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Today we're going to continue the topic we've been discussing the past couple shows and that's the global food crisis and what you can do to mitigate the potential hardship for your family.

I have a feeling that some of this crisis is price gouging and scare mongering and some of it is real. We've been heading down this road for a long time and NorthStar, since it's inception in 2001, has been trying to spread the word. Prepare now so that you don't have to stress about it later.

The past couple weeks preparedness, survivalism, food storage, global food crisis have all been in the news. These used to be terms that were attributed to extremists. Those survivalist people who lived in the woods with guns. Now, all of a sudden, it's mainstream and hip and yuppie. Do they still use the word yuppie?

Now the rich are building homes with preparedness potential, off the grid capability, panic rooms, bunkers, storage facilities. For years, people like us we ostracized for teaching people preparedness and survivability, now it's touted by the mainstream media. Welcome to global crisis.

So let's start with today's news:

Washington, DC - Oil's meteoric rise to near $120 a barrel looks like more than just another economic bubble — growing demand and tighter supplies are likely to keep prices high. Some analysts say even $200 a barrel would not be out of the question.

The latest price surge — pushing crude to record heights in recent weeks, and to nearly double its level a year ago — has some key components of a classic bubble, when market prices climb far above their intrinsic value. The burst comes when investors realize the assets are overvalued.

But growing worldwide thirst for crude, in large part from the rapidly developing economies of China and India, means frustrated consumers probably won't get any relief.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352681,00.html

Friday, April 25, 2008

Associated Press

Vienna, Austria — A sharp rise in food prices has developed into a global crisis, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday.

Ban said the U.N and all members of the international community are very concerned, and immediate action is needed.

"This steeply rising price of food — it has developed into a real global crisis," Ban said, adding that the World Food Program has made an urgent appeal for additional $755 million.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352556,00.html

Fri Apr 25

Associated Foreign Press

Nairobi, Kenya has launched safeguards against a looming food shortage in the country after experts warned that the current grain reserve would last only until August, a top official said Friday.

Agriculture Minister William Ruto said the state-run National Cereals and Produce Board had four million bags of maize while farmers have 10 million bags in their stock which will last until August.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080425/wl_africa_afp/kenyaunrestfoodgrains_080425222827

April 25, 2008

Associated Press

Washington, DC - Congressional negotiators reached a tentative agreement Friday on a multibillion-dollar farm bill that includes a hefty increase for nutrition programs at a time of rising food prices.

An intense series of closed-door bargaining sessions over how to pay for the five-year, roughly $280 billion bill ended Friday afternoon with senior Democrats expressing optimism that they would soon be sending the measure to President Bush.

To close stubborn funding gaps, negotiators agreed to cut an ethanol tax credit that has previously been seen as untouchable because of its popularity in politically potent Iowa. They sliced $1 billion in support for blending fuel with the corn-based additive, bringing the per-gallon credit from 51 cents to 45 cents.

They boosted support for another form of the clean-burning fuel additive — cellulosic ethanol, which is made from plant matter — by $400 million.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352663,00.html

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Associated Press

Washington, DC - President Bush said tax rebates will start going out Monday, earlier than previously announced, and should help Americans cope with rising gasoline and food prices, as well as aid a slumping economy.

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Apr26/0,4670,BushEconomy,00.html

Supplies of Rice Drying Up Amid Worldwide Shortage

Bloomberg News

Oakland, California - A group of shoppers came into Farmer Joe's Marketplace in Oakland, Calif., one morning this week and bought all the 50-pound bags of rice. A few miles away at Berkeley Bowl Marketplace, long-grain rice is sold out.

"Our distributors can't get any," said Kirk Tamaki, 56, Berkeley Bowl's Asian food buyer. "Short-grain is all we have."

