It’s a bold prediction, my peoples, but I’m sticking to it. I’ve been seeing things change very quick and all of a sudden. You probably have too. It’s not gradual change; it’s more abrupt, like a slap-me-in-the-face type of change. In addition to rising costs, sale prices aren’t so much the sweet deal they used to be:
“Meh. These examples aren’t that drastic, Josie. Why don’t you get your panties out of a bunch.”
Well, errr, it’s still important to keep grocery price trends on your radar. Our dollar is most definitely shrinking. Unless you’re an Arabian oil sheikh or plan to win Lotto-mania, rising costs just might body slam you. At the very minimum you’ll do a double take and think twice before making a routine food purchase.
Since news of the Cyclospora outbreak hit a few days ago, food regulators are now talking about tightening up produce export rules. Namely, implementing a test to check for Cyclospora with the cost associated with that test trickling down to the consumer. See that!
While I’m not an economic guru, I can pretty confidently say that our economy is still taking a shitter and has no intention of getting its green-dollar’d booty up off the porcelain throne anytime soon. Hyperinflation may not be here, but I’ve got a deep down gut feeling that it’s on the horizon. It’s nagging at me. More economic woes are brewing and it will affect our food options & lessen the ability to buy healthy.
So how do you stay ahead of the game? How do you stretch your dollar AND protect your health?
Buy local and/or grow your own produce. Contaminants like Cyclopsora and the cost of getting parasite-free produce will not be an issue then. Besides this, there’s nothing like the awesome convenience of “free shopping” in your garden to grab fresh herbs or veggies for dinner. If you’re concerned about lack of space for gardening, then container gardening will be your thing. Don’t feel overwhelmed with the idea of gardening. Start small. Plant one or two things. Get the hang of it. Get used to the duties associated with tending a garden. Then branch out and go BIGGER from there.Save your money. Put away CASH! And I don’t mean in a savings account. This was a reality check for me recently when I witnessed someone shit out of luck when their bank’s entire system shut down for two days due to a glitch. The entire system! This person could not make any purchases with their debit card. They couldn’t withdraw cash. They couldn’t even get a balance in their account. The couldn’t pay a bill that was due. I hope they weren’t low on gas. The lesson here? The electronic age is a sonofabitch. If systems shut down for whatever reason, you still need to be able to purchase food for your family and go about things with as much normalcy as possible. Keeping a cash stash on hand will preserve your buying power.Stock up. If you see a purchase-worthy, non-perishable sale item, then buy extra of that product. Stock up for the reason mentioned in point #2 above. And not only that, it’s better to buy now at today’s prices than to buy later at hyperinflated prices. If you wait, you will get NO bang for your buck. Ya feelin’ me?Learn the art of food canning. I’m new at this. Haven’t canned a damn thing yet, but I’ve already purchased my Presto Pressure Canner/Cooker
and I’m ready to go buckwild. Not only can you can fruits & veggies, you can also can fresh raw meats! I’ve watched a ton of Youtube tutorials on how to do it properly and also plan to take a local class. Canning is great option to deal with the excess veggies you might grow in your garden, and goes hand in hand with the idea of “stocking up”.There ya have. You can either take this information and run naked through streets in a hyperinflation fear-frenzy, or instead take small, calculated steps towards insuring you always have access to safe, healthy choices, no matter what the economy brings. What’s it gonna be?
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this. soon. hilarity ensues. pinky swear.
how can my fave part *not* be that she colored outside the lines?!
Pilates is a great way to increase strength, balance, and posture. It requires you to work against your own body weight to build muscle rather than lifting hand weights, and promotes a strong core to ensure balance. 
The only segment that I found especially difficult was the Upper Body Basics. I, like my mother, have arthritic wrists and could not do the plank exercises very well. Planks require you to balance on your forearms and your toes, which is great for the core, but sadly, very bad for my wrists. I was able to do only about half of that of the instructor. Everything else, while challenging (considering my abs are hurting two days later), was achievable. 
Haggie
Theweakend
Todd
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