Live Like a Prepper but You Don’t Have to Be a Prepper: A Tale of Two Cities

[Todd’s note: Follower’s of this blog know that I am a lover of unconventional wisdom when it comes to health, nutrition, and fitness… which I consider your most important prep. I discovered Dr. Dan Stickler (Paleo Doc) in his post at SurvivalBlog a few years ago. His advice confirmed my Primal prepping lifestyle. He graciously agreed to write this article for Survival Sherpa readers. Thanks, Dan! Enjoy! To connect with Dr. Stickler, see his bio below.]

by Dr. Daniel Stickler

I live half of each week in Asheville, NC and the other half of the week in Charleston, WV, these cities are of similar size but the mindset of each group is very different.  Asheville would be a wonderful place to be if there were an “event” that took society back a century or two.  The population of Asheville has the mindset that makes them a great prepper society.  Many people raise their own chickens, have permaculture yards, have gardens, and there are many small farmers.  You have people with bees, people making butter, old-fashioned soap makers, and even people making clothes.  These are just some of the things you can find at any of the five or so farmers markets that are going on around town on various days of the week.  People here are also very environmentally conscious and active in promoting it.

Charleston, WV is very different, it has the potential to be like Asheville, but it is not and I am not sure why, especially with its recent history.  In July of 2012, Charleston was one of the hardest cities hit by the derecho.  Power was out over most of the state, the shortest power outage in our area was five days and these days were in the upper 90’s.  Gas stations could not pump gas, stores were closed but it did not matter because they had no drinks after day 2 and we had a boil water advisory.  People were panicking….no food, no water, no gas to get anywhere, and no air conditioning.  This was the first wake up call, some heeded this warning and did some stocking up but many sat back and blamed the government for their failures.  Round two occurred just two weeks ago; a toxic organic chemical used to process coal leaked around 10,000 gallons into the river a mile upstream from the water processing plant that supplied water for over 300,000 residents.  Not sure who allowed this chemical to be stored upstream in the first place but the tanks had not even been inspected for 23 years.  The EPA was not even familiar with the risks of the chemical.  Residents are told do not use the water for bathing, washing clothes, and certainly not for drinking.  All restaurants are shut down, stores are out of water and drinks within 24 hours.  The chemical is finally low enough after five days of this to allow some residents to flush their pipes, three days later we are told a new reading shows the level too high again.  People leave town because they have no water and cannot clean, cook, or stay hydrated.  You would think that most of these people would have been prepared.  Unfortunately, most did not learn their lesson the first time and now complained again about the government failing to take care of them.  Now, Charleston is the chemical valley, there are major chemical plants all up and down the rivers.  Coal and the chemical industry is the life-blood of this region and the reality is; this was going to happen at some point.

I tell this story to first illustrate the point that few people are prepared for these short term emergencies and live in a world where, in their opinion, the government will be there to help.  This demonstrates two emergency situations in a short time frame in one town.  Secondly, I bring this up because it is a real test of preparation.  I had water and food and at no point did panic set in.  I also had a back-up, Berkey water filters, and so I did not concern myself about the water running out.  The black carbon filters along with the PF-2 chemical filters can pretty much make any water potable.  I do not keep a huge stockpile of dehydrated and canned food (3 months for 7 people) and you will see my reasoning in the next part of this article.

Why Prep?

Let’s start by asking: what are you prepping for?

Financial collapse of society?

EMP, solar flare, computer attack that shuts down the grid?

Super volcano or major environmental shift?

Massive pandemic?

It’s really not possible to adequately prep for all of these so you are really taking a gamble if you select one to be your focus.  Also, lets face the fact that in some of these scenarios – does it really matter?

Let’s first eliminate super-volcano and major environmental shift, not only would survival be near impossible but life would be pretty miserable for those that did.  Now pretty much all other scenarios will involve a significant culling of the population but the time frame for this culling is what will dictate the adequacy of the preparations.  If a massive pandemic quickly eliminates 80-90% of the world population then the mindset of most preppers will be justified.  By this, I mean having a retreat or homestead with plenty of stockpiles would be beneficial.  However, the other scenarios where the culling is gradual then this type of mindset could get you killed.

If the grid goes down, people will get desperate and the more hungry they become the more desperate they become.  Desperate people will not reason with morality in mind.  Violence will undoubtedly run ramped and gangs will form up knowing the power in numbers.  The cities will quickly empty and these gangs will head for the countryside’s.  You say you have guns but so do they and they will significantly outnumber you.  Unless you are prepared to spend a few years in a nuclear missile silo then you will lose your preps.  No matter how fortified and well armed you are, you will eventually be overrun.

What about food?  You cannot sustain yourself on years of dehydrated and canned foods.  The slightly unbalanced nutritional mix will eventually catch up with you.  Some have said they could hunt for their food.  Think again, based on the deer population and the number of hunters, the deer herd will be completely wiped out in a few weeks and besides a gunshot in the woods will be like a dinner bell for everyone else out there with a gun.

What about the heirloom seeds you plan to plant to get your garden going?  Again, those marauding hordes will enjoy feasting on that garden when they come.

So what is my recommendation?

We need to get back to basics and learn to live like humans did for hundreds of thousands of years – like hunter-gatherers (HG’S).  Those that are successful at this will be the ones that will go on to build the next generation after an apocalyptic event.

Start Here

Where to begin?

Something that I have spoken about many times before is your health and fitness level.  So many preppers focus on their “preps” but that will be a limited resource.  If you are truly anticipating some major apocalypse then you need to focus on your own health and fitness.  HG’s generally do not survive long if they do not possess a certain degree of fitness.  First, you need to get any excess weight under control and work on resolving any health issues.  Those that are relying on medications to survive will likely not last too long.  Exercise, I am not talking about treadmills and nautilus machines.  I am talking about functional fitness.  Train like you will live.  Strengthen the movements that will be required for daily function.  Basic movements can consist of push-ups, squats, and pull-ups.  Add some long hikes with a pack and also throw some sprints in there.  When I say sprints I mean short bursts of running at your top speed.  Climb things.  Jump around.  Parkour training is an excellent option.

Water: This is life or death.  Learn to identify safe sources of water.  For several months you may be fine using portable filtration devices but these will eventually become depleted.  Learn how to derive water from sources in nature and how to use items in our natural environment to filter the water.

Nutrition: As I said, dehydrated foods will only get you so far and that assumes that you are able to keep your cache.  We must learn to forage off the land.  In most post-apocalyptic scenarios, we are going to need to be mobile at least for the short-term (a few years).  Our forests are full of life-sustaining nutrients and we need to learn how to obtain them.  Buying a book on edible plants and thinking that you will use it when needed is a recipe for disaster.  Many people will look at plants and identify them incorrectly in their field guide and end up poisoning themselves.  There are many available weekend courses on foraging.  Getting a good understanding of plants can also help with being able to identify medicinal species.  You will also need a source of meat.  One of the most successful hunting techniques is trapping.  These small animals are abundant and few of the surviving population will understand the techniques to obtaining them.  This also does not require a gunshot.

