In Lesson fifteen we talked about rationing during World War Two. I am not advocating that you go to the extreme of rationing as if it were the 1940s; however, it is a growing trend. Some are using the rationing system to help them get out of debt, some to lose weight and others simply for the challenge. I am using this as an example of how you can learn to sacrifice to get what you want and need.
Rationing was forced upon people all over the world, and this system allowed the entire world to be fed, for bombs to be made, aircraft and ships to be manufactured as well as aided in the survival of wounded men and women. As bizarre as this may sound, women sold or donated their bacon grease to butchers to be used to make explosives. Soap was rationed, so even those small little bits of soap were pressed together to make a larger bar. And unfortunately, the black market thrived.
In earlier lessons, we talked about emergency preparedness, so you are well on your way into preparing for emergencies such as power outages, snowstorms, and floods. Most of the things you need for this kind of preparation can sit for many years on your shelf without deteriorating. Candles, matches, blankets, oil lamps, butane stove, and butane can easily last you years; however, food is a different story.
Most foods come with a date stamped on them called a best before date. That is a date the grocery store uses to rotate out old stock, but that doesn’t mean the food is not good to eat. Canned foods are good to eat for two to five years after the date stamped on them. And although I personally like to buy in bulk, if you are just starting out, and you can only buy a few extra cans during a shopping trip, do so. When building up your pantry, it is a wise decision to buy a variety of foods, not just your basic, canned chicken, rice, and beans, because that will get tiring rather quickly. It is wise to start off with things like stew, ravioli, and spaghetti as they are meals in a can. Easy to heat in a pot without using too much power.
Let’s talk about sugar. Sugar was one of the first things that was rationed and is considered a forever food. If stored in a food grade container, it will last indefinitely. Honey and maple syrup are also long-term storage sugar options. Coconut sugar is another sugar you can store for long term.
When sugar was rationed, that meant anything made with sugar was rationed. Chocolate, candies, cakes, pies, and think about all those prepackaged school treats you send in lunches every day. It is well documented that people were much healthier during the war than before or after.
Coffee. Sources vary greatly on an unopened container of ground coffee for long term storage; however, if stored in a dry, cool place, unopened, it should last one to two years. If you are looking for long term storage, buy coffee beans. Just a reminder, if there is a power outage, and you use an electric coffee grinder, it would be wise to have a power source you can plug into.
Oil and fats. Coconut oil that is unrefined virgin, will last three years, five years, if not longer unopened. A couple years after opening. Avocado oil and olive oil unopened 1 to 2 years. Lard stored in the fridge will last about six months. Shortening unopened, stored in the pantry, 8 months to two years.
Milk and dairy. The only long-term storage options for milk are shelf stable cartons (6 to 8 months) and dried non-fat milk (2 to 10 years, unopened package, after best before date). Dairy can be frozen, but it alters the taste and texture. Hard cheese should be grated before putting it into the freezer and cream cheese becomes crumbly, but is still ideal for cheesecakes, sauces, and dips. Cheese can be made from powdered dried milk. Cheese Whiz is said to be good 6 months after the best before date. Butter can be stored in the freezer. The internet is buzzing about canned butter. If you are thinking about this, do your research about pressure canning it.
Flour. Ground flour is not a long-term storage food. The oils in the flour will go rancid. Store in airtight, food grade containers, in a dark, cool place. White flour will last 6 months to a year. Brown flour, 3 to 6 months. Wheat berries stored properly they say will last 20 to 30 years. Okay, here is the thing, if you want to gride your own flour, make sure you have a backup power source to run the electric grinder, if you don’t have a hand mill. You here all the time, preppers say, make sure you have a can opener…electrical appliances need power. Do not store your flours and grains in the freezer, as they will absorb moisture.
Gluten Free Flour. If you want a longer storage milled flour, stay away from brown rice flour, as the oil content will go rancid faster. As with wheat flour, on average you have 6 to 12 months for most gluten free flours.
The importance of preparedness is not only in case of food shortages, rationing, or crop failures, it also helps in case of unemployment, illness, or separation of loved ones. Only store in your pantry what you and your family will really eat. If your family doesn’t eat beans, don’t stock 48 cans of beans, and 20 pounds of dried beans. Same with rice, only store white rice for long term storage, as brown rice will go rancid quickly. Instant potatoes are good to have on hand, and so are dehydrated potatoes, but consider canned potatoes as a storage option as well. You can buy them canned or you can purchase a pressure canner and do your own.
When you are buying for your pantry, buy some canned meat, or again, pressure can some for yourself. Canning meat has to be the simplest thing to can. I tell you; it is faster to prepare a meal with home canned meat than popping a pizza in the oven. (Okay, maybe not as fast, but close.) Remember to diversify your pantry, because eating the same thing day in and day out will get boring very quickly.
A good thing to have in your pantry is canned fruit, whether you canned it yourself or bought it from a grocery store. If you home can, you can control the amount of sugar, if you decide to use any at all, but follow the instructions, whether using sugar or honey. You may also choose to have a few pie fillings on the shelf as well. Dried fruits is also a good choice.
I know breakfast cereal is common in most households, but who really needs to start their mornings with sugar? Those puffy flakes do not fill you like old fashioned oatmeal, oat bran, bacon, and eggs, or even pancakes. Toast and peanut butter or jelly is a better choice than sugared cereal. Although some muffins have more sugar than a cupcake, there are many good recipes for muffins that use very little sugar and are filled with nutrient dense foods.
During the war, people’s health improved. Maybe it was all the carrots, potatoes, and cabbages they ate. Many children during the war never ate an orange, banana or even knew what a real egg tasted like.
