Food prices rise yet again

Food prices are on the rise. Again. Remember the bad old days of 2007? They’re here again. In the last 4-6 weeks I’ve noticed a trend developing. Quietly – as is the custom – packages have shrunk in content, but the prices remain the same. Prices have increased, sometimes with attendant re-branding. Sometimes not.

Sugar, flour, tinned beans and peas, fruit juices, even chicken Vienna sausages. The increases have ranged between 10-33.3%.

Our family has started doing what we can to alleviate the strain these price increases will create. We are planting more food, while buying whatever we can in bulk. Planting food and sharing your garden’s bounty has a wonderful effect. There is instant gratification from being charitable, and there is sometimes a delayed gratification from receiving homegrown food from other gardeners. Talk about a win-win situation!



The Ministry of Food Production celebrates this year’s World Food Day, themed “United Against Hunger” with a Food Fest Exhibition at the University of the West Indies St Augustine campus tomorrow, Friday 12th November 2010.

The Ministry promises,
“visitors can check out Exhibitor Booths showcasing local agricultural produce, seafood and livestock, including local game (wild meat), get some shopping done at the Market Place, see live animals on display, sample tasty local delicacies such as wild meat, vegetable burgers, cassava granola and crayfish, and take a cinematic tour of our islands’ agricultural heritage.

There will also be tours of The UWI Zoology museum, diabetes testing, and free seeds and seedlings available.”

Sounds promising.

Food Gardening

"Humankind, despite its artistic abilities, sophistication and accomplishments, owes its existence to a six-inch layer of farmable soil—and the fact that it rains!"—Anonymous

For the past few months I have not been blogging much. The reason is simple. I have been learning new skills, and improving on old ones. Regular gardening has brought a new element of joy (and nutrients) into my life. I still shoot airguns, but less frequently.

With new activities comes an expanded vocabulary. I now toss around words and phrases such as biochar, open pollinated, organophosphates, community supported agriculture, locavore, food miles, terra preta, humus, beneficial soil organisms.

Growing more and more of the food my family eats has produced remarkable results. My children now love (homegrown) vegetables and would often eat tomatoes and corn right off the plant! But the taste. Incredible. I have been an enthusiastic supporter of the local farmers markets for years. My own homegrown fruit and veg has continuously outperformed the best of the farmers markets in the area of taste. All who’ve tasted have talked about the full flavoured taste of the garden’s produce.


I have started a new garden in tired, overworked, nutrient-depleted soil. This has given me the opportunity to learn how to ‘grow soil’. Utilising inputs such as seaweed, seawater, kitchen scraps, eggshells, spent coffee grounds, expired vitamin and mineral supplements among other things, I have actually created small quantities of the rich ‘black gold’. Twice. And now on my third set.

My family now consumes the bounty of this new garden, daily. I’ll try to post some pix in the coming weeks and months, as I share this journey of joy and learning.

The price of food is on the increase again, and I suspect our garden will play an increasingly more important role in our family’s health and wellness in the coming years.

The Patriots Cave: How To Rescue Your Family Using Time-Travel

The Patriots Cave: How To Rescue Your Family Using Time-Travel

Joel the K shares his ideas on preparedness.

The coming food scarcity

Would you want your mother, sister or daughter lining up for emergency food supplies?

It is estimated by some that food will become scarce in 2010-2011. US Dept of Agriculture trend forecasts support this view. If this is true, then the laws of supply and demand will kick in and food prices will rise dramatically.

Eric deCarbonnel, editor of MarketSceptics.com reports on soaring food prices in India, the world’s largest democracy, with 1 billion people.

“Slogan-shouting lawmakers demanding that the government control rising food prices have disrupted parliament on several occasions in recent days. 

Food prices have been soaring at an unprecedented pace. Government data shows they have risen to a nearly 20 percent high over last year - the fastest rate of increase in over a decade.
”

In his 17 Dec 2009 post, titled “2010 Food Crisis for Dummies” deCarbonnel predicts a 2010 food crisis that he says will lead to a “financial Armageddon”.

