OT: Pandemic flu alert

[kfeuer]

All you need is a bookcase in your basement. Buy a few extra things each time you shop for the next few weeks and you'll have a good supply. As you need canned veggies or whatever, take them from the pantry. When you shop, put the new stuff in the pantry.

Unfortunately, I have neither a pantry nor a basement. I can't store food in our garage (no A/C plus Georgia summer heat isn't going to work). All our food has to fit into our regular kitchen cupboards.

We have a decent amount of food on hand, but my space is just very limited (and before anyone suggests it, under the bed space is already taken up ).

 

[meandtheguys2]

While we have a healthy pantry, the thing that was hardest to get was a supply of spare meds should there ever be a problem. I feel much better knowing that DH has his meds (important) and I have mine (less critical.) And the cats have theirs! They also have a food supply!

Our pantry is filled with stuff we love. We use what is there, and buy as needed. Nothing ever tastes funky. Although I accidently forgot to freeze my pinhead oats once, and they went rancid.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Public Schools. Bless their liberal-global warming-sky is falling little hearts...

 

[crisi]

Public Schools. Bless their liberal-global warming-sky is falling little hearts...

And their little "lets teach intelligent design" conservative hearts as well....

They mean well. They can't keep everyone happy.

 

[jodifla]

I think it's inappropriate to send this information via kids at school. Really, can't we let them have a little innocence?

Now if the state wants to send the info to the adults in the house, that's adifferent story.

Coming from Florida and now spending a lot of time in the wintry north, we always try to have a well-stocked pantry of "disaster" supplies. The weather is the most likely thing to put store trips out of reach, but just in case bird flu or terrorists strike, we'll at least have food.

P.S. If you've lived thru a few SoFla hurricanes, you'll be quickly impressed at how store shelves EMPTY!

Three days after one of the 2004 hurricanes tore through SoFla (I forget the name --there were SO many that year) the shelves of Publix had virtually NOTHING on them. It was a shocking site for an American to see. Looked like Russia or a third-world country!

Episodes like that remind us to keep our pantry full.

 

[minniebeth]

Public Schools. Bless their liberal-global warming-sky is falling little hearts...

That's why my kids go to private school, but guess what? No different...and we got the Pandemic literature.

 

[daisax]

Bless their liberal-global warming-sky is falling little hearts

This is the 30 year anniversary of the Blizzard of 78 up here in Mass -- they literally shut down the state for at least a week -- you weren't allowed to drive. If you didn't live within walking distance of a store that managed to open (or have anything left in it), you made do with what you had on hand.

Katrina was only a few years ago and people all over the affected states had to live off what they had in the house or what they managed to get from relief trucks.

One thing to keep in mind is to keep medication and pet food available -- if you regularly don't refill until you have a day or two left, you could find yourself in a bind. I remember mentioning my pantry to a friend (who has about 20,000 more square feet than I do, but thinks it's silly) -- she said she and her husband could live on spaghetti and spaghetti sauce. I asked how much spaghetti she thought the 80 lb dog would need per day

Also remember to have enough water for the pets.

More than anything, it's just a matter of changing shopping habits. If you are short on space, that certainly complicates matters.

 

[meandtheguys2]

No kidding. I can't see being prepared being a liberal thing... We've had freezes and floods stop our world 5 times now. I could see how a serious illness could, too. Seems a rather illogical comment to me.

 

[WendyisDarling]

Has anyone heard of this?? DD's school just sent home a DVD about the world pandemic flu and how we are overdue for this. It scared her and it worries me a little too. It says stores will run out of food, so you should stock pile food and medications as hospital and Dr offices will be full. Power outages, etc. due to sick workers not being able to work. It shows a family that has to be homebound and even work from home, not go to school or any social functions (church, etc). I guess this went out to all Ohio students.

How old is your DD? I would be so furious if the school sent this home with my child. What in the world does preparedness for a possible pandemic flu outbreak have to do with the public school system? If the government (I don't think it would be the Dept. of Education) wants to distribute information, that fine --but not by way of school children! Who paid for the DVD? (It sounds like one scary DVD, too). That is what I would also be asking. This is just terrible to put this burden of worry on the shoulders of children and expect them to come home and ask their families to prepare for this "what if" scenario.
I bet there are plenty of cable new networks that need to fill up air time that would be interested in this story
their sites usually have a link to let you give a news tip
The school system should not do this. JMHO

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

And their little "lets teach intelligent design" conservative hearts as well....

