Posts Tagged ‘common sense’

Pink Slime: Reality and Survival

I know that this pink slime in the food supply is all over the news, but there were several topics in this one article I read this morning that I felt warranted more discussion. I believe these topics focus on the reasons why you, as a survivalist/prepper, must use common-sense, be skeptical and aware of what is going on (or not going on) in the world around you. The reality that this article brings forward, is a reason why your survival is dependent on you. I think that most people, by default, trust everything that is being fed to them by our government, as well as our media. People assume everything is ‘up and up’ and we go on with our lives.

Well folks, we all know what happens when you assume. You make an ass-(out of) u-(and) -me! If you are listening to the news or reading a news article and something just doesn’t sound ‘right’ to you, then investigate. Is what you heard/read true or partially true? Or is it all just a big piece of sugar coated candy put out there for you to enjoy? Let’s take a look at some of the pink slime finds.

When recently asked why they agreed to feed “pink slime” to our children, school lunch officials said it was to drop the price of ground beef — by 3 cents per pound.

3 cents per pound. SERIOUSLY??? How about feeding the kids some meat? I know times are tough and everyone is looking to cut costs, but purchasing ground beef injected with toxins to save 3 cents a pound?!?!

In a study titled “Fast food hamburgers: what are we really eating?” pathologists at the Cleveland Clinic dissected burgers from eight different fast food chains to find out what was, or wasn’t, inside. Published in the Annals of Diagnostic Pathology, the paper begins with “Most consumers presume that the hamburger they eat is composed primarily of meat.” But what did they find?

Okay, everyone, here comes some shocking percentages…

…the researchers discovered waste and by-products including connective tissue, nerve tissue, cartilage, bone, and in a quarter of the samples, Sarcocystis parasites. But surely these “fillers” were the minority, right? Unfortunately not. After crunching the numbers, the researchers found that the amount of actual meat (muscle flesh) in the burgers ranged from 2.1 percent to 14.8 percent. Instead of fries, perhaps fast food cashiers should be asking, “Do you want meat with that?”

The amount of actual meat in the burgers ranges from 2.1 to 14.8 percent??? I’m thinking the rest probably isn’t so good for you?!?!

In addition to reducing quality, cutting corners also tends to reduce safety, which is why the pink slime in question is injected with ammonia hydroxide: to kill the Salmonella and E. coli (fecal matter) that it’s often contaminated with. Instead of addressing the contamination issue itself, the meat industry employs a cheap “technofix” to turn what was once considered waste into slimy profits.

Why isn’t the contamination issue being addressed at the source? Cost too much money? I guess it’s okay to try and fix it by injecting pink slime. La, la, la, my life goes on…

So what do the meat pushers do when cheap chemicals won’t do the trick, and their products leave the processing plant contaminated with fecal bacteria? Do they shut down the plant? Order a recall? No. They shift responsibility onto the consumer. “Raw meats are not idiot-proof,” a USDA poultry microbiologist said. “They can be mishandled and when they are, it’s like handling a hand grenade. If you pull the pin, somebody’s going to get hurt.” In other words, if you get sick from contaminated meat, it’s your fault.

Oh, I get it…YOU must not have cleaned the meat properly. YOU must not have cooked it to the correct temperature. YOU must have stored it at the wrong temperature.
I think this next one will make you ill…

But just how often is meat contaminated? This month the CDC released their latest national meat survey in response to this question. They tested more than 5,000 samples of retail meat products straight off the shelves in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. What they found could hardly have been more disturbing: 90 percent of pork chops, ground beef and ground turkey, and 95 percent of chicken breasts, were contaminated with fecal bacteria.

YUM!!! (I’m being facetious.) So now you have some percentages on the quality of your supermarket meat.

Now that you have learned something about your meat, what will you do?

Source quotes: Huffington Post

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Borax Multi Purpose Cleaner Will Save You $$$

Borax is an affordable, natural cleaning, odor eliminating, eco-friendly cleaner that has seemingly endless uses around the home. You can potentially save a lot of money by using this product instead of other special purpose cleaner products which are much more expensive.


Today there are so many branded cleaners to choose from. Most of them are marketed towards specific cleanup purposes with their special formulas while just a few seem to be marketed towards multipurpose use. You see, more money is made from these companies if they convince you that you have to purchase different cleaners for different cleanup purposes. Also, every so often these products are re-formulated and ‘improved’ to an ‘advanced’ formula to recapture your attention, or to have an excuse for a higher price.

The brands are constantly reinventing themselves and offering more choices of formulated cleaners to train you into believing that you need many different types of cleaners, each with their own specific special purpose. Take a look in your closets to see how many different cleaner solutions that you have.

What in the world did our grandparents do back in the day, when these miraculous cleaning formulas were not available? There homes must have been a dirty filthy mess without them! Wait a minute, I have an idea, lets find out what they used back in the old days…

BORAX

One popular cleaner that I can remember being used is something called BORAX. Borax is a multipurpose powdery cleaner whose ingredient comes from a naturally occurring mineral compound of the element, boron. Much of the world’s borax comes from the Rio Tinto Borax mining operation in Boron, California.

