Poor Man Survival

Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…

ISSN 2161-5543

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

The lost art of fermentation

Fermentation of food and drink is a lost art. In the old days, fermentation took the place of refrigeration. It preserved food. Fermented food also contains valuable natural substances that boost health.

When bacteria and enzymes in food convert sugar, starches and carbohydrates into the alcohol and organic acids of fermentation such as lactic acid, this preserves food by protecting it against bacteria that causes food to rot.

Modern food processing is based on killing these organic acids of fermentation by heating or pasteurization. In fact, government inspectors use the live enzyme count to condemn milk or foods. This opposes health in favor of shelf life.

They translate live food into money by killing it. What else would we expect them to do?

Fermenting cabbage

You might remember your mother or grandmother growing cabbage. They would then cut it up, put it in a churn (heavily salted) and let it set outside to make sauerkraut. Interestingly, this was before the days of widespread stomach and intestinal problems that (you guessed it) magically turned into multibillion-dollar profits for the pharmaceutical companies and doctors.

Without good stomach bacteria and enzymes, of course, we have widespread "acid indigestion," which calls for the very huge trillion-dollar business of antacids. This leads straight to an epidemic of stomach cancer; Americans don't have a clue about cause and effect. The antacid business is a pharmaceutical industry that feeds the cancer industry, which means billions of dollars more to the pharmaceutical companies for chemotherapy and radiation and to the doctors and hospitals for surgery. Follow the trail of the serpent.

Hard truth

The hard truth is that the symptom of "acid indigestion" is really a warning that we don't have enough acid. At the advice of the medical system, we load up on antacids and further lose our good stomach acid.

The alchemists can almost match the money printers at creating vast wealth out of nothing. It's criminal, but it's legal.

Fermented foods are pre-digested foods. They magically soothe and heal the stomach and provide more nutrients like B vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids. Incidentally, men, fatty acid consumption equals prostate health.

French paradox

You may have heard of the "French Paradox." The French people escape cancer and heart disease more often than Americans because they drink more wine. Of course, they must drink their own wine without commercial processing, but in any case, it's not a secret what turns grapes into wine: fermentation.

There are fermented foods, drinks and additives available to just about everyone these days, with specialty stores and Internet direct sales. Kombucha — an excellent drink — and non-pasteurized yogurt are two good choices, but you do have to search a bit to find them. Eat the plain yogurt, sweetened with stevia for taste. There are fewer calories in plain versus flavored yogurt.

Magic "milk"

The origin of the "grains" used to make the fermented drink kefir is still a mystery to this day. But there is no mystery about the health of this fermented yogurt-like milky food from the Caucasus Mountains.

Kefir is similar to other cultured foods like buttermilk, except much more powerful. And it's made in the old tradition of fermentation.

Today, many of the foods we eat are preserved through processing or pasteurization. This uses heat from outside sources to kill off any probiotic properties the food has. They have to add live flora back into yogurt.

But kefir's nutrients and biota are preserved because the heat generated by the food itself cultures it. This is how the ancients made their food last for a few days without spoiling.

Kefir can have as much as 35 percent protein, lots of vitamins A, B and K (not to mention that the healthy biota it cultivates in your gut will help you make more b vitamins), and it also contains phosphorous, which helps you digest fats and carbohydrates to use as energy. The perfect antidote to the Western diet!

Yours for the truth,
Brandon Smith

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Interest in tiny houses on wheels is more popular than ever and it’s no wonder with so many great designs available. You'll see tiny house designs everywhere you look, from television, magazines to Instagram.

With the spotlight shining on small house living, people are finding new ways all the time to use these efficient and diverse spaces. You'll find tiny house designs used as vacation homes from small cabin buildings to tiny houses on wheels and more. You'll also find tiny house designs perfect for backyard offices, guesthouses or full time living too. These days you'll even find tiny house hotels that offer unique holiday options for singles, couples and families. Not everyone wants to or can live in a tiny house building, and like many other things, it’s just not for everybody.

But that doesn't mean you can't use a tiny house on wheels for camping or spend the weekend in a tiny house design instead of a hotel. Neither option is better or worse than the other; it just all boils down to your personal preferences and individual lifestyle goals. If you are someone who wants to build your own tiny house, or even if you are just interested in learning more, you might be curious to see what all the fuss is about.

These tiny houses on wheels are a unique approach to small house living, and they are available as tiny Shepherds huts and tiny cabins in a variety of designs. These fun tiny house designs can be used as bunkies, home offices, artist or writing studios, playhouses, guest houses, pool houses, camping huts, tiny cottages, she sheds, man caves and more.

These tiny houses on wheels are just one of the options you have when it comes to small house living. Another option is to try your hand at building a tiny house design yourself. This is a great idea for the do it yourself, and great if you want total control over how your tiny house design will look. You can end up saving a lot of money if you build a tiny house yourself rather than having it built for you. The cost of labor for professional carpenters can add up pretty quickly, and most tiny companies sell their pre-assembled tiny house designs for quite a bit. When you build your own tiny house, you are in control of the tiny house budget and can build more as you can afford to.

There are tiny houses on wheels that only cost $8000 or even less to build; it depends on your wants and needs. Keep in mind that these are the tiny house designs that are mainly built from recycled materials. A tiny house built from partially recycled building materials and new materials could cost anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000. Again, just like any building project, implementing high-quality finishes and appliances will, of course, drive up the price.

The key is to have a tiny house budget in mind from day one. So when you start planning your tiny house floor plan, you can make sure you have a budget price in mind that you won't go beyond. Get your tiny house finances in order and make sure you have the savings or credit to purchase all of the materials you'll need. Even if you do go into debt, think of small house living as an investment toward your future.