Long-Term Food Storage: A Short Story About Food Prepping Paranoia
This is a story about long-term food storage, and the steps we took to 'ensure our ability' to have an ample supply of 'good quality meat' ~ believed essential for optimal health. And the subsequent questions that have arisen in its wake. Questions such as, Are we paying attention to the impulses driving our behaviors? Or, are we getting caught up in paranoia circulating over the airwaves?
You can also watch my video about this, below.
Our story about long-term food storage illustrates to me how crazy in the head we can get when we succumb to fear and paranoia. I thought I'd share this story because most of us do not realize what drives our behaviors. That is, unless we self-reflect, and honestly question ourselves about the subconscious beliefs and intentions driving our decisions. The ego doesn't like to be put under the microscope, as it may not like what it sees.
To better understand this, consider the temper tantrums young kids (think 'terrible twos) have when they don't get their way.
Well, as adults, we still react emotionally when we get triggered, such as whenever things don't appear to be going our way, or when presented with ideas or information that goes against our long-held beliefs. Especially if the ideas appear to threaten our comfort zone and standard of living, or if we fear losing something we are very attached to.
The ego also participates in what I refer to as 'The Dreaded D's' ~ Denial, Distraction, Discounting, Diversion, Delusion etc., which I discuss in my book, The Strong Spirit 10-Step Plan, Your MAP to Overcome Obstacles and Realize Your Dreams, available in paperback or Kindle formats.
Having that as the background, here's where our story about long-term food storage begins.
Long-Term Food Storage ~ Paranoia or Proactive Prepping?
In 2021, during what turned out to be our last year of consuming meat, Don and I purchased half a cow. We were hearing about how Bill Gates was buying up thousands of acres of farmland, and how the powers that be want to sell us bugs instead of beef, or worse, turn us all into vegan weaklings. There is a big vegan agenda, after all. At least that's a common belief among the low-carb and Carnivore communities.
To secure our future ability to thrive, we arranged to purchase half of a locally raised cow, in case of diminished supply, and because of desiring 'better quality' meat (aka cow corpse) as opposed to what was available in grocery stores. After all, we needed to have secure access to dead animal flesh in order to be healthy (versus bloated and weak.) Or so we 'believed.'
Of course, now that we invested in half a cow, we needed to protect our investment, right?
To store a half a cow, we needed an extra freezer. Half a cow was not going to fit into the foot-wide, side-by-side freezer of our old fridge. (Ugh, can't even stand the thought of having half a cow in our freezer!)
The next consideration was, what if there are black outs and power outages?
To 'proactively' deal with this, we took the advice of one particular Christian Patriot YouTuber who sang the virtues of freeze dryers as her chosen tool for prepping.
Around $3700 dollars later, we began to 'process' foods ~ beef, eggs, and fresh produce purchased in bulk at local farmers markets.
The pros for freeze dried foods are that they are lighter weight, and have a longer shelf life than jarred and canned foods. Freeze drying takes time, but is relatively easy compared to canning. They are also less likely to get tainted by bacteria than canning, and take up less space, as they can be stored in mylar packages in storage bins.
The cons for having a freeze dryer include needing a dedicated space to set up the freeze dryer, the noise, and how long it could take to freeze dry four trays of food, especially if the room where it is set up lacks good air flow. When freeze drying just cooked foods directly, it could take a few days to complete a cycle.
So what was the total price for this long-term food storage prepping process?
Nearly $5,000.00!!!
About $3700 for the freeze dryer, $700-$800 for the half cow (which should have lasted us for 6 months or more, depending upon how keen we were to consume all the organs (heart, liver, tongue), and taking into account all the bones, plus another $350+ for the extra freezer ~ not including extra storage bags, bins, etc.
We were clearly invested in 'ensuring our survival, and ability to have access to the nicely packaged muscle, bones and organs from a slaughtered cow.
Do you see the insanity of this?
Fear makes people do stupid things. Ok some may not see this as stupid, but to us, it was.
Wasn't it Jesus who said, "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them." ~Matthew 6:26, ESV
And:
"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." ~Matthew 6:34, KJ
Or ESV translation:
"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." ~ESV
God did not give us a spirit of fear!
You may be wondering, why do I say we were acting from fear and paranoia, versus being smart, proactive long-term food storage preppers?
Because the decision was based on fear (False Evidence Appearing Real) that the establishment wants to sell us dead insects (as opposed to dead cow carcasses.) And fear our health would suffer, and that we could not thrive without our daily meat consumption.
PLEASE NOTE: Being prepared is not a bad thing, don't get me wrong. Having at least one month's worth of non-perishable food on hand ~ with a variety of options ~ including foods that be eaten as is if needed, such as canned beans, dried fruit, protein snack bars, etc., or foods that can be prepared simply by adding hot water is a good strategy given our current inflation, and potential food shortages.
Long-term food storage makes sense in some situations, but not all. Some people live on the road. There may be a limit to what can be stored. Others may prefer to grow their own food, or just trust all will be provided when and as needed.
This isn't a question about whether or not to be prepared in case of emergencies. It's a look at how we can get carried away, when operating out of fear. And, decisions based in fear tend to be more costly.