As things begin to settle down then you should also consider settling down but not as a mountain man hermit type.  Successful living will require community support.  Once the gangs have dwindled and died out, survivors will begin to gather together in communities to rebuild society.  It is helpful to possess a skill that can contribute to these groups; farming, making clothes from hides, medical care, bee keeping, and other more basic crafts.

I am not telling people to abandon their current ways of prepping but rather to think about contingencies.  Prioritize the process.  No matter what the scenario, your health and fitness level will be paramount so if you have neglected this area so far then make it a higher priority.  Spend some money on a personal trainer or nutrition coach instead of another gun to add to your stockpile.  Take a course on foraging instead of adding another 3 months of dehydrated food to your stores.  Lastly, organize around a group of people who have complimentary skill sets.

I will add that I am not someone who expects this societal collapse to happen but these types of events can be highly unpredictable so it is always good to be prepared as I have learned from experience.

Author bio:

Dr. Stickler trained in allopathic medicine and held board certification in General Surgery for more than ten years; performing general and vascular surgery as well as over 3,000 gastric bypass weight loss procedures. He had a thriving surgical practice and was a specialist in weight loss, treating over 10,000 clients in both the surgical practice and at the wellness institute. The busier he became the more he began to realize that true health is not a result of pharmaceuticals and stainless steel. He discovered that the clients at the wellness institute were making remarkable progress through nutrition, fitness and lifestyle counseling and hormone optimization.  Not only were they resolving disease, they were optimizing health, regaining vitality, improving neuro-cognitive status and creating lasting changes.

This realization led him to the understanding that he could leave the old methods behind and fully embrace the new paradigm of health optimization. He retired from surgery and now knows that each individual has within them the ability to achieve optimal health and live a life full of vitality. He works closely with each client to develop individualized treatment regimens and provides extensive guidance throughout the year to assist the client in achieving their goals.

Dr. Stickler is an avid outdoor enthusiast who thrives on rock climbing, mountain biking, snowboarding, hiking and world adventure travel.  He is a member of the Wilderness Medicine Society, Age Management Medicine Group and is CrossFit Level 1 certified and trained in Mountain Athlete. He and Mickra have five active teenage boys who live for adventure.

Website: Synchronicity Wellness

Blog: PaleoDoc

Facebook: Paleo Doc

The Essential Pillars of Preparedness for SmartPreppers

by Todd Walker

Part 1 ~ Essential Pillars of Preparedness Series

Don’t be deceived. No matter how elaborate or advanced you think you are in your preparedness journey, it won’t be enough for every conceivable situation. Life has too many unknowns.

Not knowing, or some cases – knowing, motivates us to prepare. It’s easy to be lulled into complacency by our convenience-driven lifestyles. Press a button, get what you want. Food, water, medicine, security, and shelter get taken for granted in our neo mindset.

Just ask school-aged children where that fried chicken breast they’re munching on came from. I once had a 7th grade student tell me that steaks grew in gardens. I kid you not!

I probed deeper. Apparently, farmers dig a hole, cover a piece of meat, and you pick steaks off the stalk. I’m sure the nice gardener takes his ‘produce’ and wraps it in a styrofoam tray with clear plastic wrap and delivers it to the super market.

Chalk this up to youth and our teach-to-the-test public schooling culture.

In this series, you will learn practical ways to increase your chances of not only surviving, but tipping the scales towards thriving in the coming chaos.

We humans have been adapting and changing for thousands of years. If your alive, things change. No matter how much you plan and prep though, our customary way of living can change without notice. Stocking up on essential supplies, resources, skills, knowledge, and relationships will help you get through the hard times – however they appear. No one knows it all. That’s why we have to help each other.

Doomsday events are relative to the individual. Losing your job, being diagnosed with cancer, or the death of a spouse or child all qualify for personal SHTF events. In my world, lessons from our personal SHTF events are transferable to the big picture disaster scenarios – total economic collapse and the coming Reset.

Preparing necessarily means doing the stuff in advance or before the need shows up at your door. There’s not an Easy Button to press to magically make you prepared.

But… here’s the good news! Even if you’re too broke to pay attention, it’s not too late. You can start today!

Once you start your journey to preparedness and self-sufficiency, good habits replace the bad and a whole new lifestyle is forged. You’ll find yourself applying the famous words of Weaver D (of REM fame) as your prepping becomes…

“Automatic for the people!”

If you’re taking your first steps to climbing the preparedness mountain, I recommend that you focus on these 7 areas first. Any event that disrupts our ‘normal’ can be softened by building firm, sustainable foundations in these 7 areas.

These are my priorities which reflect my paradigm. If you agree, glad to hear it. If not, chew on the hay and spit out the sticks.

Keep in mind that all areas covered in this series must to be applied to your individual situation (see my Individual Preparedness Plan series for more help). This is not meant to be a cookie-cutter solution for all people. For example, if you’re surrounded by natural, abundant sources of potable water, you may put water further down your list.

With that being said, here’s my list:

1. Health and Fitness
2. Water and Food
3. Skills and Knowledge
4. Shelter and Energy
5. Waste and Sanitation
6. Natural Medical
7. Security and Protection

Health

If you don’t have health and some level of functional fitness, you’re already running on a deficit. This point seems to be lost on a lot of good folk in the preparedness community.

Let me stop right here.

I’ve been there and done that and lived my first two statements. I don’t want to come across as ‘preachy’ or having arrived. I haven’t. Remember, this preparedness journey takes time, effort, focus, and encouragement – NOT bashing!

Here’s what worked for me. Your results may vary.

“Diets” don’t work in the long run. You’re in this for the long-haul, right? Plus, how will all that Jenny Craig ‘food’ get delivered post collapse? Think of all the real food and preps you could buy with the $7,000/yr. you would spend buying prepackaged JC food.

Developing a healthy lifestyle was the key for me. I eat healthy fats, meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and other nutrient dense foods. Basically, I stopped eating the Standard American Diet.

I traded our government food pyramid for this one:

Image Source: Mark’s Daily Apple

Fitness

But my Primal lifestyle goes deeper than just eating like a caveman. When it comes to fitness, I don’t float the mainstream.

I hold two degrees in Health and Physical Education. Over three years ago, I made this discovery – the conventional wisdom I was taught in school was a big waste. Eating what the USDA’s food pyramid recommended and following conventional fitness regiments left me hungry, tired, and fat.

Image Source: Mark’s Daily Apple

Burn out and injury typically accompany conventional fitness wisdom. You can reach optimal fitness without wrecking your joints and being a permanent fixture in the gym.

If functional fitness is your goal, randomness is a good thing. I define functional fitness as being able to do the stuff (fill in the blank) when it counts.

Would you be able to carry your spouse or a stranger from a burning building? Even if you’re never in a life and death situation, lifting heavy things helps you burn fat, improve bone density, survive longer, and enjoy life better than weaker folks.

Humans have been pushing, pulling, squatting, running fast, and walking slowly throughout our entire existence. Although we won’t have to outrun a saber-toothed tiger or battle rival tribes for hunting territory, these basic movements can help you survive.

