Prepper

Survival during coronavirus: Food adventurer, chef fights to save public television show teaching lessons of self-sufficiency

If self-sufficiency had a face, Georgia Pellegrini would be it. After leaving a lucrative job on Wall Street more than a decade ago, Pellegrini enrolled in culinary school and embraced a life that relied on the land around her — teaching herself how to hunt the wild boar and squirrel of the Mississippi Delta, bow fish alligator gar in the bayous of Louisiana and forage weeds in urban sidewalk cracks for nourishing meals. Pellegrini’s philosophy of self-sustainability is now more pertinent than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people everywhere to adapt their basic survival skills and learn what she calls “manual literacy” — or work with their hands — as modern-day conveniences such as restaurants and stores have shuttered their doors. “Learning to rely on your own two hands is the most important thing we can do as humans,” said 39-year-old Pellegrini, who is also an author based in Austin, Texas. “It’s incredibly empowering,” she said. “We’re seeing this resurgence in people baking their own bread or gardening for the first time. I think people are recognizing that becoming self-sufficient makes us far more immune to these global or local events. As hard as this time has been, it’s also brought a great lesson on how these skills are important to hold onto.” Pellegrini — whose third book, “Modern Pioneering,” sold out on Amazon during the outbreak — had plans to share such valuable skills with American households in a new show to air on PBS. But due to economic hardship in the wake of COVID-19, Pellegrini was left without the essential funding to pay for the distribution costs. Now she’s launching a campaign to raise the money herself. As of Thursday, Pellegrini had raised 40 percent of the required $30,000 on her crowdfunding site for the show, named “Modern Pioneering” after her book, a unique manual of basic garden-to-table recipes and life lessons — from learning how to preserve food for months in a pantry to assembling a 48-hour survival tool kit that can fit in a mint tin. She still has a way to go before July 1, the deadline for which to raise the funds. “It’s been a frustrating blow to know that we’ve got this content ready to distribute and we don’t have the funds to pay for the distribution costs,” Pellegrini said. “The episodes are already filmed and a top-notch producer and crew are on board,” she said. “We just need to raise enough money to pay for the distribution costs that will allow the show to reach 99 percent of U.S. households, giving free access to everyone regardless of whether they can afford cable or Netflix.” A national rise in hunting applications and fishing licenses may be indicative of a desire to return to the life Pellegrini embodies. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, Colorado Parks and Wildlife received 624,104 applications for its annual big game draw — an increase from last year. As of April 22, 14,443 fishing licenses had been sold in the state since registration opened on March 1, the newspaper reported. In Vermont, resident fishing license sales are up by more than 50 percent from this time last year, and combination hunting and fishing license sales have increased by almost a quarter, according to an analysis by the Vermont Digger. Turkey hunting licenses are especially popular, with sales reportedly up 26 percent in time for the season’s start, which was May 1. “Long term, it has the potential to be really good,” Louis Porter, the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife commissioner, told the Vermont Digger, saying the upward trend in sales may “re-engage folks who have lost touch with how much they enjoyed standing in front of a lake with their kid, fishing.” For Pellegrini, who grew up in New York’s Hudson Valley, the quest to live a self-sufficient life represents a cause greater than herself. “I wanted to create content that was truly valuable for people’s lives,” Pellegrini said. “I want to show them how they can find value where the rest of the world doesn’t think there is — whether it be creative ways to make the most with what they already have, or what is at their fingertips in nature.” “Unfortunately, a lot of our higher education is not teaching such basic skills anymore and there’s a real need for it,” she added. “It’s really been only a generation or two since those skills have been lost, and we can get them back.”