They mean well. They can't keep everyone happy.

And the road to hell is paved with good intentions, yadda yadda yadda. Why can't they just teach my kids instead of preaching to my kids? I'm so tired of the schools trying to parent instead of teach.

What good does it do to send this home with kids? Is the little genius in 4th grade going to lock himself up with a few chickens and some test tubes and come up with a cure? No, but he'll be having some nice nightmares for a while about something that he can't do a bleeping thing about, nor can his parents, nor can 99% of the world at large.

It's just as bad as telling the kids in the 50's to hide under their desks in case of nuclear attack. Completely useless except to the shrinks who got years of work from those traumatized kids.

Heh, off my soapbox now.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

This is the 30 year anniversary of the Blizzard of 78 up here in Mass -- they literally shut down the state for at least a week -- you weren't allowed to drive. .

I lived through that as a kid. We had two parents, two kids, two dogs, three cats and TWO HORSES. We did fine with the normal stuff in the pantry. Nobody needed any "disaster" supplies and we didn't have to eat any of the horses.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

No kidding. I can't see being prepared being a liberal thing... We've had freezes and floods stop our world 5 times now. I could see how a serious illness could, too. Seems a rather illogical comment to me.

Being prepared isn't a "liberal" thing. Sending pointless "the sky is falling" literature home with your kids is a liberal thing.

Basically, what it will come down to is that the disaster will not be bad enough for you to eventually get out and get more food before you starve, or it will be so bad that society and the food supply lines will collapse and you've got much, much bigger problems on your hands than running out of Spaghetti-O's.

This is from my friend the epidemiologist at the CDC. I belive her.

So you can go stock your pantry, but really, it won't do any good if something really bad hits. You'll just starve slower.

 

[DiznEeyore]

And the road to hell is paved with good intentions, yadda yadda yadda. Why can't they just teach my kids instead of preaching to my kids?

Because unfortunately, too many parents have abdicated their responsibilities as authorities in their kids' lives and the public schools have felt the need to step in and take over. Typical case of government having good intentions but going too far.

Which is why our ds goes to a private school, that, (to paraphrase a previous poster's snide comment) bless their little hearts, teaches intelligent design, personal and social responsibility, and the hazards (physical and emotional) of casual sex, among other things.

 

[ceecee]

How old is your DD? I would be so furious if the school sent this home with my child. What in the world does preparedness for a possible pandemic flu outbreak have to do with the public school system? If the government (I don't think it would be the Dept. of Education) wants to distribute information, that fine --but not by way of school children! Who paid for the DVD? (It sounds like one scary DVD, too). That is what I would also be asking. This is just terrible to put this burden of worry on the shoulders of children and expect them to come home and ask their families to prepare for this "what if" scenario.
I bet there are plenty of cable new networks that need to fill up air time that would be interested in this story
their sites usually have a link to let you give a news tip
The school system should not do this. JMHO

The DVD was actually in a sealed case and the cover really said nothing except Pandemic Flu...What You Can Do, then www.ohiopandemicflu.gov underneath. You had to watch it to find out any info, DD wasn't scared, a little worried until we talked it over, she did say the actors in the DVD were really bad. Seriously probably most of the DVDs didn't even get watched.

 

[NotUrsula]

Just for those interested, the National Archives has a very interesting interactive feature on their website that teaches about the 1918 Flu Pandemic. Lots of very interesting photographs.
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/influenza-epidemic/

The progress in the last century could be a mixed blessing. We can treat flu a lot more successfully now, but isolating people would be MUCH harder. Air travel sends viruses around the world a whole lot more quickly than they could travel in 1918.

BTW: DS10 knows quite a bit about the 1918 flu pandemic. He learned about it in a Horrible Histories volume on WW1.

 

[meandtheguys2]

Being prepared isn't a "liberal" thing. Sending pointless "the sky is falling" literature home with your kids is a liberal thing.

