answer: "Oh, didn't you read that stuff by Nostradamus that I gave you? Oh, and do you know how to use an uzi?"



Good answer: "No, storing food is what my grandmother did to get through the great depression. Nothing really awful has to happen for us to need it - we could just have a bad storm or one of us could lose our job. It is pretty normal, actually - so normal that FEMA and the American Red Cross recommend that every American store two weeks worth of food."



Protest #5: Nobody in our house is going to eat Garbanzo beans. I'm certainly not going to - they make we want to puke!



Bad answer:"Oh, you'll eat those beans, young lady, or you'll spend the rest of your life in your room!"



Good answer: "Ok, you don't like chickpeas. That's ok - what would you suggest we get instead? Would you like to come with me to the bulk store and help me pick out some storage food? It needs to be about 1/3 protein sources to grains - what would you suggest?"

(full commentary at link)

I don't think there is anything wrong with storing extra food.

One, if you live in an area that is disaster prone it is just the right thing to do. Secondly, the economy still, in my opinion, has not recovered, despite what the politicians and media say. I just know that the same amount of money doesn't go as far as it did a few years ago.

Also, I think anyone can see that inflation is going to hit, when you print the amount of money that we have. I remember in the '70's under Carter, the gas lines, inflation, interest rates at 15-20% and that was for a home loan. Also, we have not seen the secondary housing market hit bottom with the almost 2-3 million homes that are sitting on the brink of foreclosure plus the commercial real estate market has not hit bottom yet either. Go by any building and you will see signs outside offering suites for rent. I don't remember it being as bad in the '70's as it is now. That doesn't mean I think a collapse is imminent, it just means that as a kid, which I was in the early part of the '70's your parents tend to shield you from stuff plus you don't pay much attention to the news like you do when you are an adult. However that said, since I have been probably been around 20 years old or stuff, I have never thought that Social Security would be there for me. It was pretty easy then to do the math as to how many people were putting into the system and how many people were receiving benefits off that and at what rate. People that say put a few thousand into the system but are getting out say $11K, it is only natural that the system is going to run dry. It all seems like a huge ponzi scheme to me, but that is just my opinion for what it is worth.

In any event I think stocking food is a good idea. That is one reason we are doing a full garden this year.

Calibabe wrote:

mountaingirl/NM wrote:http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Archives2010/AstykFood.html

Good advice. best-mg

By Sharon Astyk

I imagine after the last few weeks, the idea of storing food isn't seeming quite so crazy to a lot of folks in the country, but still, I hear all the time "I want to start building up a reserve but my husband/sister/mother in law thinks this is nuts." So I thought I would repost this piece, on how to get your family on board (and what not to say).



Ok, I've convinced you - you need a reserve of food, you want to learn to can and dehydrate, you want to start eating more local foods. But you haven't done anything yet, because, well, the rest of your household isn't on board. Before you go there, you need to convince them. So I offer up this handy guide of answers to common protests about food storage and preservation. I also offer up some suggestions on what not to say, just in case you need them, mostly because that part was fun for me to write .



Protest #1: It will be too expensive! We can't afford extra food.



Bad answer: "But honey, the world is going to come to an end soon, and male life expectancy is going to drop into the 50s, so you won't need your retirement savings anyway. Let's spend it on food so I have something to eat in my old age."



Good answer: "I'm glad you are so concerned about our finances, and I share your concern. I think in the longer term this will save us money, allowing us to buy food at lower bulk prices and when it is at its cheapest and on sale, and thus will insulate us from rising prices. But let's sit down and make a budget for what we think it is appropriate to spend on food storage."



Protest #2: No one has time to can and preserve food anymore! Isn't that a leftover form the bad old days?



Bad answer: "Of course you'll have time to do it, sweetie - can't you get up before the kids do to make pickles? You already get 5 hours of sleep a night, so what's the problem? Here, read this woman's blog and you'll start feeling guilty that you don't love the kids enough to make your own salsa."



Good answer: "What I think will end up happening is that we'll save time later from effort spent now - and we'll know that our food supply is nutritious and safe - I don't feel good giving the kids processed foods with all the recalls and contaminations. But let's definitely start slowly - I'll make some sauerkraut, and then if you think we should, we'll look into plans for a dehydrator. But we'll do it together.



Protest #3: Where are we going to put all that stuff? There's no way it will fit!



Bad answer: "On those shelves where you keep all your old vinyl records, silly. As soon as I get that stuff out to the trash, we'll be ready to build our pantry."



Good answer: "I think there's some unused space in that guest room, and if I clean out this closet, I know we could put shelves up and store some food. I guess I should think about cleaning out some of my junk, right?"



Protest #4: Storing food is for wacko-survivalist types - that's not us.



Bad answer: "Oh, didn't you read that stuff by Nostradamus that I gave you? Oh, and do you know how to use an uzi?"



Good answer: "No, storing food is what my grandmother did to get through the great depression. Nothing really awful has to happen for us to need it - we could just have a bad storm or one of us could lose our job. It is pretty normal, actually - so normal that FEMA and the American Red Cross recommend that every American store two weeks worth of food."



Protest #5: Nobody in our house is going to eat Garbanzo beans. I'm certainly not going to - they make we want to puke!



Bad answer:"Oh, you'll eat those beans, young lady, or you'll spend the rest of your life in your room!"



Good answer: "Ok, you don't like chickpeas. That's ok - what would you suggest we get instead? Would you like to come with me to the bulk store and help me pick out some storage food? It needs to be about 1/3 protein sources to grains - what would you suggest?"

(full commentary at link)

I don't think there is anything wrong with storing extra food.

One, if you live in an area that is disaster prone it is just the right thing to do. Secondly, the economy still, in my opinion, has not recovered, despite what the politicians and media say. I just know that the same amount of money doesn't go as far as it did a few years ago.

Also, I think anyone can see that inflation is going to hit, when you print the amount of money that we have. I remember in the '70's under Carter, the gas lines, inflation, interest rates at 15-20% and that was for a home loan. Also, we have not seen the secondary housing market hit bottom with the almost 2-3 million homes that are sitting on the brink of foreclosure plus the commercial real estate market has not hit bottom yet either. Go by any building and you will see signs outside offering suites for rent. I don't remember it being as bad in the '70's as it is now. That doesn't mean I think a collapse is imminent, it just means that as a kid, which I was in the early part of the '70's your parents tend to shield you from stuff plus you don't pay much attention to the news like you do when you are an adult. However that said, since I have been probably been around 20 years old or stuff, I have never thought that Social Security would be there for me. It was pretty easy then to do the math as to how many people were putting into the system and how many people were receiving benefits off that and at what rate. People that say put a few thousand into the system but are getting out say $11K, it is only natural that the system is going to run dry. It all seems like a huge ponzi scheme to me, but that is just my opinion for what it is worth.

In any event I think stocking food is a good idea. That is one reason we are doing a full garden this year.

Well said Calibabe, excellent points.

We too have become gardeners and you know what? It feels pretty good, makes us feel more in control of certain aspects of our lives.

I'll be getting into canning soon too.

The Good Earth.

best-mg

One reason why I like watching this video so much:

friends and I were talking last night about haveing a frienship garden amongst the 4 of us ladies...we all know how to can and dry foods, looking forward to the spring!!!...Lady