Using official records and statistics, and a mix of historic figures and forecasts, deCarbonnel makes some stunning observations and predictions.

During 2007-2009 Trinidad and Tobago experienced constant, monthly rising food prices. The government used a series of strategies to try to alleviate the effect on consumers. This included lifting Value Added Tax on several food items, including milk, curry, saltfish and a number of other imported food items.

Many times, these strategies failed as supermarket owners and other merchants refused to pass on these savings to consumers. Food inflation ran up to 40% YoY in some cases. I remember seeing rice at double the ‘normal’ price. Rice is a daily staple in our country.

With more expected food inflation in 2010 and beyond, it is wise to prepare now. Take advantage in the temporary lull in food price increases and stock up now. Rice, flour, powdered milk, tinned foods (especially the Cuisine brand, sold at HiLo supermarkets). Stockpiling these items will allow your family a little breathing space should something unexpected happen. Just use a permanent marker and mark the expiry date on top each tin. Rotate out several months before expiry.

Growing your own food is best, and for those without large tracts of land, then a kitchen garden is homegrown food security. The Agriculture Ministry has a program that gives you a start in this area.

Just remember, no matter how much food you grow or stockpile, it will be of no use should someone else come and take it from you by force. Develop a strategy to protect your loved ones and supplies. For those without guns, a plan that involves your neighbours is better than nothing. Being able to depend on immediate neighbours will go a long way in your survival.

Those in the protective services should especially be community oriented, as the moment a national emergency is even suspected, your superiors will have you confined to base/barracks. This leaves your family partially unprotected. If you develop goodwill within your respective communities, along with real, workable, tested emergency plans, then your family may survive, even in your absence.

It is well known that during the 1990 attempted coup, looters had their groceries and other goods taken from them by police, and soldiers. A lot of the goods found their way into the homes of these same soldiers and police. There is no reason to believe things will be different during another national emergency that involves looting, human beings being what we are.

I am not casting any judgement here, nor advocating breaking any laws. But if protective services personnel relieve looters of their loot, and intend to take it to their families, spare a thought for the senior citizen living alone on your street who cannot leave his/her home due to infirmity or fear. They may have no food at home. Spare a thought for the family with two working parents who weren’t able to stockpile any food.

For that matter, spare a thought for the airgunner in your neighbourhood who may be the only one to drive away home intruders from your family’s home while you are away. Since the majority of the law-abiding population is unarmed, the neighbourhood airgunners may be the last line of defence against rampaging gangs. A well-placed 16 grain pellet, traveling near the speed of sound, to a gangster’s head from 60+ meters away may very well convince the gang to move on to softer targets.

In summary, stockpile food and water, grow what you can, have a proven method to protect your loved ones and your stockpile, have enough for charity and barter, but don’t let down your guard.

Got preps?

Food storage issues

While rotating food out of the preps, it’s easy to notice any changes to appearance, smell and general condition. Recently, I’ve realized that bouillon cubes (Maggi) and cookies do not store well. The cookies are comfort food for children. It gives them energy, and keeps their spirits up in times of high-stress living. The bouillon is great for enhancing the flavour of most dishes, but especially game and ground provision (root vegetables).

Even though we have enough salt to last about a year, and even some extra, for barter and charity, bouillon cubes pack superior flavour. The mission now is to find alternatives to cookies and bouillon cubes. Not sure if my storage methods are incorrect, so perhaps I’ll start with that.


WATER STORAGE

Next to air, water is the most important requirement for life.
Increased our family water storage by three days. This may not appear to be much, but even one extra day’s water, means the family’s survival chances have been increased. Assurance. It’s better than insurance.

Scenario planning: What if T&T has another emergency like 1990?

What if T&T has another major emergency? Would you be prepared? Would you feel comfortable that the protective services can, or will? Any major emergency event can happen: T&T experiences a severe hurricane, great earthquake, an invasion from a neighbouring country, terrorists disrupting energy supplies or even another coup. Should the emergency occur over an extended period, can you feed, protect and shelter you family?

