Archaeokitchen

A blog about cooking, growing food, and the past

[prepareforcollapse]

Fear and Preparedness

I have been involved in Preparedness planning for my own family for nearly 30 years.  Over the years, when new acquaintances, workmates, or family members (new spouses mostly) became aware of my “prepper” activities, I was often met with two responses.  Initially the question “What are you so afraid of?” followed shortly by some joke about being safe in my bunker when the zombie apocalypse broke out.

Since I have been doing Preparedness Consulting as a business, I often meet with the same misconceptions from businesses, churches, and other institutions I assist.  The differences is that businesses often see preparedness as spending a lot of unnecessary money on a fear based outlook… not a popular proposition with business school graduates and frugal non-profit administrators.  It is important to identify and address the most common misconceptions about preparedness in order to get past the social stigma (largely informed by government propaganda designed to convince you that spending tax dollars on preparation is a waste of time), and to start getting prepared to face the unexpected.  There are 4 common misconceptions about preparedness and preppers that have their roots in popular culture and political rhetoric, in no particular order, these common misconceptions are:

1. Preparing and preparedness are based on irrational fear of some artificially contrived disaster.

This misconception is based largely on popular culture’s portrayal of those engaged in preparedness activities in “reality TV” shows like Doomsday Preppers, post apocalyptic science fiction, and in some part by fictional books written for a “prepper” audience.

At its root, preparedness is simply about acquiring skills, supplies and equipment to increase your ability to provide yourself and your family with the 4 basic essentials of survival, Air, Shelter, Water and Food with little or no outside assistance.  When I help my clients develop preparedness plans, we spend most of the time discussing skills and supplies.  We also discuss specific threat profile for each client…that is, 1) what are you most likely to encounter and 2) What events could plausibly occur that your organization could reasonably survive.  We begin by preparing for threats that fall into those two categories.  Interestingly enough, when you start looking at the big catastrophic threats like nuclear war, super-volcano eruption etc….you find that most of the preparations you have made for the common and plausible threats will give you a significant edge over non-prepared individuals.

Most of my clients are not concerned about a zombie apocalypse (nor should the be, it simply cannot happen), or even plausible threats like accidental nuclear war or global pandemic.  After talking to me, they understand that the difference between being prepared for an accidental nuclear war or global pandemic and being prepared for much more probable events like a catastrophic flood, an out of control wild fire, or a chemical spill are very similar.

2. Preparing for “big” disasters is a waste of time and money.

Part of the root of this misconception is the natural human tendency towards normalcy bias.  A tendency that has been exploited in the Untied States by politicians to justify an absolute lack of public funding for disaster preparedness and civil defense.  Right now the average large corporation spends about a dime per employee per year on disaster preparedness, almost entirely on electronically stored information (data security), and compliance with various regulatory frameworks (OSHA, building code, Health and Safety etc).  The average small business spends even less (many small businesses are not compliant with even basic fire or occupational safety regulations).  The federal government spends less than a dime per citizen per year on disaster preparedness (and substantially more or disaster response)….why?  Response buys votes, preparedness does not.

3. Everyone who is concerned with prepredness is a “Prepper” who has a basement bunker packed to the gills with weapons and baked beans.

Again this is based on a pop-culture stereotype that has its roots in the survivalists of the 1970s.  While there is still a lone wolf survival culture within the preparedness community, detailed analysis of the potential issues with long term solo survival show’s that it is not an effective strategy.  One of the early critics of the survivalist approach was Bruce Beach, a Canadian who planned and constructed a community fallout shelter near Ontario.  if you haven’t seen some of Bruce’s YouTube videos they are well worth a watch.  Many of them are about the shelter (the Ark Two Refuge Facility), but have a strong undercurrent of the need for a survival network and a survival community if you really want to weather the worst imaginable events.  Creek Stewart has also written extensively on the concept of a preparedness network. Both of these gentlemen are advocating survival techniques that are based on sound anthropological concepts.  Many anthropologists who study social and societal collapse point out that people don’t just die off, they reorganize into new communities, and make cultural adjustments to new realities.  The Mayans for example didn’t die out, there are thousands of individuals living in Mexico and Central America who are genetically descended from the Maya who build the elaborate temples and cities of the past.  The Mayan’s didn’t die out, although many of them may have died due to disease, environmental change or some as yet unidentified cause.  Those who were prepared, or who had a sufficient network of adequately prepared individuals were able to provide sufficient air, shelter, water and food to procreate and continue their family lines into modern times, and well beyond.

