How To Take Back Your Power

While the world falls to hell around us, think about this today, and ponder how you can apply this wisdom at your house.

"To let people arrange their own food, energy and shelter is to lose economic and political control over them."
Bill Mollison

Pass The Peas, Please!

 If you’ve grown peas before, you might already be familiar with the little green marvels. But if you’ve never grown peas and want to give them a shot, there’s a few things you should know.

•  You CAN grow peas in planters. So if your soil is questionable, or maybe even absolute crap, if you live in an apartment, or you rent and can’t get permission to have a garden, or you can’t bend over like you used to… don’t despair! When the peas get big, provide with some sort of support to climb on, even if it’s just twine or string strung between sticks. (Peas aren’t proud, they’re happy as long as they have something to climb on) 

• When the temperature goes up, provide them with shade. That might mean moving the pots they’re in or devising a support system you can drape darker old sheets over during the hottest part of the day. (Again, this doesn’t have to be store-bought or look like something from the pages of Martha Stewart magazine. Do what works for you without cutting into your budget) 

• Water them every day. Not only does this result in plumper peas, but the plants can withstand higher temperatures and pest invasions better. 

• If you have the room, for pots, planters or another row in the garden, plant more than one crop, but about a week after the first planting. This is called succession planting, and it ensures you’ll get more than one harvest. Depending on how many you’ve planted, you may or may not get very much, but every single fresh pea on your plate is better than canned ones from the grocery store. And speaking of harvest… 

Harvest in the coolest part of the day. Keep your peas in a baggie or a bowl in the fridge until dinner time. If you must have them cooked, only heat them until they’re warm. Don’t boil them to death! You’ll have boiled all the vitamins out of them, ruined their consistency. My favorite way to have peas is raw, but not everyone agrees with me.

 This is by no means, a complete list. Just a few tips I thought I’d share in the hopes of getting more folks growing a classic and much-loved vegetables.

Have you grown peas? Do you have any tips to share with us? Sound off in the comments section, we’d love to learn from you! (If you enjoyed this post and want to see more like it, enter your name in the box to the right and we’ll let you know via email when there’s a new post.)

Moose, Lettuce and Spinach, Oh My!

I've written before on how relieved I am that spring is finally here, as evidenced by the warmer temperatures, more birds and the moose coming out of the bush.
Speaking of moose, a friend of mine (Sara Mealey) got some great photos of that same moose I shared with you the other day.
Apparently the moose likes paparazzi. Or should that be people-razzi?

I tell you, spring couldn't get here fast enough for me. 
Okay, I should amend that...
I want spring, but I really don't want it to arrive with a body slam that will flood my little town. I mean, let's be reasonable, very few of us are ready to be cut off from our main city an hour away.
I know we aren't.

We've started our plants with lettuce and spinach first. I'm very pleased with how they're thriving in their little south-facing window.

On the left is Buttercrunch lettuce and on the right, though looking less vigorous, is spinach.


It's not a huge start, but it is a start. This morning I started some more lettuce and spinach, because, hey, we'll want more. I also started some basil.

So why do all this when I can get it in town? 

• Because veggies aren't cheap, and neither is the gas required to get them
• Because nothing beats the taste of homegrown veggies and spices
• Because it satisfies my green thumb and there is an undercurrent of hope in growing things yourself

What about you? Are you growing anything at home, whatever form that takes?

How To Get Ahead In The Kitchen

Back a couple of weeks ago, I stressed the importance of taking back control over our lives, and I said we could have a realistic discussion of how to do that.

I talked about eating at home more, but what if you have a busy life or you don’t want to spend hours over the stove every week?
One way to get the best of both home-cooked meals and frozen dinners is to do both!
Instead of settling for frozen cardboard meals, plan ahead, make one or two extra meals while you have the groceries and the time, and freeze them!
Label carefully and think ahead. Either write on the package what’s inside and how to cook it, or include written instructions on paper or cardstock, or whatever you have. If you have teenagers, lazy people or people that just don’t know how to cook in your home, think of them and make it as easy as possible. Or perhaps you live alone, perhaps you foresee a lifestyle change coming, just a new baby that’s due soon.
Either way, take into account what you, or the rest of your family, likes to eat. Make that.
Don’t make something no one will want to eat, because then it’ll just sit in the freezer getting old, becoming unrecognizable and in time, someone is just going to throw it out.
Nothing gained that way.

