Food - lockdowns are going to affect farmers if the lockdown continues

[Mikej]

Grow your own! It is a lot of work but well with it.

Seeing as I've been working one kind of garden or another for close to 40 years I have a saying. A garden isn't A LOT of work. A garden is a little work, a lot of the time. That's how it felt for me because I kept up on things. A little bit, a lot of the time.

 

[The Heretic]

U.S. farmers scramble for help as COVID-19 scuttles immigrant workforce

The novel coronavirus delayed the arrival of seasonal immigrants who normally help harvest U.S. wheat, leaving farmers to depend on high school students, school bus drivers, laid-off oilfield workers and others to run machines that bring in the crop.

www.reuters.com

 

[The Heretic]

Here's what's getting more expensive — and cheaper — at the grocery store

Food keeps getting more expensive for Americans as the demand for groceries continues to surge during the pandemic.

www.cnn.com

 

[The Heretic]

 

[csa_ap_hill]

There's still food n the shelves but in some cases a lot of it still panic buying especially meat or at least it was the other day.

 

[Siglvr]

..after watching the toilet paper get wiped out (heh) for NO reason at all in what appeared to be less than a couple of days, I thought for sure that something similar would have hit multiple food stuffs by now. Goes to show what I know. And there I am sitting on a massive mound of food in the basement anyway now.....

...I'm already sick of Lentils. Less than a quart into it and have another 50 gallons or pounds or something (too much) to go...

 

[DunRanull]

As the Winter Of Our Discontent looms in a few months, stockpiling what one can seems the wiser choice... Glad we have some stuff but we need more to feel safe... historically speaking tho most of us can come nowhere near what we COULD need...

 

[The Heretic]

...I'm already sick of Lentils. Less than a quart into it and have another 50 gallons or pounds or something (too much) to go...

Have you tried spices and different recipes?

Lentils are a "staple" - that doesn't mean you have to eat them by themselves. I have and use curry and other spices, along with rice, veggies and meat, and the lentils stretch that out while providing additional calories, protein and nutrition.

 

[whitney]

@Siglvr If you enjoy cooking fire up your google machine and look at recipes for "Indian Dal". I hated lentils too until I discovered better ways to cook them.

~Whitney

 

[The Heretic]

@Siglvr If you enjoy cooking fire up your google machine and look at recipes for "Indian Dal". I hated lentils too until I discovered better ways to cook them.

~Whitney

IMO indian and Thai dishes (both use lentils) are much better than 'Merican food and spices are easy to store.

thai lentil curry - Google Search

 

[DunRanull]

FWIW lentils are about the oldest cultivated legume, originating in the ancient middle east as humans settled into a sedentary lifestyle. Even mentioned in The Holy Bible when Esau traded his birthright to Jacob for "a mess of pottage". Lentils dont take much to fix but the taste may take some getting used to. Some folks even sprout them along with mung beans for some "green vegetables" in their diet. Onions, garlic, Louisiana hot sauce.. will bring this ancient food source to life... been eating them since my old hitch-hiking daze...

 

[partsed]

As the Winter Of Our Discontent looms in a few months, stockpiling what one can seems the wiser choice... Glad we have some stuff but we need more to feel safe... historically speaking tho most of us can come nowhere near what we COULD need...

My wife and I are grateful that our garden has supplanted what would have bought at the store (lettuce, apples, broccoli, etc) that we will be disappointed when we have to go back to buy these items at the store...

 

[Camelfilter]

..after watching the toilet paper get wiped out (heh) for NO reason at all in what appeared to be less than a couple of days, I thought for sure that something similar would have hit multiple food stuffs by now. Goes to show what I know. And there I am sitting on a massive mound of food in the basement anyway now.....

...I'm already sick of Lentils. Less than a quart into it and have another 50 gallons or pounds or something (too much) to go...

How's it go?

Store what you eat. Eat what you store.

If you don't like lentils, don't buy them.

Or, as others mention try spices and such.

Nothing beats lentils and rice, nutrition wise, hardly. Except par - boiled rice and lentils.

 

[arakboss]

I suggest storing calorie and protein dense foods, vitamin supps and maybe some fiber supps. Produce is way too expensive to store based on the calories you get out of it. I will take a can of chili for a $1 over the same size can of green beans for .50 cents any day. Same shelf space but much more protein and calories.

 

[Siglvr]

Thanks for th tips but well, my wife loves the way I make Lentil soup, and the batches are horrifically large, so we're eating lentils for near a week after I make a batch. Which we just finished up another as she asked me to do a do-over. Winco has massively large bags of Lentils, big bags of Rolled Oats, and big bags of Split peas. All great for storage. Here's the recipe, they're really good, but after a week of eating them, well, you'll see. Day 1 - "WOW SO GOOD", Day 2 "So glad I made extras......day 3,4,5 are a downward trajectory, Day 6 I'm having Taco Bell for lunch.