The most common brand is “20 Mule Team Borax”. It has primarily been known as a laundry booster for whiter, cleaner clothes, but it has many more household uses. It cleans, disinfects, deodorizes, softens water, and neutralizes many bugs. Lets look at a few borax recipes.

List of Uses for Borax

• Floor Cleaner (1/3 cup Borax, 1 gallon warm water, squirt of dish washing detergent, splash of ammonia)
• Window Cleaner (2/3 cup Borax, 1 gallon warm water)
• Disinfect and Clean Toilet (1/2 cup Borax added to basin water, let stand for awhile, then clean with toilet brush)
• Car Wash Cleaner (1/8 cup mixed with about 1.5 gallons of water)
• Eliminate Urine Odor on mattress – handy for accidents while toilet training a youngster (dampen area, sprinkle and rub in Borax, let dry and vacuum)
• Ants (mix equal amounts of Borax and powdered sugar, place near ant problem area – keep away from pets)
• Carpet Stains (mix Borax with water to make paste, rub into stain, let dry and vacuum)
• Unclog drains (dump 1/2 cup Borax into drain, let stand for 15 minutes, then dump in hot or boiling water )
• Prevent Weeds from growing in pavement cracks (sprinkle Borax in cracks)
• Garbage Disposer clean and sanitize (dump 1/4 cup Borax into disposer, splash in just a little water and let stand for an hour or so, rinse with hot water)
• Tile and Grout Cleaner (sprinkle Borax with just enough water to paste, scrub with brush)
• Laundry Booster (add 1/2 cup Borax to wash load for brighter, cleaner, deodorized clothes)
• Carpet Powder Deodorizer  (sprinkle Borax on carpet, let stand overnight and vacuum)
• Flea Killer (sprinkle Borax on carpet, let stand overnight and vacuum)

The takeaway from all of this should be to consider alternatives to what we are being marketed and sold today. Thinking and using common-sense is a learned way of life. Don’t be stuck in ‘the system’. Discover what our ancestors used for frugal solutions to problems. Although many advancements clearly win out over past solutions, not all new products are any better as a solution than what our grandparents and great grandparents used. I believe that Borax is just one of many nuggets out there, waiting to be picked.

What inspired me to post on this topic was having used some ’20 Mule Team Borax’ yesterday while cleaning our patio furniture, and realizing its versatility and effectiveness. Although I have been using this product for some time now, each time I do, I am reminded of how simple solutions such as this can save time and money.

Update: I must say that using a borax solution for car wash cleaner is very effective. I have been using this solution as a car wash soap for some time now, and it definitely cleans better than other special purpose car wash soaps that I have used. I have not had any scratching of the paint whatsoever and it really cuts through the road grime, bug residue, and dirt. I’m still amazed at how much cleaning solution can be made from one box of borax, all at a fraction of the cost of other manufactured soaps.


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Why Do I Prep?

Why do I prep? People often ask me why I have such a large pantry. Well, thinking about it, I guess I’ve been a prepper all of my life, but never realized it until a few years ago.  To me, it’s just logical common sense along with how I was raised.

Being born and raised in suburban New England, prepping is in my blood.  My family, as well as everyone in our extended families, had, and still do have, a decent sized pantry. All of our neighbors also were prepared.  Prepared for what you ask. Well, many of the grandparents in these households lived through the Great Depression. So a shortage of ‘things’ was a way of life.  These people learned from their struggles during the Depression and when things got better, they began to stock, afraid that hard times may come again.

It was also not uncommon at all, that at least once during the winter you may be without power for 3 or 4 days due to a Nor’easter.  If you did not lose power, you were definitely trapped in your house for 3 or 4 days. You made sure that you had at least a week’s supply of food on hand if you lost power during a summer thunderstorm, tornado or hurricane.

Another reason I prep is that you never know what life us going to bring your way.  You or spouse may lose their job.  You or your spouse may become ill and unable to work.  Earthquake, hurricane, terrorist attack, you name it, the list goes on.  It only makes good common sense to be prepared.

Let me give you an example of something that happened about 5 years ago.  Ken and I both came down with the seasonal flu at the same time.  It was the year there was a shortage of vaccines, so we were unable to get protected.  Well, after we went back to work over a week later Ken told me this story of a co-worker.

The co-worker and his wife had also come down with the flu at the same time.  He told Ken he was so glad his neighbor came and brought them soup and some groceries.

I was shocked! It was beyond my comprehension that someone would not typically have at least a week’s supply of food on hand.

Kudos to the neighbor who helped them out of course, but you should not rely or be dependent on anyone else.  This neighbor was also potentially put at risk for catching the same infectious virus. I have to point out that Ken and I didn’t run out of soup, juice, Kleenex, medicine etc. This is the good feeling of being prepared and well stocked.  Being prepared….you can’t lose!

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