Within the first three or four days, the police will go around to the homes of those listed in the firearms register. They will confiscate all firearms and there isn’t a thing you can do about it (read sec 22[1] of the Firearms Act). No pleading, no reasoning, no calls to your superstar constitutional attorney can prevent it. You will be stripped of your legal means of protecting yourself and loved ones, right at the very moment that you need to the most.

The criminals and their families must eat and drink, so the looting begins. After HiLo, TruValu and the other major groceries have been stripped bare, then the smaller groceries and mini marts will also be attacked. Next, unless order is restored, the little neighbourhood shops and parlours will experience the same treatment. Finally, home invasions will be so rampant, that the protective services-being stretched so thin-may not respond.

Armed gangs will terrorise entire communities, picking off the weak, unprepared and unarmed at will. Home invasions, murders, rapes, kidnappings, auto theft, praedial larceny and illegal forcible evictions will be the order of the day.

We are told that one prepares for war in the time of peace. We missed that boat, the war is already on.

Scenario planning is a strategic planning method used by military intelligence and other organisations for flexible long-term plans. Neighbourhood watch groups, families, businesses and NGOs can adapt the methods to their particular environment. It is one way to build community resilience.

Get together with other stakeholders and develop your emergency plan now. Remember, a plan is not a plan, unless it is written down and can be shown to someone else. Otherwise it is still only an idea.

In ‘the fog of war’, ideas may be easily forgotten, and people revert to training and conditioning. Without plans, bad decisions are made, with sometimes fatal repercussions. Develop your plans today. Test them. Do an emergency drill. See what works, what doesn’t. Make your changes and test again. Refine your plan until it is good enough for your survival, and ensure all stakeholders internalize it, or at least have a copy.

Trust in God. But have recourse to lethal force.

Have a plan to survive. Prep your beans, bullets, band-aids and training.

500 CCTV cameras in Port of Spain, more preps

500 CCTV cameras in Port of Spain. That’s very reassuring. At least to the company that has the contract to service/maintain them. But what does it mean to the average citizen? The cost of these cameras, and the attendant service contract is not known to the taxpayer, yet we foot the bill. Where is the footage stored? Who has access to these archives? How many arrests and convictions have been made due to the evidence from these cameras?



MORE PREPPING

Got two mini first aid kits, and they’ve been stashed in the Bug Out Bags. They were tokens to members for attending the annual general meeting of a credit union. Only one per member, but someone was complaining about it being a “useless dust-collector”. I cheerfully offered my saucer of hors d’ouvres in exchange for their kit. “Two is one and one is none”. Redundancy and charity. This is a classic example of choices people make impacting their future. That person chose instant gratification coupled with delayed trauma. I chose the obverse.

Getting a little low on pellets, so a trip to the store is in order. Recently stocked up on D size batteries, more bottled water and telephone directories. Directories have multiple uses during emergencies. They can be be used in starting a fire, as a target, target backstop, outdoor toilet paper, and oh, yes, to find a listed telephone number. They’re also free.

Bought a thin layer of dense foam from a furniture factory. The factory slices off the top, due to the slightly irregular shape. It’s sold relatively cheap; about $30- $40. It’s large enough to throw on the floor for an unexpected six-foot-plus guest to sleep comfortably.

Criminals force us to adapt, improvise

A delivery truck with a message to criminals.

Some business owners have developed creative strategies to deal with crime. The above photo shows a local brewery truck with a sign that reads, “NO CASH ONBOARD”. To ensure the illiterate or semi-literate robber understands the message, a graphic depicting a dollar sign, with an angled line running through is also shown.

Those who do not modify their behaviour in a changing environment risk becoming extinct. This 73-yr old truck driver was stabbed to death by bandits near Maloney.


DEPORTEES
Meanwhile, 19 deportees from the US arrived on a chartered flight at Piarco, last Monday। Another 26 are expected to arrive next week. We export oil, natural gas and university graduates to the US; we import food, automobiles and convicted criminals (about 500 per annum) with sophisticated skills. Hmmmm. How does one measure the trade (im)balance? Looks like some weird, twisted Mariel boatlift.

