Good morning. Is everybody doing okay today? We’d like to welcome you all back to the Coverin’ the Bases section of Ridin’ Out the Recession! We’re awful glad you’re here with us again!
As you people know, Deb and I have been talking with you in regards to putting up a little extra food as you can, and even ways to preserve it. Please understand these are very important topics, and we feel topics you need to learn as much about as possible.
Today, food IS an investment for the future. Why? Because for the first time in my 54 years on this earth, I honestly have no idea what the future brings. Do you? There are so many different things going on today, not just here in the U.S., or Canada, but literally world-wide that could trigger violence of some sort.
Quickly, look at what’s going on in the Middle East. Governments are being overthrown, or already have been overthrown. How would you like to be living in Israel during these times? But in regards to us, what lays ahead in the advent of the fuel supplies being cut off?
Quickly, let me just toss in, “Why aren’t we drilling here in the U.S.? What is it with our politicians, on both sides of the aisle today, that just won’t allow this to happen? I truly cannot understand this, but this fact alone, with unrest worldwide, and we all know the attitude of most of the Arab States towards the U.S. Does this not bother anyone else? How about National Security for God’s sake?” Let me go ahead and get my dog outta’ this race, as this isn’t what we’re here for.
What about fuel prices? I talked with a service station owner yesterday. He told me by the end of this week, gas in Central Florida would be $4 per gallon. That’s an 80 cent jump per gallon in a little over a week! What are you going to do?
First, this single fact means trucking costs soaring. This in turn means any goods shipped, will be shipped…at a higher cost to the consumer. It’s not just gas prices going up, it’s clothing, retail sales of any sort, food prices going up, and up, and this a double whammy from the combo of fuel pricing, plus worldwide food shortages already, from droughts, floods, cold, etc. What are you going to do?
Have you thought about power and the effect higher gas prices are going to have on your monthly electric bill? Have you thought about the very real possibility of can you afford the gas to get back and forth to work, get the kids to school, heat and cool your homes, if gas supplied? What are you going to do?
Finally, have you even considered the price of food getting to the point that you have to start literally rationing food, this to insure your families continuing to actually have food on the table? This, on top of all the above costs that will be escalating, possibly even sky-rocketing? If this is truly the scenario…What are you going to do?
We are in some very, very difficult times today people, if you haven’t already noticed! Isn’t it about time if you haven’t already smelled the roses, to possibly take the time and start catching a whiff? It might be a pretty good idea.
Let me say this, and this is from my and Deb’s hearts both.
We are not, and I repeat, Rambo styled survivalists, we aren’t, and in regards to such as this, I simply say, “To each his own!” Y2K had absolutely zero bearing on our lives, not one bit. The 2012 Mayan Prophecy of world destruction doesn’t cause me to miss one minute’s worth of sleep, not one!
All these are to a degree pretty controversial, at least from our standpoint, but again you listen to your own heart and make your own decisions, and that’s how I feel, no biggie. We all have the right, though our government today seems to disagree with this statement, to live our own lives, so again, do what feels good to you on these subjects!
Now with my feelings expressed on those subjects, let me say this. Our family’s decisions are based on simply the fact that our economy #1, is pretty much in shambles. Whether our government wants to agree or not, many, many of the jobs that have been lost in our Country today…aren’t coming back. Sorry, but that’s a fact.
We saw through the housing bubble bursting, and the impact that it had on our lives personally. We changed our lifestyle and outlook on life. Deb and I don’t feel we are “entitled to government handouts” as so many today feel is their right.
If Deb and I don’t work, we feel we shouldn’t become a burden on you! You already have enough on your plate, and you don’t need us “sapping” your cash flow, as you, if like us, are strapped already.
What have we done? Well, we started gardening again. We started home canning, and using the Foodsaver Vacuum System. We started buying a little extra each, and every time we went to the store. We bought seeds to insure having a garden to plant. We have done, and are still doing what we have to, to see our family at least has something to put on the table. This is OUR responsibility…not yours!
Speaking of seeds, Deb went yesterday and bought a supply for us for this year. Beans, peas, squash, cucumbers to pickle mostly, corn, and some others as well. Do you have any idea what she paid a pound for corn seed? I liked to have fell down…$16 per pound, believe that?
Also, we bought them out of most all they had, and honestly, it wasn’t a lot. Demand is really rising, which is a good thing if in fact it is from more people like you and I, starting more and more home, and backyard gardens! Way to go!!
I’d like to link you now to a few articles that I feel may help you in your decision of possibly becoming more self-sufficient. Please take them to heart. The topic…Food Prices!
Rising Food Prices Sour Utah Families:
canadafreepress.com
JPMorgan: Surging Food Prices Fueling Global Inflation:
canadafreepress.com
“Food, fuel and clothing are rising at dramatic rates. Food, especially, is critical. Every shopping cart in every grocery is pushed by an American who finds prices for ordinary things, like bread, milk, and cereal jumping higher and higher. At the checkout counter, the total keeps rising higher and higher. In the last six months, food prices have risen by over 27%. The size of the beef herds in America is at a fifty year low and the impact upon consumers will, inevitably, be sharp.”
Wheat, the Stuff of Revolutions:
“Price of wheat has soared 114 percent over the past year. Corn has surged 88 percent.”
Why Global Food Price Inflation Really Matters:
Sugar, which has reached all-time highs, has been the main culprit this time around, but prices for cereals and oils also have gone nearly vertical since June.
“Governments are scrambling to purchase more grains to quell food riots,” said Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, in a Thursday note to clients. “The idea was to avert deflation and to bring back just a tiny bit of inflation. The unintended global consequences seem to be hoarding, hyper-inflating commodity prices, food riots and revolutions.”
Food costs at record high as U.N. warns of volatile era:
On a day of bloody confrontation in Egypt, where protesters are demanding an end to the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak, the U.N. World Food Programme’s executive director Josette Sheeran said the world was now in an era where it had to be very serious about food supply.
“If people don’t have enough to eat they only have three options: they can revolt, they can migrate or they can die. We need a better action plan,” she said.
Okay, if some of these articles haven’t awakened many of you, well, you might maybe want to…have your pulse taken?
We are in a very tumultuous period today. Not just food and fuel, but look at Wisconsin. Public Service Sector workers, who are contributing very, very little, to their healthcare, and pension plans have descended into the Capitol Building there…many acting like nuts quite frankly. The Country cannot any longer, sustain such cost, but they don’t want to give up a penny. They’d rather you and I keep lowering our standard of living through tax, tax, and more tax, plus we not have a retirement package from our private business. BUT, we should continue to fund their extravagance, while they can’t understand the unfairness of asking the taxpayer to continue to do such! It is insane!
But, if you’ve been watching Europe, you see they’ve been experiencing the very same thing. They can’t sustain the extravagance over there either, of Public Sector Funding. Who’s burning buildings and causing all the trouble…the unions and public workers. Sound familiar today in regards to Wisconsin??
In my opinion, you are seeing the very first signs in the U.S. today, of the future. When we cut the “pork” and force these people to adjust their lifestyles in order for our Republic to survive its own destruction, through such as this, and the giveaway and welfare programs, we’re going to see these people in the streets! I believe this.
In closing, I hope you put a little more thought into your own “Coverin’ the Bases.” I hope I’m wrong, and would be happy to admit that I was wrong if this whole scenario turned around and “happy days” were in fact here again. Time will tell, but better to be prepared for the worst, and hoping for the best!
God Bless you all, and keep your eyes open, and your nose in the wind!
Thanks for coming and see you next time!
Dub and Deb