I am a long time raw foodist - but have been pondering this lately...

What are your contingency plans? I realize I really don't have much - in the way of raw food prep - especially long term.

If a man-made or natural disaster were to occur, I do have a good water filter at my disposal, but storage of raw food long term, I have nothing.

I do not use a dehydrator, so no go there...

I do forage in the summer months, but even that would be threatened in the event of floods, nuclear fallout, who knows what.

So, I realize that I am "Up the creek without a paddle", as they say. My friends/family/neighbors can all stock up on canned goods, but that is not an option for my lifestyle.

So, I pose the question to my fellow raw fooders -

what are your short/long term plans, that can be realistically implemented?

I do have a dehydrator, purchased with this in mind. And I have listened to the survivalist podcast, interesting info there on storing seeds longterm. I don't have the space or money to do that yet but eventually. And a good water filter (Berkey) is on my list of purchases to make soon. So we'd be able to sprout, I'm hoping to put up a store of dried foods that would be good reconstituted with sprouted greens for smoothies etc.
Aside from that I'm not sure there's much that can be done friend. Do you know how to build shelter, make fire, grow food stuffs, etc? permies.com is a great site for info.

I'm not really big on the idea of expecting horrible things to happen... but as far as food storage goes, the only things I store are rice, and a TON of sprouting seeds like lentils and mung beans.

I lived in Toronto during the 3 day blackout, food wise it was a wakeup call for me. During the summer too so we didn't even have to worry about heat or anything. It's advisable to at least have a basic first aid kit and 72 hours worth of shelf stable food and water. Not because I expect something bad to happen, just because I have 2 kids and you just never know.
There was a tornado here last year that took out our power and flooded the basement, devastation all around too, it was bad. Having been through a disaster I like to be prepared.

what do you consider shelf stable food?

Anything that can stay on the shelf and not go bad, lol.
Dried beans and legumes, seeds, nuts, herbs, powdered greens etc, dehydrated foods.
I don't know that we'd be able to stay totally raw during a power outage for more than a couple of days but that wouldn't really be a priority at that point.
Some people could fast but not if there was lots of work to be done in a high stress situation (like that tornado, not fun).

This is a really interesting thread to me. I think I often live in a bubble where my biggest concerns are the immediate emotional ups and downs I face.

I have never considered long term contigency plans as a raw foodist. I have several snack items from Gopal's. They make bars and nori sticks and stuff that I keep on hand for times when I either haven't been to the store or am in a hurry and hungry. Things like these are pretty shelf stable and could provide some nutrition during a disaster.

I am almost embarassed that at age 30, I have never even considered putting together a survival kit.

Thank you for posting this-it gives me something to ponder over the weekend.

Good Vibrations,
Trox

buy tinned fruit.

I tend to avoid tinned anything for emergency food, most cans are lined with BPA. Canning your own in glass jars is an option but if they froze (heat off in winter) they would explode. There is no perfect solution, if you want to have an emergency set up you just have to do the best you can. One friend (in L.A.) has a cupboard she keeps stocked with tons of dry, boxed, jarred and canned food that she hardly ever touches. At the end of the year she donates it all to a food bank and replaces everything.

Thanks coco & the others for the info.

I have purchased green powder in bulk, & do have a supply of sprouts/seeds. We live in a shaded valley, growing a garden is difficult here.

As you all are probably aware of, there are a plethora of survival food companies out there, but all they really offer is canned, freeze dried, nitrogen packed...otherwise dead inedible food, IMHO...


My mother's cellar has the appearance of a fallout shelter, lined with soup cans, boxed foods & the like. She used to can fresh fruits/vegetables, but no longer does that.

That is how she was raised, her parents did the same thing...but I would never want to eat any of that SAD stuff...

In these very turbulent times that we now live in, it would seem a wise move to consider what a person would do in the wake of an unforeseen event...especially a raw foodist.

I have been very high raw/pure eater for a long time, & if I take even a small bite of a cooked morsel or otherwise "unclean" food, my body reacts violently in short order.

I feel the need to personally be prepared - "just in case..."

Survival is about, well, survival... eating an optimal diet in optimal conditions is great, but when it comes down to making it through a disaster...I think having food that can sustain your life, and will be reliable, is better than if its what is best for you (but not nearly as shelf stable.) i cannot see any way a raw foodist could stay raw for more than a few days during a real disaster...dried lentils and similar sprouting stuff seems the best way to attempt it... but id still keep some canned stuff around, just in case...better safe than sorry...id rather survive to go raw again later... its good to be prepared...

