The Preparedness Podcast

With the recent series of extreme disasters that we've been seeing around the world, now is a good time to update your preparedness plan and make sure you have a plan for even those events that aren't likely to happen. Case in point, the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster that's still happening in Japan and the "worst case scenario" tornado that hit Joplin, MO. While some seem to ignore this basic fact, the earth has a history of cycles. Sometimes things are calm and sometimes things are chaotic. To me, it's fairly obvious that we entered into a chaos period several years ago. The earth and sun go through cycles and these cycles manifest in ways we typically associate with everyday weather and sometimes as disasters: earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. and, of course, climate. In the past few years, we have seen more major disasters. Ten years ago, having a 9.0+ earthquake was extremely rare. Currently, four of "The Ten Largest Earthquakes Since 1900" occurred in the past 7 years. We're also seeing weather extremes that haven't appeared since the first half of last century. Looking at the list above, the four most recent earthquakes on the list above occurred, in reverse chronological order, in 2011, 2010, 2005 and 2004. The fifth oldest earthquake on this list occurred in 1965. The period from 1966 to 2003 was a calm period, as far as major earthquakes go. When looking at these patterns, my concern is that it's not just earthquakes that is changing, but other earth phenomenon, like tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, drought, etc.. A I write this, two tornadoes have hit Springfield, MA causing many injuries and extensive damage, according to initial reports. It's been mentioned in several recent podcasts, but it's worth mentioning again. You should review your plans or thinking on what's possible to occur where you live. If you're not in an earthquake area, you should start thinking of what happens if an earthquake hits your town. If you live in an area that doesn't normally get tornadoes or hurricanes, perhaps you live in a fringe area, you may want to brush up on what you're going to do if one suddenly appears.

With the recent series of extreme disasters that we've been seeing around the world, now is a good time to update your preparedness plan and make sure you have a plan for even those events that aren't likely to happen. Case in point, the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster that's still happening in Japan and the "worst case scenario" tornado that hit Joplin, MO.

With the recent series of extreme disasters that we've been seeing around the world, now is a good time to update your preparedness plan and make sure you have a plan for even those events that aren't likely to happen. Case in point, the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster that's still happening in Japan and the "worst case scenario" tornado that hit Joplin, MO.

This is the third installment of the mini-series about repacking food for your long-term food storage program. I started this project looking for a way to repack food for long-term storage that was better than using the typical Mylar in bucket. I was looking for something that offered more flexibility and was more space efficient in storage. After trying several different methods, I determined that, while it wasn't perfect, the Mylar in bucket method of storing was superior in some very important aspects. If you're storing for only a short period of time, other methods would probably work just as good, but when working with a large amount of food, for the amount of work needed to actually get the food to a point where it will be stable in long-term storage, storing in large buckets is the better option. Even with the sometimes hit-or-miss nature of sealing the Mylar bags, I still find it a better option.

This is the third installment of the mini-series about repacking food for your long-term food storage program.

This is the third installment of the mini-series about repacking food for your long-term food storage program.

Last podcast, I started a small series on Repacking for Food Storage, where I talked about what my goals were and how I was increasing my food storage and how I was going to go about doing that, specifically, in how I was going to repack the bulk foods that I've purchased. In this part, I continue my discussion on the issues I've been having with various aspects of repacking food, including issues with mylar bags and old O2 absorbers. Discussing the various aspects of using Mylar and Foodsaver bags for food storage and giving tips for using both. Food storage should be an important part to your preparations, but from experience, I know that this can be one of the more challenging aspects to getting prepared. By sharing the errors and successes I've experienced, I'm hoping to spare you the time and expense of making the same mistakes I have. One of the things I did was to transfer the Morning Moo (milk) that I bought into mylar bags and reseal it in the same bucket. These types of tasks, including doing inventory and inspection on your food, is hard work, but it's worth it.

Last podcast, I started a small series on Repacking for Food Storage, where I talked about what my goals were and how I was increasing my food storage and how I was going to go about doing that, specifically, in how I was going to repack the bulk foods that I've purchased. In this part, I continue my discussion on the issues I've been having with various aspects of repacking food, including issues with mylar bags and old O2 absorbers. Discussing the various aspects of using Mylar and Foodsaver bags for food storage and giving tips for using both.

Last podcast, I started a small series on Repacking for Food Storage, where I talked about what my goals were and how I was increasing my food storage and how I was going to go about doing that, specifically, in how I was going to repack the bulk foods that I've purchased. In this part, I continue my discussion on the issues I've been having with various aspects of repacking food, including issues with mylar bags and old O2 absorbers. Discussing the various aspects of using Mylar and Foodsaver bags for food storage and giving tips for using both.

Up until recently, most of my food storage has been of the “pantry” storage type. Meaning, most of the foods that we eat on a regular basis bought from the grocery store. We have some long term storage foods in our storage plan, but recently, and for obvious reasons, I’ve started to increase these. I had some specific ideas on how I wanted to repack some of this food, but it didn’t go the way I had hoped. Up to now, all of the long term food items that I had were packed in cans, most of them factory sealed. This time, I’ve decided to buy bulk food and repackage it myself in order to take advantage of lower costs and stretch my food budget. While I started my plan of increasing what I had, the first step was really to take an inventory of what I had. During this inventory, I opened a couple of cans and was surprised on what I found. Let’s just say that you should plan on storing more than you think you need. Anyway, this is part one of the three part series on Repacking for Food Storage.

Up until recently, most of my food storage has been of the 'pantry' storage type. Meaning, most of the foods that we eat on a regular basis bought from the grocery store. We have some long term storage foods in our storage plan, but recently, and for obvious reasons, I've started to increase these. I had some specific ideas on how I wanted to repack some of this food, but it didn't go the way I had hoped.

Up until recently, most of my food storage has been of the 'pantry' storage type. Meaning, most of the foods that we eat on a regular basis bought from the grocery store. We have some long term storage foods in our storage plan, but recently, and for obvious reasons, I've started to increase these. I had some specific ideas on how I wanted to repack some of this food, but it didn't go the way I had hoped.

Here it is. Episode 100. I suppose there should be some sort of fanfare for this accomplishment, as always seems to accompany such milestones. So here it is: WEE! Was that too much? I hope I didn't overdo it. Really, though, I'm happy that the podcast made it to Episode #100, but it's really the listeners that have brought me to this point. Seriously, I wouldn't have kept doing this podcast if I didn't know that it was having such a positive affect on people. The emails I get from listeners is what keeps me doing this, as the whole reason I started this podcast was to help other people get prepared. There have been several times in the past where I've considered not recording anymore episodes, but then I would get an email from a listener, saying how much the podcast has helped them, or how the information they got from the podcasts really paid off for them, or helped them to get better prepared. Those are the emails that have kept this podcast going. So, on this 100th episode, I want to say Thank You! to all the listeners, and especially the ones that have emailed me with their stories. Thank you for listening and allowing me to come into your life and helping you get better prepared. Episode 100 has no fanfare in it, but I do interview The Survival Mom, Lisa Bedford, who runs the TheSurivalMom.com website.

An interview with The Survival Mom, Lisa Bedford, who runs the TheSurivalMom.com website.

An interview with The Survival Mom, Lisa Bedford, who runs the TheSurivalMom.com website.