This one has me thinking. The lesson today started off about "needs vs. wants, financialy management, etc. It was pretty good. I needed it. The only thing that stops me from spending is going to work and realizing how bad it sucks. I need that daily reminder to help me not spend. Making money at work seems secondary some times.
Then they went on to say how we should be growing produce, storing wheat. The actual quote was, "Storing wheat is much better than any poiltical scheme." I'm not big on political schemes but come on, storing grains? It costs more to grow that stuff than it does to buy it at the store, not to mention it's a waste of highly skilled labor when I see my Dad out there doing it than for no other reason than an economic one, or because the prophet commanded us to have a garden. Do they still command that from on high in SLC? I know growing up it was as official a doctrine as I'd ever heard at Church.
Moska, and the rest of you that are still Mormon to some extent, why don't you chime in here and tell me what you think of food storage?
Food Storage
Food Storage
And when the confederates saw Jackson standing fearless as a stone wall the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
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_Polygamy Porter
- _Emeritus
- Posts: 2204
- Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 6:04 am
I haven't heard anything from the GC pulpit in a long time about food storage. I think the panic at the change of the millenium kinda freaked out all our leaders. However, in RS in my ward, we have a person who is called to remind us every month about food storage.
That said, there are several reasons why generally growing a garden and preserving the food that's grown in it is a stupid idea:
1. food is one of the cheapest products this country produces. It's far cheaper to buy it already processed and canned out of the grocery store than it is to produce it and process it ourselves.
2. home processed food is much more easily subject to botulism and similiar poisonings, due to poor processing conditions, shortcuts, and downright stupidity.
3. space is a premium in many of our homes. We just don't have the space to store a full two year's supply anymore.
4. space outside is at a premium too, not to mention having to deal with chemicals, fertilizers, and pay a water premium.
That said, there are several reasons why growing a garden is a good idea:
1. gardening is soothing for some people. It's a source of pride and it's good exercise.
2. there's nothing that compares to a homegrown tomato, anywhere in the grocery store. The closest you can come is a produce stand that grows their own.
3. someone has to grow the neighborhood's zucchini. It might as well be you.
That said, there are several reasons why storing some food isn't a bad idea:
1. in times of turmoil (getting fired, getting laid off), it's a source of comfort to know you aren't going to starve (or that you can help your married children through some traumatic periods of their lives when this happens to them).
2. when you have more month than you have money, it's nice to be able to dip into the storage and find something yummy to put on the table. You just have to remember to replace it, to use the next time.
3. some things just taste better if they're homemade (thinking strawberry jam...!)
Personally, I grow a small garden: a few tomato plants, some zucchini, and herbs. I gave my sister all my canning jars about 8 years ago. I keep a closet of commercially canned food in my bathroom. It's nowhere hear a year's supply, but it's served us well over the years. I cannot imagine being without it.
Edited to add: I grew up in a non-member home where growing a huge garden and canning/freezing/drying it was the norm. It's what we did every year, in order to get through the winter with a minimum of expenditures for food. So it's second nature to me to do this. I also live in a rural area where virtually all types of foods are readily accessible to me, in season. After I got married, many's the time I bartered for food, trading an apple pie for a box of apples to a man who had no wife but loved apple pie... he got to taste heaven, and I got a whole box of apples to make into applesauce or apple pie filling. I worked hard every summer to put up fruit and veggies so we had decent healthy food all winter long. There is no shame in that.
That said, there are several reasons why generally growing a garden and preserving the food that's grown in it is a stupid idea:
1. food is one of the cheapest products this country produces. It's far cheaper to buy it already processed and canned out of the grocery store than it is to produce it and process it ourselves.
2. home processed food is much more easily subject to botulism and similiar poisonings, due to poor processing conditions, shortcuts, and downright stupidity.
3. space is a premium in many of our homes. We just don't have the space to store a full two year's supply anymore.
4. space outside is at a premium too, not to mention having to deal with chemicals, fertilizers, and pay a water premium.
That said, there are several reasons why growing a garden is a good idea:
1. gardening is soothing for some people. It's a source of pride and it's good exercise.
2. there's nothing that compares to a homegrown tomato, anywhere in the grocery store. The closest you can come is a produce stand that grows their own.
3. someone has to grow the neighborhood's zucchini. It might as well be you.
That said, there are several reasons why storing some food isn't a bad idea:
1. in times of turmoil (getting fired, getting laid off), it's a source of comfort to know you aren't going to starve (or that you can help your married children through some traumatic periods of their lives when this happens to them).
2. when you have more month than you have money, it's nice to be able to dip into the storage and find something yummy to put on the table. You just have to remember to replace it, to use the next time.
3. some things just taste better if they're homemade (thinking strawberry jam...!)
Personally, I grow a small garden: a few tomato plants, some zucchini, and herbs. I gave my sister all my canning jars about 8 years ago. I keep a closet of commercially canned food in my bathroom. It's nowhere hear a year's supply, but it's served us well over the years. I cannot imagine being without it.
Edited to add: I grew up in a non-member home where growing a huge garden and canning/freezing/drying it was the norm. It's what we did every year, in order to get through the winter with a minimum of expenditures for food. So it's second nature to me to do this. I also live in a rural area where virtually all types of foods are readily accessible to me, in season. After I got married, many's the time I bartered for food, trading an apple pie for a box of apples to a man who had no wife but loved apple pie... he got to taste heaven, and I got a whole box of apples to make into applesauce or apple pie filling. I worked hard every summer to put up fruit and veggies so we had decent healthy food all winter long. There is no shame in that.