Here are four bodyweight exercises every SmartPrepper should incorporate into their physical training: Pushups, pullups, squats, and sprints. There’s no expensive gym equipment involved. And you can do these exercises most any place.

Doing a set of B.O.B. pushups for added resistance.

If you’re engaging your fast twitch muscle fibers with maximum force over a short period of time, you’ll need 2 to 5 days to recover properly before lifting heavy stuff again.

Mainstream conventional workout programs will have you spend day after boring day on some machine trying to isolate a particular muscle group. When I flip that piece of chimney at our park, all my muscles, tendons, bones, and joints work together at maximum effort. This is how our bodies are meant to function.

Don’t know the weight of this section of chimney. I do know that it takes a maximum effort to flip it.

On days when you’re not ‘destroying’ your muscles from lifting heavy stuff or sprinting, remember to walk long distances at a slow pace.

Do you want to look like a bag of skin and bones just to finish a marathon? Or, do you want to build your body into a functionally fit prepping machine?

The crazy part is that you can gain maximum effect with minimum effort. And you’ll no longer look like the other zombies brainlessly walking on those treadmills at the gym.

This is meant to be a primer on our first Pillar of Preparedness for SmartPreppers. There’s much more that can be added on the topic of functional fitness and healthy living. If you have questions or something you’d like to add, please feel free to drop a line in the comment section or email me.

Essential Pillars of Preparedness Series

• Part 2 ~ Water: The 2nd Essential Pillar of Preparedness for SmartPreppers
• Part 3 ~ Food: How to Build a Big Fat Pantry

Keep Doing the Stuff of Self-Reliance,

Todd

P.S. – You can also keep up with the Stuff we’re Doing on Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, and our Facebook page… and over at the Doing the Stuff Network on Pinterest, Google +, and Facebook.

P.P.S – If you find value in our blog, Dirt Road Girl and I would appreciate your vote on Top Prepper Sites! You can vote daily by clicking here or on the image below. Check out all the other value-adding sites while you’re there…

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Feral Food: Maxing Out on Milkweed Pods

Editor’s note: Crunchy Mama‘s wild food adventures continues. For those unfamiliar with this feral food, it has so many other virtues. Not only is it edible, it makes great cordage, stomach tonic, and candle wicks. 

“A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

DISCLAIMER: This information is offered for educational purposes only. Do your own due diligence before foraging wild edibles of any kind.

Originally published on her site The Crunchy Mama’s Urban Homestead and reprinted here with her permission.

A NEW favorite wild edible: green milkweed seed pods!

BY THECRUNCHYMAMACHRONICLES ON JULY 31, 2013

Milkweed with green seed pods

It’s been a few months since I walked on a nearby path where I have spotted many a wild edible.  Busy with the homestead garden, ya know!  Anyway, I was thrilled to walk the path yesterday and find two wild edibles that I have been wanting to try: green  (immature) milkweed seed pods and staghorn sumac berries (blog post forthcoming).

So, I picked about 9 milkweed green/immature seed pods to try for the very first time.  When i got home, I referred to my copy of Sam Thayer’s The Forager’s Harvest to find out exactly how to prepare them.  He says that some people can eat milkweed raw but other people cannot tolerate them raw.  I did taste a bit of the raw silky white and a bit of the raw green part.  The silky white part was pretty good raw and the raw green part was decent but I decided that I would cook the rest.   Generally, when I try a new wild edible, I like to keep it simple so that I can really taste the plant.  I steam/sautéed the pods, cut in half, for a few minutes in some butter (with a tablespoon of water) in my pre-heated cast iron skillet.  They were very good!  I now have yet another favorite wild edible!  They taste mild and delicious.  According to what I’ve read, you can put these pods in casseroles, stews, stir-fry’s, etc.  They are so versatile!  And, did I mention that they are delicious?!

What I did find out after I had picked them and come home is that I picked them a bit too big.  According to Thayer, pods that are 1 – 2 inches are best.  HOWEVER, I thoroughly enjoyed the pods that were 3 – 4 inches long.  I have some that are slightly bigger and I will try them later.  You should know, though, that once they turn brown they are no longer edible.  As with all new foods, please do your own research and, if possible, consult with a local wild food “expert” to make sure that you are following the “rules” of eating wild edibles: 1. positive identification of the plant, 2. eating the correct part of the plant at the right time of development and 3. proper preparation(can you eat it raw or do you have to cook it to make it safe to eat?)

Green (immature) milkweed seed pods (a bit bigger than “prime” according to Sam Thayer but still good in my opinion!)

Milkweed seed pods cut open to expose the silky white middle

Steam/sauteed green milkweed seed pods with butter, salt and pepper

If you are looking for my other posts on wild edibles, they are here:

Purslane

Wood sorrel (shamrocks)

Violets

Ostrich Fern Shoots (fiddleheads)

Wildcraft! board game review 

I hope that you have enjoyed this post.  Please consider subscribing via email or in your favorite reader.  I’m also on Twitter and YouTube!  Have a great day!

Update: I did try the bigger ones and they were fine for me!

4-inch milkweed seed pod boiled in some savory broth and served with some grassfed beef ribs, green beans and lacto-fermented sauerkraut.

Author bio: The Crunchy Mama is a libertarian unschooling mama to three sons, married to her husband since 1998.  They live on their Midwestern homestead of 2 ½ acres with chickens, ducks, dogs and an ever-growing organic vegetable garden.  She is an avid wild food eater.  In general, she’d rather be outside enjoying creation. If you’d like, you can connect with The Crunchy Mama on Twitter @thecrunchymama, YouTube, or on her blog Crunchy Mama’s Urban Homestead.

Related articles

• Wood Sorrel: A Vitamin C Rich Wild Food (survivalsherpa.wordpress.com)
• A Board Game That Could Save Your Life (survivalsherpa.wordpress.com)
• Free Feral Food ~ The Missing Link in Prepper Pantries (survivalsherpa.wordpress.com)

 

The Dirt on Barefooting and Prepping

by Todd Walker

I must have stubbed it a dozen times my tenth summer. I’d scream in pain (if my buddies weren’t around), rinse the blood off, man-up, and chase another crawdad.

Notice the ‘feeler’ toe in front of the leaf. It’s been a lifelong victim.

If you have a ‘feeler’ toe like me, one that’s longer than your big toe, you’ve probably experienced the same pain. My ‘feeler’ on my right foot curled to match the length of my big toe after years of meeting stumps, rocks and other immovable objects.

But that hasn’t stunted my love for walking and running in my birthday shoes. Why in the world would I choose to run barefoot?

My minimalist lifestyle, Keep It Simple Sherpa, requires that I do so. Not really. It’s actually the way humans are meant to run.

Just because I was born in the 60s doesn’t make me barefoot hippy holdover. I grew up bare-footing in creeks and dirt roads and woods on our farm. An occasional stub of my ‘feeler’ toe or a sand spur in my arch came with the naked feet experience.

The conventional wisdom on preparedness websites wisely promotes proper footwear for bugging out, homesteading, and even slaying zombies. I own shoes and boots. But I don’t always wear them.

