Are you not quite sure where to look for the next threat? How about checking out the Global Incident Map, using Google Earth to mark “terrorism events and other suspicious activity.” If that isn’t enough–too global, you can have local emergency alerts sent to you by email, cell or pager from the Emergency Email and Wireless Network. Local agencies sign on to this service to distribute information through their channels. This looks like an outsourced update of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is a free, public service.

I’m sure you realize that the food safety system put in place by the U.S. government does not favor you, the person wanting to eat that food, so much as mega agribusiness.

What are you going to do to keep your own food chain more safe? Eat local. Even if you aren’t ready to eat out of your own garden, you can take steps to eat in line with your values. It can be a challenge to eat local, but people around you are making it easier all of the time.

You might start by signing up with a CSA, which is short for Community Supported Agriculture. You can buy a share of the harvest in these local farms. Sign up soon for the upcoming season. Local Harvest offers a comprehensive list of CSAs. Check the list for farmers’ markets and restaurants, too.

Eating local doesn’t guarantee the safety of your food, but it takes you out of the longer chain where safety is more difficult to ensure. Supporting local food helps keep your local economy and community strong.

Living with our landscape rather than against it will be in our favor when we find the need to survive in the future on less than our current carbon-bloated lives allow.

This amazing family home in Wales was dug into a hillside. This is part of a permaculture movement that seems to have taken hold more in Britain than in the U.S. The hobbit yurt house site includes interior images and their simple plans.

Cae Mabon, a retreat center also in Wales, has more beautiful permaculture buildings to dream about.

There are several institutes and schools, but I think these buildings built by the occupants themselves–for ~$120/sq ft–are far more appealing, they fit specific needs, and it would be great to live inside walls that you built yourself.

See also Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-scale Permaculture.

Who knew vegetarians have different survival needs than omnivores?

Vegetarians in Paradise, a Los Angeles magazine, asked readers to respond and make suggestions for vegetarian survival kit.  The only vegetarian-specific suggestions I find there are “powdered rice or soy powder” and “canned beans and bean-based soups, tetrapak soup (Imagine), individual packs of soymilk, vegan (Clif) energy bars and crackers. SELECT LOW-SODIUM ITEMS, AS YOUR DIET MAY CONSIST ENTIRELY OF THESE FOODS. Since you may not have access to fresh fruit or vegetables for a while, also keep some vitamins or (my choice) Emergen-C packets on hand.”

One reader suggested single-serving prepared foods from Dr. John McDougall.

What this tells me is that there is no one-size-fits-all list of survival supplies.  Whatever list you create, whatever you stock on your shelves, make sure your emergency supplies fit your lifestyle, your preferences, and your specific needs.

Book Wish List

I have about 800 books on my wishlist. I’m not sure I have time left in my life to read 800 books, but I intend to try.

One of the highest books on that list is Albert Bate’s Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook. Amazon does not yet have the book, but publisher New Society does. “This book,” they tell me, “is about having your catastrophe and eating it too.”

One of the reviewers called it a post-petroleum Whole Earth Catalogue. All of the reviewers say that the book approaches the situation with good humor and optimism.

Topics covered include:

• Rebuilding civilization
• Changing your needs
• Water and waste disposal
• Energy and transportation
• Equipment and Tools
• Food storage and First Aid

I’ve added this to my emergency preparedness shopping list.