A global rice shortage that has forced China and Vietnam to curb overseas sales of the food staple has reached the San Francisco Bay area, home of one of the largest concentrations of Asian-Americans in the U.S. Stores, restaurants and food banks report dwindling supplies, and retail prices are rising.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080426/BIZ/804260348

WJZ-TV

Baltimore, Maryland - The point of big-box stores like Costco and Sam's Club is to buy huge quantities. But in the face of a rice shortage, they are limiting how much white rice customers can buy.

The new limits imposed on consumers at bulk supply stores like Sam's Club and Costco aren't likely to affect the average consumer since most can deal with the four or five bag limit.

"I don't usually buy the large bags, so 20 pounds would be more than enough for me," said consumer Tracy Hogan.

But restaurants who buy in large quantities are taking a big hit.

The owner of Kiku Sushi in Federal Hill is now ordering two months supplies of rice at a time. They've seen the price for a 50-pound bag skyrocket in just one week.

Though U.S. officials stress there is no rice shortage, many restaurants like Kiku Sushi are stockpiling their rice supplies before the price shoots even higher.

Some blame heavy demand from developing countries and poor crop yields for the 70 percent spike in rice prices.

It's following similar jumps in the price of wheat, corn, soybeans and only adds to the strain on America's already stretched economy.

"The supply of rice in the world hasn't significantly changed. Demand's increased, but prices have outstripped everybody's expectations," said Tim Johnson with the California Rice Commission.

http://wjz.com/local/costco.sams.club.2.708114.html

Thu Apr 24

Reuters

Kansas City, Missouri - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer on Thursday sought to calm the frayed nerves of consumers, saying there was no shortage of rice in the United States even as a major outlet limited sales

Export curbs by suppliers like Vietnam, India, Cambodia and Egypt to ensure sufficient domestic supplies have helped to push rice prices to record highs, with values in top exporter Thailand surging to $1,000 a ton.

Fears over shortages have sparked food riots in Africa and toppled the government in Haiti.

Rice prices at the CBOT rose to an all-time high above $25 per hundredweight during Asian trading hours on Thursday, but tumbled in Chicago trade amid signs that high prices had blunted export demand.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080424/us_nm/usda_rice_dc_1

And here's the story that really burns my butt this week:

U.S. Scrambles to Address International Food Crisis

Saturday, April 26, 2008

The Bush administration and Congress have been caught flat-footed by rapidly escalating global food prices and are scrambling to respond to a crisis that they increasingly view as a threat to U.S. national security, according to government officials, congressional staffers and human rights experts.

The White House released $200 million in emergency wheat stores for developing countries last week, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the administration is planning "further steps to help ease the burden of rising food prices on the world's neediest people." Options include building more overseas storage facilities and roads to reduce food spoiling, and making the food crisis a top priority for the G-8 summit of industrialized nations in July, administration officials said.

Prices for rice, corn, wheat and other food staples have skyrocketed in recent months, driven by record oil costs, severe droughts, the diversion of corn for ethanol use and rapidly growing demand in China and India, according to U.N. officials and other experts. In some of the poorest countries of Africa and Asia, where food costs can consume three-quarters of household income, prices have more than doubled in six months.

The escalating prices have sparked riots in more than a dozen nations, from Cameroon to Bangladesh to the Philippines. World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick warns that more than 30 nations are at risk of social unrest from the crisis and that at least 100 million additional people could be pushed into poverty in coming months.

Some rice-growing countries such as Vietnam and India have blocked exports of the grain in an attempt to stabilize their domestic markets, further increasing pressure on global prices. Pakistan's food minister Thursday raised the prospect of similar steps in Islamabad.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2008/04/25/AR2008042503278.html

So what do you do with all of this information?

You make an informed decision that suits your family. All we can do is pass on the information. You have to decide whether to heed it or not. And I suggest that you also do your own research. Each week when I post these shows in the blog section I give you the link to the news stories I reference. Read them for yourself. I just give you a snippet of the information. Listen to your local news. It's on all the news sources, not just conservative, not just liberal. It's mainstream.