The only way I can think of is to have my own orchard and then dry enough fruit every year, for the winter - and for the disaster. Or move somewhere where the season is longer.

that would be awesome...

sheesh

too much stuff to think about

maybe the best contingency plan is to become a breatharian

that way, u don't have to be carrying oodles of heavy stuff

and worried about water
and starvation
and looting and rioting and mayhem

for food

maybe jericho the breatharian man was onto something

after all

times r a changin'

there's a reason for everything'

la_veronique Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> sheesh
>
> too much stuff to think about
>
> maybe the best contingency plan is to become a
> breatharian
>
> that way, u don't have to be carrying oodles of
> heavy stuff
>
> and worried about water
> and starvation
> and looting and rioting and mayhem
>
> for food
>
> maybe jericho the breatharian man was onto
> something
>
> after all
>
> times r a changin'
>
> there's a reason for everything'


From what I understand, "breatharians" actually do eat & drink...I guess just not in the same quantities that the rest of us do.

rab - the dried fruit thing sounds interesting...

axiom, where I come from (former Yugoslavia), people had a tradition of drying fruit, but that has recently all but dissapeared. They had their techniques, but the good thing now is that I can learn whatever is left of that knowledge, but I can also learn how people do it all over the world, through internet. So that is my plan, starting this year.

I bought a dehydrator with the intention of drying fresh local produce all summer but now it looks like I won't be able to so boo. There are incredible wild berries everywhere, nettles and other wild greens too. I really wanted to make my own powdered super food with fresh wild weeds. Ah well, next year.

coco

what is stopping u from doing that
since u got the dehydrator?

are there no fruits growing there?

Being that im only high raw i have alot of beans and legumes stocked up.

I also have various raw wholefood bars and some dehydrated snacks just incase. Last winter was the worst snow we had in over a decade and i couldn't get out for a few days plus most of the shops were shut as a result so that taught me to not be low on food stocks if i can.

Ver, we're moving this summer. We'll be on the road visiting friends and relatives and taking permaculture and hopefully cob building workshops all summer. We'll miss the growing season for dehydrating but it will be worth it, we're going to have so much fun!

permaculture and cob building workshops

sounds like a lil bit of heaven

though farming is very hard work

have fun

Living is very hard work! I think it's probably a bit easier if you're doing it self-sufficiently. At least the way I want to do it, locally produced, low impact, organic, etc.

Cha-cha-cha chia! Things that pack lots of nutrition into small packages. So sprouting seeds like clover, dried fruits...

As for basic living plans, I was watching a Youtube recently by this young man who says that it's very possible that we will have to deal with this very issue in the near future. I want to ask him what he sees as the cause--whether it's a natural disaster or not, but in any case, he wants to get people together who are like-minded. He wants people with land and/or money (to buy land and materials) to contact him to organize this thing. He's in Canada...In any case, I would love to attract the money to be able to buy land (even as little as an acre) and a log cabin kit (they go for around 10K). I would like to be able to buy solar panels and be able to own land and a small dwelling and grow lots of produce!

If you remember where to find it please send me a link . I am all about building community and would rather stay in my own Country.

coco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you remember where to find it please send me a
> link . I am all about building community and
> would rather stay in my own Country.


Ditto.

I think the best contingency plan is to be in the best shape that I can be in so if I had to walk long distances I could do so and would have the strength and ability to help out where needed. I may start thinking about having a back pack with a traveling water filter, some warm clothes and rain gear, a sleeping bag, first aid stuff, a small tent, swiss army knife, can opener,bowl, cup, fork spoon, rope, plastic bags,... some easy to cary food, nuts, dried fruits, some different food bars. I don't own my own home and i tend to wander a bit so it's hard for me to think on a bigger scale of food stocks and such... but all that can be destroyed too.

I think preparing the mind for adaptability is important in the even that i have to be reliant upon other people for my survival... if you are only used to one life style and are suddenly forced to drastically change how gracefully would you adapt? If you haven't eaten for a long time with no idea of when the next meal might come and some one places a plate in front of you with SAD food on it would you turn it down? It makes me wonder if being so pure that SAD food would make me ill is such a good idea. because in all likely hood the food that is gonna survive is the food with a shelf life and preservatives and canned... and Roaches lol... Does survival of the fittest include the rawfoodist that would rather die then eat SAD food?

love laugh and dream

"It makes me wonder if being so pure that SAD food would make me ill is such a good idea. because in all likely hood the food that is gonna survive is the food with a shelf life and preservatives and canned."

Very good point.

I have thought about that but didn't bring it up on here. Eating SAD canned stuff would definitely make me sick but that would most likely be all that is available in a severe catastrophe situation.

Other than that I could survive foraging wild foods in the growing seasons.

I personally think it would be foolish to eat foods that I consider bad for me in anticipation of an emergency situation that may never occur. Preparedness is for a worst case scenario, not a consciousness I wish to live in from the day to day. So staying healthy, educating oneself about wild foods and survival techniques, having an emergency kit and plan, these are enough for me.