Now that Jamaica, Bermuda and the Bahamas confirm their first cases of H1N1 Swine Flu, how safe is our country? Prepare, adapt, modify or risk becoming extinct. Got Sambucol?

‘Patriots’ book relaunched today

"Patriots: A Novel Survival in the Coming Collapse" by JW, Rawles goes on sale today. It’s sold at US $10.17 on Amazon.

Rawles is a former US Military Intelligence Officer and author of ‘SurvivalBlog’, which some call “the granddaddy of all survival blogs” There’s also a link to his blog on this page.

Preps and land search

Stashing away preps. Oils, lotions, repellent, bags, moist towellets, water, canned foods, diapers, disposable razors. Also travel toothbrushes, floss, dental picks and ponchos. Every bit stashed is ‘another brick in the wall’ of our emergency preparedness. Our family will eat (and continue to be hygienic), no matter what happens to the economy. We’d also be able to be charitable to others who haven’t prepared.

Searching for suitable land for two purposes. One, as a homestead/retreat, and two, the club needs a shooting range. If anyone owns land and is not using it, then maybe we can negotiate short-term use. Contact us via this blog.

Also on the lookout for a solar battery charger. Should at least charge AA, AAA, C & D batteries. If T&TEC ever shuts off the power for more than a day or two, then having a way to recharge batteries will be important. No point having several flashlights, radios and other emergency tools if no (battery) power is available. If you have one for sale, contact us.


More food price increases

The price of crude oil has dropped dramatically over the past couple months, yet food prices increase with regularity, locally. When oil was high (over US100 per barrel) we were told that was the main factor behind the rising cost of food. Now oil cost less than 50% than it did three months ago, yet, locally, food prices continue to climb. Astounding. My local chicken producer has again increased prices. It’s a modest increase of 3.33%, but considering it’s the third increase in roughly five months, it gets difficult for the average citizen. How can they justify these regular increases?

Maybe hunting more–along with fishing–might be a temporary solution. Imagine, the humble Carite fish is now $30/lb!

Dave shot three manicou (opossum) and seven iguanas, recently. All with a single shot air rifle. Many hunters cannot equal his productivity, even with a shotgun.

Folks, stash away preps like your life depends on it. It does.

- Trini Funshooter

TT Coast Guard rescues drifting French family of four

Photo: Guardian

Pascal and Noelle Bazin, daughter Melanie and son Alexis were rescued on Sunday night by a 20-member search and rescue team of the TT Coast Guard. The family had been adrift in a small rubber life raft after their catamaran sank off Martinique on Thursday.

Congratulations to Captain J Ramoutar, Commander Huggins and the search and rescue team.

The family used a flashlight and a flare that helped them to be spotted. They had an emergency plan, emergency equipment and supplies. How many Trini families have a family emergency plan with accompanying equipment and supplies?

- Trini Funshooter

Resilient communities

Resilient Communities are communities that are supposed to be able to withstand disruptions and carry on with life, even if other communities are severely affected. Floods, violent crime, interruption of grid-supplied power and other disasters will not stop the community from operating. John Robb, a former US Air Force special ops pilot, and blogger of http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com has been credited with coining the term.

Here in TnT we have seen the effect of a little flooding on transportation, power, food supplies, infrastructure and law and order. Hapless, confused drivers and passengers were robbed on the C/R Highway, near Beetham Gardens, while trying to escape flood waters in our capital city. This was just a couple of hours of rain. Now imagine the compound effect of sustained rain, over several days.

Most of our communities will not qualify as RCs. Many people immediately look to central government for their most basic needs.
Even the umbrella agency specifically mandated with the task of disaster management and prevention seemed underprepared.

Should we look closely at this project, and perhaps learn and model, making adjustments that is suitable to our culture, climate and resources?

- Trini Funshooter

Iguana, preps, meds rotation

Shot an iguana today. It took five or six shots before finally succumbing. A healthy seven-pounder, about 35 inches from head to tail.