So step one is to honestly go over what you and/or your family like to eat. If it’s spaghetti, then brainstorm ways that the sauce can be made ahead and frozen or canned, or whatever preservation method works for you. If the family has a meatball lover, like we do, make some ahead of time and freeze them.
We can get up in the morning with the intent to make a dozen meatballs, but if we have no energy by 3 pm, then we’re having a meatball-less dinner.
Solution?
Plan ahead. Make the meatballs some evening when there’s nothing on television and you’re bored. (Told you this would be a realistic discussion)
You found ground beef on sale. You can afford to get twice the amount you normally do, so make those meatballs because the price of beef may go up again by the time you have the energy!

Spaghetti and meatballs with sauce is just one example. Feel free to substitute whatever dish strikes your fancy.

The point is to think ahead, plan and execute the plan.

Be realistic. Plan for laziness or power failures or heaven-forbid the illness of your family’s cook.

Survey your situation.
Plan.
Execute that plan, one step at a time.
Rinse. Repeat.

Oh look, you’re one step ahead of where you were last friday.
Good for you!

Next time, de-mystifying the art of the homemade bread loaf.

The Care And Feeding Of Sheeple

I'm sure we've all seen, or heard something about, the government in Cyprus now taking up to 40% of the funds in bank accounts that total over 100,000 Euros. No matter if the account holders agreed or not. Sounds unfair, doesn't it? Sounds like something that could never happen to us, right?
WRONG!
According to a government document, the Canadian government has now set itself up to do the same thing to it's own citizens in case a major bank is in jeopardy!
No, I've not overdosed on coffee and gummy bears. No, I didn't get my information from a conspiracy website.
Here's where you can read more about it....
CoinWeek.com
And the full government document, our newest budget, here


On page 144 it reads, “The Government also recognizes the need to manage the risks associated with systemically important banks—those banks whose distress or failure could cause a disruption to the financial system and, in turn, negative impacts on the economy.  This requires strong prudential oversight and a robust set of options for resolving these institutions without the use of taxpayer funds, in the unlikely event that one becomes non-viable.”

It gets worse on page 145, where it reads, “The Government proposes to implement a bail-in regime for systemically important banks.  This regime will be designed to ensure that, in the unlikely event that a systemically important bank depletes its capital, the bank can be recapitalized and returned to viability through the very rapid conversion of certain bank liabilities into regulatory capital.”

My first thought was, 'if they're saying it's unlikely, why plan to take these actions at all?'
And what exactly do they mean by 'certain bank liabilities'? Outstanding loans? The document never defines what those certain bank liabilities are! I've read the whole chapter, gotten a headache from it, and I'm here to tell you, it never, ever defines what those liabilities might be.

This disturbs me for a few reasons. Because I have an account in a major bank, although it's total will never top 100,000. Because the wording is vague and nebulous and can be interpreted so many different ways, and that in itself allows the government far more wiggle room than they should have. Because it seems to be saying that if the government decides that certain accounts are liabilities, like those in Cyprus, France, Germany and Italy, they can take a portion of those amounts to refinance the bank. They seem to be saying "all the other countries are doing it!" with this line, 'This framework will
be consistent with reforms in other countries and key international standards...'


For the past year I have been warning Canadians should be worried about non-transparency in our government. We all know that government serves it's own best interests, no matter what country we're talking about. This is prominent in many aspects, from Monsanto becoming a "buck-buddy" to both the United States and Canada, to the healthcare system's increasing habit of being more available to those with money, contracts being awarded to friends and family of certain politicians, politicians of all levels charging the most ridiculous things to the taxpayers and then acting outraged when there is an investigation....and I'm sure you can add a handful more examples. My point is that this is not just an American problem. We Canadians are world renowned for our politeness, and there is a growing feeling that we're push-overs too. Too many of our people are too complacent about what their government is doing that we don't hear about. Political apathy seems to be a growing normal in this country! To return to our budget example for a moment, when the Canadian mainstream media was reporting the Cyprus account seizing story, many people were aghast and outraged. But when our budget was reported on, not one mainstream media outlet made any mention of the possibility of that same thing happening to our own people!
Why? Is our media in our government's back pocket the way many of the American outlets are reputed to be?