If you homeschool there are free resources at https://www.twinkl.ca/teaching-wiki/ww2-rationing
Eating in season was common during the war, as was preserving what you could. Picking wild berries and apples was what one did in the late summer and early fall.
Families would have to register with a grocery store, and they would only be able to shop there. They would take their rationing booklets with them, and stand in long lines, hoping to get what they came for. Dried fruit, cereals, tinned goods, and biscuits were purchased using the points system, and at times these items may not be available due to shortages. Milk and eggs were given priority to children and pregnant women.
People who had gardens, chickens and meat rabbits fared better than those who only had money and a ration booklet. People who fished and hunted had meat, and those who knew how to forage in the woods had extras as well. If you had mint to dry, you could at least have tea, and if you had fresh strawberries in the spring, that was like candy.
Many people laugh at preppers thinking they are backward folks who are focused on the zombie apocalypse. Or people who want to learn to live off the land, or homesteaders who want to grow their own food. When the world went nuts in 2020 and toilet paper couldn’t be found, and the preppers were sitting back saying “we told you so,” they didn’t seem so backwards then. I am not saying you need to have one years’ worth of food sitting in your pantry, but you should have something. If you rotate it properly, it won’t be wasted.
Knowledge is a tool and having a book or two on survival skills and gardening is a good thing.
“Plow your unplowed fields, but then don’t plant weeds in the soil!”
~Jeremiah 4:3 (MSG)
Have you ever done that? Took out your shovel, broke the ground up, removed the sod, turned the soil, and let it go, only to have weeds everywhere in your garden? Weeds can sow themselves, but many of us help the weeds along by planting them ourselves.
We know we should have extra batteries for the flashlight, and curse at the flashlight during a power outage when the batteries die. Or we know that we know we have a package of matches somewhere, but without the flashlight we cannot find the matches. Or you may think, I have a cell phone and you see that it is almost out of power because you forgot to plug it in and that light is draining your power fast. This is planting weeds in your garden.
The news is filled with warnings right now. The mainstream news wants to fill you with dread and fear, but you don’t have to prepare in fear. Preparation is a way to get rid of fear.
Whether you believe the government or science or not or follow prophets, there are warning bells going off like crazy. This is not to cause you fear, but to bring an awareness if you have not been listening to the news, whether mainstream, private, or the prophets. This is coming out of the mouths of all three right now:
- Solar Eclipse/Solar Flares – Easter is from March 29th to 31st, and the Solar Eclipse is on April 8th, 2024. If you do a search right now you will see the peak time for Solar Flares is November 2024 to March 2025. You will also see many articles and papers debunking solar flares, and many scientists are claiming solar flares can cause power grid, cellphone, and internet disruptions. Mankind has developed ways to do these things. Right now, the governments are spraying chemicals in the air to cause the sun’s rays from reaching the earth. A major election is happening in the United States in November 2024, get out and vote.
- There is an invasion at the borders of Canada and the United States, and thousands of military aged men from China and Afghanistan have entered our countries. Sleeping cells? We have documented proof that terrorists have come into our countries.
- What about the China balloon that flew over North America?
- What will happen if China invades Taiwan? Will World War Three happen?
- What about all the chemicals and antibiotics being dumped into our food?
- What about Iran and Israel? What about Russia and Ukraine?
The world is screaming right now about shortages, war and rumors of war, aliens, and disrespect for one’s own country. You have to decide for yourself what you believe in and educate yourself on these things. You can believe that aliens are real and that the government would never do anything to cause harm to its citizens.
Remember, what you think about, you bring about. If you are prepared to fight against the evil that is coming at you, you are not powerless. If you believe that nothing will happen and you want to walk around unprepared, stay in debt, worry about the emergency when it happens, you can.
We have talked about many things you should have in your pantry, as emergency supplies and some books that may help you in times of stress. I pray that you never have to use these things in an emergency situation, but as we have seen over the last few years, no place seems to be immune to disasters of some kind.
AGAIN, SOME BASIC THINGS TO DO Today:
- Three to seven days of food and water
- A shovel to dig a garden and buy some seeds. The dollar stores sell seeds, you can buy $2.00 seeds from MIgardener, or buy seeds from your local hardware store. If you have limited space, pots, or a vertical garden, even the ability to sprout seeds indoors will give you fresh vegetables.
- Buy a canner, pressure canner, dehydrator, freezer bags, canning jars…some way to preserve your food.
- A first aide kit, with medications for your family’s needs.
- Some form of self-protection, a baseball bat, or if you have a license a firearm.
- A light source, whether battery operated flashlights and lanterns, or an oil lamp, or candles. Have extra batteries, lamp oil and matches.
- Remember your pet’s needs.
I would like to write to you and say it is all going to be fine, lollipops and roses. However, this mess the world is in, even if today, the shift happened, and every country had a righteous government in place, it will take many years to turn things around. The harmful chemicals sprayed in the atmosphere and the acid rain falling onto the soil, the enormous debt load of countries, the hate some people have for one another, and the greed of some retailors, will take time to turn around. What would happen if a depression hit as predicted in 2025, and the banks collapsed? What will you do when these banks come knocking on your door demanding you pay your debts immediately?
World War One – July 28th, 1914, to November 11th, 1918
Stock Market Crash of 1929.
Great Depression – 1929 to 1939
World War Two – September 1st, 1939, to September 2nd, 1945.
Time doesn’t repeat itself, but history does. Take this time to educate yourself and prepare. Pray against it coming to your house, your neighbourhood and city. Prepare not in fear, but kick fears butt and stand firm knowing that your family has been taken care of.
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