Really great suggestions Lynnet - thank you.
Tamiflu is actually remarkably effective against profoud virulent influenza, but it must be administered within 48 hours of onset or it doesn't work. The real problem is that supplies could not possibly match demand in the case of a pandemic. And crisis plans call for the available doses to go to high priority individuals - health care workers for example.
Of no relevance to paleo diet, but interesting nonetheless, a study done by Minnesota (and later repeated nationwide) found that 50% of health care workers would not report to work in the event of a pandemic. I would expect that number to drop in actuality. Imagine good intentions meeting familial pressure - combined with the likelihood that many of those workers or family members would fall ill during the initial phase.
A couple of years ago I attended a meeting featuring a number of security, crisis management folks working in health/research. They all had 3 months supply of food and water in storage. All. All of them! I was shocked. (I have 5 cans of tuna in my pantry, and that's about it).
Once I had examined the current evidence on pandemic flu, I did only one thing in response (and it wasn't anything on Lynnet's list) - I bought more life insurance.
I kid you not.
gale
----- Original Message ----
From: Lynnet Bannion <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 8:50:11 AM
Subject: Re: Pandemic/Emergency food planning
On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:04:10 -0600, Gail Ross & Lawrence Roberts
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> In all instances I have been able to find the recommended food planning
> is definitely non-paleo, being heavily reliant on grains and legumes. Is
> anyone aware of a site with something of a paleo perspective?
One advantage of grains and legumes is that they can be stored for years
at room temperature, and cooked as needed. In general, meat requires
refrigeration. In case of a severe natural (or unnatural) disaster, you
couldn't count on electric service. Fresh vegetables would also spoil
without refrigeration in more than a few days.
Supposing a pandemic flu, you would not be able to go out to the stores,
and
if there, they might not have any food, or any food you would care to eat.
However, there are foods you can easily have, and steps you could take to
prepare.
* Dried fruits and dried vegetables keep at room temp. You can dry them
yourselves.
* Nuts keep pretty well, especially in a cool place. Rotate your stock.
* Jerky and pemmican are good keepers in a cool place. You can really
live on this stuff. It either takes a lot of time, or a lot of expense to
stock yourself up with it.
* You could can a wide variety of foods using a pressure canner. This
includes meat items such as poultry and ground meat, stews and soups.
Take the trouble to learn how to do it properly to avoid botulism, of
course. High-acid fruits and tomatoes can be done with a water-bath
canner, but if you're serious about preparing paleo food storage, you'll
need a pressure canner.
I'm serious about this: If you have a freezer full of meat, you need to
have some canning jars stored, and enough lids, and a pressure canner.
With a marathon work session, you could save hundreds of dollars of worth
of meat that would otherwise spoil if your power was out more than a day
or two. Get a good book on canning, contact your extension service, and
practice a little bit first. You'll have to
figure out a non-electric way to use the pressure canner, of course. Gas
stove,
wood stove, heavy-duty propane camp stove, something like that. You will
need some
way of cooking anyway, if your electricity is out.
* You could build yourself a root cellar. That can be outside your house
dug into the yard, or in a corner of your basement protected from any
sources of heat, and ventilated to the outside air. You can keep roots
and hardier vegetables (such as cabbage) there. There are good books out
on this subject.
* Grow a garden. Those fresh vegetables keep best on the hoof. Plant
fruit trees while you're at it, and berry bushes. It's surprising how
much food you can grow on a small plot of ground. And if you're stuck at
home in quarantine, you'll have time to weed and harvest your goodies.
* Speaking of "on the hoof", keep chickens or rabbits (many cities allow a
few hens or bunnies in your back yard). If you live in the country, you
are really set.
The hens will give you eggs OR chicken.
* If you're really into non-refrigerated meat storage, you could make
smoked ham, sausage, bacon, etc. (read up on this maneuver). You can
render your own lard. Needs to be kept in a cool spot (how about that root
cellar?). Instead of pig, you could do the same with venison, jerking the
muscle meat, making sausage with whatever you can and smoking it well,
etc. There are websites dedicated to such studies.
Study up on what our immediate ancestors did: great-grandparents and
before. Many of them put away food all summer, butchered in the fall, and
lived on what they produced year round. They didn't even have electricity
or refrigeration. They'd go to the store for flour, coffee, and salt.
Since we don't need flour or coffee, and salt keeps FOREVER, we should be
able to do it as well.
* Be sure to store some water, in food-grade buckets or jerrycans, or
glass jars. Many natural disasters result in disruption or contamination
of public water supplies. You'll need about a gallon per person per day
for drinking, cooking, and just a bit of washing up. Rotate your stock.
You would be wise to have a couple of weeks supply. If you have well
water, and your elecricity is out, so is your well. A major electrical
outage, and domestic water is out too. If you plan to keep flushing the
toilet, you'll need more. An alternative is white plastic bucket and
sawdust, with a toilet seat. Works pretty well (see the book "Humanure"),
and could certainly get you through a few weeks of disruption.
Be prepared with anti-diarrheals and anti-inflammatories for the flu,
soothing medicinal teas, whatever simple remedies you can have on hand. I
don't put much credence in Tamiflu or similar stuff. A real pandemic
would roll right through Tamiflu, having built up immunity to the stuff.
Be prepared with easy-to-prepare and nourishing meals in case several
family members are sick.
If you live in colder climates, have plenty of blankets, quilts, towels,
etc. Power outage means your forced-air or hot-water heat also doesn't
work. Candles, battery powered lights, or wind-up lights, or shake-lights,
and battery-powered radios are a good addition to your emergency cache.
Find a way to charge your cell phone that doesn't depend on a wall outlet.
Hoping we don't need to use this information.
Best regards,
Lynnet
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