If you’ve ever had a foot injury, you know how limiting it is to your mobility.

Here’s why.

If you’ve ever had to wear a cast on an arm or leg, what happens to your appendage when the cast is removed? Your arm is weakened and atrophied. It’s not allowed to move naturally for x amount of weeks.

Consider what happens when your feet are wearing casts (shoes) for, well, all your life. They become weak and don’t perform as nature intended. For those set on bugging-out, wouldn’t you want your ‘dogs’ to be as strong as possible to get you to your destination?

Down and Dirty

‘Abby’ doesn’t mind my dirty feet after my morning run

“Eeew, won’t your feet get dirty.” Yes. Your feet will get soiled walking/running barefoot. But if you’re scared of germs, the last place you’ll want your feet is in foot coffins. Shoes are the worse environment for your feet. These damp, dark, cramped spaces are known to cause fallen arches, bunions, corns, athletes foot, and other fungus-among-us infections.

Fear of not wearing foot coffins on the dirt should be the least of your worries.

Are you suggesting I donate my footwear to charity? No. I’m no Cody Lundin. 

There aren’t many jobs or public places that allow you to go un-shod. Keep you shoes but set your feet free regularly.

Benefits of Bare Naked Feet

1.) Stay grounded. Grounding is good for you. Ever notice how refreshed you feel after a walking barefoot on the beach? There’s more to it than just the ocean breeze in your face and waves lapping over your feet. Researchers are finding that our immune system benefits greatly from negatively charged electrons being transferred from the earth to our bodies.

Grounding, or ‘Earthing,’ has been shown to reduce inflammation, stress, chronic fatigue, and autoimmune disorders. And it’s free! Just get your body in contact with the dirt, sand, grass, and even concrete – especially when it’s wet.

2.) Run right. For millions of years humans have gone without shoes or used minimalist footwear (animal skins or leather sandals). The modern rubber soled running shoe is a relatively new invention that came on the running scene in the 70s. Since then, all sorts of injuries have followed. It’s been estimated that up 80% of all shod runners experience shoe related injuries each year. Of course, you’ll never see that stat on a Nike ad.

Here’s the irony. Expensive running shoes cause the problems they’re suppose to fix.

The cushioned running shoe with its elevated heel invites ground collisions – over striding – and is overly stressing on the joint of your feet, legs, and back. When landing in shoes, the typical runner strikes the heel first, sending shock waves through the body. With enough repetitive collisions with the ground, the train wreck finally happens. Try landing on your heels while running barefoot. Your body will immediately tell you to stop! You’re doing it wrong! Pain is the great communicator. Listen.

3.) Randomness builds antifragile feet. When walking or running unshod, you’ll benefit from random, uneven terrain and textures.

You see, there are millions of proprioceptors in your feet. If your feet could talk, proprioceptors would be the mouthpiece to your brain. The Latin word “proprius” means “one’s own.” Combined the term with the receptors in your feet and you’ve got a superhighway of communication going to your brain, muscles, and tendons to help you adapt to the acorn you just stepped on. The signals tell you to adjust, lean, or crumple to the ground. A survival shock absorber.

Last week our son and I went jetty fishing on the gulf. For those unfamiliar with the term jetty, it’s a structure made of rocks in bays and rivers. Of course, we walked out over the rocks on bare naked feet. It was a great workout and my feet loved the challenge of balancing and finding the best spot to step. 

We even caught a fish or two barefoot!

We may have made it to our fishing honey-hole quicker with shoes, but that wasn’t our goal. I like to experience nature with all my faculties. Wearing shoes to fish the jetties would be like wearing a raincoat in the shower. I’d get wet, just not the natural way.

4.) Stealth. This morning I successfully overtook (snuck up on) a lady walking her dog in the park. They had no clue I was there until I gave a “good morning” ten feet away. I always try to alert folks that don’t hear me coming. Especially when they have dogs.

This could play to my advantage when stalking game, zombie hunting, or playing hide-n-seek with the grandkids.

In his book Born to Run, Christopher McDougall shares a story of modern hunter-gathers that actually run down big game animals. You see, we cool our bodies by sweating. Animals do it by panting. This allowed humans to hunt in packs over long distances to take game. I’m thinking you’d need lots of open prairie land to catch them – or a .308 🙂

Note: There are times and places I wear shoes for safety purposes. You won’t catch me barefoot while welding. Use you noodle.

Minimalist Shoes

In my best ‘The Most Interesting Man in the World” commercial voice, “I don’t always wear shoes, but when I do, I wear minimalist.”

When the occasion requires shoes, I wear two pairs of shoes, a pair of flip-flops, or a pair of boots.

The shoes/boots I wear 99% of the time when shod.

Beginning from the pair on the rock and working clockwise we have, Vibram FiveFingers, Merrell Trail Glove, and the Minimalist Training Boot by Belleville. The features I look for in minimalist footwear are: wide toe box, flat insoles, and no heel.

• The Belleville boots are my utility boot. They’re for handyman stuff, hiking, hunting, and other rough stuff. I wear them to school 90% of the time and they perform very well.
• I hardly wear my FiveFingers except occasionally on rafting/kayak trips.
• In my wild workouts in the woods, lifting heavy things, and sprinting, I wear the Trail Gloves.

If you’ve never worn minimalist shoes, you’ll want to take it easy getting started. They’re designed to mimic, poorly I might add, barefoot locomotion. Even if you put several miles a week in modern running shoes, you’ll find a new level of sore if you don’t take time to get your feet and legs use to minimalist running.

If you’re interested, here are a few resource for re-learning how to run in your birthday shoes. And believe me, it is a re-education process. But I’ve found it well worth it.

• 5 Tips On Running Barefoot During The Zombie Apocalypse – No joke. It could save your life – maybe.
• Beginner’s Guide to Barefoot Running
• Barefoot Running – (I found this site very helpful when I started) This website has been developed to provide an evidence-based resource for those interested in the biomechanics of different foot strikes in endurance running and the applications to human endurance running prior to the modern running shoe.
• How to Prepare for Barefooting – Mark’s Daily Apple is a great resource for all things Primal/Paleo like running barefoot.

Barefooting is not my ‘Plan A’ for getting from point A to point B. It’s comforting to know that my bare naked feet could get the job done if I had to make a run for it. It’s all a part of my doing the stuff mentality. Practice now before you’re forced to perform.

It might help you outrun the undead. Wait. Are zombies barefooting, too?

Doing the stuff,

Todd

P.S.

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Cancer: Don’t Feed the Mother of all Diseases!

For anyone thinking about trying the Primal/Paleo diet, PJ Martin demonstrates another potential benefit over at Bug Out Nutrition. Cancer cells thrive on glucose we ingest. It makes them fat and happy. Since DRG’s battle with cancer, I’ve researched into how to starve this disease without taking the one pill that is supposed to block the protein her cancer feeds on.

