Yup. Monkfruit is the only way to go.
FOOD Russians starting to panic-purchase sugar
- Thread starter school marm
- Start date
That’s a very select/small group of people, generally speaking.
Lots of people do all that preserving and baking with little or no sugar, or with alternative sweeteners. Saves on doctor and dentist bills down the road!
Old Gray Mare
TB Fanatic
This was how Grandmother's generation made it thru the Great Depression and the rationing during WWII. DH's family likewise. Mom canned some and I picked it up and added other food preservation skills along the way. Then we moved into a neighborhood surrounded by Amish and took it all for granted cause everyone lived that way.
Never thought that we were a small select group. It was just how people got by when time were hard. The family always looked forward to Grandmom's homemade jellies and jams as a special treat.
Just lucky I guess.
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Or dollars the way things are going.
2.2 K isn't even 5 lbs. Given that the OP article is sourced from msn, I doubt the author had any clue that it was an insignificant amount to label 'stocking up' and 'panic-buying'.
You need very little sugar for basic bread-making, and even then, you can substitute molasses or honey. Dessert-making is another story...pies, cake, cookies, candy...but they are luxuries. It's canning jam, preserves, fruit and sweet pickles that will clean you out of sugar. If you don't can/preserve, you won't need much sugar but a bit for your tea or coffee if you are so inclined, (and can't wean yourself from the luxury).
You need very little sugar for basic bread-making, and even then, you can substitute molasses or honey. Dessert-making is another story...pies, cake, cookies, candy...but they are luxuries. It's canning jam, preserves, fruit and sweet pickles that will clean you out of sugar. If you don't can/preserve, you won't need much sugar but a bit for your tea or coffee if you are so inclined, (and can't wean yourself from the luxury).
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inskanoot
Veteran Member
Can canned potatoes be used?
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West
Senior
Yep, and it's NOT just for flavor! Jam made with "low sugar" loses color, texture and flavor quickly compared to "full sugar" preserves. I compromise... I use 2 to 1 fruit to sugar, which gives a preserve that will store for at least 2 years, but doesn't just taste like fruit flavored sugar!
Summerthyme
ainitfunny
Saved, to glorify God.
A family just drinking sweet tea in the summer will go throuhh that quickly.
AlaskaSue
North to the Future
There is zero sugar in this house. Occasional use of non-sugar sweeteners for coffee… but not much and no loss if it goes away. I even prefer my slow-cooked oats unsweetened,
And having said that, I understand how much the current thing will affect Americans. I’ve berries to harvest and save if needed - just thinking that my simpler needs for food does make prepping easier. And, yes - my foodie friends think I’m missing out….
And having said that, I understand how much the current thing will affect Americans. I’ve berries to harvest and save if needed - just thinking that my simpler needs for food does make prepping easier. And, yes - my foodie friends think I’m missing out….
Samuel Adams
Has No Life - Lives on TB
There is zero sugar in this house. Occasional use of non-sugar sweeteners for coffee… but not much and no loss if it goes away. I even prefer my slow-cooked oats unsweetened,
And having said that, I understand how much the current thing will affect Americans. I’ve berries to harvest and save if needed - just thinking that my simpler needs for food does make prepping easier. And, yes - my foodie friends think I’m missing out….
My Late Love used to rather claim our home to be “sugar-free”.
I always begged to differ, no matter the company we were in.
school marm
Veteran Member
Preppers are a very select/small group of people, generally speaking. People who can fruits and preserves are also a small group of people, generally speaking. And the number of people who will survive what is coming is also a small group, generally speaking.
In the early 1900s, before we had convenience foods, soda, and sugar cereals, Americans were consuming about 60 lbs of sugar per year. In the 1800s, it was about 18 lbs per year. In the 1700s, it was 4 lbs per year. Personally, I'm more attached to a 1900s way of life than that of the 1700s. To each his own.
Sugar also has medicinal uses.
The Medicinal Uses of Sugar
Basic Food Storage--Sugars
It is NOW. If TSHTF, things will change rapidly. I strongly suspect most of those saying "I don't use more than 5# of sugar a year aren't actually only *consuming* less than 5# a year. So, if commercial cookies, ice cream, doughnuts and other treats aren't available, you either make them at home (IF you were wise enough to stock up on the ingredients) or you go without.
Summerthyme
ambereyes
Veteran Member
Lots of people do all that preserving and baking with little or no sugar, or with alternative sweeteners. Saves on doctor and dentist bills down the road!
That's the way my family has always done it. Not big sweet eaters. We like the taste of the fruit not the sweet syrupy taste. To keep the food from discoloring we use ascorbic acid, lemon or lime juice.
bw
Fringe Ranger
Don't see why not. It's all about the starch, and starch cans.
bw
Fringe Ranger
I've canned applesauce for years with no sugar, nothing added. Tastes great.
nomifyle
TB Fanatic
This would be me if it was just me, but DH uses a lot of sugar, in his coffee, he makes fruit ice cream and uses a lot of sugar. I did not check my supply, however, I bought 28 pounds of cane sugar yesterday. I will not buy beet sugar. Walmart doesn't seem to have much in the way of their brand of cane sugar. They seem to think that putting granulated sugar on their packages will fool people. If it doesn't say cane, its not going in my shopping basket.I’ve had the same 5lb bag of sugar since 2020. Only probably uses a tablespoon out of it
God is good all the time
Judy
AlfaMan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
I could give two sh*ts less about the Russian government; but I do care for the people. The ones I've met are good, kind hearted and decent people. The sanctions already placed on Russia won't do much for the government but those people are in for some very hard times. I won't wish ill will on the everyday Ivans and Ivankas.
