Tuesday, June 10, 2014

getting porked

GETTING PORKED

I certainly don’t ever want to be a vegetarian. Those folks just ain’t right. Pasty, scrawny and weak. Not right in the head. But I also certainly am NOT eating as much meat as I used to and it seems to get worse all the time as meat prices keep getting insane. Just in the last five years my daily ( weekdays, when I’m in town for work and I stop at the store for fresh meat- although I might soon have no choice and have to switch from fresh daily to one shop a week and use works freezers to partition up a big chunk ) meat budget has gone from two to three dollars. And now it looks like THAT might go up. Three bucks is bad enough- that is for two people and less than a pound. But, as is usual with a widespread systematic collapse, many forces converge at once to screw with business as usual. After forty years, centralization has gone from savior to villain. When Nixon gave our gold standard the last coffin nail, prices went insane. The response at the time was to push for centralizing production to gain efficiencies ( read: replacing expensive people with machines and oil ). But like all centralizing efforts in our society, that one has ran up against diminishing returns. Now it is hurting us.

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Centralizing meat and milk and egg production is now, after decades of really low prices, biting us in the ass. One contaminated batch of eggs means shortages and doubling plus of prices. Oil never wanting to fall too much under $100 a barrel means transporting costs hurt rather than save. One area of centralizing production means a local drought triples prices. And the only way to go back to localized production would be to deny money to local governments and deny profits to big business. In other words, NOT going to happen. For every moronic Yuppie Scum agitating for zoning controls to protect “home values”, another farmer goes out of business. For every city or county collecting high property taxes on old farmland now valued at suburban home prices, we lose a bit of food security. Right now, pig prices are the reminder how we have screwed things up. About one third of current prices went to pig farmers. Those costs, the price the farmer charges, just doubled due to the latest widespread pig diarrhea epidemic killing off the poor little pork chops. So, it was a buck a pound to them, one to the processor and one to the retailer ( I generalize of course ). If the farmer is now charging TWO dollars a pound, and if no one else raises prices, four buck a pound pork is here shortly. Have you seen bacon? Five or six bucks a pound ( I imagine bacon contracts for the big fast food chains are frozen in price so the consumer gets the short end of the stick ). Remember the good old days when we changed our diets to meat and potatoes because we had such a huge surplus of food? Add population pressure to our lists of ills ( pretty soon, immigrants won’t just be taking your jobs, but the food off your plate ).

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16 comments:

  1. Considering the steroids, hormones, nitrites, and other assorted ingredients that today's commercial meat is pumped up with, you're probably better off being a vegetarian these days James?

    I suppose the same could be argued as far as produce is concerned, but at least everything else is lower on the food chain.

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    1. Some can handle the veggie diet. I have health issues with not enough animal flesh. It will prove interesting after being forced on me

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  2. hello you old malcontent! OH Great Bison with the glorious hair and all that other shit! Just wanted to stop by, you have moved again, and check to see how you are doing! Country is going to hell, probably not quick enough to suit some, but down the swirling crapper of lunacy for sure! You are still the man! Always will be in my opinion. When you print Bison Bullshit t shirts I will certainly order one! Keep your powder dry! the rat

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    1. Thanks for the kind words, brother! Hey, you gave me an idea. Bison flags. Used to approach Bisonia after the fall, good for a free pass.

