Bornfamous

It’s billed as a documentary that Americans won’t ever see.. except on the Internet. Google Video has the entire, 1 hr 49 minute film. You owe it to yourself and your children to see it:

On March 11 a new documentary was aired on French television (ARTE – French-German cultural tv channel) by French journalist and filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin, The World According to Monsanto - A documentary that Americans won’t ever see. The gigantic biotech corporation Monsanto is threatening to destroy the agricultural biodiversity which has served mankind for thousands of years.

[Update: Now I see that the video is no longer available on Google. If anyone knows a link that works, please send it to me! Found it!]

While the Volvo is sidelined, a friend offered to take me along a few days ago on her weekly trip to the local organic food co-op. I bought almost exclusively bulk items like beans, quinoa, powdered milk, nuts, dried herbs, spices, salt, popcorn [gotta have my treats!] and several cans of diced tomatoes on sale.

I bought triple or quadruple the amounts that I would normally get, and I left the produce section, where I normally spend way too much money, alone except for a few onions and potatoes. The bill was about double my normal weekly bill, but the food will last at least a month. At least I think it will.

I decided to try an experiment and see how long I can live [or stand to live] off of what I bought last week, including a small amount of farmer’s market produce to round out the diet. I want to try to last the entire month of April without buying anything else, other than possibly another trip or two to the farmer’s market.

The verdict so far: I don’t think I’m going to make it.

Over the weekend, I went through my pantry, which I thought already held a couple of weeks’ worth of legumes, corn meal and various kinds of flour, all bought in a fit of Whole Foods ambition back when I decided to go organic for my health. I’d forgotten how old the stuff was. Most of it was bought three or four years ago, and never touched again.

Now, I’ve learned that beans can last for years, but you have to soak and cook them for much longer than you do with fresher beans. You also need to store them properly, which I didn’t. Apparently, I also didn’t cook them long enough for dinner Saturday night, and regretted it Sunday. Then I read that cornmeal goes rancid very quickly, and flour doesn’t last either. I had some split peas and other beans that were also quite old, so I just decided to chuck them all and start fresh.

So I’ll probably have to make one more trip to the co-op to make it to the end of April, but we’ll see first how long I can [stand to] last on what I have.

I’m depressed. Or maybe it’s an anxiety attack. I have a hard time telling the difference.

Whatever it is, it hit me like a USPS truck when I opened my mail this morning and discovered an unexpected doctor bill for $164. Doesn’t sound like much, but combined with all my overdue medical bills dating back to a leg-threatening staph infection two years ago, plus my son’s little accident last week putting the Volvo out of commission [requiring me to pay a $100 towing bill--forget about repairs, the car is on an indefinite hiatus], add in a $34 NSF charge thanks to a $5 check I’d forgotten to account for–oh yes, and don’t forget the $200/mo rent my son can no longer afford to pay because his hours have been cut at work–well, it all adds up to a mild sensation of panic.

Thus, Crunchy Chicken’s Buy Nothing Challenge to buy only food and medicine for the month of April sounds like a plan.

This is like Buy Nothing Day. Except that it lasts all month long. Sort of a mini-Compact. A compact Compact. A sub Compact.

Anyway, this means none of the following:

• No new clothes
• No new gadgets
• No new furniture or housewares
• No salon services
• No makeup
• No tools
• No whatever the hell else people buy

I’m in.

Yeah, I know. I’ve been neglecting poor Bornfamous. Sorry. It’s just that I’ve been reading and learning so much that I needed time to process it all. And I haven’t been able to decide what to share–and certainly haven’t felt competent enough to set myself up as an expert, which is how I feared I’d come across.

I’m not an expert. Just worried. I’m sure you are too, with food and gas prices soaring and our economy plummeting. A couple of years ago, I started reading blogs about climate change, peak oil, and the end of civilization as we know it, but I learned to keep it to myself. Nobody wanted to hear it; it was just too alarming. Besides, who needs more gloom and doom? What about solutions? I couldn’t think of any.

All I could think about was, what can I do to protect my family? And the answer was obvious: food. As oil prices go up, food becomes very expensive. I remembered the energy crises of the 70s and how they affected food prices; it wasn’t pretty. [Now I'm hearing about wheat and corn shortages. There have even been food riots in other countries. Alarmed much?] Even on my little apartment balcony, I could grow some food, so I became a fan of the new urban homesteading movement. I started a small herb garden, pathetic as that sounds–and in a long moment of inattention, let it die. What can I say? I’m lazy. Well, not exactly–I hate using chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia as an excuse. Either way, gardening is not a pursuit for the horizontally inclined.

But I’m not giving up, no! I have a pathetic NEW herb garden [photos forthcoming] and ambitious plans to plant salad greens and a few veggies. I just need to get me some compost, and I’ll be ready to plant. I even found a free, weekly source of worm castings and compost tea!