Why do iguanas just sit there while you shoot them repeatedly? It seems counterintuitive to survival.

I gave it to someone who loves that type of meat.



PREPS

Got two more whistles (free, at a childrens party) and immediately put them in the Bug Out Bag (BOB). One more lanyard, and we’ll have one whistle-and-lanyard combo per family member.

Bought a few more tins of pellets, at a good price. Some for target practice; some for the BOB, and the rest for the preps. To that, added mints, vitamins, a knife, pure cocoa butter, ginger tea, plastic forks.

Some of the stashed meds are getting close to expiry date. This is the one ‘downside’ of prepping: you cannot rotate (use and replace) meds out of your stash. It’s a sunk cost. The upside is, it’s there; available for your use in the event of an emergency. Doesn’t matter if there’s a curfew, the pharmacies are closed, the hospitals and health centres are overwhelmed or your insurance doesn’t cover the private nursing homes.

Better to have them at hand and not need them, than need them and not have them.

We have access to medical advice by phone, sms, email and web chat from professionals familiar with our health/medical history. So there would be no self-diagnosis, nor self-prescribed administration of any of the meds (some are quite powerful and effective).

We also keep a personal health record (PHR) for each family member, that is quite detailed and comprehensive; in soft and hard copies.

- Trini Funshooter

More preps, more price increases

Got two more flashlights, with accompanying batteries. Large requires D size batteries, while small uses AAs. Both courtesy a ‘loyalty marketing’ program from our regular grocery.






Another price increase; the humble Ramen noodle soup, normally sold at $2.30/pack is now $4.95! An increase of 115%! This, at a time when some world food (and oil) prices are decreasing. Thankfully, we bought a few packs each month for the past few months––at the lower price––so we can hold off until the price returns to ‘normal’, or give up the food entirely, as it contains only marginal nutrition. It’s only in the preps because of the ease and speed of preparation––3 minutes in boiling water and it’s done. Something hot, quick and tasty.

- Trini Funshooter

Preps

Bought hooks & screws that came in a handy compartmentalised container, similar to a pillbox. Also got some baby toothbrushes, a collapsible 5 litre water jug, a fuel funnel and a calculator.

Considering a bulk purchase of food in conjunction with other likeminded folks. Inflation, now at 15.4% will eat away at the purchasing power of our money, so it’s better to spend the money now, and get more tangibles now than hold on to it and buy less later.


SNEAKY GROCERY TACTIC

Discovered a sneaky tactic that a leading national grocery chain is using; selling a 9kg pack of parboiled rice, instead of the usual 10kg. Price is $112. It’s packaged exactly like the 10kg pack, and you have to look closely for the ‘9 KG’ sign. I went home to check, as I was sure I had bought a 10kg bag for $60 2 years ago. Yes, it was 10kg.

10kg bag = $60
9 kg bag = $112

Replaced the 10kg with the 9kg, and now I have less rice in my preps to feed my family in an emergency. Maybe a call to Charles James of JMH may be in order. Wonder what the minimum order is to get wholesale prices? Hmmmmm…


- Trini Funshooter

Floods, North and South

Trinidad and Tobago experienced severe flooding yesterday. Bridges collapsed, houses fell, children drowned, vehicles were buried, homeowners lost furniture, appliances, photographs and other valuables. One part of a highway had to have traffic diverted onto the Priority Bus Route and Eastern Main Road. Reportedly, the worst hit areas were the capital city, Port of Spain and it’s environs; the East-West corridor and South.

The responses by the disaster agencies were admittedly faster and more professional than before, but still lacking. More citizens also appeared to accept that waiting for the authorities to respond was not in their best interests and even toddlers were seen on tv, using brooms to remove mud and debris.

This will probably be the best time for the relevant authorities, viz., ODPM, CDERA, Ministries of Works, Local Government, National Security, et al, to roll out a national comprehensive public disaster awareness and preparedness educational campaign. This can be linked with the MILAT program and provide a spark for finally stimulating serious national discussion and debate about mandatory national service for our youth. Citizens would be more receptive while recent events are still fresh in their minds.