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  3. If you don't mind the suggestion most magnificently mained one-
    it is definitely past time to start getting some chickens. Buy a single layer hen now, an egg every other day for a few months, give them a 'chicken tractor' type run that you can move around and let them forage in. Feed them your surplus cracked wheat and a little chicken feed and oyster shell.
    I recommend a chicken tractor with a complete (all 6 sides) enclosure- top, bottom, north, south, east and west - reinforced with hog wire if coyotes or other mid size predators are a problem. and a latch that can be closed with a padlock. Practice now and expect the first few chickens you have to bite it because of something you overlooked.
    Protein sources are going to get more rare and expensive - a dozen eggs could cost a 1/10th ounce of silver in good times historically, and in bad times could cost more than a whole ounce!
    Even when the layers reach the end of their productive cycle you can always stew them for their meat and bones.
    Personally I raised chickens as a kid and I hate the feathered bastards to this day and smile as I take a bite of chicken in revenge. But they did produce FOOD from scraps and cheap stuff and taught me valuable animal husbandry lessons.
    In your desert climate you will want to make certain you choose the best adapted birds, provide plenty of shade and water, and possibly a double fence or back up super sturdy (earth bermed and insulated? ) coop for them to retreat to. If you dis like them you can also look into rabbits, other fowl, or small pigs- but chickens are easy to start with, even now.
    Everyone- This is where your 'extra' money should now be going once you are on your land. Fish, Chickens - easy to care for sources of protein that can be fed off scraps and waste, greenhouses and gardens, water collection systems, cisterns, and waste handling plans/processes/materials.
    The crash continues to accelerate. Finish up your parachute NOW .

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    1. I am a damn fool for NOT having them, I agree. For now, I could feed them whole grain throw away bread from work. The issue is after the collapse. No feed source for them through the winter.

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    2. chickens are omnivores. anything you would eat they can subsist on very little if they aren't laying and you only need two for next gen after winter... And it is very easy to stockpile feed for them - weevils are just an extra treat for them. Sure the ones you have on hand might not make it through the winter post collapse (though in many places they can forage until the snow is over their heads) BUT some one will have some that you can get ahold of afterward and you will have the infrastructure in place.

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    3. Regarding feeding them after the collapse, you might try hanging one of your dollar LED lights in the coop for a few hours during the early evening hours before the chickens bed down for the night. I did in mine and the chickens would go after the bugs (especially moths) drawn to the light. Sometimes the moths that they didn't get right away would find a crevice in the coop wall and hide there after the light was turned off. When the bugs came back out the next morning the chickens had breakfast ready for them :-)

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    4. Your work doesn't have bread in the winter ?!?

      Idaho Homesteader

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  4. get used to it...today's prices reflect the drought and feed shortages from 2 yrs ago.Bird flu,swine flu,mad cow,pork diarreha,it all contributes.Learn to use cheaper cuts,and extrnders like rice,pasta,etc

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    1. Almost never eat meat as a sole dish. Always cut up in a starch. Usually get 0.8 lb.-one quarter to the cats, one quarter to the ex if she eats ( she might eat more after dentures )- we usually share cost/cooking- and half to me portion wise.

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  5. Local eggs are easy to get here. There's a farm 3 miles away that sells them for a reasonable price. However, I've friends who give me a lot of eggs. Of course, I set up their off grid electrical system for them, so these things come back.

    Local meat, on the other hand, is darn pricey. The small quality producer has no choice. I pay it because I know how his cattle and pigs are raised. Darn if you can't taste the difference -a lot. I moved funds from medical expenses to buying quality food. If I'm eating better, I don't need to see the doctor.

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  6. Another thought that had occurred to me, was Kurt Saxon's, raising fish in a barrel.

    Yes, of course the initial setup would be a pain. You would actually have to have someone haul in water for the barrels. But the maintenance and feed might prove to be easier in the long run than that of fowl?

    Someone made mention in another article, of screens being placed over a pond. A top the screens was placed carrion. As the flies laid their eggs, and the maggots hatched, the fish received a steady source of feed. I suppose a similar idea could be employed as far as keeping fowl.

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    1. But again, it is the winter feed issue.

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    2. A little fish food will go a long ways in such a situation James. Keep in mind that most fish are pretty much dormant in winter time, and eat almost nothing.

      Bury the barrels (With safety percautions in place of course, such as screens covering the tops) and wait for the winter rains to fill them up.

      Seems like a decent plan, worthy of consideration?

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    3. Hmmm. Well, it is food for thought. I do appreciate.

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