4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ AUGUST 10, 2016
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
DISASTER PREP
B Y D AVE R OBINSON
Special to the Siuslaw News
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
Jump start your food supply
W
henever a person thinks of prep-
ping, the first topic that usually
comes to mind is food. What to
store, how much to store, how to store, and
which store to go to? There are all kinds of
food packages you can purchase. You can get
a year’s supply of dehydrated or freeze-dried
fare for $4,000 or a 72-hour kit for one person
at WalMart for $64.
I’m going to give you a list of items you
can buy at your local grocery store, things
that you would probably have on hand any-
way. The dehydrated kits you buy generally
tout a 25-year shelf life. So the normal things
you purchase, should be rotated out every few
months or so. One rule of thumb when it
comes to storing up food is: buy food that
your body is accustomed to eating! During a
disaster, your system will be on overload any-
way, and there is no benefit to introducing a
whole new menu to your gastric system in a
time of crisis.
Some people lay in backpacking freeze-
dried food to be eaten when the time comes.
That is all well and good, unless you have
never tried those entrees and you experience a
revolt of sorts when you’re already stressed
out anyway. Store food to which your body is
already accustomed!
Here’s the beginning of a shopping list:
1. 20 lbs of rice. Rice seems pretty boring,
but it is filling, nutritious and adaptable to a
wide variety of entrees.
2. 20 lbs of pinto beans. Beans are also a
valuable part of every storage plan. Combined
with rice they fulfill a protein need in your
menu.
3. 20 cans of vegetables. Green beans,
peas, corn and canned tomatoes are a good
start. Buy what you already eat and enjoy.
4. 20 cans of fruit. Peaches, pears, pineap-
ple, fruit cocktail, all to your taste.
5. 20 cans of meat. Chicken, tuna, shrimp,
salmon, vienna sausages, beef stew and don’t
forget Spam. Those square cans fit really well
on the shelf and if it’s fried, you can make the
kids believe it is “camping bacon.” It worked
for my kids anyway. I even recently found
some canned roast beef.
6. 4 lbs of oats. A warm bowl of oatmeal
can be a welcome meal any time of day.
Topped with some canned fruit, it makes a
refreshing treat.
7. 2 (or more) large jars of peanut butter. A
good source of protein and surprisingly fill-
ing. Tastes good too!
8. Pick up a supply of powdered drink mix.
Tang, Crystal Light or similar product. Make
sure it’s loaded with vitamin C.
9. 5 lbs of powdered milk. It’s great protein
and is loaded with other nutrients. It’s filling
and can be used on that oatmeal as well.
10. 5 lbs of salt. Salt is an essential for sur-
vival as well as a food enhancer. Our bodies
need salt to survive.
11. 10 lbs of pancake mix. Buy the “just
add water” variety, such as Krusteaz. Simple
to make, easy to fix and everybody’s familiar
with hotcakes. Don’t forget a jug of syrup.
12. 2 lbs of honey and 2 jars of jam.
Everybody needs a little sweetness.
13. 10 lbs of pasta. Again, easy to fix,
familiar to everyone and a great comfort food.
14. 10 cans or jars of spaghetti sauce. Goes
great with the pasta. Cheap and satisfying. It’s
not homemade, but it does dress up the pasta.
15. 20 cans of soup or broth or soup mixes.
The beauty of soup is that they are a budget
friendly, all-in-one meal solution and most
require only water for preparation.
16. 1 large jug of cooking oil. Olive oil,
vegetable oil, coconut or some other cooking
oil, but definitely get some.
17. Spices and condiments. “Spice” up
your pasta and oatmeal with some of the
spices you already have in your cupboard and
are accustomed to using, but lay in some
extra. Garlic, pepper, tabasco, all your
favorites.
18. 5 lbs of coffee and 100 tea bags. For
some of us life just isn’t life without our cof-
fee. Tea can be therapeutic and soothing as
well.
19. 2 large bags of hard candies.
Peppermints, butterscotch and lemon drops
can go a long way toward making a hard situ-
ation bearable.
20. Flashlight and extra batteries. Lots of
extra batteries. OK, I know, this isn’t edible.
But you can never have enough flashlights
and batteries.
You don’t need to fill this shopping list all
at once. Watch for sales. Pay attention to the
“buy one, get one” promotions. Use coupons.
One reader told me she saved several thou-
sand dollars in just one year by using
coupons. At the same time she built a sub-
stantial pantry for use in a disaster.
______________________
Dave Robinson is the postmaster in
Bandon, Ore., and author of “Disaster Prep
for the Rest of Us.” He may be contacted at
disasterprep.dave@gmail.com. Visit his web-
site for more disaster preparedness tips,
www.disasterprepdave.blogspot.com.
LETTERS
Helping Hands still
providing service
There have been several rumors going around
town about Helping Hands Coalition. Let me
set the record straight.
