What precautions are you taking against the coronavirus in your poly networks?

River said:
Grow food. Veggies, fruits, herbs, chickens, quail, turkey, goats.... Learn basic self and community provisioning skills. Prepare the soil. Get ready for lean times and potential hunger.
Click to expand...

River, seeing as you predicted famine for the country, I'm curious what you have to say about the fact that the biggest food problem among Americans in sequester is that we seem to be putting on weight. There's even a hashtag for it - the #Covid15 - and memes abound.
 
I think River's prediction for famine is for several months from now, or maybe for next winter if food supplies are disrupted because food-producing regions are in lockdown.
 
MeeraReed said:
I think River's prediction for famine is for several months from now, or maybe for next winter if food supplies are disrupted because food-producing regions are in lockdown.
Click to expand...

His prediction is for July, so we're two months out, so perhaps my question is premature. The fact remains that Americans overall are gaining weight - no famine in sight. No states have shut down farming, food production or food delivery systems. All of that is classified as essential work and is continuing without interruption. Not only do we have ample produce, the fruits and vegetables are the only section of every grocery that you can count on being fully stocked at all times, even at the height of the panic buying, which seems to be slowing considerably. The empty shelves that we saw (see) are about panic and hoarding, not about product production or delivery system. So if the grocery store produce sections all survived the initial panic, how would they suddenly become empty now - or two months from now?


River said:
I find it funny, very amusing! that folks want to say that because our economy is working well enough to deliver groceries to the stores now that this is evidence that this will be the case in July, August, September
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure about River's theory or July...But, I was thinking that a lot of Americans' fruits and vegetables during the winter comes from Mexico...we don't know yet how the virus will disrupt food growing and transportation later this year.

That has nothing to do with whether people are gaining weight because they are trapped in their houses eating packaged food all day right now.
 
MeeraReed said:
I'm not sure about River's theory or July...But, I was thinking that a lot of Americans' fruits and vegetables during the winter comes from Mexico...we don't know yet how the virus will disrupt food growing and transportation later this year.

That has nothing to do with whether people are gaining weight because they are trapped in their houses eating packaged food all day right now.
Click to expand...

The virus isn't going to affect crops or transportation at all. I think River's concern is whether or not people will be able to afford to buy food. By this summer people will be hurting for money.
 
It could affect production and transportation somewhat (though states will try to minimize that - fun fact: European countries closed borders, then Germany had to send busses to import seasonal workers from Bulgaria to take care of it's asparagus). But the bigger problem is potentially people's mistrust in the system. If people mistrust government (eg. money) enough, you can get hyperinflation, or some other kind of collapse. So I understand the concern, I don't think it's gonna happen though.
 
River is speaking from a middle class bubble. The thing is, it takes quite a bit of money and especially, time, to plant, maintain and harvest a crop. Very few people today have the ability to grow enough food to last them through the winter.

It takes hours a day in the hot sun to plant, water, weed, and prune a garden. It takes time and a lot of knowledge to rid the plants of pests and diseases, whether you do it organically or by using chemicals.

People at the poverty line might have time to nurture a few plants. Single mothers would have to arrange reliable, safe and free childcare to be able to spend a few hours a week tending to a lot of plants, instead of tending to their children. They would also need easy access to a close by community garden. If River has great ideas about how single mothers, either rural or urban, are going to find this garden space and free childcare, by all means, do tell.
 
Magdlyn said:
great ideas about how single mothers, either rural or urban, are going to find this garden space and free childcare, by all means, do tell.
Click to expand...

That's the easiest part: Half the single mothers on the block (or in the county, for rural folk) take turns watching the kids while the other half goes off to work in the fields I mean community gardens. Then the following week, they trade places and the ones that worked in the gardens watch the kids while the ones who watched the kids work in the gardens. Lather, rinse, repeat. Easy peasy Japanesey. :rolleyes:
 
vinsanity0 said:
I'm thinking we'll have to tear down the neighbor's house to make room for a garden.
Click to expand...

Just ask them nicely. I'm sure they will see the sense in doing so, especially if you offer to share some of your produce with them.. I mean, they could just live with you, after all.
 
ref2018 said:
I mean, they could just live with you, after all.
Click to expand...
And with that, off we skip into the territory of the commune dream. La la la la la.


I am still wondering how the growing American waist line fits in with the caution that we all should be planning for "lean times and potential hunger." The frozen fun-food aisles are always the ones that are ransacked while produce displays are abundantly spilling over.
 
Last edited:
If they live with us we won't produce enough to feed us all. In this hypothetical scenario we are talking about having to completely sustain ourselves. I may have to take over the whole cul-de-sac.
 
vinsanity0 said:
I may have to take over the whole cul-de-sac.
Click to expand...


As long as you make sure that all the single mothers in the cul-de-sac take turns watching each other's children and working in the communal cul-de-sac vegetable gardens, that would be acceptable.
 
ref2018 said:
As long as you make sure that all the single mothers in the cul-de-sac take turns watching each other's children and working in the communal cul-de-sac vegetable gardens, that would be acceptable.
Click to expand...

Fortunately there are no single mothers or children. I'm thinking more along the lines of Soylent Green for them. I'm on a canal but I'm not sure how sustainable that protein will be.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top