So if our government is following an international example in this, what else are they doing that we haven't heard about? We seem to give up more and more rights every time there is an election, and I'm not just referring to a federal level! How many times do families buy a home in a neighborhood controlled by a housing association, go to hang a clothesline and find out they aren't allowed due to "housing association regulations"? How about the simple act of planting a garden? Many neighborhoods forbid the mere act of growing tomatoes, never mind the keeping of a few chickens to provide the family with fresh eggs! Heaven forbid if you want to compost! Again, this happens in Canada too. I once lived not far from a neighborhood that even had the audacity to tell homeowners they could only paint their homes in pre-approved colours.
By our silence, we allow this kind of thing to continue. So that by the time our provincial and federal governments attempt to slide some new regulation past us, we're so blind and docile, we don't even notice!

So what does this mean for our overall picture? Well, it means you should be worried. I've made mention time and again of the populace of many countries becoming "sheeple". No better than sheep, trained  where to go and how to act. Those that want to have a little more control over their own lives need to find a way to be better informed about controlling bodies at all levels. We need to not sign away our rights and freedoms. We need to fight for equality for our people. You've likely heard of the following passage:

"First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me."

Seems like a dramatic example, doesn't it? But if you think about it, there are many times in a year that rights are trod on, or taken away. Modern history can cite the example of Japanese citizens of Canada detained in camps because the government saw them as a threat. Land and homes taken away, bank accounts seized, whole families wrenched apart because their government saw them as a threat. Hmm, kind of sounds like what North Korea has done for years.
Or how about when gays and lesbians in California lost the previously given right to marry?
Or what about when a status holding Native woman went to university, studied hard and got a degree in law or medicine and immediately lost her status, her community of origin, physically, geographically, socially, spiritually, psychologically, emotionally and in many cases, proof of lineage? Any Native man who served in the armed forces faced the same consequence. This situation has been legally addressed with the passing of Bill C-31 in 1985. But my point here is that even polite Canada has a discriminatory history.

People can no longer afford to ignore politics. If the federal level is to much to absorb, focus on a provincial, or state level. Or perhaps  city council meetings are an easier place to start paying attention. Wherever we focus, we NEED to pay attention! It's high time we stop allowing others to tell us how to live! Whether it is a government official telling us we cannot sell raw milk, regardless of how much healthier it is, or a local board telling us we can't plant tomatoes in our front yard, or a government telling us we MUST have a bank account while they help themselves to it's contents, or the board of a housing corporation telling us we cannot hang our laundry while our Prime Minister encourages us to reduce our draw on the electrical grid. It is time we informed ourselves and started taking back control of our lives. One meal at a time, one vote at a time, one letter at a time.

Don't be a sheeple!!

Assess, Plan and Learn

Before I moved out to the bush (as we up here call it), in many ways I had a "country attitude". Often, I did my laundry by hand, even though my friends couldn't understand why. I walked, even when I didn't need to. Buses were plentiful and friends would often offer a ride. But I chose to walk. Even the winter that I abandoned the warm, stuck bus to walk home over 3 miles away. I would explain these choices by saying I wanted control over what I could in my life. I couldn't control when I worked, or much of the world around me, so I controlled what I could.
I still feel the same way.
As I write, there is a jar of sprouts quietly growing on a shelf, full of nutrients that the grocery store produce just doesn't have any more.
There is a butane stove, complete with bottles of fuel, out in the shed. We have a brand new propane stove here in the house (thanks to the folks!) with lots of propane outside; but still, it's good to have a back-up. Many of you know I like to have back-ups. The trick is to assess, plan and utilize.

Assess what we have for cooking, food production, hygiene, water, heating, entertainment; whatever we'd need to survive being stuck inside for a week or more. Up here, that could mean a big snow storm or a road being flooded out. I recommend that you assess your own areas for the most likely emergency that might keep you stuck at home. The more prepared you are, the less impact the situation will have on your life.

