Whatcha gonna do when it all goes down...

Does anyone have a plan? I have made a few, most of which we don't have all of the components for. One plan involves biking to my dads house, where he has a well and a huge house with some property. There is also a river nearby. It would be one helluva bike trip, but manageable in one day if we were in shape. Ha! To do this, we would need to actually own bikes and at least one bike trailer for the kids.
Another, less shit-hitting-the-fan plan that I have involves lots of preparation now. I imagine that slowly (although quicker than anyone will like) food prices will become so high, oil prices so high and the market so low, that there will be mass suffering here. We have a many-pronged strategy for dealing with this.
First, food and water storage. I plan to have enough food for 6-12 months stored at all times. The roughest part about this is that half of it will be in a freezer which is reliant on electricity. I am making a big leap with this, but if I see a big electricity crisis on the very near horizon, we will eat that stuff first. I have about 15 pounds of beans, 10 pounds of rice, (25 more lbs of beans on the way), 15lbs frozen fruit, 10 lbs frozen veggies, tons of canned foods, oats, flour, spices, an extra gallon of olive oil etc stored. We abide by the store what you eat, eat what you store rules. I have to purchase some water storage containers. These mylar storage totes seem like the way to go. I am also ordering some buckets with Gamma lids and mylar liners for more long-term storage. I imagine that we will continue to add to our storage/prep at about $25-$50 a month until no longer feasible. It is likely that we will be feeding more than our own family from time to time and I want to be able to contribute wherever possible.
Second, self-reliance. We can use a lot of development in this area, but our beginning is with a garden. We will need to expand as much as possible, but this is not the year for it. We are also going to be getting some backyard chickens, which will be so valuable in terms of animal protein. I know how to can and dehydrate and am learning more and more about sprouting, fermenting, and other forms of food prep that don't require electricity or fossil fuels. We have the boxes to make a solar oven and plan on putting in a fire pit in our backyard. I am so disappointed that we have no heating solution for our house in the event of electricity outage and/or no oil supply. Other than installing a woodburning stove, we have no real alternatives yet. Unfortunately, that is too costly to do anytime soon. Other self-reliance concerns are around medical care. Luckily we are members of a community with many wonderful healers. Naturopaths abound and many members of our local tribe are wonderful herbalists, etc. We will surely need to grow and concoct our own tinctures, etc and should probably begin that now. The kids and I only use natural medicines, so our adjustment should be minimal in those areas, but in the event of a real medical emergency, I have little knowledge. I would love to learn how to do stitches, set a bone, etc. I also need to get a decent medical kit with curved needle, etc. Finally, general ability to use tools/repair household items is also a problem and a whole 'nother post! We will also have to get around, which leads to number 3.
Third, get out of our car-coma! We have been a two car family much to my embarrassment when I think about it too much. There is really no reasonable reason for it, especially in the city. We have just gotten used to it and have often felt entitled to each having our own car, when in reality it is a terrible waste of resources. We bought a great double stroller that will work when for hauling stuff when the kids have outgrown it. We are downsizing to one larger car that is carpool friendly and one scooter-type bike that Patrick can commute on. We are also both getting new bikes, since my old one is in pieces! I believe that each of these adjustments will ultimately give our children a world-view that is more in line with the true state of the world and will make later adjustments to an earth-centered lifestyle easier. And that will be beautiful and scary, all at once.

The Omnivore's Dilemma, etc.

So if you want to hate corn and be suspicious of every packaged product on the market (as I already am!), this book will do it. Also, if you want to feel like whole, local foods are affordable and more nutritious than a basket of organics from Mexico, this book will also do that for you. I absolutely love the task that Pollan took on to trace foods from their beginnings in a field, factory, wherever, to a dinner. Of course, the McDonald's dinner gets our attention first with its horrific % of corn (likely all GMO) based foods. Most wildly was the mass spectrometer reading that was able to calculate how much of each food came from corn. Some things were obvious, like the soda being 100% corn, since it is sweetened with HFCS, which is all that soda is anyhow, plus a bit of flavoring, water and color. The flavoring and color were probably corn based too. More surprising were things like the chicken nuggets, 56% corn. From the HFCS in them to the corn and antibiotic and hormone diet the chicken was fed to the breading and "flavors" we can attribute more to corn than anything else. And people think they are eating chicken. Gross.
The other meal that blew my mind was the hunted and gathered meal that barely cost him a dime. It was all local and proved to be a lovely, varied meal. He has some caveats to that meal that you have to read to get, but it was inspirational to read about a meal that was so truly affordable (maybe not timewise, but time may not always be the premium that it is now) and free of nasty additives, hormones, irresponsibly raised animals or environmentally damaging processes. I am really drawn to recommending this book because of the corn and monoculturing information, but also the underlying message about petroleum usage. Food is only becoming more valuable as peak oil nears. This is an essential to understand before you read the book, IMO.