4. I don’t need to prepare because the government is doing all that for me.

Between 1945 and 1994, the biggest collective threat to human life in the United States and the Soviet Union was nuclear war.  Initially, under Eisenhower, significant (but still inadequate) money was allocated to an organized Civil Defense Corps… largely volunteers who would work to maintain a network of marginally equipped fallout shelters, monitor fallout following a nuclear war, and attempt to maintain some semblance of order.  This program was quite expensive, and anti-nuclear activists took up a new tactic that nuclear war was “unsurvivable” so we should get rid of nuclear weapons.  This false philosophy didn’t result in nuclear disarmament, there are still thousands of warheads on earth ready to wage the “unthinkable war” in an ironic effort to prevent the same unthinkable war.  However, the public really took to this idea, and Congress slowly and silently defunded all forms of civil defense meant to protect the general public from a clear and present threat… all the while spending BILLIONS of dollars on Continuity of Government (COG) programs… The current Federal agency charged with disaster preparedness is FEMA….an agency whose funding is almost entirely for COG not civilian preparedness.  While the government officials tell you that nuclear war can’t happen, they spend billions of dollars a year maintaining largely classified facilities to allow those self-same government officials to survive a nuclear war and worse.  So while Congeress and myriad regulatory agencies don’t see fit to fund your local fallout shelter, or to even build a flood wall or other disaster prevention infrastructure, they spend billions on preparing for the same disasters they tell us are “unthinkable” or impossible.

Ironically, FEMA recommends that you have a 3 day supply of food and water (in addition to a number of other truly useful pieces of equipment) on hand to prepare for potential disasters, after YEARS of taking well in excess of 72 hours to mobilize a disaster response of any kind.  The truth is you need a minimum of 2 weeks supply of food, and a means of procuring potable water for at least that long if you want to have any hope of being prepared for a large disaster.  In another similar irony, FEMA manuals state that in the event of a chemical spill, or simiar event, people should have sufficient oxygen to shelter in place, since it is unlikley that a chemical emergency would last more than a few hours.  If you build a chemical shelter efficiently, you have about 12 hours of oxygen max….Take a look at the Chemical Safety Board analysis of chemical disasters….almost no serious chemical disaster has been addressed in a few hours, most serious incidents have taken 12 or more to get under control, and have not caused offsite casualties merely because chemicals have not made it off site in large enough quantity to cause problems (although there have been a number of near misses).  Moreover, the shelter in place strategy (FEMA’s preferred method), isn’t viable in most situations where it is recommended.

[lynnleev]

[archaeokitchen-blog]

The garden has been doing great--not too hot and a good amount of rain. Mustard greens as big as your pug!

[archaeokitchen-blog]

Pickles!

[archaeokitchen-blog]

Bees

We’ve had some really warm weather this February, and the bees are already out and about. This has me dreaming of another honey harvest like last summer’s.

Here’s my husband with some newly purchased bees on our “bee patio” next to the garden a couple of years ago. We went into this winter with seven hives but not all of them were doing well. Someone applied pesticide last year somewhere in the bee foraging radius (around 1-2 miles, but maybe more) and we had a big die-off. We also had some crowding and late-season swarming, so we were worried going into the winter. As of the 70 degree days last week, 5 of 7 were still with us and already bringing in pollen. They were mean too, I got stung for the first time in almost 4 years of having bees.