There's a part of my town's history that applies here. Many years ago, a main road washed out in the spring break-up. It just so happened that a few towns-women were expecting and wouldn't you know it, a couple of them went into labour. According to the local story, those that went into labour had to be air-lifted to town, where the hospitals and doctors were. While this is a bit of an extreme example, it does underline the need to be prepared to not get to town. Childbirth is a unique situation, and different for everyone, but think about your family or your situation for a moment. How would you fare if you could not get to a grocery store or a bank for a week. What about two weeks? Three?

I like to play a little "game" with myself, "what if".
What would we do if the well ran dry for a month? (Which isn't unheard of out here the way our summers are going) I need to come up with a water plan. Rainwater harvesting, collection and storage then becomes something I need to learn about. We don't have gutters or very many rain barrels, so as I see it, that's where I need to start. Get gutters installed, which means, for me, buy them and learn how to install them. Did you know that each 1mm of rain = 1 Litre (L) of water per square metre (m2) of roof area? So a three bedroom home has the potential of redirecting quite a lot of water! So I think rainwater collection is pretty important. This then involves making sure we have rain barrels. So far, we only have two good ones, so clearly a priority this spring is to get a couple more large ones. Developing the spring down the back is a good idea too. I think having a couple of back-ups when it comes to water is prudent.
Some of you might remember we had pump issues this past summer, and we were very lucky to have the saved water we did. Water took on a whole new importance for me. So, I've assessed what we have for water, seen a need, and am now working on a plan to improve our water situation.

So what if we can't get to a grocery store for over a month?
Again, not unheard of up here.
So, we've assessed what we eat that can be grown, and we have a plan to grow what we can, and how to best preserve what we grow. I've made connections with local hunters that are willing to share some of what they hunt, and I've done the research so that I might get my fishing license this spring. Wild fish is not my first choice when I'm hungry, but I know it's not terrible either. No one in our large family is a vegetarian, we all enjoy meat. Local fish is easy to obtain and can be pressure canned for preservation. For us, this makes sense. At least while I work on a plan to raise a pig for meat.

Everyone's situation is different. Our needs may all be slightly different. But I am a firm believer in the simple fact that no matter where we live, country or the city, no matter what country you call home, we all need to make sure that if our "normal" lives are disrupted that we try to minimize the upset to our families. People that are prepared come through crisis better than those who wait for someone else to do something.
Play "what if" with yourself. Imagine there is no one else to help you coming for at least a week. Assess what you have, and how you can improve upon that. Make lists if you need to, write it all out. But keep a level head  during it all. Panic and fear never helped anyone who wasn't a cave dwelling two-legged.

Be realistic, but honest.
Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.

How Huge Food Corporations Will Make Upcoming Food Price Hikes Even Worse

An interesting quote this morning from an article I read called, "How Huge Food Corporations will Make Upcoming Food Price Hikes Even Worse"
First the quote, then a link to the article if you're interested.
(And there's a print link if you're like me and prefer to read articles without all the flashing ads on the side)

"Nearly 90 percent of U.S. cropland is comprised of just four crops. This year, the USDA estimates [10] that the nearly 30 percent of U.S. cropland is planted in corn, 23 percent in soybeans, 18 percent in hay, and 17 percent in wheat. Of these, only wheat is significantly different from the others: it mostly goes to feed humans (not livestock), it is less affected by the drought [11] in the U.S., and the U.S. is not the world’s top producer (it’s fourth)."

Here's the link to the article. It's worth a careful read.
How Huge Food Corporations Will Make Upcoming Food Price Hikes Even Worse

One Last Argument For Food Control

As a part of this series on food, and my arguments for taking control of it back, I'd like to give you something else to think about, something to "chew on" as my Grandfather would have said. The food guides of both the U.S and Canada recommend certain serving sizes of fruits and vegetables, meats, grains and so on for optimum heath, right? Not many of us really try very hard to achieve those culinary goals, but some do. It takes some creativity to eat anywhere close to those food guides, and if you have a picky eater in the family, then you REALLY have your work cut out for you! But some of you may be surprised to find those fruits and vegetables we've been told to eat are NOT as healthy as we've been allowed to believe. Now before you splutter in protest, hear me out. In 1963, the USDA, or United States Department of Agriculture released a collection of nutrients found in all sorts of foods tested. In 2001 they updated their information as certain foods had been tested again. This is pretty much an ongoing process.
(If you're feeling especially brave, you can try and slog through all the government-speak and data yourself Nutritive Value of Foods) But to share just a small part of a near-overwhelming amount of information, our veggies ain't what they used to be.

