How does this differ from the cold hard facts about something?  It seems that the economy is headed into a hard crash landing.  Does thinking positive about it change that?  Maybe not.  But it does change our response to it.  I don't think it would be a disaster for our country to change its values, where family and friends become more important than spending an evening at the mall or accumulating more "stuff." 

 

This could be the big change that is actually necessary, to put us more in touch with what really matters in life, and get us aware that helping others creates more pleasure and satisfaction than another big screen TV in the house.  Also to be more aware of our limited resources, and take healthier options. 

 

With all that being said, a wise person will heed the saying "Prepare for the worst and hope for the best." 

 

One of the things I am doing is as follows:  

 

In case there is an interruption to the food supply, sprouting is a very simple thing that anyone can do, and can keep a person well nourished for a long time.   

 

Sprouting is truly survival food, the seeds take hardly any room to store, they are easily prepared, and provide complete nourishment. As one can live on sprouts for months, it is hightly recommended to keep a stock of seeds on hand.

As an example, I have a friend who lives on a boat, and eats just sprouts and fish, proving that this is a viable solution to having a live food supply in challenging or isolated circumstances. You can have nutritious food ready to eat in three days.

Nature's Food Patch in Clearwater (and most health food stores) actually label seeds in their bulk bin that are particularly suited for sprouting, including garbanzo beans, adzuki beans, mung beans and green lentils. There are others as well, such as alfalfa.

What is recommended is to get a stock of various seeds, and then, to keep the bugs away, get some diatomaceous earth (DE) to mix in with the seeds. The seeds can be stored in a 2 or 5 gallon bucket almost indefinitely. You can have them in separate baggies with DE, or just loose in the bucket.  DE can be bought at Clearwater Herbs, which is on Drew Street at Missouri in Clearwater.  When you are ready to sprout your seeds, just rinse off the DE.

You don't have to buy an expensive sprouting kit, but can make your own sprouting jars using mason jars and embroidery meshes or even window screening. Take the two-part lid off of the mason jar (available at Ace Hardware or maybe K-Mart, NOT WalMart), then lay the flat part of the lid on the embroidery mesh or window screening and cut around it, making a round mesh screen that is then substituted for the flat part of the lid.

If you can't find canning jars, use just a regular jar and secure window screening over the opening with a rubber band. 

Put a tablespoon or two of seeds in the jar, soak the seeds in pure water for a couple hours and rinse. Place the jars so the water can run off, then rinse a couple of times a days for a few days, and eat.

Each stage of sprouting has different nutritional properties as the seed grows.  There is a tremendous amount of info on sprouting on the net, just Google sprouting, and you can become an expert (and ensure a healthy supply of food) in no time. 

                                             Ray Behm, DDS