Here’s a view of our set-up last May. I can’t wait to hear their buzzing as I work in the garden this year, and I look forward to all the honey we can eat, honey for friends, and maybe some mead.

[archaeokitchen-blog]

Backyard Chickens

In July 2012, I was teaching a study abroad course in Costa Rica, when my husband and his dad decided to build a backyard coop over the 4th of July weekend (fueled largely by PBR). I’d been talking about getting chickens for years, and when I came home we had 8 Barred Plymouth Rock chicks in the basement.

Soon, they’d moved outside to the newly constructed coop.

Olive the pug contemplates baby chickens in Summer 2012.

Chickens devour gobbets of tomato flesh.

I imagined naming them after bossy women of history, and got as far as the name Margaret Thatcher when I realized I couldn’t tell them apart. So they’re all Margaret Thatcher. 

They laid their first egg in December of 2012. With hiatuses for seasonal molting and the short days of winter, they’ve been producing ever since.

This photo illustrates the widest range of variation. Most eggs are about a standard size ‘large’ in various shapes. During the first few summers, we’d get about half a dozen a day from our flock of eight chickens. This was enough to supply friends and meet all our needs. I brought a lot of deviled eggs to potlucks. They’re still laying now in early Spring 2017. The flock of eight lays 3-5 a day. I don’t know if 4 chickens are laying daily or if all 8 are laying once every two days or so. Commercial egg operations cull hens between the ages of 1-3, and the Penn State ag extension says hens will “lay efficiently up to 85 weeks.”

We feed them layer crumbles from the local feed store plus all the scraps we generate in the kitchen. They especially love cabbage ends, pepper and cauliflower cores, stems of greens, and strawberry tops. We also feed them rejected produce (like split tomatoes and bolted spinach) from the garden. They turn these scraps into manure which gets composted for the garden.

Overall, the benefits (fresh eggs and the ability to recycle scraps into manure) outweigh the need to slop out the coop. They’re pretty low maintenance--if it’s below freezing I close them into the coop at night and turn the electric water heater on, but otherwise we can leave town for a few days and just make sure they have food and water. This is a great way to add protein to your urban produce and increase the range of food you can make from your own land, even if you live in town.

[archaeokitchen-blog]

Kimchi

Kimchi is the Korean version of a lacto-ferment, which is found in cuisines around the world. The many variations of sauerkraut belong to the same culinary family, as do sour pickles. Almost every cuisine around the world uses fermentation in some way, and not just to make alcohol. Kimchi is funky, sour, and spicy, and delicious on rice, in stew, and (I find) on a grilled cheese sandwich.

Kimchi has a long history in Korea, where it provided a way to preserve food over the long cold winter. Cabbage is mixed with salt and other flavorings to create a culture for Lactobacillus bacteria. Lactobacteria digest sugars and produce sour lactic acid. By creating an environment friendly to lactobacteria, which prefer acidic, low-oxygen conditions, you discourage the growth of other, more harmful bacteria and keep your food edible longer. Fermented foods are easier to digest and more vitamin-rich, too. And, it’s pretty easy to start fermenting at home.

Every Korean family has its own recipe for kimchi and there are many, many varieties. The Korea Times reports that in 2015, the average Korean ate *only* 55 pounds of kimchi at home, down 11% from 2010. I am not Korean, and I make no claims for the authenticity of my kimchi. I just know it’s delicious!

My recipe for kimchi comes from The Joy of Pickling, which is one of my go-to books for food preservation. The thing I love about fermenting foods is that once you learn the basics, you can play around and add anything you want, as long as you keep the balance of vegetables to salt right. The main things are to keep the brine salty, and have enough brine to cover all your veggies completely.