From 1963 to 2000 the common field tomato has changed.  It is no longer a bastion of vitamin C. In fact, the tomatoes level of vitamin C have fallen by an alarming 41.66%, it's vitamin A has dropped by 29.75%, the calcium so important for our bones has dropped 33.3%, the potassium has fallen 3.5% and magnesium has plummeted 22.91%. Due to information laws, the U.S government isn't trying to hide this information, but I went looking and let me tell you, it's not easy to find either!

I find it a little disturbing that the National Academy of Sciences has issued a statement saying it now takes twice as many vegetables to get our daily requirement of vitamin A as it did before. But how many people know that? Did you see it in the news? I didn't. Neither your government nor mine want us to know about this, because then a good many of us would get upset and start demanding answers. They don't really want to be put on the hot-seat, so they don't make the information easy to find. They don't want you to know that vitamin A and calcium have plummeted by almost 50% in that serving of broccoli they say you should eat. Cauliflower isn't much better. It has nearly 50% less vitamin C, thiamin and riboflavin. That's why our breads are all enriched. The food manufacturers are trying to make us think they're looking out for us, but really, they're only putting back what our other foods are lacking!
 
This isn't news, I've written about this before.  Who Killed My Tomato? This is an issue that has some far reaching consequences. If your daily intake of vegetables is less than you should be eating, and the vegetables themselves are lacking vitamins, then how many nutrients are you really getting? Less than you think. You aren't going to start eating twice what the recommended value is if you weren't eating enough veggies in the first place. So you just go on with your life, wonder about it occasionally and carry on as best you can. There's no shame in this, most of us do this. But I'm calling on you today to do something different. Start asking questions. Go to the library or the internet, or both, and start reading all you can find on nutrients in your food. Find out how the food is grown, harvested, processed and shipped. Ask more questions. No question is too stupid. As hard as it may be, watch the Food Inc. video, or borrow the book. Read it. Try not to throw it against a wall when you become educated and enraged. And you will. As one good friend says, let me set your expectations early. You will not like what you learn. You will be appalled at how your food is raised, grown, prepared and shipped. You will be disgusted when you find out how your roasted chicken lived and died. You may swear, cry and throw up. I know one person who did.

But we all need to take this uncomfortable and painful journey. Going vegetarian is not the answer unless you need to be for health reasons. But if that is your reality, you'll need to know this information all the more. We all need to know what we're eating and how it becomes our food. We need to know the good with the bad. We need to know about the people that make it our food. There are some horrible labor practices that accompany that bag of apples you bought from the grocery store. We need to know about that too, because every time we remain silent, we allow those practices to continue. Practices such as

• Working 12 to 15 hours without overtime or holiday pay
• Denial of necessary breaks
• Use of dangerous chemicals/pesticides with no safety equipment, protection or training
• Unfair paycheque deductions for EI and other services in cases where workers get little or nothing in return

That's just the tip of the iceberg. That's not some foreign, visually oppressed country, either. That happens in Canada and the U.S too.

So, over the past few days, I've offered a lot of reasons why we should take back control over our food. The next step is to DO IT. Do it politically with our votes, letter writing, making sure the food producers understand we want change. send the message with our money, with our voices and with every resource legally at our disposal. Do it with our actions by putting our money where our mouths are. A part of this includes learning how to access food that is raised humanely, sensibly and with care. Part of the solution is more education, at least in WHO to fight and why. Another part of the solution is to learn how to take back control by learning how to grow, raise and process our own food.

It's all going to be a long, bumpy ride, but I promise you, it's worth it. You'll feel empowered, educated, more satisfied and less worried about what we're feeding our families and each other. Are you ready?