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_truth dancer
- _Emeritus
- Posts: 4792
- Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 12:40 pm
A while back I looked for the latest talk in GC regarding having a garden and food storage... at that time it was by SWK in the 1980's If I recall correctly.
But... just this past week I found a flyer, with quotes from the FP, (I think from the Ensign), discussing food storage.
My family has joined a Community farm, where we purchase a share of the farm and get all our produce for the summer. The food is organic, and strengthens the community, while helping the farmers! I LOVE IT!
If someone is interested in having food storage, my suggestion would be to go to Costco with a few hundred dollars and purchase whatever you need, that fits in the available space for storage. The idea of storing grain, doesn't make much sense anymore!
~dancer~
But... just this past week I found a flyer, with quotes from the FP, (I think from the Ensign), discussing food storage.
My family has joined a Community farm, where we purchase a share of the farm and get all our produce for the summer. The food is organic, and strengthens the community, while helping the farmers! I LOVE IT!
If someone is interested in having food storage, my suggestion would be to go to Costco with a few hundred dollars and purchase whatever you need, that fits in the available space for storage. The idea of storing grain, doesn't make much sense anymore!
~dancer~
"The search for reality is the most dangerous of all undertakings for it destroys the world in which you live." Nisargadatta Maharaj
One of my sons is part of a Community Garden. For something like $50, he gets a little plot, 10x20 feet, that he's responsible to plant, keep weeded, water, and harvest, and then compost the residue, right in the middle of the city. It serves he and his little family well. They get homegrown tomatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce, and corn. They are the only ones of my children who want to preserve the old ways. His Christmas present last year from his in-laws was a pressure canner, so he can can his own tomatoes. Gardening is a hobby he loves, it gets him out into the sunshine, and I see no reason to condemn him for wanting his own tomatoes (he gets that from his mom.)
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_truth dancer
- _Emeritus
- Posts: 4792
- Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 12:40 pm
Hi Harmony,
I am such a fan of community gardening!
The farm in which I bought a share typically does their own farming but... our farmer was in an accident and died. The farmer's wife was unable to get all the planting done, so offered to refund our money. Two of my friends who also purchased shares, and I, decided we would try to help out with the farm, so we rotate days going up and working on the farm! It has been a lot of fun!
:-)
In case anyone is interested in Community Supported Agriculture.. here is a link: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
~dancer~
I am such a fan of community gardening!
The farm in which I bought a share typically does their own farming but... our farmer was in an accident and died. The farmer's wife was unable to get all the planting done, so offered to refund our money. Two of my friends who also purchased shares, and I, decided we would try to help out with the farm, so we rotate days going up and working on the farm! It has been a lot of fun!
:-)
In case anyone is interested in Community Supported Agriculture.. here is a link: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
~dancer~
"The search for reality is the most dangerous of all undertakings for it destroys the world in which you live." Nisargadatta Maharaj
I totally understand your point on bartering. Bartering helps keep the feds out of my pocket as well. I know a lot of professional people, doctors, lawyers, accountants, businessmen of many kinds (car salesmen etc.) who barter quite a bit for that very reason. I know it's still illegal, but it's a lot more difficult to police. It seems like you guys do this because you enjoy it and I think that's great. In a way my Dad is like that as well. I still cut wood with him when I go home for a stay. No I will never have a wood stove myself. I can't stand wood smoke, but for a redneck like myself chainsaws carry almost as much sentimental value as rifles. They still load me up with tomatoes every time I go home.
This entire Sunday devoted to food storage just threw me though. Like you TD the last I really heard them speak seriously about it was with SWK. In my late teens I always thought it important find a way to be a land owner, in case of a stock market crash. Now it seems more wise to me to invest the money if I ever had it, into something with a higher yield. A vacant lot of land doesn't really seem like the best way to invest money. In ways I just saw the food storage idea as defunct. Maybe that's not the case, but would you say its fair to say that the Churchs attitude (people and the brethren) has changed on this issue since SWK?
This entire Sunday devoted to food storage just threw me though. Like you TD the last I really heard them speak seriously about it was with SWK. In my late teens I always thought it important find a way to be a land owner, in case of a stock market crash. Now it seems more wise to me to invest the money if I ever had it, into something with a higher yield. A vacant lot of land doesn't really seem like the best way to invest money. In ways I just saw the food storage idea as defunct. Maybe that's not the case, but would you say its fair to say that the Churchs attitude (people and the brethren) has changed on this issue since SWK?
And when the confederates saw Jackson standing fearless as a stone wall the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
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_truth dancer
- _Emeritus
- Posts: 4792
- Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 12:40 pm
Hi Ajax...
Yes I would certainly say that the attitude has changed! Absolutely!
In some literature I read on emergency preparedness, on the Red Cross website some time ago, it stated something like If I recall correctly, 90% of disasters are over in 24 hours, but 97% are over in three days. In other words, it is very rare to have an emergency where one is without food and water for more than three day.
I think a century or so ago, there was much more need to have some basic foods stored... today, it is hardly necessary. The Red Cross suggests a three day supply of food and water, and whatever else one needs. That sounds smart and reasonable to me!
:-)
~dancer~
Yes I would certainly say that the attitude has changed! Absolutely!
In some literature I read on emergency preparedness, on the Red Cross website some time ago, it stated something like If I recall correctly, 90% of disasters are over in 24 hours, but 97% are over in three days. In other words, it is very rare to have an emergency where one is without food and water for more than three day.
I think a century or so ago, there was much more need to have some basic foods stored... today, it is hardly necessary. The Red Cross suggests a three day supply of food and water, and whatever else one needs. That sounds smart and reasonable to me!
:-)
~dancer~
"The search for reality is the most dangerous of all undertakings for it destroys the world in which you live." Nisargadatta Maharaj