The common strategy I’ve discovered is to take away the cancer’s food. Starve it by not feeding it what it wants – glucose. Dr. Mercola’s timely article advocates the same: “A ketogenic diet calls for eliminating all but non-starchy vegetable carbohydrates, and replacing them with healthy fats and high-quality protein.” This is how I lost 50 pounds three years ago. But better than weight loss, could it be a drug-free cancer cure?

Please weigh in on the discussion, pro or con, in the comments.

Originally published at Bug Out Nutrition. Please check out the Author’s Bio at the end of this article.

• 

The Paleo Diet and Cancer

by JP Martin

So I stumbled upon this recent post on Mother Nature Network on the use of a paleo diet for cancer. Confused by the death of a healthy eating friend, she questions whether her paleo diet is really helping her stay healthy and cancer free. To pour gasoline on the fire, there’s even evidence of a neanderthal skeleton with a tumor. What are we to do?

While I don’t think the existence of a non-human skeleton with cancer debunks the paleo diet (although any death before the modern period is apparently proof against it), it bears going into why and how a paleo diet could possibly stop the mother of all diseases.

The Warburg Effect

According to research conducted at UCLA by Dr. Thomas Graeber, cancer cells undergo a profound shift in the way they get their nutrients. It is based on an observation by Nobel Laureate Otto Warburg, who noticed that cancer cells went through the process of glycolysis up to 200 times faster than healthy cells.

How is it possible for them to do this? By ingesting glucose of course. The mitochondria of cancer cells are fundamentally unequipped to dealing with ketones and other metabolites of fat consumption, but can stay happy when there is glucose in the bloodstream. As a matter of fact, some estimate that cancer cells have as many as 18 times the amount of insulin receptors than normal cells.

Maybe the author’s ‘health freak’ friend was eating a vegetarian diet high in grains, was eating starches to support extended cardio training, or something similar. There could be more to this after all.

Prevention and starvation

So if we’re in a situation where there are 16 times the insulin receptors on a cancer cell, we are effectively in a situation where cancer cells will grow 16 times faster, gram for gram, with any insulin spiking carbohydrate you consume. Have you passed the rolls yet?

Read the rest here

Author’s Bio: JP Martin started Bug Out Nutrition in an attempt to apply the science of nutrition to survivor scenarios. Her aim is to help you be better prepared physically, mentally and maybe even spiritually by superior nutrition today and when the SHTF. Whether you’re young, old, male, female, black, white or purple, superior nutrition will give you what it takes to maximize your efficiency for better survival (and heck, better living until that day comes). You can connect with JP on Twitter @BugOutNutrition and like her on Facebook.

Physical Preparedness: Practical Performance for Real-World Survival

by Todd Walker

Is your body fit to function in troubled times? Good times? Events are happening with increasing regularity that are steering us to hard times.

Stories from Great Depression survivors reveal how physically demanding life became after the crash. The difference in last century and the cliff we’re dangling over now is we’re in a state of soft. Soft bodies, soft drinks, and soft minds characterize today’s society.

Granted, there are exceptions. But look around. We’ve become a bunch of physical softies. You might be soft if…

• Minimal physical exertion like walking up bleachers at your daughter’s soccer game leaves you breathless
• Bending to place a case of bottled water under your shopping cart sends you to the chiropractor
• Planting three tomatoes warrants a two-hour nap
• Playing outside consists of a game of Angry Birds on your tablet on your screened porch
• Checking the mailbox becomes an endurance event

If the soft shoe fits you, it’s time to stop wearing it. No one is immune from emergencies. Natural disasters happen. Some time we put ourselves in stupid situations that demand a strong response. If you’re soft, you’re not going to be very useful to yourself or those depending on you.

Excuses for staying soft run on forever. But if you’re sick and tired of being soft and tired, you’re the only person that can change you.

I work with a teacher who got tired of being soft. She had lost over 100 pounds by the end of this school year. She decided to take charge of her life and get strong. She’s an inspiration to many. Her method is not what I would use, but you can’t argue with her results.

Back to excuses. Not having a gym membership is not a valid excuse to stay soft. There are many more exciting ways to get functional fit than striding on a treadmill or pulling on a lat machine. As a matter of fact, doing conventional workouts with traditional equipment will build a baseline level of fitness for you, but washboard abs and python arms are not your aim in functional fitness.

To be functionally fit, you train your body to handle everyday situations. You want to perform movements that use multiple muscle groups. Whole body movement will increase your endurance, coordination, resilience, stamina, strength, power, speed, agility, and balance.

Think of it this way. When in nature have you seen a wild animal doing the same repetitive motion over and over like jogging in a circle for an hour. That’s not how they exercise – neither should humans.

And you don’t need a gym to get functionally fit. Allow me to introduce a workout I did the other day in our local park. Dirt Road Girl named it after the Commodore’s disco hit “Brick House.”

The Brick House Workout

Rolling a section of chimney from the ruins of a brick house in our park.

Chimney flip. Moving this chuck brick and mortar was a challenge. Wear work gloves if you flip rocks or jagged stuff like this. It was heavy enough to work my hips, gluts, legs, arms, and every other muscle in my body. Use caution when flipping heavy stuff. Items like this are homes to various creatures like spiders, snakes, and other scary critters 🙂

I flipped it end over end about ten times. It ruined my legs and I took a short break to sip from my camel back.

Hydrating on the chimney. Don’t forget to stay hydrated before, during, and after workouts.

Next up, balance beams. There’s a seating area beside the ruins. I’ve never seen anyone use these for their intended purpose. That’s the beauty of this kind of workout. You can turn most anything into functional fitness equipment.

Balance is something you won’t get much help with from your conventional personal fitness trainer in the gym. However, balance is important in the real world and should be practiced. You never know when you’ll have to cross a flooded creek on a slick log – or walk a straight line in a DUI checkpoint 😉

That blur is me jumping from bench to bench ~ I played the stunt double for Predator in the movie.

The object is to jump from beam to beam without falling. Jump in a high arc to give you a better chance of sticking the landing. I like wearing minimalist footwear or going barefoot when appropriate. Make sure the beam, log, or bench is not slippery before trying this stunt.

Remember, the most important part of survival is Don’t Do Stupid Stuff! If this looks stupid to you, don’t do it. A safer alternative is to lay a 1×4 on the ground and bear crawl from end to end without touching the ground. If you slip, you won’t fall far.

Brick squats. For this I found a smaller section of the chimney and held it to my chest while doing squats on top of the big section of chimney I just flipped. Do a few squat sets of 10 to 15 repetitions.

Doing weighted squats on top of the chimney

Practical Performance benefits: Lifting that case of water, your toddler, or a 50 pound bag of feed.

Timber overhead lift. There are several long, heavy logs laying in our park that I use to work my shoulders and arms. Find one that you can press safely over your head for 2 sets of 10-15 reps.

Don’t drop it on your head.

I sometime use shorter logs and balance them on my shoulder and perform squats – or drag them through the park.

Practical Performance benefits: Helps with any over the head lifting, log cabin building, and just looks cool.