[However, as Gilda Radner pointed out, "It's always something!" My car is officially out of commission until I can save up to fix it. So it's back on the bus after four years of glorious motoring. I have plenty of experience, pre-Volvo, getting around San Diego by bus and trolley, so I know that getting to the free compost will mean a two-and-a-half hour round trip instead of the thirty minutes it would take by car. Plus, fares since my transit days have gone up to a whopping $6.50 EACH WAY for this particular trip. Now riders have to pay full fare for each transfer. WTF? I don't understand how they expect people to give up their cars for mass transit when driving is actually the CHEAPER option for many San Diegans--even with higher gas prices. Luckily, I'm over 60 and qualify for a senior discount. I'll pick up a monthly pass and save even more, but there's no way around that nearly three-hour trip.]

But I digress. What I really want to talk about is food storage. Because obviously, a balcony garden can only provide so much nutrition. To get through an emergency, whether brought on by man or Mother Nature, having a plentiful supply of food and water on hand is essential.

Sharon Astyk writes persuasively about food security. She has a book coming out and is working on another one called A Nation of Farmers, which proposes that the only way out of this mess is for all of us to start growing our own food in any way we can. Sharon is also promoting food storage, the way our grandparents and great-grandparents did it before supermarkets and processed food took over. We need to get back to these basics, fast.

I was lucky to be able to take Sharon’s online food storage class last month and was overwhelmed by the wealth of information. How to apply it all to my particular situation? That’s what I plan to blog about for the next month or so. Stay tuned…

I had to look at the new theme for a few days before deciding whether to keep it, and it grew on me. [See links at the bottom of the page for designer info.] It’s simple, with a few flourishes.

I’d like to say that’s me–simple, with a few flourishes–but I don’t have any flourishes. I’m just a Plain Jane, folks. Don’t get me wrong: it’s entirely by choice. Feminine flourishes are just too much work, frankly. The pantyhose went first, then the high heels, the hair dye, the skirts and dresses, and finally, the makeup. The older I get, the more important comfort becomes. Unlike Billy Crystal’s version of Fernando Lamas, I think it is better to FEEL good than to LOOK good.

But this theme does BOTH, and you can’t beat that. I’m starting to feel the blogging inspiration coming back…

Still computerless. Writing from the library. I can’t believe how many blogs are censored here. Gah!

Old Betsy is going to be in the shop for a much needed upgrade, and since she’s in pretty bad shape, it may take a while. I’m going to miss her [and YOU, Internets], but I’m also looking forward to actually having a clean house, a new balcony garden, and maybe even getting some exercise. What a concept!

I couldn’t help myself. I signed up:

Not that I’ve been successful at growing food on the balcony YET. Other than rosemary and chives, but I ate them and that’s a start, right? Damn straight.

I’m so in love with this gorgeous green theme by beccary that I had to switch immediately. Green is the new black. And my favorite color.

Makes me want to start blogging more, just to admire my words surrounded by all this green!

This lady is among a gazillion wonderful photos of yesteryear featured on Square America. Today we are… says her hair is almost as high as the Christmas tree, but it looks almost flat compared to two roommates I had back in ‘65. They were sisters, hairdressers and Dolly Parton clones - minus the big bazooms — five years before I’d even heard of Dolly Parton. They looked almost exactly like this:

Oh, did I mention they were twins? Wish I could remember their names. I’d love to look them up and see what they look like now.

This is my friend Jeanne’s recipe for inflammation. It worked for her fibromyalgia several years ago. My own fibro is so bad at this point, I’m finally going to give it a try. There’s nothing like pain for motivation!

Mince fine together in small food processor:

• 2-3 tbsp or so ground flax seed (I’ve cut it down to one tblspoon since feeling significantly better)
• 5 large cloves fresh garlic

Add and process well (or dump the above into small jar, add the following, secure lid and shake like the devil:

• 1/2 heaping tsp. or so powdered Stevia (it’s the green stuff. I buy it in the bulk spice section of the health food store)
• 1/2 heaping tsp or so powdered Horseradish root (in bulk foods again)
• 1/2 heaping tsp. or so powdered kelp
  (bulk foods)
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves, finely crushed and fresh as possible.
• 2 tbsp. or so Braggs Aminos
• 2-3 tbsp. flax oil (I’ve cut down to one tbsp. since feeling much better) (I use the kind with chili oil and garlic oil added, made by Omega Nutrition)
• 2-3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar (or more, to make consistency you want for dressing or dip or spread or whatever)

This is the result of research with some of the foremost names in ethnobotany. It’s great on salads, all kinds of vegetables, cheeses, meats and breads, etc.

This full recipe is to be consumed on foods throughout the day. At least the full recipe, each day, every day.

It depends on your also not subverting the benefits with sugars and all the other bad diet habits. I’ve been better about what I consume since starting this, though not perfect. I think the main thing is really trying to up the greens and lessen the bad stuff as much as possible. The more, the better. The only really new thing I’ve been doing though, is adding this concoction, the full recipe, every day. I mix it first thing every morning, without fail. No matter how I’m feeling. Just do it. And good luck, dearly beloved.

-Jeanne

Wish me luck!