Let’s hope so!  We wish Georgia success with her new show.  America needs to be self-sufficient.  For more, click on the text above to see her video.       🙂

People taking on hunting amid meat shortages in the US

Some Americans are taking on hunting for the first time amid meat shortages during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report on Sunday. New Mexico resident David Elliot first considered hunting elk back in January to help feed friends and family when the U.S. reported its initial coronavirus case — despite not owning a rifle or ever hunting large animals before. He received a permit to shoot a female elk and plans to attend a hunt in November. “I want to make sure it’s a clean, humane shot, as much as possible, and get a bunch of food,” Elliot said, according to Reuters. An increase in hunting licenses and permit applications have been reported by game and fish agencies in multiple states this spring, as the virus continues to spread throughout the U.S. A resurgence is expected with meat shelves at grocery stores noticeably empty for the first time during the last two months, said Hank Forester of the Quality Deer Management Association. “People are starting to consider self-reliance and where their food comes from,” Forester told the news organization. “We’re all born hunters.” Nina Stafford, 42, a building contractor in Georgia killed her first deer back in January, which gave her confidence she could find her next meal amid potential food shortages. “The coronavirus has only made me want to go and do it more so that I don’t have that scared feeling of where’s my next meal going to come from,” said Stafford, according to Reuters. Others feel that hunting allows them to get away and clear their head during a stressful time for many Americans. “Its been so important for me, being able to go out and kind of cleanse my mental card and just go and be present, you really have to be present, and quiet and listening,” said Nathaniel Evans, 38, a teacher who shot a 17-pound wild turkey last month in New Mexico, the news organization reported.

 

How to Find Out When Hard-to-Find Items Will Be Back in Stock

You thought you had enough toilet paper to last a long time… until you checked in the bathroom and discovered you only have one small roll left. Unfortunately, in most grocery stores across the country, toilet paper might be sold out. So, what do you do? Thankfully, you can set alerts to figure out when these hard-to-find items will be back in stock. If you’re trying to avoid visiting the supermarket or grocery store in person, then ordering groceries and essential products online is a great alternative. However, when products are out of stock, you can’t wait around forever wondering when it will be back in stock again. Thankfully, you can set up an alert that will notify you when a product is back in stock and will be available to be purchased. There are a few different ways to set up alerts depending on the retailer. For example, if you go to Walmart’s website to purchase an item that’s out of stock, you’ll see the “Out of Stock” notification. However, for some products, right next to the “Out of Stock” notification is a blue button that reads “Get In-Stock Alert.” Once you click that alert, you can then submit your e-mail address and Walmart will e-mail you if and when the product is available to purchase. If you’re trying to buy a cleaning product on Amazon but notice it’s no longer in stock, you should see an “Alert Me” box. If this service is available for that particular product, you can click “Sign up,” and Amazon will alert you via e-mail to let you know the product is available. However, Amazon notes that “signing up to be notified does not reserve a copy of this item for you. When you receive the e-mail informing you that the item is available, you’ll need to return to Amazon.com to place your order.” With Target, you’re able to set up notifications or use an app. “When an item is out of stock, we may offer the option to receive notifications when it’s back in stock,” according to Target’s website. “If this is available for an item, the Target.com product details page will display a ‘notify me when it’s back’ button. If you’re using the Target app, it will be a ‘notify me’ button.” Additional information can be found on its website, but Target also notes that “opting in to receive notifications doesn’t reserve or guarantee item availability, so you may want to act fast in the event the item goes out of stock again.” Unfortunately, many stores including Costco, CVS, and Home Depot, don’t provide in-stock alerts.

Coronavirus concerns: People are panic-buying baby chickens, reports claim

Through the coronavirus pandemic and a future of uncertainties, Americans have been flocking to bulk-buy toilet paper, groceries and cleaning disinfectants like never before. However, the latest purchasing trend in some parts of the country is allegedly agrarian: baby chickens. In recent weeks, a chorus of reports have harmoniously chirped that people in some places in Utah, Missouri and Texas are “panic-buying” chickens. According to Food & Wine, the demand is likely driven by shortage-related anxieties during the pandemic, from more expensive egg prices to empty shelves at grocery stores, and even perhaps a desire for a more self-sufficient food supply during the ongoing outbreak. For example, Utah’s Ogden Intermountain Farmers Association store sold over 1,000 chicks in one day last month, the Deseret News reported. In Spring Branch, Texas, Strutty’s Feed and Pet Supply store has been selling out the entire shipments of chickens, which is 300 to 350 birds per week, the San Antonio Express-News reported on Sunday. In Lebanon, Mo., the Cackle Hatchery hatches around 250,000 birds a week, and has seen sales increase by 100 percent so far in 2020, according to The Washington Post. As the going gets tough and folks reportedly scramble to raise chickens, one expert is urging folks to think twice before bringing the baby birds home, in the best interest of the animals. “If you’re thinking of buying chicks, do your work ahead of time,” Marisa Erasmus, an assistant professor of animal sciences at Purdue University, said in an interview published by the college on spiking sales of live chickens during the outbreak. “Make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. These animals are going to grow up and have very specific needs. They are reliant on us to provide for them and we have to be sure we can do that,” Erasmus said.

