Mastodawn

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

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Chuff² Apr 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

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MissConstrue

@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.