An Argument For Food

I've written here before about the declining to almost non-existent nutritional value of our food.  I've gone on at great length about the declining taste in our food, and my theory that this declining taste is the reason so many use so much salt. (Even if you cut back on the salt at home, have you read the sodium levels of "convenience food"? It's enough to make me stop eating at work!!) Yesterday I wrote about the need to go back to growing our own food. Not just for control over our own food, but also to control what we put into our bodies. Sodium is only a part of that. All this really started for me when a co-worker became pregnant and had to start watching how much sodium, caffeine and sugar she ingested. She was near-rabid about it, and the topic of nutrients came up repeatedly at work. Before long, we were all looking at those nutrient labels, and we were all appalled. In one submarine sandwich, there was 115% of the daily recommended allowance of sodium! In one sandwich! In a frozen, throw-it-in-the-microwave-and-zap-it meal there sodium levels ranged anywhere from 25% to 80%, depending on the producer. The conversations turned then to what we can do about this.

I've always said we need to express our wishes with our money, and this is no exception. Don't buy the frozen, high fat, high sodium meals. Bring your own lunch from home. Include in that lunch more fruit, more vegetables, more water, more juice. Last night's leftovers, maybe you made apple muffins or cookies, or your soup you made from scratch. Make your own submarine sandwiches, wraps are so versatile it's hard to get bored, roasted vegetables are always a treat. I know one industrious soul who makes her own bread bowls and somehow manages to fill them with stew and take them to work without making a mess. I'm not that talented, but I eat from home as best I can. Meatloaf, barbeque chicken, homemade biscuits and gravy, soups, stew, wraps, cookies...whatever we have available. Even homemade mac & cheese. Ever look at the nutrition label on a box of KD? I love cheese, even though I shouldn't have much of it. When I get the yearning for smooth, melty macaroni and cheese, 90% of the time, we make it at home. Very little, if none, sodium. There's no mysterious powder to wonder about, and I'm the envy of my co-workers. Even an ordinary sandwich can be livened up with a handful of clover sprouts that you grew. Full of vitamins, minerals and sunshine, those sprouts can take a sandwich from boring to cool in only a few days. The best part is that you don't need a southern exposure to grow them, either.

No matter how we grow our own food, controlling what we put into our bodies will have profound effects. More nutritious food, allowed to ripen in the sun if possible and not picked green, builds better bodies. When we started down this footpath of better health, I didn't notice anything at first. I didn't notice more energy or better skin or anything of that sort. But let me go on record right now as saying we're not perfect. We slipped a few times. It's cheaper to buy crap-food, I'll admit, and we've all done it. After a little while of nipping out for lunch, a few days of not having herbal tea but Coke and Pepsi instead and not paying attention to what I was putting in my body, I was draggin' ass. I was tired all the time, I had no get up and go, no zip, no pep. I wasn't interested in anything, couldn't concentrate... you get the idea. I suspected there might be a link. (Feel free to roll your eyes here) So I went back to drinking more herbal tea, more water and eating fruit and yogurt more often. I found I needed to nap less (I work late into the night, so my sleep schedule is already compromised), it was a little easier to concentrate at work and I wanted to walk more. As a side benefit, I was having fewer asthma attacks. Coincidence? I think not.

So, in conclusion, taking back control of our food, how it's grown and processed and how we eat it is all within our best interests. Better health is something we're all entitled to, no matter what country we live in, our economic situation, or our family dynamic. I firmly believe that decades of nutrient deficient food has made us sicker, weaker and less vital. We can start reclaiming our health one meal at a time, one ingredient at a time, one person at a time. If you can't grow your own tomatoes because you face north and get no sun, like me, look into sprouts. They're the easiest green to grow ever. If you are able, start buying at Farmer's markets. Not only can you actually speak to the person who grows your food, but you'll be supporting local growers and producers. If you want a local food system, help create one. We need to take back control over our food, take back control over our health and in such uncertain times, every little bit of reclaimed control makes us stronger.

Tomorrow, a look at using food stamps in the U.S for seeds and food producing plants! (Thanks to Jacqueline for the heads up!)