MissConstrue

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/14/wildfire-cattle-ranchers-american-great-plains

Ok, I know I’m a ray of freaking sunshine with my constant good news, but this ties into what I was saying the other day about being prepared.

Herds have been decimated each year for the last 5 years. Literally, herd sizes are down almost 50%, that’s why #beef is so expensive. Cattle are hard to raise commercially. You really depend on Nature. And when she kicks you in the teeth with a mini dust bowl, you have to downsize, because there’s not enough feed to go around.

Losing this much grassland is going to behave a major, major impact on prices. Futures market=scary.

Start preparing to change your diet to incorporate more vegetable protein, especially protein you can grow; high protein include peanuts, chickpeas, red beans. Rice may be difficult to find, especially if we piss off everyone in Asia. potatoes are a nutritional staple and easy to grow even in bad soil.

#VictoryGardens for the win.

#climateChange

‘Nothing but tree skeletons’: record-breaking wildfires devastate US cattle country

Rising temperatures and extreme drought are driving more destructive spring fires across the Great Plains. This year, forces aligned to create the perfect storm in Nebraska

The Guardian
Apr 14 at 5:53pmWeb
Show threadCompassionate CrabApr 14
@MissConstrue
This is a valuable conversation. It's not like big media is going to cover it. Not until they figure out how to make money from the topic.
There are reports of looming global recession. You'd think with recent inflation, and high housing costs that frugality topics would be trending. And yet, there's nobody talking about this. Not even on mastodon.
We should fire up a good hashtag for it. I'm old enough to have some frugality tips. What do you think?
Show threadMissConstrueApr 14

@Compassionatecrab I think it’s a good idea! My daughter and her fiancé have no idea how to budget, which I guess they don’t teach home ec as a requirement anymore? If I had realized they weren’t taught basic economics, I would have held a seminar or something.

Things like meal planning for a week, stocking a pantry, how to prepare basic recipes, nutrition, as it was understood then, these were all things I was taught in school. How to write a check, how to create a budget, how to stretch said budget. And even though my kid has watched me do it her whole life, I never thought to actively teach it to her until she was getting ready for life without me managing everything.

So yeah, I think there’s a knowledge gap that should be filled. Do you think something like HomeEconomics for a tag, or do you have suggestions you’d like to use?

Show threadCompassionate CrabApr 14
@MissConstrue
I like your ideas. I took home economics, too.
I think to start we could make some immediately actionable suggestions. Simple vegetarian meal ideas for meatless Mondays. How to save money using this, not that topics. Like replacing paper towels with washable rags as an example. Then build toward topics on full budgeting or weekly meal planning.
What hashtag though? Save money? Frugal? Recession? Something more catchy?
Show thread🕯️Curious Magpie 🕯️Apr 14
@Compassionatecrab @MissConstrue something positive - #ResourcefulLiving?
Show threadCompassionate CrabApr 14
@CuriousMagpie @MissConstrue
Yes, something positive!
Something that someone might search for, too. We aren't limited to only one hashtag.
Show threadArtseaApr 14
@Compassionatecrab @MissConstrue Hi, your conversation came across my timeline. If you are open to it, there are several hashes started such as, #sustainability #Sustainable #sustainableliving that might fit your subject
Show threadMissConstrueApr 14
@ArtseaGardener @Compassionatecrab Fantastic! Thank you.
Show threadCompassionate CrabApr 14
@ArtseaGardener @MissConstrue
Thank you for these! It's hard to believe I wasn't already following them.
The #sustainableliving posts are closest to our conversation.
Show threadChuff²Apr 15

@MissConstrue

In my diet, cheese and eggs are far more important than meat, the meat in my diet is usually sausage or ground meat, stuff that can be made using at least some scraps (I love all beef hot dogs, but you really don't want to know what's in them), so I'm not real worried

Show threadMissConstrueApr 15

@chuff I'm mostly middle eastern, and that and french cuisine are the foods I grew up knowing how to cook. So I can do amazing things to a bean. ;) For me, olive oil, good butter, good cream are going to be the luxuries I budget to have. We're thinking about adding chickens, but that looks like a lot of work. Especially since I have a bobcat that wanders through and golden eagles nesting with a view into my yard, as the bunnies have learned to recognize shadows after many few into the sun.

If you have Arab markets near you, and you have freezer space (I didn't plan ahead), you can reserve a portion of an animal before slaughter, and they'll process it for you. I don't usually order a quarter of lamb, but I tell them what dishes I'd like to make, and they often reserve cuts for me, or grind it up for kibbeh. A lot of people want party cuts, where as I'm making dinner. ;) It's less expensive than Walmart ground beef, which is un.freaking.real.

Show threadJohn E Bartley III (D) K7AAY📎Apr 15
@MissConstrue "Decimated' is a 10% reduction. Words have meanings.
Show threadMissConstrueApr 15
@503bartley You perhaps missed the 5 years, ergo aprox 50%
Show threadMissConstrueApr 15

@503bartley Whereas I realize the actual math at each year 10% coming out to 50% it was close enough, and I did use the word exactly as I meant it, qualified by per year and number of years.

Man, some guys just cannot help but be "well actually", can you?