Fear is driving so many crazy behaviors these days. Fear is how others set themselves as an authority above us, and control us. When we don't live in fear, we can't be controlled.
As someone who was eating a whole foods, plant-based diet, then went super low-carb, and finally returning back home to our hearts as vegans, and a plant-based / macrobiotic diet, it's clear how delusional we were to believe we needed a freezer full of dead animal corpses in order to thrive. And totally selfish considering the loss of life and resources required to support the animal industry.
We let ourselves get distracted by all the low-carb and Carnivore Diet 'influencers.' We discounted our inner knowing, and denied our heart's true values in order to appease those lower ego voices that told us that what we were doing was somehow wrong, unhealthy, and/or inappropriate.
We focused solely on our physical symptoms, then blamed our high-fiber vegan diet (as opposed to just tweaking what we were doing, rather than completely giving up being vegan.) Meanwhile, we were discounting all the stress we were experiencing at that time, running our own business. Stress can definitely undermine health.
See how those Dreaded Ds lurk about the caverns of our largely unexamined minds?
In the very least, we were in denial about the discomfort we were feeling, including with Don's parents, and in the dark about deeply rooted old 'wounds' which began to surface in the last few years. Ultimately, it was a good experience, as we needed to become conscious of and own our triggers in order to transcend them. But it was a bit painful!
In hindsight, while this was a somewhat 'dark' time for us, it has helped solidify our passion towards living a sattvic life, practicing ahimsa ~ doing the least possible harm, and practicing the Golden Rule to not do to others what we would not like done to ourselves.
We know our purpose lies in helping awaken others to the devastating consequences of eating animals. It's more than just physical, it's spiritual. More on that to come.
Was the Freeze Dryer Worth It?
We freeze dried quite a bit in a short period of time. We freeze dried cooked steak. Raw steak. Scrambled eggs with some of those red bell peppers, and raw eggs.
We also freeze dried roasted potato wedges, mashed potatoes, some super yummy Squash & Tomato Soup, fresh Tomato Marinara, tons of apples, some bananas, and more.
Thankfully, it wasn't all dead cow corpse and chicken eggs!
Was it worth it?
Well, at the moment, our long-term storage, freeze-dried foods are sitting in plastic storage bins, covered with table cloths, taking up space.
I don't mind having the freeze-dried produce. I suppose it will be great to have at some point, such as if we ever go camping again. Or, in a pinch, if we are low on supplies or time, or in case of that potential power outage, or...something.
Considering we have already experienced several short-term power outages, frozen pipes, and a refrigerator that stopped working, none of this is out of the realm of possibility!
Actually, we were VERY glad we did NOT have a freezer full of dead cow corpse when our refrigerator stopped working during this past winter, 2023!
So far we have consumed a mylar package or two of the freeze-dried bananas. And some apples and peaches. We also had a couple pieces of banana bread that I freeze-dried as an experiment. It reminded me of biscotti. A great snack we enjoyed on the way home from visiting Frankenmuth, MI a few years back. Having that plus some fresh and dried fruit spared us from an expensive meal out.
That's about it.
If We Remained Vegan The Previous Years, Would We Have Bought a Freeze Dryer?
Heck no! I found a dehydrator at a local thrift store for less than $10 which would suffice for processing fruits and vegetables.
There may be a few reasons why having a freeze dryer can come in handy. Such as if you want to make your own freeze dried food before going camping or backpacking, or you need a way to process an abundance of produce after the summer and fall harvest seasons.
Personally, it's so easy to stock up on plant-based dry goods, I see no need for a freeze drier. I share our preferred staples for long-term food storage in the next post.
How about the extra freezer? Well, maybe. It comes in handy. We may not have considered it, but we are happy to have it.
What Was the Final Result of Our Long-Term Food Storage Decisions?
In my estimation, we really 'bought the cow' while under the influence of a meat-heavy diet, and while following those who eat meat-heavy diets. (I am so sorry to that cow that was sacrificed on our behalf!)
We sold the freeze dryer, and ultimately donated close to two thirds of that cow to a local charity and to my mom's assisted living facility.
We donated all the freeze dried meat to the guy who purchased the freeze dryer. He gave it to his dogs. So, there's that. Even he didn't want to eat it!
You can watch us donating food in my How Fear Can 'Steer' Us Wrong ~ EX Ex Vegan Couple Donates a Freezer Full of Meat in the video, below.
Now our freezer is full of plant-based meats, frozen vegetables, fruits, and grains and beans. It comes in handy since we don't have a pantry.
More about the power of the mind ~ and social media ~ influencing our choices, our preferred staple foods for long-term food storage, and about 'fake meat' in upcoming posts.
Here are more related posts:
You may also be interested in these topics:
Learn more about Holistic C.O.R.E. Counseling, and The Dreaded D's in The Strong Spirit 10-Step Plan, Your MAP to Overcome Obstacles and Realize Your Dreams (in paperback and Kindle formats.)
Feel free to share your thoughts! What decisions have you made that you later regretted? Were they made because of fear?
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