Jump on it! Plyometrics are one of the best exercises to increase power. Simply put, power gives you the ability to turn strength into speed, quickly. You need a sturdy elevated surface 18 to 20 inches high. I use two stone park benches. Jump from the ground to the top of the bench and back down to your starting point… and repeat as quickly as possible. Do 2 sets of 10-15 reps as quickly and safely as possible. As you build up your strength and reps, find a higher surface to jump on.

I’m behind DRG’s thumb

Safety point: If you’ve not been doing much in the way of physical activity, plyometrics are not where you want to start. They are very intense. Build your fitness level slowly before attempting plyos. They are very taxing on your tendons and joints so don’t overdo it.

Alternative to plyos: Do squat jumps. Squat and jump as high as you can. When you land, go into squat position and jump again. Progress until you can do box plyometrics.

Practical Performance benefits: Allows you to finally jump and touch the net (maybe even the rim) on the basketball court, converts strength into power and explosiveness (great for snatching granny from the oncoming bus), and out run your hunting partner while being chased by a grizzly bear.

I finish off my workout with elevated push ups, a few pull ups, and five sprints.

For the push ups, place your feet on the park bench with your hands on the ground after you’re exhausted from plyos and do as many push ups as you can. If you need an easier alternative, put your hands on the bench and feet on the ground to do the push ups.

Keep your body straight and core tight.

This is my preferred gym, natures gym, to build physical preparedness. The best practical workout of all is actually doing the real stuff like throwing hay, splitting wood, digging fence post holes, clearing land, and carrying rocks for DRG’s garden. When you can’t work on a homestead, at least find a park, backyard, or even a gym and get busy practicing for practical, real-world performance.

Your survival may one day depend on your physical preparedness. Just a thought.

What do you do to increase your practical performance? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comment section!

Keep Doing the Stuff of Self-Reliance,

Todd

P.S. – You can also keep up with the Stuff we’re Doing on Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook… and over at the Doing the Stuff Network.

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Related articles

• Get primal: Work out like a caveman (or woman) (today.com)
• The art of squats. (safiyahesack.wordpress.com)
• Fitness Is Key To Preparedness (personalliberty.com)

 

Stupid Good Primal Ribs on my Big Green Egg

by Todd Walker

Hospital personnel said our surgeon wanted to meet with me. It’s only been an hour waiting. Why so quick? The doctor said to expect a four-hour operation.

Fear of the worst paralyzed me. I braced my mind with a shaky hand. Hold it together, Todd.

“The cancer has spread. We can’t do the operation. I’m sorry.”

A year later we realized this was the best news we’d ever gotten from a doctor. You see, DRG still has the top lobe of her lung and is basically cancer free today! We thank God for this blessing and for what we thought was a cruel turn of events.

You’re probably thinking I messed up on the title of this post. How’s he going to transition into a Big Green Egg story?

The surgery that thankfully didn’t happen was scheduled on my 50th birthday last May. DRG was so down about the news it took her weeks to recover emotionally. On top of that, she was beating herself up about not being able to do what she had planned for my big day.

She wanted to get me a present to cover both birthdays this year. Enter the BGE. We’d seen and heard about them for a few years. She goes out and buys me one from a friend who is a BGE dealer. She got a friend discount.

These ceramic cookers are awesome for everyday food preparation. I’ve only used mine a few times but have discovered the BGE would make one heck of an alternative cooking source if the lights went out.

Ceramic Cooker History

The history of ceramic cookers can be traced back to over 3,000 years to China. The Japanese called it “kamado,” their word for stove, oven, heater, or fireplace. The design made its way to America after World War II. There was an immediate and noticeable difference in this ‘new’ cooker and the standard charcoal or gas grill. The food just tastes better. The same way a pig-in-the-ground tastes better than dry pork chops on your charcoal grill.

The BGE is capable of replacing your gas or electric stove in your house – if the need arises. Casseroles, bread, meats, vegetables, you name it, the BGE can handle the job. I just smoked some babyback ribs that DRG has dubbed “Stupid Good Primal Ribs.”

I never would have bought one for myself. They’re pricey. But with proper care, you can pass your BGE on to the next generation of natural-born grillers.

The Big Green Egg Tractor

I’d recommend you build a cooking table if you decide to get one. We looked at the BGE tables at the store and thought they were too flimsy. A sturdy, homemade table was in order. Introducing the Big Green Egg Tractor.

Measuring 60 x 32 inches and sporting 10 inch wheels this tractor plows through a barbecue

It’s constructed with 5/4 x 6 x 8 decking lumber. The stove rests on a piece of slate built into the bottom shelf. On the left, I recessed a 30 x 30 inch cutting board our son gave me that he scavenged. The entire tractor was built around this cutting board.

Time to do the stuff!

Stupid Good Primal Ribs Recipe

Start by buying the best ribs you can find. I bought these from a local farmer at our farmers market. Berkshire pork is the choice of competition BBQ cookers.

Step 1: Remove the membrane from the bone side of the ribs. I use a butter knife to lift the membrane. Then I grab the end with a paper towel and pull, violently at times. Do what it takes to get remove the membrane.

Remove the membrane on the bone side of the ribs with a butter knife and lots of pulling.

Step 2: Wash your slabs with cold water. Pat dry with a paper towel. I then place mine in a large pan and apply my homemade rub. There are many commercially made rubs available. Add generous amounts of rub to the bone side first. Rub it into all the nooks and crannies of the meat – including the sides. Flip the ribs and repeat for the meaty side.

Rub your meat

Step 3: Let the ribs sit for a while. I usually wait an hour or so before starting the fire on my smoker.

The folks at BGE recommend that you use hardwood lump charcoal as your fuel source. Ah, another resilient skill to learn – charcoal making.

I started a layer of lump charcoal (3 inches deep) in the my BGE. I wasn’t sure if that would be enough on my first attempt at smoking meat on this thing. It turns out to be plenty. Ceramic cookers conserve fuel like nothing I’ve ever seen.

After the coals are ready, add your favorite wood chunks for smoke flavor on your ribs. I use apple wood – a few pieces that have been soaked in water (slower burn) and a few that are dry (faster burn). Being from the Peach State, I prefer peach wood.

For indirect cooking, use an EGGcessory called a Plate Setter. This turns your BGE into a convection oven and provides a barrier between your meat and the direct flames.

Regulate the temperature with the top vent and the lower vent until you reach the desired temp of 225 -250 degrees. I was amazed at how well this cooker held a steady temp during the whole smoking process – 240 degrees for 4 hours. And I never had to add charcoal like I did with my old metal smoker. It’s a magic smoking machine.

Step 4: Place a drip pan on top of the Plate Setter. It needs to fit the BGE and be large enough for the ribs to sit over. I poured about an inch of apple cider vinegar in the bottom of the pan to add steam and flavor to the meat. Now, slap the slabs on the a rib rack on top of the grill grate. Close the lid and go do something else for an hour. I made a fresh batch of tallow next to my BGE. Just saying.

EGGcessories come in handy. Here they are after the one hour check up.

Rendering grass-fed beef fat for our cooking tallow.