I'm using my stimulus package check, those IRS checks that we're getting, to stock up on normal, everyday items. I'm not buying a high-def tv or car, etc. I don't have a credit card so I'm not worrying about that. I'm shopping the sales and stocking up on toothpaste, laundry detergent, deodorant, toilet paper, pet supplies, etc. I'll buy some seeds for the garden, some storage supplies like buckets & lids, and possibly a new food dehydrator so I can tag team those veggies when the flourish of fresh vegetables overtakes my kitchen.

Does your family like canned corn? Mine does and the name brands are over a dollar a can. Store brands are around 79 cents a can. If they're on sale for 50 cents a can or less, buy a case. If the store has it, buy the case that still has the plastic around it so they don't dump out. They're easier to carry. All veggies, same thing. And don't overlook mixed vegetables and soups. A can of mixed vegetables with a can of cream of chicken soup with a cooked, diced chicken breast is a nice casserole. Add biscuits or dumplings and it's a meal.

Start eating more simply. I went to my doctor, who is Vietnamese, because I'm still have some chest pain where I took a fall carrying in some firewood. I tore my diaphragm so now I have a hernia. They don't do surgery on this unless it's bad so it hurts and it give me some acid reflux. We had a conversation about food & eating and he said we Americans eat too much. A super-size meal at a fast food place is the equivalent amount of food for a family over there. Think about it. Take a giant, triple burger and cut it into four. Divide the fries by four. Take that giant drink and pour it into four glasses. It really is a meal for four people.

Eat less, eat locally, eat responsibly and eat what you can grow, catch, like fish and kill, like game or buy from local farmers.

Every year, before hunting season, we would take last years meat and make jerky. Slice the roasts and steaks thin and soak & dry or take the ground meat and mix with spices and use a jerky shooter to make pepperoni sticks and such.

If you stock up like we do then call around and see if you can get some free buckets with or without lids. Call bakeries, processing plants, etc. In Maryland I used to call the local apple sauce company. They had buckets with lids for 50 cents. If you buy used buckets get ones for food ONLY. You don't want anything that had chemicals in it or it might leach into your food. You can clean them with hot, soapy water and then disinfect them with a little bleach and cool water. Remember that if you use bleach and hot water then the bleach becomes ineffective. Then I let mine sit out in the sun to dry so that they get further disinfected and if there are any off smells then the sun will help bleach those out also.

Now, you'll hear a lot of different methods for storing in buckets. With or without bags, liners, mylar bags. With or without oxygen absorbers, dry ice, etc. Honestly, as long as you store it in a cool, dry place, properly sealed and rotate it You probably won't need all that. Again, do the research and decide which best suits your needs. I have never used anything more than the buckets. Occasionally I'll like it with a food grade polyethylene bag just to be able to keep the flour closed so it doesn't fluff up when I open the lids.

Sugar and salt, in the 25 lb bags, slip right into the bucket in the bag they're in. Baking mixes, pancake mixes and such I take out of the box but leave in their inner bags. I only put one type of thing in a bucket so recently I got just add water pancake mix on sale. I bought 10 boxes since they were 10 for $10. When I got home I got out a bucket, opened each box, pulled out the bag of pancake mix and packed them into a bucket. Then I cut out the instructions, nutrition information and any recipes on the box and put them in the bucket. I closed the bucket and on the outside I taped the front of the box so we'd know what it was. It's really that simple.

If you buy rice in bags, beans, pasta, etc. just leave them in their bags, pack them in a bucket and use a label or masking tape and write what's inside. It's really that simple.

If you're buy canned food you can stack them up in a closet or even a corner. Put a piece of plywood on top and cover with a table cloth. Do this in front of a sunny window and you have a spot to put plants like herbs & lettuce for meals.

Glass jars should be put on shelves in a cool, dark place like a closet or pantry. If you live in a region that has earthquakes you may want to put glass items on lower shelves where they might survive a short drop provided the house doesn't pancake down on top of them. In all cases, bolt shelves to the wall. Hopefully it'll just rattle but not collapse.

