Emergency Preparedness and Provident Living Newsletter
January 2024
Current Events that affect our food supply and the cost of living
Over the last two months millions of chickens in farms that supply eggs have been culled because of avian influenza again. So far there have been no reports of chickens on meat poultry farms have been culled. No matter if this is a legitimate reason to cull them, this will affect the supply of eggs and will increase the cost of egg products. Please find ways to store extra eggs in various ways. And if you are able to care for a small flock of chickens, consider adding chickens to your property.
There have been many reported cases of shortages of frozen and dehydrated potato products. There have been problems with the potato crops over the last two years and as we have used up the supply of products in storage, we now have fewer of those products on hand. Also, over the last 20 years or more, we have had the supply of foods and other products converted over to a “Just in time” delivery system. That system works well when everything is running smoothly. But if there is a prolonged power outage, truckers strike or a large natural disaster it affects that delivery system and suddenly there are big shortages. Most stores only have about 3 day's worth of products, especially foods, on their shelves. If you add-in a rush to purchase such as right before a hurricane, you can see how quickly the store shelves are stripped bare.
Worldwide Shipping problems are not getting better! There has been a prolonged drought in Panama. This drought is causing a lot of problems with the Panama Canal. Right now only a fraction of normal ships are getting through the canal each day. The number of ships waiting to get through is only getting longer.
New and expanding conflicts in the Middle East are affecting the shipping traffic in the Gulf of Aden and in the Red Sea that leads to the Suez Canal. Ships are being attacked by Somali pirates and Houthi thugs in Yemen.
When these ships cannot get through, they have to find a new route often taking them several thousand miles out of their normal way. These issues make for longer shipping times and large increases in shipping costs that WILL be put onto the consumer. You can do a search of this topic on the following websites; www.maritime-executive.com,, www.fortune.com, www.reuters.com, www.bloomberg.com,
www.marinelink.com,and www.freightwaves.com.
Try to find ways to buy products made closer to home and take care of what you have. And remember to make it do or do without.
The infographic photo below talks specifically about the trucking industry and how quickly we would run out of things that affect us every day. This also applies to the shipping industry. Please take this information to heart when thinking of things you can do to be better prepared.
Ways to build-up your immune system
Now that Winter has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, many people are getting sick with the common cold, Influenza, RSV, CV19 and intestinal problems. Doctor's offices and hospitals have become very busy again and most of us, if not all of us want to avoid illnesses and we want to stay out of the hospital.
In addition to common sense actions such as practicing better hygiene and staying home when you are sick, to get fresh air and some exercise, there are some things we can eat each day to boost our immune system. Here is a list of those things. You can do one each day, or if you feel the need, do more than one each day as desired.
Take 1 teaspoon of Elderberry syrup or tincture each day. If you feel you are getting sick, increase the amount times a day.
Eat 1 clove of garlic and some honey each day. You can store unpeeled garlic cloves in a container of honey for at least a year. This will bubble as it ferments and the honey will thin. Use the honey as well.
Take Vit K2 and Zinc together each day.
Take Vit. D3 each day. You will want to find a Vit D3 with high IU amounts.
Make a quart or more of Fire Cider (many recipes online), and take a couple Tablespoons each day. This is also called other names such as a Flu Bomb or anti-plague remedy. You can adjust the ingredients if needed. Best if stored in a refrigerator. Keeps for over a year.
Improve your gut health by adding fermented foods to your daily diet. These include low-sugar yogurt, Kefir, Kombucha, Apple Cider Vinegar with the Mother, fermented vegetables, Sauerkraut and Kimchi.
This time of year people in my house also make sure they increase their daily intake of Vitamin C. This can be by tablet, citrus fruits or things like Tang or Emergen-C mix in water each day.
One form of Vit. C is Sodium Ascorbate Buffered Vit. C. powder.
Tea made of rose hips or pine needles are also full of Vit. C.
I made a list of these things and put it on my refrigerator door to remind family members of their daily options to use to ward off illness.
Things to have on hand before you get sick
These are things that are easy to find in stores or online such as Amazon. Most of these foods can be stored for a long time. If you have small children, are elderly or are prone to asthma or pneumonia I highly recommend getting a nebulizer. You can find a lot of them for well under $100 online.
Over the counter medications that your family uses when sick. Have a few on hand.
Vitamin C tablets
Cough drops
Lypo-spheric C gel
Liposomal Vit. C
Vicks Vapo-rub
Broths, either vegetable or chicken or beef
Herbal teas, especially those high in Vit. C like Rose hips or pine needles. Yarrow is good for fevers
honey, lemon juice, fresh ginger
crackers, Jello gelatin, ginger ale, 7up, or fruit juice
fresh onions (cut up and put in socks and place on bottom of feet for bad coughs)
Herbal remedies that you have bought or made to replace some of these remedies above
Simple to prepare foods such as soups, mac and cheese, fruit, cheese, yogurt
Medical Tools to have on hand (this list is for illnesses, not injuries)
Humidifier
Nebulizer for medications like Albuterol
Pulse oximeter to monitor your pulse and oxygen saturation
Blood pressure monitor machine, you can find in many pharmacies
digital thermometer, have more than one
heating pad
hot water bottle to use on the body, think of the old-fashioned, rubber kind.
Resources for learning about herbal medicine for beginners
Dr, Patrick Jone at https://homegrownherbalist.net he also has a YouTube channel. He also has a school of herbal medicine that you can learn from at your own pace.
www.thepatriotnurse.com She also has a YouTube channel and she has an online herbal course as well.
Dr. Christopher's school of herbal medicine course Contact | Dr. Christophers (drchristopher.com)
Barbara O'Neill of New Zealand has a lot of great videos on Youtube. Her channel is called Living Springs Retreat.
Books by Rosemary Gladstar
Books on alternative remedies by Claudia Orgill at www.healthypreparedness.blogspot.com She has older videos on YouTube. Newer content is on her Patreon page.
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