Step 5: When you check them in one hour, apply some apple juice to the ribs. I use a spray bottle to lightly coat the meat. You don’t want to wash off the rub, so spray lightly. Close the lid and go back to doing something productive. Don’t check it again for another hour.

Step 6: On the next lid lift, bring your favorite local honey, some of your rub, heavy-duty aluminum foil, and a basting brush or mop. A lot of barbecue purists frown on using foil on ribs. I’m no purist. I’ve cooked ribs both ways and decided to keep foiling.

I cut my slabs in half making 4 smaller racks of ribs to fit over the drip pan. You can leave them long if you wish. Place each rack on a double thickness of foil bone side down. Pour enough honey on the ribs and coat it with your brush or mop. Dust the ribs again with your favorite rub. Close the foil loosely. Puncturing the foil will allow all the goodness to escape. Now you can return the ribs to the grill, get your temp back to low and slow, and forget about ’em for another two hours.

Ditch the rib rack and lay the ribs directly on the grill grate.

Step 7: At about the 4 hour mark, take a rack off and check for doneness. Carefully open the foil. Watch out for the hot steam coming out of the pack. Stare in amazement at your creation for about 5 seconds. Now find out if they’re ready to eat. You can use a couple of methods here:

• Poke a toothpick between the bones. If goes in like a hot butter knife through butter, they’re ready.
• If you cooked the ribs in a whole slab (not cut like mine), pick up the ribs with tongs from one end. If the over hanging ribs bend to create a 90 degree angle, plate ’em. They’re ready. Just eyeball it. Don’t get your framing square out.
• Some like to stick a meat thermometer between the bones. If the temp is 200-205, they’re done. Unless you’ve got really thick, meaty ribs, I’d stick to one of the first two methods.

If that pack doesn’t meet the doneness check, carefully close it up and return to the grill. Check it again in 20 to 30 minutes.

Once they’re done, remove from the grill. Open each foil pack. DO NOT let the juice inside the foil escape. I pour the honey juice into a pan, put my sliced ribs on top of the juice, and baste the ribs while they cool down and rest.

We don’t add any BBQ sauce to our ribs or pulled pork. If you cook the meat right, you won’t need to. If you prefer a sauce, nows the time to add it, I guess.

Be sure to capture the honey juice for basting

Stupid Good Primal Ribs ready to eat. We ate these with a side of organic kale cooked in heavy whipping cream and fresh oak leaf salad from the farmers market. Primal dinner is served!

What do you think? Does the Big Green Egg have a place in your post-SHTF cooking plans? I’d love to hear from BGE aficionados out there for this ceramic cooker newbie. Leave your tips in the comment section, please.

P.S.

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Pass the Rolls: Why We Eat Grains

I wanted to share a post from Bug Out Nutrition today. JP Martin spends his time slaying the conventional wisdom of foods we eat and store and applies the science of nutrition to survivor scenarios. He was on my Top Ten Not-Famous-Yet Preparedness Sites post recently. 

by JP Martin

Source: Bug Out Nutrition

Gluten is everywhere. We eat bagels and toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and rolls with our dinner. The USDA recommends we eat 30% of our calories from grains and prior to myplate was recommending 6-11 servings of grain per day. Doctors and nutritionists in the mainstream media push whole grains as a solution to the problems caused by the standard American diet, which is about as effective as putting out a fire with gasoline.

We talk about being paleo and optimizing health a lot on this site but the reality is that most of the time it isn’t that easy. Whether it’s choosing a sandwich when you have 15 minutes to prepare lunch or buying flour by the drum instead of setting up a homestead, wheat is the easy way out a lot of the time.

The purpose of this series is to illustrate the health problems related to gluten specifically. This series is aimed at those of you that eat gluten occasionally, knowing it is bad but trying to minimize as much as you can.

For a while I was completely paleo compliant except on weekends, where I took ‘cheat days’ which I needed for training to epic proportion. Since cutting out gluten entirely I have seen a huge improvement in health and my hope is that by the end of this series, you’ll be able to see improvements too. And next time you eat out, you’ll feel comfortable in saying pass the rolls.

Also, for those of you that are die-hard paleo already, there should be some fun ammunition for your inevitable conversations with vegans, bageltarians, and low fat advocates.

On to the knowledge

Why the government is making you sick

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect

It’s common knowledge that fat is evil, grains are good for your heart and wheat is the bedrock of your diet. We all learned this in school, saw it supported by politics, and see it in pop culture. This serves as evidence for the majority of people who are comfortable with not questioning authority.

Many of these recommendations were developed by what our good friends over at Survival Sherpa refer to as alphabet agencies, such as the AHA and USDA. Much of the research that formed the basis for these recommendations  was done in the 1950s, on research that was far from conclusive (see Todd Walker’s excellent post on that over at Survival Sherpa). However, there are many reasons that it was not looked into more.

Follow the money

Wheat production is big business. The US has produced 50-60 million tons every year for the past decade. Much of this is controlled by massive agrobusiness outfits such as Monsanto. The consolidation of local farms into these huge companies happened over the 20th century and considers to accelerate.

Where there is money, there is political influence. But surely the people responsible for our health are looking after us, right? Not trying to help out big business at the expense of our health?

In many cases they are the same people. The above diagram is from a right-leaning website but I’m sure the list would expand if you put a magnifying glass to the republican party as well. For further evidence of the government’s support of agrobusiness, check out the subsidies on wheat, which amounted to over $34 billion of your tax dollars from 1995 to 2011.

Hiding behind the image of the farmer, many justify the actions of these companies but the fact of the matter is the local farmers you see don’t need subsidies because they aren’t competing in international markets. These are the companies that in many cases turned them from business owners into employees.

And if you’re open to making your extra tinfoil into a hat, there are also those that say that big pharma is involved, keeping the population sick. After all, how much lipitor can you sell to a healthy nation?

Full circle

Regardless of what you believe, the fact is that there are ulterior motives to the recommendations of the government. If this cannot be trusted, the bottom falls out for any rationalization made by the mainstream media and consumers. Think for yourself and stay tuned for some of the consequences the grains we are pushed can have on your health.

When the Cat and Mouse Agree, the Grocer is Ruined

by Todd Walker

Moose, our largest rescued dog, will sit in the backyard and watch squirrels steadily eat the sunflower seeds from our bird feeders. When we open the door to go outside, he springs to his feet and sprint toward the offending tree rats. They scurry up trees and wait until we go back in and Moose, our beloved squirrel watchdog, settles back to his post.

They’re both in on this seed-stealing racquet – a mutual agreement of sorts. He’s obliged to attack when the backdoor opens, they fain fear. Oh, they’ll sacrifice an occasional slow squirrel to make their cat and mouse game look real for us onlookers. In reality, it’s just a game they play.

This analogy is easily applied to many aspects of our world today. The consequences are far more serious than our backyard escapades. In our rigged world, the grocer being ruined is you.

Here are just two examples the cat agreeing with the mouse to ruin the grocer.