Another way to stretch your food dollars, especially at this time of year, is to preserve fresh fruit & vegetables.

We got a great deal yesterday. 50 lbs of onions for $5. We also got 50 lbs of potatoes for $5.50. Celery was $1.75 for three large heads and carrots were 5 lbs for $2.00. We bought one package of each. Starting right after the show today I'll take the older potatoes from last time and dice them up. I'll blanch them for about 5 minutes and cool them in water with some Fruit Fresh, just citric acid, and then dry them in the food dryer. Until they're all done I'll store them in mason jars. I'll do the same for all the vegetables.

Once they're all done I'll use a Food Saver machine and package them up in 1 cup bags and throw them all into a bucket. Some I'll mix into vegetable blends for quick soups. With the celery, once it's dry you can grind it up into a powder, mix with some salt and make your own celery salt. And save the celery leaves, too. Dry them and use them to flavor soups and broths.

Storing wheat, flour, cornmeal, etc. can sometimes be tricky. I've never had a problem with bugs except once I bought a boxed cornbread mix and when I went to use it there were little weevils in it. Other than that I've never done anything special and I've never had a problem. Some people freeze the bags of flour first to kill anything in it and then store it in buckets. If you're have a problem, do it. I grew up storing food and we never used anything special.

Powder drink mixes, beans, bottles of herbs, peppercorns, etc. are all great things to put into buckets just in the packaging they're in.

You can can your own items in #10 cans but the machine to seal them runs about $1,200. It might be something to invest in if you're a small group or team.

NorthStar definitely advocates setting up teams or groups of people who can rely on each other in a disaster. So chip in together and buy that machine and then set up a couple times a year where you all get together and stock up and can your dry goods.

There are sites that sell dried fruits & vegetables in cans. Buy them by the case and stack up the cases as furniture.

Use these items, too. If you rotate your storage food on a regular basis then you won't have a problem with bugs.

Now the recent rice shortage has caused some concerns. We eat a lot of rice so I bought a 50 lb bag in addition to the 25 pounders we already had. These I will put into a PE bag before I seal the buckets because rice is sometimes static-y and sticks to the plastic, etc.

If your lucky enough to have a room, closet, pantry set aside just for storage then consider some of the websites that show you how to build can racks. www.canracks.com has some great ideas. You can buy the plans or just figure out something on your own. You can also buy them pre-made from several places. I think even Costco or someone has them pre-made.

Other items to store are toiletries. If toothpaste is on sale for a 2 for something and it's a good deal. Buy extra. Razor blades, shaving cream, shampoo, soaps.

Recently there was a discussion about entertainment. You can store batteries but why not get the rechargable types and a solar charger. If the power goes out we can recharge the kids' video games, run the portable DVD player for a movie. This is about comfort.

I must have several dozen boxes of playing cards along with poker chips, dice, books on rules for card games and solitaire and even a book on board game rules. You can store chess and checker pieces and draw a board or use a cloth one that rolls up.

A bucket of hard candies, foil-bagged nuts, snacks, etc. make a hard time not so bad. I know one of our favorites are the giant bags of Jolly Rancher candies. My favorites are the orange and there's usually only like 10 out of 250 pieces so I also dig through and pull those out for me.

If a disaster hits and you're in your home for a period of time with no help you'll be happy you had this. If you have to evacuate you can always grabs a couple buckets to take with you. Especially if you listened to the emergency evacuation show and have a couple buckets with mixed items to grab and go.

If there's a disaster of the economic type like what we're seeing on the horizon then you'll be glad you had the extra food on hand so that things aren't so tight and that you're more comfortable. When the government is rationing bread, eggs, milk and cheese you'll have the little extras to go with it and you'll be happy you did.

This is all under your own control.

That's our show for today. Thanks for listening and remember, fear conscripts its own armies and takes its own prisoners.

This is Suzanne Dobbs with the NorthStar Preparedness Network show. Have a great weekend.