So after digesting this book, I was reading over on the Oil Drum about our economy and how it will likely effect our food supplies as other countries will be less willing to export to us and how we will have to start becoming more domestically responsible for our own food supplies. All of that triggered me to thinking about the terrible depletion of our soil from mono-culturing corn. Corn that is largely not edible without massive (petroleum driven) processing. How are we as a country going to feed ourselves? We are in a situation of corn corn everywhere and nothing left to eat.
Here is a link to the very concise post about the economy and peak oil that was made over on the Oil Drum. I highly recommend it :)

Important Information; Plan Accordingly

http://www.thepowerhour.com/news/items_disappearfirst.htm

Nutrition and Pregnancy Rant.
I have so many rants about nutrition. It has been a "hobby" of mine the last few years, the focus changing on a whim from month to month, often based on what Moon was experiencing or decisions that needed to be made in our lives around diet. Since Landon has been born, I have been really considering how serious pregnant women should be taking nutrition. And not just pregnant women, actually, but each and every person who is dispensing information to pregnant women. You see, with Moon I had such a terrible pregnancy (horrible morning sickness through the entire pregnancy, anxiety, insomnia, and finally pre-eclampsia). I had followed a lot of mainstream medical advice, even though I would not have labeled myself a "mainstreamer". 50 grams of protein a day (plenty of that was soy protein), moderate exercise, lots of ridiculous appointments with blood testing, etc all made to make the mama feel like she is taking appropriate care of herself and the baby. Endless morning sickness was just treated a part and parcel of the pregnancy experience. I was even told that losing 25 lbs was GOOD because I was overweight to start with. Needless to say, I was so unhappy being pregnant and the resulting unplanned hospital delivery of Moon was the icing on the proverbial cake.
When I found out I was pregnant with Landon, I was determined to have a completely different experience. I swore off western medicine for 90% of my care and went with a naturopathic midwife who was willing to let me chose what tests and interventions I wanted. I totally loved her and felt so at ease with her. I also never saw nurses or a "team" of care providers for my prenatal care. Just her. Immediately we talked about how to avoid a horrible pregnancy and came up with a pretty intense diet that included 100g of protein a day. Later when I was having heart palpitations, we created an awesome care plan of daily herbs and supplements to MAKE SURE that my body was functioning at its best and that Landon was getting all the nutrition he needed. I received chiropractic care and craniosacral therapy for anxiety and processing. Acupuncture for digestion and anxiety (and later to prep my body for childbirth). It felt so good to take action and feel somewhat in control of my pregnancy. I still wasn't loving being pregnant, but I didn't feel disempowered. To cut to the chase, I had a totally healthy pregnancy with Landon, a perfect birth experience and Landon was born big and healthy. Post-partum has been so much gentler to me this time around also. No coincidence, I believe.
I feel so sad that Moon has bore the brunt of poor nutrition choices from me. She struggles with food allergies and eye and teeth issues. All of which can be mama-nutrition related. I am totally thankful that she breast-fed for 3 years, but feel like that first year of milkies could have been so much more...that hindsight is a killer.

Book Reviews

Unconditional Parenting. Another great book, this time in the realm of shifting our parenting paradigm away from rewarding and punishing, toward open communication and consistent displays of genuine love. I found this book so compelling and was even able to see the author give a lecture on the same topic. If you have ever felt like punishments were a little off kilter with your values or that "good job" was becoming a watered down mantra, this book is a good choice to read.


Affluenza. Totally fabulous, if not depressing book. Really opens your eyes to the "disease" of wanting to consume more things vs wanting more time to develop ourselves, spend with family, cultivate LIFE. Things often being the winner, we are suffering the consequences. Affluenza offers some great ideas to cure ourselves and to prevent further progression of the disease. Warning: you may find yourself very disturbed and judgemental next time you see someone driving a Lexus SUV with vanity plates...

Treasure Mapping

I would be so happy to have all of the people I love join me in Treasure Mapping this year. I feel particularly motivated to put a significant amount of energy into mapping this year because of the rapid changes happening in our country. The downshifting of the economy and the growing awareness of returning to a more sustainable way of life will require a lot of energy. I hope that this transition is one that comes as no surprise to most of us who are paying attention. I plan to do most of my blog posts on shifting our reality in many ways, from food choices to parenting to gardening to money. Feedback, community building, information sharing are all encouraged!

Now is the time to start clearing our spaces, physically and mentally, to allow for new energy to come in. April 5th is when to begin your treasure map. Not before!