As of Aug. 1, we are no longer at 1339
Rhododendron Drive. The owners want to sell
the property, and so we were given eviction
papers. At the time of this writing, we are in
negotiation with a new location, but nothing
more than that.
For the month of August, we are handing out
boxed lunches at the United Methodist Church
on Kingwood Street, between noon and 1 p.m.
on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. People can
also pick up their mail at the same time. All
other services have been suspended until further
notice.
We will issue a further update when we have
found a new place to continue to help the home-
less and others in need. Thank you for all your
support over the last few years.
Debe Hamilton
Co-Founder of Helping Hands Coalition,
Florence
Police protocols
In Julie MacFarlane’s letter concerning “Take
Action for Change” (July 23), I too agree that
there is far too much violence in society, but I
found her comments to be little more than
assumptions based on urban myth. Clearly, I
don’t believe she has actual experience with law
enforcement and their rules of engagement.
Having worked for many years as a law
enforcement trainer (ASLET) in the defensive
use of firearms, and having many friends who
have served and are serving, I have first-hand
experience with agency training and SOPs,
none of which, to my knowledge, ever espoused
a “Shoot to Kill” culture or protocols.
Any time someone dies, as a result of a law
enforcement engagement, it is a terrible thing.
But, far too often it is the police officers who
take the first hits and injuries, generally perpe-
trated by people who have little regard for law-
ful orders and fail to follow those orders from
the police.
As was reported, Antonio Montez was throw-
ing rocks at police. From my experience, rocks
have been known to kill. Check out the FBI
Uniform Crime Report to see the numbers of
people killed by rocks.
Does David and Goliath ring any bells? Since
Montez was running away from officers, he was
evading lawful orders to cease and desist, hence
their pursuit.
Should lethal force have been utilized? They
first tried to stop him with tazers without effect.
The video at the time is incomplete and very
sketchy at best, and does not reveal the full
extent of the encounter. Montez appeared to
have his hands extended toward the officers.
Under the stress of a violent encounter, it is pos-
sible that the officers could have perceived that
the assailant might be extending his hands with
a deadly weapon.
Too many armchair experts seem to jump to
conclusions with half the information of the
encounter, and no real experience in life and
death circumstance, and without knowledge of
any past history of Montez’s interactions with
police.
As far as the round count is concerned, clear-
ly the vast majority of civilians are clueless as
to what it takes to stop a violent encounter.
Shoot to wound is the mantra of ignorant people
with no real world experience of hitting a target
on the move.
I dare any reader of this letter to meet me at
the range and demonstrate to me how that is
done. From my extensive experience in the mil-
itary in combat, hitting a target with both parties
on the run is extremely difficult, much less only
shooting to wound.
Do the police need more training? Yes, but
finding the money for these agencies to train is
the rub. Demonizing those charged with pro-
tecting our property and lives is not the answer.
Wally Shoults, CPSA
Nationally Certified Multi-Discipline Firearms
Training Counselor, Florence
Deadly statistics
In response to the letter from Tony Cavarno
(“The Real Culprit,” Aug. 6) regarding the sale
of weapons by True Value Hardware here in
Florence, I think Mr. Cavarno missed the point
of the original letter by Lisa Readel, not to men-
tion he jumped to several conclusions.
I took Ms. Readel’s point to be that the local
hardware store isn’t the place to sell Glock hand-
guns, AK-47 rifles and short-barreled shotguns,
such as those that were stolen from the store on
June 29 (we’re not talking about guns used for
hunting here; these were weapons designed for
killing people). She said nothing about gun control
or stripping anyone of their Second Amendment
rights (that is another discussion entirely).
There’s a gun store in town with bars on the
windows — something that might have deterred
the thief, but a not-so-attractive architectural
feature that I’m sure True Value would rather
not consider. If we cannot agree on the need to
sell such guns in the first place, surely we can
agree that they should be sold by sellers that are
capable of storing them safely and securely.
Beyond that, if more gun owners were less
paranoid about losing their so-called rights and
more interested in stronger, sensible gun laws,
we might stand a chance of changing gun vio-
lence statistics.
According to the 2016 Brady Campaign to
Prevent Gun Violence:
Every day, on average, 306 people in
America (48 of them children and teens) are
shot in murders, assaults, suicides and suicide
attempts, unintentional shootings and police
intervention.
Every day, on average, 90 people (seven of
them children and teens) die from gun violence.
The risk of homicide is three times higher
in homes with firearms and the risk of suicide is
increased by a factor of three to five.
And on, and on, and on (feel free to check the
website www.bradycampaign.org for plenty of
other startling data). These deadly statistics will
only worsen unless and until gun owners own
up to their responsibilities instead of screaming
about their rights.
Dolly Brock
Florence
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Pres. Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line 503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email:
Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email:
rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416/ 800-944-9603
541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
West Lane County Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us