1.) The FDA and the Industrial Cancer Machine

Dirt Road Girl has only had one doctor (let’s call him Dr. Jones) tell us to seek alternative cancer treatment – off the record of course. This doctor has to keep his job. When I asked if he had heard of Dr. Burzynski, I was surprised, no, shocked that he did. He knew of Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski’s gene-targeted approach using non-toxic peptides and amino acids, known as antineoplastons. I’ll not go into detail on how the FDA and the Texas Medical Board spent years and millions of dollars attempting to ruin and silence his patented treatment. Click here for more info if you’re interested.

I called the Burzynski Clinic and asked about DRG being treated there in January 2012. Our insurance would not cover the treatment because it wasn’t FDA approved. We were in the rock-and-hard-place scenario. We went with the conventional route. When a loved one’s life is on the line, you do whatever you think is the best method of healing.

One side benefit of our conventional experience has been the great awakening we’ve experienced watching the creepy-cozy mutualism between Big Pharma and the medical establishment. Dr. Jones flat-out told us that pharmaceutical companies call the shots for mainstream medical practitioners. The system is set up to punish anyone who doesn’t prescribe their ‘best practices’ and drugs.

The bottom line is: Follow the money trail. The FDA is supposed to act as a ‘cat’ protecting the grocer (individuals) from destructive vermin. As in Dr. Burzynski’s case, the FDA has admitted that his treatment actually cures resistant forms of cancer. The problem lies in that one man, Dr. Burzynski, owns the patent and would be the only beneficiary if the FDA approved his methods. Big Pharma would not get their usual piece of the money pie. So, it makes perfect monetary sense for those deeply invested in the Industrial Cancer Machine to keep their mouths shut and do as they are told – by the deep pockets of Big Pharma.

What can you, the individual grocer, do to escape ruin?

Question everything. Get second opinions. Seeking alternative treatment for life threatening medical issues like cancer is a very scary individual journey. The powers that be throw all their resources into preserving their monopoly. They spin every treatment outside their reservation as quackery. Do your own research and make your own decisions. If a free market existed in medicine, one could choose, based on self-interest, which method of treatment to pursue – without regulation. If a treatment is truly quackery, it would soon be exposed. On the other hand, effective treatments are available to individuals that are being silenced by our ‘watchdog’ FDA’s marriage to Big Pharma.

The marriage has been consummated – and we’re the ones being forcibly screwed.

Investigate for yourself:

• Vitamin D
• Hemp oil – A Harvard Medical School study found that marijuana cuts lung cancer tumor growth in half.
• Burzynski, The Movie
• Several alternative protocols listed here

2.) The Industrial Food Machine

Children drinking fresh milk, Australia 1929 / Sam Hood

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Obviously, living a healthy, active lifestyle is less expensive than conventional medical treatments. Eating a diet of nutrient dense, organic, whole foods is becoming more and more difficult. Enter the pesky FDA (and other alphabet agencies) yet again. Are you starting to see a common denominator in our equation? It’s that money trail again. Follow it.

Increasing your level of self-sufficiency, preparedness, and resilience has certain costs. You may not need a permission slip from local authorities to grow a backyard garden or raise a few chickens – yet. Times are changing. The Powers That Be hate individuals following their natural self-interest of independence. Even growing a garden for a portion of your own food can turn you into a Freedom Outlaw.

You may have missed some of these stories of ordinary, everyday people taking their health into their own hands.

• War on raw milk
• Steve Cooksey was drug and insulin dependent, taking (4) insulin shots per day, just to survive. His nutritional blog came under attack by North Carolina’s regime because his method of breaking free from insulin shots didn’t meet conventional USDA standards. He found freedom through following a primal/paleo lifestyle.
• Gardening Outlaws in Michigan, Florida, and Oklahoma have been targeted for arrest, harassment, and fines.

Reducing nutrient dense food choices is not the stated goal of the FDA. They would not admit that Genetically Modified foods are harmful to humans. They’ve got 90 day studies to prove that GMO’s are safe for ingestion – wink, wink. Independent long-term studies are showing otherwise. Another discrediting blow to our we’re-from-the-government-and-here-to-help crowd.

Food and water are essential to our survival and ability to thrive. The Industrial Food Machine wants total control of these life-sustaining resources. Thankfully, more ‘common folk’ are beginning to wake up to the lies promoted by the elite’s ministry of myths. As the orbit of freedom continues to expand, thanks to independent, alternative news sources, people are starting to ‘get it’. We’ve been lied to. Over and over.

“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” was the line screamed from Howard Beale in the classic film Network in 1975. Simply screaming out the window and into the streets won’t change the game our cat and mouse are playing. You’ll only loose your voice. Individual action is needed to protect the grocer (you and me).

Action Steps to Food Freedom

• Grow your own food.
• Buy locally produced food.
• Connect with local farmers, farmers markets, and food coops.
• Stock up on non-hybird, heirloom seeds.
• Find resilient-minded people in your community and connect.
• Get educated. Do the opposite of what the USDA/FDA recommends – unless their methods agree with your lifestyle.

Not only are we to register our guns, children, property, and even our thoughts, it won’t be long before we have to register our backyard gardens. Control is the goal. Are you really willing to submit and put tumor producing GMO’s into the bodies of your children? I didn’t think so.

Don’t wait for the cat to keep the mice in check.

Stock up on plenty of rat shoot – if you can find it.

Keep doing the stuff!

Related articles

• Case Dismissed! Texas Ends 15-Year Fight Against Cancer Doctor Burzynski (articles.mercola.com)

Do You Have the Guts to Survive?

 

Maintaining your gut for survival

by JP Martin

Source: Bug Out Nutrition

Gut Flora

Pop quiz: do you know how many cells are in your body? The answer is close to 100 trillion. However, the number of cells that belong to your body proper are outnumbered by bacteria within your body by almost 10 to 1. Woah.

Let that settle in for a minute. In reality, you  are less of a single organism and more of a symbiotic colony of a number of different ones. Even in the body cells proper, organelles called mitochondria have their own set of DNA and are effectively a different organism.

Yet most of the focus on medicine throughout history has been focused on the observable. Only recently has the function of the bacteria within us become a popular topic of study in health sciences.

The lion’s share of this bacteria lives within the gut, the area including the large and small intestines. They are essential to many roles within digestion and without them, we would not be able to process food correctly. We need their enzymes to break down certain foods or absorb vitamins and nutrients.

Another key role that the gut flora plays is in the protection of the body against threats. The gut is one of the most contaminated environments in the body and the potential for bad bacteria to build up and cause illness is always present. The bacteria within your gut can protect against negative bacteria and change the environment to prevent infection.

Gut permeability

To the naked eye, the intestines seem to be a more or less solid barrier. However, on a cellular level this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The cells of the small and large intestinal walls are known as epithelium. Between them they are held together by what is known as tight junctions which, for the most part, remain tight.

However, a number of things can cause the tight junctions to break apart. Considering the incredibly dynamic nature of what passes through the guy. When these junctions leak, the incredibly septic contents of predigested food and bacteria can leak into the massive amount of blood vessels which surround the gut. This can lead to massive inflammation in the body at large and even brain problems.

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• Acquisition of Gut Flora in the Infant (thepaleonurse.com)