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) pilot program that has been successful in Tobago can at last be brought to Trinidad to add to the strength of properly trained emergency responders available.

Neighbourhood defence groups can be organized to prevent looting and other opportunistic criminal acts. This would free up the resources of the police to concentrate on more serious crimes. It would also prevent the law enforcement professionals from being overwhelmed when we need them most.

My response to the flood was to to buy more preps. A few hundred diapers and a few dozen boxes of matches to add to my stash. That’s better than money in the bank. Now if only someone can teach me the proper way to waterproof those matches with wax…


- Trini Funshooter

Hunt, shop and preps

The hunt this morning was more enjoyable than last time. A few birds downed, with lots of misses. A trek through grass and bush, some taller than us. Lots of razor grass and thorns, but also a large number of birds. From hawks, parrots and ground doves to parakeets, kiskeedees and unidentifieds.

No small game spotted, but fruit trees reconned as potential future stalking sites. Even without game, a great morning spent ‘in the bush’.

Bought a few preps while shopping for baby boy’s upcoming party. Canned foods, juices, Ramen soup, Crix Multigrain crackers, toothpaste, laundry detergent and unexpected gem; a pair of safety/utility gloves that may also work well as shooting gloves. They are made of Spandex, stretchable leather, PVC and composite synthetics. Managed to get it for even less than the sale price. A deal.

Stockpiling food, water, pellets, gun spare parts, tools, pharmaceuticals and bandages (beans, bullets and bandaids) gives me and my family a sense of security in these uncertain times.

With ongoing wars and rumours of wars, tropical storms, hurricanes, violent crime, dynamic political escapades and feuds coupled with food and fuel increases side by side with double digit inflation…
Spending money today on consumables we will use tomorrow seems better than earning 6% in some mutual fund that may or may not be there when I need it. Remember ITL? Summit Finance? If those unfortunate folks had spent more money on preps, then when the companies folded, the impact would have been less devastating.

It doesn’t have to be either or. You can still invest AND prep. Just tweak your asset allocation policy to include tangibles in hand. Remember the adage of “a bird in hand…” being “worth more than two in the bush.”

Prepare for your family’s immediate (and future) needs today.

Preps, pride

Bought some preps last week. Toothbrushes, chess sets, measuring tape, a bale of toilet paper and a Frisbee. Keeping family morale high during an emergency is almost as important as beans, bullets & bandaids. Games are excellent for this reason. The toothbrushes will go in the charity kit. Measuring tape goes in the tool kit, and you can never have too much TP. Especially if it’s less than $75 for 40 rolls.

AirGunsTT congratulates our returning Olympic athletes and wishes them, their families and coaches the very best. Being a blog that’s ostensibly about air guns, we’d like to especially thank our sole Olympic air pistol athlete, Roger Daniel, for representing us on the world stage, and wish him the best in the COPA 2008 in Santo Domingo this week.

- TF

Completed will

Finally finished my will. It took several months, and some hard decisions, but it’s finally complete. Now to print, sign, witness and distribute…

After reading about the senior police officer who shot the pastor to death over a love triangle, I wondered if the pastor had prepared a will. Or will his family members and relatives be left to do difficult searches, seek expensive legal help (letters of administration cost thousands), and even fight amongst themselves?

Begin that process today. Don’t die intestate. Leaving your loved ones without clear instructions as to how you’d like your estate divided among them is thoughtless and shortsighted.

- TF

Food Sale at National Flour Mills

Bought some food at National Flour Mills sale last week. They had some really good prices: one dozen (1 litre) juices = $60, 1 dozen (250 ml) juices = $16, six tins sardines = $18, three boxes (340 gm) cereals = $35. The cost is about one third to half of average supermarket prices. My gratitude to National Flour Mills on this initiative, especially so close to the opening of the school year.

I suggest you buy as much as you can afford, putting some away for emergencies, and charity. Yes, give some to that poor, single-parent family in your neighbourhood. If you don’t know that family, then ask at the hairdressers, or the barbers. They’ll know.

- Trini Funshooter