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    Ravenous: What has come most easily for you?

    What aspects of the Ravenous superthreat haven't been so much of a problem?

    Started by: mrjudkins Raves:6

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    As meat has become more expensive and less readily available, it's had very little effect on those who had already chosen a vegetarian lifestyle. What aspects of the worsening food crisis have proved the easiest for you?

    I\\\'m not overly bothered that beer got so expensive. I wasn\\\'t much of a drinker.

    I\\\'ve been working to reduce my dependence of pre-made foods (i.e. making my own bread instead of buying it) for years now, which has slowlu but steadily changed my lifestyle. And as things start to get worse, the happier I am that I have. It\\\'s usually easier to get flour than it is to get bread.

    I started becoming serious about cooking from scratch more than 10 years ago. Over that time I learned how food works, rather than just learning a bunch of recipes. Now I really can look at what is in someone\\\'s food storage, and turn it into something delicious, not just passable. I believe that is important for mental health.

    During the drought of the summer of 2008 here in Central KY, I taught myself quite by accident how to \\\"talk\\\" with bees. In so doing I managed to form a liaison with a hive that later rejuvenated Big Time and thus have had access to highly sought after stores of honey. It is a new form of gold these days. I guard their locations fervently and am grateful every time they remember our friendship by allowing me to obtain what I need. In fact I am something of a protector for them, as are the farmers who rely on their pollinating skills who also farm in the area.

    I\\\'ve never been a picky eater, so often I\\\'ll just buy the cheapest food available. Even when everything has been bought up but what most people won\\\'t eat, I eagerly buy it, and most often enjoy the food.

    The easiest thing has been adapting to homegrown vegetables. They were cheaper and tastier even before the big food scares hit. Producing enough to feed everyone, that\\\'s hard, but just having a garden at all was nice and easy. I don\\\'t know why more people didn\\\'t do it sooner.

    I\\\'m lucky to live in one of the Citizen Protection Enclaves in the UK. We have dedicated farms in the local area, which are guarded by Government troops 24 hours a day. I feel guilty that there\\\'s people starving while we\\\'re in here, but it\\\'s safety for my partner that I\\\'m here for. The food is just a lucky extra

    I would have to say that growing some of our own food to offset what we have to buy came quite easily. We started doing in in 2010 when be bought some property to \\\'get out of the city\\\'. What once was a hobby has simply grown to a necessity.

    I live on a commune: 100 people living on 200+ acres. We\\\'ve been growing our own food since the late 60\\\'s, so this has been a gradual shift rather than a state change. We started investing in low-flow watering techniques around 2012, and have a HUGE water catchment system - it\\\'s clear that droughts are going to be more and more common in our microclimate. So we\\\'ve gone from raising 60% of our own food in 2010 to almost 90% now. We require everyone to do at least one garden shift a month, and many people devote most of their labor quota to the garden. We even have enough surpluss to help support some of the long-time locals around here. Life is good so far.

    The easiest thing to get used to has been the changing nature of employment. So many people have lost their jobs in the area, but for us as freelance media people we\\\'ve always had to hustle for jobs and it doesn\\\'t hurt that everyone wants to see the chaos on the news.

    What a strange world. Due to our having the necessary processing industries, wine, beer and distilled beverages have become major trading commodities - when it\\\'s chosen to do so. Marijuana has come out as a cash crop, as well. The hemp is invaluable.

    Local farmers markets are now available throughout the city. They provide access to locally grown food and a way to share excess home-grown produce. I\\\'ve noticed that peple prefer to barter than use money. It also provides an outlet for people to have a voice. A \\\'Speaker\\\'s Corner\\\' exists in most markets which lets anyone and everyone tell a story or have a say about a topic of interest to them. It provides a bit of entertainment and allows people to let our their frustrations in a postive way.

    Getting to connect with my neighbors substantively.....

    For me , It\\\'s a relief to be veggie again now hat we really have no choice. No more cooking meat to avoid having to make one meal for me and one for the rest of the family. Also, I\\\'ve always loved making something out if very little : Sauce become soup, beans can be sprouted for different flavours and health benefits. I am most creative when I am forced to be so. This new diet is healthy too - we grow most of the food ourselves, with our neighbors - so I know where it is coming from.

    I'm not picky about food. I find ways to enjoy whatever I have. Salt is a key tool!

    Today I ate squirrel for the first time. We used to see them as pesky critters, but now that meat isn't commercially available... I thought it was worth a try. Squirrel melts, I couldn't have asked for better! http://is.gd/2wg5

    I live on a large property and we have a large garden. This is Canada, so it's impossible to keep the garden going in winter, but we have been experimenting with home canning and now we have fruits and veggies in winter as well as summer. Originally we froze our produce but the power grid in our area has become unreliable and we prefer not to depend on our freezer. The garden doesn't provide for all of our needs,but we have vegetables all year round to supplement the rather boring diet that is available at the supermarket in our price range.

    Generations and generations of breeding created for me a body that is made to do exactly two things: Have babies, and survive famine. I'm not quite as plump as I once was, which is a good thing but this isn't the sort of weight loss regimen I envisioned. I used to say to skinny people who looked at me askance "when the global famine hits THEN I will be skinny, I have no idea where you will be". That was just a very morbid joke at the time, I didn't think it would actually happen. When I finished my MBA, I studied Nutrition at the local community collage. (Purely for my own interest as a hobby.) I have a better idea of what my body needs and how to get it. I love to cook. So when I eat, what I eat is as efficient and cost effective as possible.

    food has actually been alright for me... but I am far from conventional. I've been a vegetarian, for a while, so this was easier on me than on others. But I eat grass, berries, anything. Any meat I get -very infrequent- is stuff I kill myself: squirrel, mice, small birds, a very rare deer. The thing that turns the most heads around my area is the amount of insect I consume. Frankly, I have trouble understanding the taboo. Insects have a great feed-to-growth ratio, are filled with protein, and are nearly always plentiful. My girlfriend hates it, but I'm willing to do what it takes to survive. Mealworms are easy to breed, and ants are easy to find. I cook them, cover them with mesquite, sugar, honey, BBQ sauce, mustard, and I eat well. They're like land shrimp. :)

    There is something that rises, as though it never went away. We are living in a meat body. Our cellular memories are long. It's some kind of exquisite relief, really, profound relief, to see the end of plastic food




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