Replies to post #348 on Dare to Prepare

[FadeMeToWin]

Sumisu,

This is great stuff.

[Somatochlora]

I would have some inclusions to this list. First off consider a patch of Jerusalem artichoke. This is a type of perenial sunflower. You eat the tubers and they can be prepared in any of the ways you would a potatoe. A great carb source. Plant them and forget them. The tubers are also better for diabetics than potatoes. Also I would take the time to learn the uses of Cattails "the supermarket of the swamp." Multiple food use and grows wild in wet areas and along pond borders.

[Penny Roger$]

One of the finest foods we can store for survival is pure, raw local honey. Honey stored under proper conditions will last for years, and can be used for cooking, canning, and general health maintenance. But the secret to success is in those first two sentences.

http://www.endtimesreport.com/storing_honey.html

http://www.smittybeehoney.com/secure-smittybeehoney/Scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=20

The honey normally sold in stores is NOT pure, raw honey. It is blended, heated, and generally not of origin in this country, let alone local. America is one of the few countries in the world where most honey is sold in liquid form. Note that honey is sold by weight (avoirdupois), and not by volume (pints, quarts, etc). To attain and maintain that liquid state for a long shelf life in retail stores, honey must be heated to 181 F for 24 hours, which destroys most of the inherent good qualities of honey. Indeed, the heating produces the chemical hydroxymethyfurfural (HMF), which in Europe is considered an unwanted adulterant, and heated American honey is therefore illegal to sell in Europe due to their pure food laws (Dr. Roger Morse, "Gleanings in Bee Culture," March, 1985).

It has been said that "honey is honey, as long as it has FDA approval, so you might as well buy it from a discount store." Nothing could be further from the truth. The Clinton Administration allowed the importation of Chinese "honey" as early as 1992, which sold for $0.25 per pound, wholesale. Studies in Canada found that Chinese "honey" was at least 40% corn syrup, contained carmel coloring, and Canada joined Europe in banning its importation.

Charles Mraz reported ("Gleanings," Dec. 1978) that unfiltered, unheated honey contains active glucose oxidase which supplies oxygen to the digestive tract. Such natural honey is reputed to prevent botulism poisoning, relieve constipation and prevent congestion in the intestinal tract...and that heating and pressure filtering will destroy and/or remove the valuable enzymes in the honey.