Kimchi, adapted from The Joy of Pickling

3 Tbsp + 1 tsp pickling salt

6 cups water

2 lbs Chinese/Napa cabbage cored and cut into 2 inch squares

1-2 cups shredded or shaved carrot and/or radish and/or daikon

6 scallions, cut into 2 inch lengths and slivered lengthwise

1.5 (or more) Tbsp minced ginger

1.5 (or more) Tbsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp red pepper flakes or other dried ground pepper, or add some hot pepper with the carrots, above.

1 tsp sugar

Make the brine by dissolving 3 tablespoons of salt in the water. Here’s where you can easily scale up or down, since the brine is 1 Tbsp of salt to 2 cups of water. 

Put the cabbage in a large bowl or whatever you can find to hold it, and pour the brine on top. The cabbage will float to the surface, so use a plate to weight it down and hold it under the brine. Let this stand for 8-12 hours. The salty brine will cause the cabbage to give up water and shrink in volume.

Drain the cabbage and keep the brine. Mix in the remaining ingredients, including the additional salt. I’ve also often added the end of my previous batch or a commercial kimchi I like just to get the culture started. Pack the mixture (I always use my hands) into a 2-quart canning jar. If you’ve made less, use a smaller Mason jar; if you’ve made more, use a crock. Cover it with reserved brine until there’s enough brine to fully submerge the veggies. Push a food-grade plastic bag into the top of the jar and pour in the rest of the brine. Here you are doing two things. You’re using water to weight down the cabbage mixture so it stays under the water (an anaerobic environment where lactobacteria will grow), and you’re filling the bag with brine, not water, so that if it leaks you’re not watering down the saltiness of the brine. 

Put the kimchi in a cool place (I use my basement) for 3-6 days. Put a plate under it to catch juices that spill out, and put a dishcloth or cheesecloth over the top to keep dust and bugs out. Taste the kimchi after 3-4 days--it’s ready when it tastes good to you.

When you think it’s ready, take the brine bag out and cap the jar. It will keep for months in your fridge.

One of our favorite ways to eat kimchi is in our totally not authentic version of bibimbap. A bowl of rice with veggies, beef, various pickles, kimchi, scallions, and a softly fried egg from our backyard chickens, which spills its deep yellow yolk down into the rice---YUM!

[archaeokitchen-blog]

Spring forward

Next Saturday is eight weeks before our mean last frost date. That means it's time to start planning the garden in earnest. Each late winter, I grow ambitious plans for the garden, and each fall I reflect on how only about 30% of those plans were realized. So, it’s time for the cycle to start again.

I grow food for several reasons. I appreciate knowing where my food comes from and feeling a connection to it. There's nothing better than making a meal that comes mostly from our small urban backyard. I love the tactile parts of gardening--the feel of the dirt, the smell of tomato vines, the hum of the bees from our hives, which are right next to the garden, the taste of the occasional leaf or pod or split tomato. I am an archaeologist who studies food, and how daily household practices can give us insights into big social, political, and economic institutions in the past. So growing food helps me better understand the past. And I enjoy the creative challenge of putting together the few handfuls the garden might give us one night into a tasty dinner, or dealing with a huge harvest of beans that won't stop coming. I enjoy practicing 18th century housewife skills like canning and preserving food and cooking over an open fire (though it doesn't hurt that I can, say, open my own bank account and use antibiotics on a cut). And I think it’s important to know how to make a living from the land.

This year, my husband started a blog, and I am going to go along with him and do my own. His blog, PrepareforCollapse, is focused on his own interests in understanding disasters and planning to survive them. My blog is going to be smaller scale and closer to home. I'll be writing about gardening, recipes, kitchen experiments, caring for our eight somewhat elderly chickens, beehives, two dogs, one psychotic cat, and one only-slightly-less psychotic husband. I’m also going to write about the science and archaeology behind what I do. I hope, though, that it might align in some ways with the idea of learning skills that help you make a living from the land, even when you also make a living at an office.

In the next post--kitchen experiment #1: kimchi!