No, this post doesn’t declare my accrual of a green thumb–at the least, mine is red from nail-biting. Aggregating thoughts swimming about, I’ve decided to create a series on sustainable living. When the nearest Mcdonalds or 7/11 has been toppled by calamities or a horde of zombies (you never know), what’s one way of providing food while in a hideout?

Typhoon Yolanda / Haiyan, of course, has revealed how excellently we’ve preserved a level of unpreparedness. All that’s done, documented in media, social networks and other online articles–I’m not going to point fingers because that’s not the immediate need.

As much as government officials and the lack of systems is given blame, whether we like it or not–we, as a people, will be viewed as the sum of parts. And, right now–the sum is suspiciously deficient despite inherent resiliency of its parts. Curious, eh? Let’s not reiterate the news in this post, you want that?–just drag into facebook, twitter, tumblr, google, yahoo and pretty much whichever major website there is.

Having been revealed to be a people who were unprepared. Let’s just work on creating solutions then. How do we prepare? At first, we look at initial needs for food, shelter and clothing. When you have to start over, might be a good idea to have previous exposure to growing your own food.

Bananas, tomatoes, herbs, leafy greens and about 60 other things on this list can be grown indoors. I’m particularly interested in its claims at growing Arugula indoors. Less-than-capable growers, like me, will wonder. Where do I get my garden supplies? It’s right under our noses, obviously. Hardware stores in SM City Cebu and Ayala Center Cebu have their gardening sections and are rather convenient. Though a way off, Mandaue Nursery Agricultural Plant and Bulacan Garden in Lapu-lapu city also offer a wider range of gardening supplies at lower prices.

Other than picking herbs right off your coffee table, this hipster (though useful) recourse also allows you to regulate the amount of pesticides in your plants. Not using them altogether is up to you!–wow, suddenly you’re in control. Mind-blowing. This way, for mothers especially, you’re sure kids aren’t eating a cocktail of antibiotics, hormones and pesticides.

Developing Antibiotic Resistance a silent threat which deserves a whole other article entirely is linked to what we put in our mouths. As the CDC states:

“Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people acquire serious infections with bacteria that are resistant to one or more of the antibiotics designed to treat those infections. At least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these antibiotic-resistant  infections. Many more die from other conditions that were complicated by an antibiotic resistant infection.”

Pesticide coated fruits and vegetables carry with them a long list of cancers–along with other illnesses.

“While agriculture has traditionally been tied to pesticide-related illnesses, of the 40 most commonly used pesticides in schools, 28 can cause cancer, 14 are linked to endocrine disruption, 26 can adversely affect reproduction, 26 are nervous system poisons and 13 can cause birth defects. Of of the 30 most commonly used lawn pesticides, 19 can cause cancer, 13 are linked to birth defects, 21 can affect reproduction and 15 are nervous system toxicants. A number of published studies using animal toxicity data and human cells/tissue laboratory data also show that pesticides are linked to several major public health problems.” (Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database)

Feeling sick? What have you been eating lately? In the end we are what we eat.

So, yeah. What was I getting at again? In the offshoot of the apocalypse or World War Z, you’ll survive with knowledge of using available resources for food. Your hideout–that’s another article altogether; something to ponder on while I take a walk. Use those leg muscles people. What’s the first rule of Zombieland?

Not boots but good for walking, still.

Given, we do get our act together and make drastic changes to solve climate change; given a new Pangaea isn’t what’s causing this disturbance in tectonic plates; let’s say Atlantis isn’t scheduling a comeback. Then, probably, we will have mundane lives and will simply feed off cinema as a source of healthy paranoia.

At least, your kids and the 70 year old you will be thankful you didn’t give them cancer or whatever food and lifestyle-related debilitating disease there may be.

Sources:
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/health/pid-database.pdf
http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/threat-report-2013/pdf/ar-threats-2013-508.pdf