We need a new normal, now.

 With outdated infrastructure, with climate change, and pandemic, we need a new normal.  CT lost power the first week of August, with fallout from Isaias.  People were knocked out for a week (a few for more).  Line crews came from all over the country to get us back up and running. Then the derecho hit in the Midwest.  Its been a week and people are still without power.  They've lost all their food, between shopping for pandemic (every two weeks, basically, you go out and load up), or having just bought on EBT...   The corn and soybean crops have been destroyed...

It hasn't been that long since we had a more sustainable way of life.   We need to mix the tech of 100 years ago with modern tech.  

Maybe we need to go back to iceboxes?  To delivery of milk, and meat once a week from local farms.  Maybe we need sheep to graze lawns and goats to clear brush.  (they aren't altogether eco-friendly, because they are introduced species that actually had a lot to do with destroying habitats--if you read Gerald Durrell as a kid, as I did, he talks about the damage goats did on Mauritius and surrounding islands)

Maybe we need in-ground "refrigeration' and root cellars again.   And "summer" and winter kitchens.   

We need better ways to heat our homes.  To get around.  Bike "roads".  

Food is getting more dangerous and less plentiful in the US.  Our food supply laws are being destroyed.  Food is also becoming more expensive. (European countries have always paid a larger portion of their budget for food, but that's possible because they aren't being slammed by medical debt--the US is getting to the point where people have to choose between rent and food, which is impossible!  We have enough food! -or we did). Our food supply has become so convoluted.....  and its unsustainable long term. 

We used to have houses built for crossbreezes.  We have historical records for houses all over the world that were heated by a stove, that even managed in Minnesota winters, to keep people warm.  We used to have more of a local cycle, where everything fed into everything else in a positive manner..  

We need to integrate that with modern life.  Maybe we need trolleys again for local transport.  Make it so you can fix and upgrade tech without constantly having to buy new.  More small local stores, even if its just in the summer.  Locally sourced groceries.  

We need microgrids, wind, solar, even water--there's tech that harnesses the power of waves...   We need better tech in using water.  in using grey water at home to water lawns and such.   We've got to stop hooking up to a larger system.  

Why you SHOULD bake bread (and also use shortcuts)

So recently a very white Medium article was circulating.   About how people shouldn't be baking during the pandemic.   (I did not actually read the article, the post was deleted before I had a chance to).  Here's the thing.  I think we should be baking, canning, cooking, etc during the pandemic.  But I also think we need to find the shortcuts that can work for us.  A lot of people don't have the space for 50 lbs of flour or sugar.  Or the counter space.  Or the spoons to cut up and prepare everything from scratch.

I do worry that we are entering a weird food time in the US.  Cooking is exhausting and frustrating (particularly cooking for one or two) and it has been decades since we've had any kind of shortages.  (Basically since the 80s, we've had lots and lots and lots of abundance...even if its been also somewhat illusory--lots of imported produce, no abundance in food deserts).  We're going to enter into an increased time of losing out-of-season foods.  We are going to have to figure out how to preserve more foods and go back to a more seasonal way of cooking as we become more reliant on local farms.

There are so many many interconnected industries with our food.   From flour (or gluten-free flour) which needs to be grown, milled, mixed...   to the meat industry which branches into broths and pet food.   And we are going to see more reverberations from these...  We are going to see our local stores start going more local with their supply chains as this drags on.

I do think all genders should be learning how to bake, how to cook, how to make nice basic things.

How to make jam.

Because we are going to see more interruptions in the food chain.

And having yourself as a backup...  knowing you can make something delicious out of the frozen leftovers you stashed three months ago, the frozen tater tots, and the dried tomatoes you made out of the tomato glut...  is a good thing.

We also need to know how to cook with good shortcuts.  Whether we buy the shortcuts or prep them in advance and freeze (I have radish pesto in the freezer I did last summer, as well as a gluten-free tart shell). I also know people that buy a big bag of onions and prep them all and freeze them to pull out when needed.  I also know people who buy jars of curry sauce and jazz them up a bit at home.  I do always have a loaf of frozen gluten-free bread, because I'm not always going to have the spoons for baking.

You have to find the shortcuts that work for you.  That's the important bit.  Even if you love to cook, there are days when you hit your limit.

If you can microwave polenta (or oven-bake it), top it with a sauce?  You have dinner.

Learning to cook also gives you the tools to figure out good shortcuts.  (And if you know how to cook, you will also be able to look up how to cook for Fido if necessary).

Pandemic prep and the environment...

So, I'm reading a lot of paranoia and obsessiveness about the coronavirus.  And preparing for outbreaks.  But we have to think about how our prep is harming the environment too, and contributing to the problem, Are there easy answers?  No.

We have to go back to cloth.  We can use scraps to make masks, hankies, etc.  Which can then be laundered.   Maybe carry a dishtowel in your purse to dry your hands/open manky doors, etc?

Lets go back to wearing gloves, cotton or leather?  As well as washing our hands.  Lets skip the sanitizer unless we really need it, it comes with its own health consequences, as well as lots of plastic.

I do a winter CSA.  I have a ton of veg.   A lot of veg actually stores well. Keep it cool, away from mice.  

Dried fruit is good.

We need to get back to an older way of working with foods and veg and some disease.  We need to get away from plastic and disposables as much as possible so they are there if someone needs them, because there are diseases that will need the disposables.

No wipes (make your own?  Wipe down with a little vinegar and alcohol? ). We don't want to overload our sewers with antibacterial etc, either.  Regular soap works fine.   Sanitizers eventually wash down the drain, into our rivers, lakes, oceans, etc.

Paper towels eat trees.  (yes they are good to have, BUT).

Lets break out the cloth.  

The soap.

About six years ago, we had massive massive snows that basically blocked foods from getting through.   Supermarkets were empty.  I still had local milk, and home-canned veg and local meats.   But we really need to start learning from these things.  With climate change, with massive disruption that is only going to get worse, we need to start learning from the past.  We need to take the best of the past with the best of the present to make a sustainable future.

Reusable masks of cotton for one.

Drying/preserving fruit and veg.

Nix the single-serving containers.  Get a big bag of oats.

A chicken will make a few meals.  Roasted.  Salad (or pasta/pilaf/etc).  Soup.

And WASH those hands.