Lentil soup. The touch of spices and finishing it off with lemon really lifts this soup to the next level.
Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped (white, brown, yellow)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large carrot , chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 2 celery ribs , chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 2 cups / 400g dried lentils , green or brown, rinsed (Note 1)
• 400g / 14 oz crushed tomato - go for a large can and add a little extra spices if you want. Diced works good as well.
• 1.5 litres / 1.5 quarts (6 cups) vegetable or chicken stock / broth, low sodium (Costco has some excellent organic stuff)
• 1/2 tsp each cumin and coriander powder
• 1 1/2 tsp paprika powder
• 2 dried bay leaves
• ½-1 lemon (zest + juice) (half is plenty if it's a large one)
• 1/4 tsp salt and pepper, each (substitute 2 T of Vegeta)

Optional additions - 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric, 1 (1/2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced. 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves and or Sour Cream or cheese topping to serve. Cooking spices including the garlic to a brown color in hot ghee is the indian version)

TO SERVE

• Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
• Warm bread, to serve

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes.
2. Add celery and carrot. Cook for 7 - 10 minutes or until softened and the onion is sweet. Don't rush this step, it is key to the flavour base of the soup.
3. Add all remaining ingredients except the lemon and salt. Stir.
4. Increase heat and bring to simmer. Scoop scum on the surface off and discard (do this again during cooking if required). Place lid on and turn heat down to medium low. Simmer for 35 - 40 minutes or until lentils are soft.
5. Thicken Soup: Using a stick blender, do 2 or 3 quick whizzes to thicken the soup (see video below). Or transfer 2 cups to a blender, let it cool slightly, then hold lid with tea towel and blend then transfer back into pot.
6. Add a touch of water if you want to adjust soup consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Grate over the zest of the lemon then add a squeeze of lemon juice just before serving. Garnish with parsley if desired and serve with warm crusty bread slathered liberally with butter!

 

[Siglvr]

Oh, Winco has rice in bulk too, packed for storage. In fact if they run out they can have some of mine or if it goes bad we'll have enough to share with neighbors......

 

[partsed]

What we picked this morning....

 

[DunRanull]

Something else to consider is mung beans. For sprouting only, they are hard little suckers to cook. Mung bean sprouts are the sprouts used in chinese foods, like in the cans of chop suey and chow mien. Good source of greens.
Another source of greens is wheat sprouts, sprout the wheat grains like you would any other kind of sprouts.

 

[OldTengu]

Thanks for th tips but well, my wife loves the way I make Lentil soup, and the batches are horrifically large, so we're eating lentils for near a week after I make a batch. Which we just finished up another as she asked me to do a do-over. Winco has massively large bags of Lentils, big bags of Rolled Oats, and big bags of Split peas. All great for storage. Here's the recipe, they're really good, but after a week of eating them, well, you'll see. Day 1 - "WOW SO GOOD", Day 2 "So glad I made extras......day 3,4,5 are a downward trajectory, Day 6 I'm having Taco Bell for lunch.

Lentil soup. The touch of spices and finishing it off with lemon really lifts this soup to the next level.
Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped (white, brown, yellow)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large carrot , chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 2 celery ribs , chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 2 cups / 400g dried lentils , green or brown, rinsed (Note 1)
• 400g / 14 oz crushed tomato - go for a large can and add a little extra spices if you want. Diced works good as well.
• 1.5 litres / 1.5 quarts (6 cups) vegetable or chicken stock / broth, low sodium (Costco has some excellent organic stuff)
• 1/2 tsp each cumin and coriander powder
• 1 1/2 tsp paprika powder
• 2 dried bay leaves
• ½-1 lemon (zest + juice) (half is plenty if it's a large one)
• 1/4 tsp salt and pepper, each (substitute 2 T of Vegeta)

Optional additions - 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric, 1 (1/2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced. 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves and or Sour Cream or cheese topping to serve. Cooking spices including the garlic to a brown color in hot ghee is the indian version)

TO SERVE

• Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
• Warm bread, to serve

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes.
2. Add celery and carrot. Cook for 7 - 10 minutes or until softened and the onion is sweet. Don't rush this step, it is key to the flavour base of the soup.
3. Add all remaining ingredients except the lemon and salt. Stir.
4. Increase heat and bring to simmer. Scoop scum on the surface off and discard (do this again during cooking if required). Place lid on and turn heat down to medium low. Simmer for 35 - 40 minutes or until lentils are soft.
5. Thicken Soup: Using a stick blender, do 2 or 3 quick whizzes to thicken the soup (see video below). Or transfer 2 cups to a blender, let it cool slightly, then hold lid with tea towel and blend then transfer back into pot.
6. Add a touch of water if you want to adjust soup consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Grate over the zest of the lemon then add a squeeze of lemon juice just before serving. Garnish with parsley if desired and serve with warm crusty bread slathered liberally with butter!

i do it similarly, but add roasted leeks in at the end. or raw cabbage.

 

[powersbj]

A spicy sausage slow cooked with some lentils poured on rice is da bomb.