Food Canning Field Trip - Bring your own food!

In these times of economic meltdown and purposeful destruction of our food supply by big agricultural companies, and with control of our food about to be regulated in ways unimaginable to most, I believe it is prudent for all of us to prepare by storing food. This meetup will take place at one of the many canneries around town, most likely the most central one to us all which is downtown. My suggestion is for all of you to go to WINCO, which is right off of the Interstate 15 a few blocks south on 7200 south. The food is dirt cheap, much of it is organic, and they have such things as dried potato wedges, 11 bean mix for soup, many whole grains, candy (ok, maybe not), and other whole and organic goodies that are perfect for canning and cheap. The barrels are located in the back right corner of the store. More info to come on location, pricing, needed supplies, etc... but I would suggest going ahead and buying your food asap, as it will keep until we can on the 21st. If anyone has any information they would like to share about canning, or knows of any resources for other cheap quality food, please share with the group. Also, the Lehi Roller Mills is a great place to buy food. They have 45 pound sealed buckets of red and regular wheat among other grains and ceriels. The following is information on the coming food shortage that will be hitting our wallets very soon. Please watch and read these stories. Even if you don't plan on canning, please come and learn all you can about the process and enjoy the fellowship. I'm sure they will love our rag-tag group! I'll see you on the 21st! -Clint- http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/18348339 - In this video (despite its FOX news origin) we see that the farming index is heading up, and my sources say that this trend will continue as we see more manipulated weather which has all but destroyed the wheat crop this year. Translation: food prices will go up, possibly to hyper-inflationary levels this year. http://www.earthfiles.com/news.php?ID=1672&category=Environment - Honey bees in most of the country are dwindling as colony collapse disorder continues its plague over the honeybee population. Many bee keepers are giving up the business, and 30% of the bees in many states are already dead. Translation: The wheat crop in this country as well as some other crops like tomatoes has already been destroyed, and "imported food" will be taking their place. Imported food does not fall under FDA guidelines, and the organic label is not provably reliable from foreign countries. Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV): The Guardian newspaper reports the Pennsylvania State University College of Agricultural Sciences has found an Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) is largely responsible for Colony Collapse Disease in honey bees and threatening US agriculture and food industries. http://www.guardian%20.co.uk/business/%202008/feb/%2025/useconomy%20%20%20 They used HAARP to control weather this winter and ruined the wheat crop and ruined conditions for an early spring planting and now attacking our bees again so they can't pollinate what does come up is part of their starvation program to reduce population and make it easier to declare martial law when people riot for food. That is the objective. Its been laid out for a long time and they have been working on this for a long time and this is the year they plan on implementing it. Florida Beekeepers Are Also Hurting While Imported Foods Increase: ÂÂ"USDA projects that 40% of fruits and vegetables will be imported to U. S. by 2012.ÂÂ" FROM WHERE YOU ARE SITTING IN THE APIARY OFFICE OF FLORIDA'S DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE, ARE YOU SEEING THE 30% DECLINE EVEN AMONG FLORIDA HONEY BEEKEEPERS? Yes. We have large, commercial beekeepers in Florida and they have to still replace significant losses all the time. If you are not getting appropriate fees for pollination and the bee losses, it's certainly not a good business model. Without honey bees, Florida would lose all of its crops that many people in the whole United States and North America are eating. You know, strawberries! WeÂÂ're picking strawberries in many parts of Florida right now. Watermelons will be planted very soon to be the first watermelon crop. Blueberries are blooming now in February. And citrus will be blooming soon. So, all these foods help feed the United States with wholesome, tasty food. But if you will go to the produce section of your grocery store and take a few minutes to read the labels on similar products, you will see that they donÂÂ't come from the U. S. They will come from Mexico and Central and South America. So, the question is: Are these good things or not? IF THE BEES CONTINUE TO DECLINE WITHOUT ANYBODY BEING ABLE TO STOP THEM, WE ARE FACING THE POSSIBILITY THAT THESE CROPS IN FLORIDA COULD NO LONGER BE GROWN? Oh, yeah, and not only Florida, but California and Texas. And as spring moves northward, every state in the union has crops that need pollinators. So, youÂÂ'll have this overall decrease in diversity in your food selection that is grown in the United States. USDA projects that 40% of fruits and vegetables will be imported to the U. S. by 2012. WHY IS THAT HAPPENING? Because itÂÂ's easy. We put a lot of restrictions on food here, but none of those restrictions apply in other countries, so they can use a lot of stuff that would scare you to death. But I think it's of strategic importance to maintain our own food supply. Do you want someone outside the U. S. to dictate what your food is and what it will cost? That kind of scares me.ÂÂ" Impact of Declining Honey Bees On California Almond Industry? WHAT IS THE IMPACT THEN ON THE ALMOND INDUSTRY IN TERMS OF DOLLARS, BOTH TO THE BEEKEEPERS AND WHAT IS BEING PAID? The almond industry is a $2 billion/year industry in California. They absolutely, positively need honey bees for pollination. They take pollen from one flower to another so that an almond is produced. So, without that production, the almond growers lose a significant amount of money. Because of this shortage of bees this late in the game, so to speak. The fees that have been offered to beekeepers have risen dramatically, almost doubling in some cases, over what was offered only a month or two ago. WHAT WERE THE BEEKEEPERS CHARGING ALMOND GROWERS A MONTH AGO VERSUS WHATÂÂ'S HAPPENED NOW? ItÂÂ's not so much what the beekeepers were charging as what the almond industry was offering. I had heard reports late last year that the prices for pollination were going to be paid from about $100 to $125 per colony for bees brought into almond orchards and beekeepers bring in about 1.3 million colonies. So, this is not a small thing. Now prices IÂÂ've heard are up around the $200/honey bee colony range. BECAUSE THE AMOUNT OF BEES HAS SUDDENLY DECLINED BY 30%. Yes, supply and demand. Without bees, almond producers donÂÂ't make a crop. More Information: For more information about honey bee declines in Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), please see Earthfiles reports in the Earthfiles Archive: Other Websites: January 7, 2010, Congressional Research Service, "Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder": http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33938.pdf Colony Collapse Disorder: http://maarec.psu.edu/pressReleases/FallDwindleUpdate0107.pdf http://maarec.psu.edu/ColonyCollapseDisorder.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572 CCD, Bees and Pollination, Ohio State University: http://oardc.osu.edu/agnic/bee/ccd.htm Univ. of Calif. Agriculture and Natural Resources: http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=2170 Apiary Inspectors of America: http://www.apiaryinspectors.org/ Natural Resources Defense Council: http://www.nrdc.org/thisgreenlife/0809.asp Bee Alert Technology, Inc.: http://beealert.blackfoot.net/%7Ebeealert/index.php