Basically, what it will come down to is that the disaster will not be bad enough for you to eventually get out and get more food before you starve, or it will be so bad that society and the food supply lines will collapse and you've got much, much bigger problems on your hands than running out of Spaghetti-O's.

This is from my friend the epidemiologist at the CDC. I belive her.

So you can go stock your pantry, but really, it won't do any good if something really bad hits. You'll just starve slower.

Actually, you are wrong, and, you have more of a doomsday attitude than any little video.

We live in a rural area, and would absolutely be able to live quite happily on our farm with or without the outside world. Free gas, and plenty of space to plant, and a handful of livestock. People did that before they counted on trucks, and manufacturers for all of their stuff. As I stated earlier, my only concern was my husband's meds. And the antibiotics...also now in stock.

We may never need or want to live out there...lol, we started our marriage out there, and I've had enough farm life! But that is where we would head if need be. And we could be quite happy, warm and well fed between the bounty of the garden and the lovely wheat that I use every week to bake bread. Spaghettios and canned fruit are not anywhere on our property, let alone considered potential food!

Being prepared for a hurricane, earth quake, epidemic, flood or blizzard is smart. Not liberal, not conservative.

LOL, and as far as your friend, well, my friends at the CDC, (and I have more than one!) are the ones recommending being prepared in a reasonable manner. As they say...it is just common sense to assume that **** happens...

 

[Todd&Copper]

I work in DC and some time last fall my agency had a deadline to have a "pandemic flu preparedness" guide in place. Perhaps the school system in question had a deadline for a plan, also, and decided to share it with the students' families?
Frankly, I am more worried about the power going out due to bad weather (we lost power for about 4 days last February) and I do have enough food in the pantry to live for at least a week. I would definitely get tired of tuna and corn, but I won't starve.
It is good to have emergency supplies, but I don';t think they need to scare children. Anyone remember "The Day After Tomorrow"?

 

[meandtheguys2]

That movie scared the pants off of me, and I was in college when it came out! I tried to download this video, and couldn't get it to work right. I was curious about what it was like...basic information, or a scare fest.

 

[SandraVB79]

There will be a flu pandemic. The Bay Area will experience a major earthquake (as will Istanbul). NOLA will face a hurricane that will wipe out the city (oh, wait, that's already happened). And we will face a major drought. There will be war.

I can't help it, but this made ma laugh


It aren't only "big disasters" one "needs to be prepared" for. A couple of years ago, we (Belgium) had:
- Problems with all Coca Cola products. Every single item from the company was taken out of the stores (in the end, it turned out nothing was wrong with it)
- Dioxine crisis in the chicken-business. Take away all chicken from the stores AND every single item that has milk in it.
- If I remember well, pigs were also part of the dioxine crisis, so take every single item away that has some pig in it.
- There was something wrong with the fish, don't remember what, but no fish in the stores either.

Can you imagine how much was still left? On top of it all, the truckers went on strike We didn't starve though.

"Some" people starved during the war when there was NO food (some must be taken really large here), but many people survived during the war. Many people survive in Africa also on very limited food and weird "water".

Is it good to "be prepared", sure yes, but I don't think we should panick. Avian flu, SARS (don't even remember what that was), Y2K, ... So many things that were going to destroy our world, and we are still here.

 

[WendyisDarling]

I work in DC and some time last fall my agency had a deadline to have a "pandemic flu preparedness" guide in place. Perhaps the school system in question had a deadline for a plan, also, and decided to share it with the students' families?
Frankly, I am more worried about the power going out due to bad weather (we lost power for about 4 days last February) and I do have enough food in the pantry to live for at least a week. I would definitely get tired of tuna and corn, but I won't starve.
It is good to have emergency supplies, but I don';t think they need to scare children. Anyone remember "The Day After Tomorrow"?

There was some movie (maybe a made for TV) that came out when I was in middle school The Day After. I was scared for weeks and all the kids at school talked about it non-stop.
I'm with you, I'm an adult and I have supplies to take care of our family for a few days in case of emergency, but I don't want my kids to worry about it. They know the basic info. -- what to do, where to go, etc. But, it's their time to be kids.