For more on this story, click on the text above.     🙂

A prepper reveals what she keeps in her pantry — and what you should have, too

Deborah D. Moore knows a thing or two about prepping her pantry for an extended period of time, having lived most of her life as a “prepper” before there was even a word to describe “prepping.” “When I was a newlywed, just 19 years old, we lived in Detroit,” explained Moore, the author of “A Prepper’s Cookbook,” in an interview with Fox News. “I heard there was a snow storm coming and we were to stay off the roads … I checked my cupboards and we had a half loaf of bread and two cans of soup.” As Moore told Fox News, she drove to a nearby market to pick up supplies, only to find chaos and enormous check-out lines. “I vowed that day to never have less than a week of food on hand at all times,” she said. “That was 50 years ago.” Shortly after that first wake-up call, Moore explained that she began tending a garden, and took up canning and preserving as a way to store her jams and produce. Since that time, she’s become something of an expert on the types of items everyone should have on hand, as well as in their “working” pantry (i.e., short-term pantry) and “retreat” pantry (long-term). So before you make another run to the grocery store, allow Moore to share a few of her top tips for buying and storing foods for an ideal pantry, as well as ultimately cooking those foods for a family dinner. “Everyone has a working pantry; it’s called a cupboard,” says Moore. “Once a person realizes the convenience of having food on hand, they graduate to a closet. I now have a room.” As Moore explained, the first things to think about keeping in a “working” pantry are the foods most commonly consumed within the house. “A person starts with what they like to eat,” she said. “’Store what you eat; Eat what you store.’ I coined that phrase over 30 years ago, and it still holds true.” That said, there are several items almost every pantry would benefit from having. In Moore’s opinion, that includes “flour, sugar, salt, yeast, cooking oil, and dry pasta,” the latter of which she calls the “most versatile” food in her pantry. (“It’s cheap and it stores VERY well,” she said.) “There should be foods ready to eat without cooking like beans, canned meats and fish, soup,” she added “A variety is essential to not getting bored. Add herbs and spices, cheese, jarred garlic, olives, pickles.” “The biggest difference is the amount and the method of storage,” explained Moore of her retreat — or long-term — pantry. “As an example, in the working pantry one might keep a 5-pound bag of potatoes; in the retreat pantry it would be a couple of boxes of potato flakes or dehydrated slices — shelf-stable food.” When allocating for a retreat pantry, Moore again explained that it’s best to start with preferred foods, but only if those are shelf-stable, and won’t be expiring for a very, very long time. To calculate what should be included, Moore recommended planning out a one-week menu, and then multiplying that by however many weeks one plans on “retreating.” “When I lived off-grid for seven years, we wintered in,” she explained. “I needed to have ALL my food supplies on my shelf no later than November 1. It took planning and it took keeping track of what we actually used.” In addition to kitchen supplies such as aluminum foil, plastic bags, paper plates, can opener, etc., Moore insisted people stock comfort foods, as long as those too are shelf-stable. “There’s nothing that says normal to me like Jell-O and fruit cocktail!” she said. “And popcorn.” And as a pet-owner, Moore urged anyone planning a pantry to remember that their furry friends will need plenty of supplies too. “Please, do not forget your pets,” she said. “My cat has his own storage space.” When it comes to crowd-pleasing recipes, Moore has more than a few ideas — which is why she shares over 100 of them in her new cookbook. But while she says pasta dishes and soups are the easiest for novice chefs, she says one of her favorite easy meals is “Chicken in a Nest,” which comes together in a flash. Click here to read the recipe, and more:

Some great info here!  Thanks Deborah!!  You can get her “A Prepper’s Cookbook” on amazon.com in paperback.  In addition, here are a couple food storage sites we recommend:          🙂

https://www.wisefoodstorage.com/

https://mypatriotsupply.com/

 

Toilet paper site claims it calculates how long your supply will last

It’s one of the key questions as Americans wait out the coronavirus outbreak at home: How long will my stash of toilet paper last? A new website called “How much toilet paper?” claims it can roll out an answer for you. Simply set the top bar to how many rolls you currently have, then set the second bar to how many average bathroom visits you make per day – and the website’s calculator does the rest. If you have a standard package of four rolls, for example, the website says that will last you 32 days if you make an average of two bathroom visits per day. The website “has now been used by over 2,000,000 people and is helping to reduce toilet paper shortage round the world,” it claims. The site, howmuchtoiletpaper.com, says it was created by Ben Sassoon, a London-based student and software developer, and Sam Harris, an artist, “after they had a discussion about how much toilet paper they used on a day to day basis and how that would change during the pandemic.” The site also includes a plea that people refrain from buying up all the toilet paper they can find at their local grocery store, as many of those stores struggle to keep up with the demand from panicky customers. “Not everyone is able to get to a store and stock up on toilet roll,” it says, adding, “Don’t be selfish.”

You really can’t make this stuff up, folks.  If you REALLY want to check this site out, click on the text above.     🙂

Preppers, once mocked, say they were ready for coronavirus crisis

Across the U.S., “preppers” have been planning for an event like the coronavirus pandemic for years. Now, as a run on toilet paper and necessary supplies have created vast lines and panic in our nation’s supermarkets and stores, some are able to sit back and relax — while being humble enough to avoid saying “I told you so.” “We’re not laughing. We’re not saying ‘I told you so,’ when people are out there fighting over toilet paper and hand sanitizers,” said Ohio resident Paul Buescher. Buescher shares a farm with 32 other members of a group in Ohio. It’s packed with enough canned and dehydrated food and water to last for years. As the coronavirus continues to spread, he says people call him all day long asking for advice. Penny Richards, a postal carrier, has continued to “prep” after a tornado impacted her area nine years ago and killed dozens of people. “The apocalypse is not a thing that’s going to happen,” she said, according to AL.com. “But if you think about being prepared for the zombie apocalypse, you’re probably going to be prepared for the coronavirus.” Preppers don’t always describe themselves as the doomsday type. Some hunker down because of their distrust of the government, others by fear of disasters or disease. Darron Taylor — a prepper on a Keto diet from Alabama who grows his own food — has stayed vigilant because of what he calls “the three D’s of life: death, disease and disaster.” He even has a channel on YouTube titled “Mayhem Country Living,” which teaches prepping, survival skills, growing and preparing foods, or simply live-chatting with his audience. “I have not shot a zombie ever in my life,” he told the website. “Birds are real, they aren’t drones… and then there are no lizard people that I’ve met, but I have eaten three times a day, every day, for 51 years.” The coronavirus has also triggered a massive spike in firearms and ammunition sales, which could be attributed to the public being reactive to the virus — a stark contrast when compared to the approach by preppers. “Families are social distancing and stocking up on food and supplies at home.” Robyn Sandoval, 45, executive director of the Austin-based “A Girl & A Gun Women’s Shooting League,” told Fox News. “The outbreak is creating a lot of anxiety in our communities. Families who have prepared at home want to be equipped to protect themselves from any looters or violence.” Christoper Price, who owns a preppers store in Alabama says some people have blamed preppers for panic buying when in reality, he said, their methodical approach has afforded them the luxury of not needing to. “There are people out there blaming preppers for panic buying, that’s totally wrong,” he told AL.com. “You can’t start prepping right now, it’s too late.” Others, like James Charles, the leader of the New York City Preppers Network, have been sharing their survival knowledge to people online when it comes to being prepared for a situation like COVID-19. “I tell people all the time, ‘Don’t be nervous; this is not the time to panic,’” he said in an interview, according to the New York Times. “This is why we get ready. This is our wheelhouse.”

For more on prepping from “Mayhem Country Living,” click on the text above….and stay safe out there.