Did You Know You Could Make Your Own Flavored Vinegars?

Although the temperatures have dropped and the herb garden is fast fading away, you can harvest and preserve garden herbs….and….enjoy them all winter long! Preserving herbs in vinegar is one method to keep the herb harvest fresh and handy for use throughout the cold winter months. Traces of vinegar have been found in urns of Egyptian tombs, proving this method of preservation has been around since BC and was used as an effect pickling and preservation method for food storage.   Throughout history vinegar has been used as a natural preservation medium as the high acidity kills any potentially dangerous bacteria. Besides being safe for use in food, vinegar is also safe for use in your personal lifestyle for your health. While this may not be an absolute rule, tries to maintain as healthy of an environment as possible. Enjoying a bottle of vinegar on a warm evening is a great way to kill those toxins and help your body feel better.

Indian Spices and Herbs

Indians around the world use natural chemical compounds to preserve food naturally.  Thinkpacca,which is a mixture of several spices such as ginger, cardamom, turmeric, cumin and mustard.  This can be placed in a wooden vessel deep within the earth.  Since the wilderness is moist and humid, the spices and herbs are held together better than if they were dried.  After the vinegar is drawn from this wood, it is placed into a larger container and sealed.  This is how good quality vinegar is made.

It is also a common idea to keep it in glass jars to preserve its quality.  Glass is heavy, but once again, natural food and herbs have been used to preserve and carry food.  These are great for those on a budget who want to provide natural, food safe products.  Shopping

For those who do not have a natural food store in their area, or for those who do not prefer to have their food shipped from abroad, it is possible to still enjoy natural food products.  You can even order cheese online!  Using natural food products will not deprive you of your food.  shipping costs are minimal when compared to other methods of food delivery.  Keep in mind that good food does not come in a carton.  It is important to know where your food is coming from.  If you do not know, ask your grocery store or meat provider about the purchasing policy for organic and natural products.

You may find that you are unable to change the packaging at your favorite grocery store due to it being made of natural plastic.  Just think though; you will be surprised of how much money (and environmental issues) you will save if you would change your packaging instead.  Furthermore, if you would like to have your food shipped from abroad, it is much cheaper to have your food shipped from abroad than it is to have it made in the United States.  Every country has a different environmental impact than the United States does.  Every agency and organization in the country looks out for the environment, especially when it comes to feeding kids and families.  One of the biggest problems faced by them is poor communities and local schools are not receiving as much money to operate.  The money these communities send to these schools could go directly to that teacher’s salary.

One of the biggest reasons schools are not receiving as much money as they should is that most of this money is going to pay for food, supplies and transportation.  Many recipients of this aid are rural and struggling to keep their schools open and running.  They hope to get some sort of compensation for their trouble, but to be honest, most people with some experience on this topic steer clear of helping out low income schools.  Some of the schools for the elderly and physically challenged are also out of money and may not be able to survive if they continue to work.

One option for finding money for school supplies and transportation is to start a garden.  One of the biggest issues when thinking of starting a garden is finding the time to do it, as there are many things to tend to in the garden that one might think of as weeds.  What most people forget is that in fact, weeds also grow in the garden!  Be sure to remove these weeds, or at least greatly reduce them, when thinking of school yard waste.

Lastly, organic food demands little or no amounts of land, water, or power.  As a result you can easily keep school waste out of the school lunch program, which is a huge benefit for many schools.