That's the one I prefer as well
school marm
Veteran Member
Just like with everything else--like some cat food--there will come a time when we can't get it. Do you just do without?
Sugar was the first item to be rationed in WWII, and the last to be removed from rationing. Yes, you can process sugar beets into sugar, but that takes a whole lot of energy. It's not a great DIY project. It's far easier to buy and store it now, so that you have time and energy to focus on other essentials of surviving and thriving in the interesting times that are coming.
dstraito
TB Fanatic
Sugar can be one of the primary ingredients in the distillation process in making alcohol. Wish I had a still.
You understand that that was almost a century ago, right? When roughly 80% of the US population lived on farms and homesteads. Today only about 2% do (I looked it up recently.) The activities you speak of are performed by almost no one. That was then, this is now.
A family of 30, sure.
Raggedyman
Res ipsa loquitur
Again, it depends on the situation. As I’ve said many times, if people think they’re going to hunker in their bunker for a time during TEOTWAWKI, they’re crazy. All the supplies you can fill a warehouse with ultimately won’t help you. I actually believed otherwise in the runup to Y2K, but in the ensuing 22 years, I’ve come to realize that only via being part of a community/compound is there hope of long-term survival. The marauders will force this.
Tex88
Veteran Member
Why not? It's the same exact stuff. At least it's not HFCS.
SouthernBreeze
Has No Life - Lives on TB
We don't eat a lot of sweets. Cary likes his donuts, and I make a cake/pie every now and then. What we do like are cookies more than any other sweet. Instead of buying and storing up a lot of sugar to make those, I buy the Betty Crocker cookie and muffin mixes and store them. All that's needed is oil and eggs. Those things are already stored in the pantry. We eat a lot of fresh fruit, especially when our own fruit trees produce. Honey is a natural sweetener that we have in abundance.
I just don't see the need for us, personally, to have 200lbs of sugar stored. I do plan to add a few more bags to what I already have, though.
I just don't see the need for us, personally, to have 200lbs of sugar stored. I do plan to add a few more bags to what I already have, though.
Old Gray Mare
TB Fanatic
Yup. Only I suddenly feelz a lot older than I did a few minutes ago. Blessings all.
nomifyle
TB Fanatic
You are lucky. My sister and I shelled beans and peas what seemed like all summer. My mother put them in the freezer. She was afraid of pressure canning, although she did make jams and jellies. I didn't learn anything like that from my mother. Not altogether her fault, but if was very rebelous, to my determent.
My great aunt had a beautiful canning pantry and others of that generation and the on after her canned every summer. I only know two women around here that still can and they do a lot of it. There are probably others that can, I just don't know them.
I'm thinking about canning, LOL.
God is good all the time
Judy
It's still a small percentage who can and preserve, but definitely growing; even in the cities, even before COVID. There are loads of YouTube channels dedicated to such skills. It's out there for those who have the mind to learn; most never will but those with common sense will adjust accordingly when necessary.
Now it's something like 150 pounds a year in the U.S. It's literally killing us. Highly refined white sugar is a modern invention and not necessary for life; it has no nutritional value and especially when made from corn is actually harmful. Honey is better for wound care, and like maple syrup also has nutritional benefits and is potentially sustainable at home (as long as there are still bees). The molasses that is extracted from the dead white sugar is also full of nutrition. We would do well to go back to whole foods that when used in moderation nourish our bodies instead of destroying them.
I do have a small amount of sugar; I still use it for kombucha because it's how I learned, and it's mostly used up in the process. It's convenient for a few things. But I won't buy more, and I'm instead storing raw honey (store bought is overwhelmingly "fake"), maple syrup, and molasses and learning to transition totally to those. I've got a few stevia/monk fruit products for variety and convenience, but I'm growing stevia for sustainability. Even so we're learning to enjoy sweet things as a treat, not a major food group. My health is slowly but steadily improving; as I get older, and as the world gets harder, I want to be as strong as possible.
Tristan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
If you want the big picture, the really big picture, there's a video posted on main that has Peter Zeihan's analysis - worth the 5 minutes or so.
Synopsis, if every thing goes well, humanity may be short a billion souls or so in the relatively near future.
Assuming it goes well.
His take, not mine.
If you make a gallon of sweet tea a day and use one cup of sugar per gallon, that's roughly 170 pounds of sugar a year just for sweet tea. It doesn't take a very large family to consume a gallon of sweet tea a day...in the south lol. DH and I don't drink anywhere near a gallon a day but by the time family drops in and out, grabbing a glass here and there, I average a gallon a day. The people consuming this tea rarely drink soft drinks. I keep a case of gingerale for upset tummies and that is it.
I rarely cook sweets and I don't make much jam and jelly but I do can a lot of sweet relish when the squash crop is good. If I were aiming for a year's worth, I'd go with 200 pounds. I'd probably have a little left at the end of the year.
It would take a family of six to kill a gallon a day.I’m like most people in that I don’t can. A 2 lb package of sugar will last me 3 months.
skwentnaflyer
Veteran Member
I guess it might be worth having for barter.
I’m going on three years on a twenty five pound sack. I don’t use it in canned applesauce, very little in other fruits or jam. Drinks are sweetened with honey, if at all.
Bread uses a little, salsa a little, and I don’t bake sweets very often. When I do, I try to use applesauce or a banana that’s seen better days instead of processed sugar.
I’m going on three years on a twenty five pound sack. I don’t use it in canned applesauce, very little in other fruits or jam. Drinks are sweetened with honey, if at all.
Bread uses a little, salsa a little, and I don’t bake sweets very often. When I do, I try to use applesauce or a banana that’s seen better days instead of processed sugar.