"disaster" news and stories

On Sunday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) closed fishing in federal waters affected by the massive oil spill in the Gulf, which continues to drift towards Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

This area of the Gulf is prized for its shrimp, oyster and blue-crab fisheries, currently at their peak spawning period. While approximately 80 percent of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported -- meaning most seafood lover's dinner plates will not be directly impacted by the spill -- the area's fishery is significant. In 2008, more than 1 billion pounds of finfish and shellfish were harvested from the Gulf region. Experts predict that Louisiana's fishing industry alone could face a $2.5 billion loss.

"This is iconic American seafood," says Gavin Gibbons, spokesman for the National Fisheries Institute. "When you get past looking at the volume of seafood affected, you start looking at the lives impacted, and it's a tough row to hoe for those fishermen."

When the power goes out, you lose a lot of the functionality of your kitchen. The microwave doesn't work, nor does the oven. You can't use your coffee machine, and neither will an electric stove. The worst thing, aside from the fact that such situations are almost entirely unpredictable, is that your refrigerator and freezer will be powerless, meaning that to clock is rapidly ticking for all the perishable foods that are so important to our daily meals.Apocalypse Chow: How to Eat Well When the Power Goes Out is a lighthearted look at how - and what - to cook when you can't use any of the resources that we normally take for granted. It includes lists of safe, easy-to-store foods, as well as other disaster-preparedness tips, and suggestions for putting together a reliable and electricity-free cooking system. The 50 or so recipes are easy to follow and require minimal work to put together dishes - all of the ones in the book are vegetarian - like Almost-Instant Black Bean Chili, Pantry Pasta Salad, Skillet Peach Crumble and Garlicky Chickpeas with Potatoes and Tomatoes.

And, lest you think that the book is only handy in natural disasters (and Bachelors, as the cover suggests), consider that it is not a bad idea to have a book full of recipes that require minimal cooking and shelf-stable (or just long lasting) foods for those times when you just don't feel like working too hard in the kitchen.

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Maybe the Boston Molasses Disaster is imprinted on the collective memories of folks in Boston, but it was news to me. Apparently, on January 15, 1919, a 50 foot tall tank of molasses (the common sweetener of the time) burst, sending 2.5 million gallons of the sweet goo hurtling through the city at a reported speed of 35 miles per hour, killing 21 people and injuring 150 others. The initial wave of molasses was between eight and 15 feet high, according to a Wikipedia entry. A Straight Dope article goes into more detail, and both pieces cite a book on the subject: Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 by Stephen Puleo. Causes of the disaster range from shoddy tank construction to theories about anarchists. The flood apparently derailed an elevated train and remnants of the mess were still being cleaned months later.

[Photo: Wikipedia]

Now that we know all the foods we want to eat before we die, we should face a possibility far worse than death: a time when we would not be able to grocery shop. The post-apocalyptic foodie might have three arms, but our taste buds still have to be satisfied. The Hedonista has put together her list of items for a foodie's apocalypse kit, stocked with all of her foodie favorites in addition to the supplies recommend by FEMA. My favorite inclusion, though I do love Sarabeth's jams, is for vodka, bourbon or other hard liquors. Because "liquor is endlessly useful in hard times."

Just to be on the safe side, I'm going to stick a package of Twinkies in mine, since there's a good chance that they might still be edible no matter what the future has in store.

[via the Food Section]

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