FOOD :: July thoughts

 Been working hard on my food efforts.

I hope this blog will become more than me sharing my life but the things I am trying to do are also part of Working Together plans... FOOD is a huge issue everywhere.

I have been in the poverty bracket for so many years.  After my kids were not in the house, my household, anymore, things changed, but were still hard.  Now I am working on new ways to stretch my limited funds and buy better food.

Our food supplies are now tainted by genetic modifications and large companies that use the government to protect them.  The common person knows little about the effects of what is being done to our food.  

Most people can't grow all their own food, but that is the goal of Working Together, for its communities.  If you think of living in a world where there is no money, no buying or selling, becoming self-sufficient is a requirement.  We have to know how much food we need to survive, plus extra for our missions and others in need.

If we can even do that is a whole different question.  

I see preparing for the Antichrist as a survival need, a way to get us to a place that GOD can bless us with miracles.

In trying to survive myself, I can discover a basic amount for one person, then we can multiply that for a community.

This summer I am finally receiving my first CSAs...  I am stretching my budget with Farmers Market Double Bucks, I am trying to shop once a week, I am growing some more food in my personal container garden, and I am learning more plant-based eating options, eating less meat and dairy and eggs, plus working on my exercise needs and weight loss issues.

It's all related to FOOD.

I watched some short videos about water issues all over the earth and how it is affecting our survival as a planet, including our food sources and our people.  There is no survival without clean water.  The biggest emphasis seems to be large cities, and they will take from others to get enough for themselves.  Water issues create wars because it is a life issue... related to food and body needs.  One of the videos shared the battle between two countries where one country has the power to deny water to the other.

The Bible warns of famine and drought and things related to it... pestilence, etc.  It has been a part of history, is recorded in the Bible, and is part of the earth's cycles (I think)... we talk about 100 year floods because they seem to repeat over long amounts of time.

Urban areas are very vulnerable to food crises.  There is no farmland in big cities... but some are trying to modify greenhouse options -- in whole buildings dedicated to growing food.  It will never be enough.  We know from history that those in power make sure they have more than their fair share, so lots of ordinary people will suffer.

I think hunger was the cause of many historical revolutions and the ability of people like Hitler to gain power.

So, our food issues are not a small thing.

I started to say that my food efforts have created more food resources than I have had in my lifetime... It is strange to be in this situation.  I am working toward a goal of $300 to $500 a month as my food budget... and I have determined that food is about 20% of a total budget in the lower income ranges.  At $300 a month for food, I need to have an income of $1500 a month.

That seems like a fortune to me now... because I haven't been able to generate that much money yet.  I was hoping online sales would provide it, but it didn't. 

In the past I wanted up to $5000 a month...now I am not sure what would be the best financial goal for my retirement because of possible medical expenses... even paying for insurance would be more than what I hope for as income to survive.  Who knows what the future will hold, but I keep trying to increase my options.  :-)

So that is where I will end this post.

Let me know what you think a good food budget would be, for one person... and what it would provide you with in food.

Until next time,

Deborah Martin, work2gather.us