Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #144
Fellow Patriots,
Happy New Year!!! Greetings and welcome to the Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #144. Thanks for sharing your time with us here at the PENL and Hope for Survival. We welcome readers daily from around America and beyond. It is interesting the increased number of new people who are finding interest in preparedness. We are happy to have you with us.
Thursday Zoom Rallies – No Zoom Rally this week. The next zoom will be January 20, 2022
HFS Digital Football Sticks - The feedback on this product has been outstanding. It is a tool to help the individual or family preparer consolidate critical documents on one device. The stick is already set up with numerous file folders such as bank records, marriage certificates, deeds, titles, loans, passports, births, graduation diplomas.....and more. Several of the folders you see below will include sub-folders to break out the specific title.
You simply place your scanned document in the proper folder for storage. When you travel away from home or evacuate because of a disaster you now have all your important documents available on the football stick. It is also waterproof. You can order one or multiple sticks through the HFS website for $25.00 per stick.
Hope for Survival YouTube and Odysee Channels- If you have not already, please consider subscribing to the HFS YouTube and HFS Odysee channels. We would appreciate your consideration. Because I still work a full-time day job, time is limited, and I have not been able to set up a routine schedule for recording and posting videos yet. Thanks for hanging with me. Share the link with family and friends.
HFS Mobile Training:
If you would like HFS to come to your community to conduct training classes or speak on the importance of preparedness, feel free to contact me.
Joppa, AL - Jan 15, 2022 Preparedness Training 9 AM - 3 PM
Communications: You can now follow HFS social media on the following outlets:
Facebook – Hope for Survival
YouTube Channel – Hope for Survival
MeWe: - //mewe.com/p/hopeforsurvival2
Odysee - Hope for Survival (odysee.com)
Rumble - HopeforSurvival (Platform established. Videos coming soon)
Connect and give me a shout. Share with family and friends.
Guest and Newcomers
If you are a guest or newcomer to the HFS journey, please check out this link for additional
information offered through HFS. https://www.hopeforsurvival.com/post/guest-and-newcomers-information-page
Hope for Survival books: You can obtain information on the two HFS books at this link: Survival, Preparedness, Disaster Management for individuals or family (hopeforsurvival.com)
Hope for Survival - How Food, Water, Shelter, and Security Could Save Your Life (Book 1)
Hope for Survival - The Mindset (Book 2)
We must make this brief public announcement to protect the innocent.
Ding, Ding, Ding....Attention HFS readers..... Opinions shared in this newsletter are just that, opinions, and nothing more. Read at your own risk. The owner and author of this site is not responsible for hurt feelings or thin-skinned readers. I do my best to show restraint and respect to the best extent possible. I take as many precautions as possible and try to remain as nonpolitical as possible, however, there are times when I just can't help but point certain things out. Occasionally I use words only Patriots recognize and understand. It's not personal against any non-Patriot. It's just the truth. Sometimes we must pull up our spenders and suck it up. Just saying. Stay the course, read what you want, and avoid the rest. Avoid fear porn as much as possible and the day will be okay. When all else fails… Keep the faith and always have Hope.
Let’s move along and get to some thoughts...
Thoughts for the week –
When time permits, I frequent a webpage on another platform discussing stocking food type resources. A question I often see is someone asking what to do with store purchased canned food that will expire in the next couple weeks. Of course, I cringe a bit to think of good quality food being tossed or taken out of food rotation. Then I wonder how much money preparers are wasting mainly because they are not educated on the canned food "date" meaning and category designations. I decided to do a little digging to gather information to share here.
Enjoy
The USA is one of the world leaders in food waste. According to The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Economic Research Service, 30% of all food waste comes from the retailer and consumer level.1 That comes down to Americans throwing away 133 billion pounds of food every year — worth about $161 billion dollars annually.2 Packing and manufacturing companies use different terms on products to tell the consumer “when the food goes bad.” This is voluntary and not a regulation. It’s common to see: Sell by: Use by: and Best if used by:
A survey was conducted in 2007 to see if U.S. consumers could understand the difference between these three commonly-used terms. Less than half were able to make the distinction between the three.3
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that food waste in the U.S. often came from people throwing away food in fear of it going bad or out of date based on the package labeling.4 In total, about 20% of all food waste being thrown away was food that wasn’t actually bad.5 Our government, the food industry, and non-profit organizations are all taking action to reduce consumer confusion around the meaning of date labels on foods. For example, research has shown that the “Best if Used by” phrase tells the consumer the date in which the product will be at its best.1
When your food actually goes bad often depends on how it’s stored and cared for after purchase. If the food was taken care of, it should be safe to eat after the quality date on the package label.4
The USDA issued an updated way to date products in 2016. Today, they encourage food manufacturers to apply “Best if Used By” labelling to tell the customer when the product will be at its best.1 On top of that, the USDA says if the food does not exhibit signs of spoilage, it is still wholesome, and it’s safe for the consumer to eat, donate, and purchase.1
In 2017, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and Food Marketing Institute (FMI) worked with 25 food companies to make the process of labeling more streamlined and straightforward. The group decided that “Best if Used by” was the best language to use because it isn’t as misleading as the wording “Use by.” If a product is beyond the “Best if Used by” date, it doesn’t mean that it’s spoiled yet. It just means that it may not taste as good as it could have — but, it is safe to eat.6
A year later, they conducted another survey. They found that, now, close to 80% of consumers claimed they understood the date labeling after a year of consistent date labeling.6 The label “Use by” is still used when it’s highly likely the food will spoil and not be safe to eat after a certain date.