Mother Jones
07-13-2011, 12:20 PM
In February, I attended the inaugural Tea Party Patriots American Policy Summit (http://www.summit11.org/) expo in Phoenix, Arizona. Amidst inflatable replicas of Revolutionary-era buildings, booths peddling Sick and Sicker (http://www.sickandsickermovie.com/)—a documentary purporting to reveal the apocalyptic effects of Obamacare—and banners asking "What if the government ran Disneyland?" was an affable man from Seattle hawking samples of freeze-dried ground beef and strawberries. When asked if he considered himself a tea party member, he said, "No, but there sure is a market for my products here."
That market has flourished in recent years as the fare once reserved for soldiers, astronauts, and hikers gains traction with survivalists, members of the Mormon church, the disaster-prepared, and, notably, the growing numbers of grassroots conservatives.
Since last fall, conservative pundits—including Fox News personality Sean Hannity, talk-show host Laura Ingraham, and Glenn Beck (http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/48306/)—have all extolled freeze-dried foods. In October 2010, Beck promoted a freeze-dried food company called Food Insurance (http://www.foodinsurance.com/) to people concerned about inflation, terrorist attacks, or natural disaster. "This is something that my staff has, my family has," he said, showing off a backpack stuffed with freeze-dried foods. Beck explains:
I'm a guy who's done food storage at my house for a while now and you get a bucket of wheat you're like, okay, I'm going to hang myself if I have to eat wheat during an emergency. I don't know how to grind it or anything else. This is freeze-dried food, and it will last you a couple of weeks, and it's great stuff. I mean it's lasagna, it's beef stroganoff, all you need is hot water.
Mouth watering yet? Here are a few things you should know about freeze-dried food.
Continue Reading » (http://www.thebellforum.com/media/2011/07/freeze-dried-food-glenn-beck-tea-party)
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That market has flourished in recent years as the fare once reserved for soldiers, astronauts, and hikers gains traction with survivalists, members of the Mormon church, the disaster-prepared, and, notably, the growing numbers of grassroots conservatives.
Since last fall, conservative pundits—including Fox News personality Sean Hannity, talk-show host Laura Ingraham, and Glenn Beck (http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/48306/)—have all extolled freeze-dried foods. In October 2010, Beck promoted a freeze-dried food company called Food Insurance (http://www.foodinsurance.com/) to people concerned about inflation, terrorist attacks, or natural disaster. "This is something that my staff has, my family has," he said, showing off a backpack stuffed with freeze-dried foods. Beck explains:
I'm a guy who's done food storage at my house for a while now and you get a bucket of wheat you're like, okay, I'm going to hang myself if I have to eat wheat during an emergency. I don't know how to grind it or anything else. This is freeze-dried food, and it will last you a couple of weeks, and it's great stuff. I mean it's lasagna, it's beef stroganoff, all you need is hot water.
Mouth watering yet? Here are a few things you should know about freeze-dried food.
Continue Reading » (http://www.thebellforum.com/media/2011/07/freeze-dried-food-glenn-beck-tea-party)
Comments (http://motherjones.com/node/122451#disqus_thread) | Post Comment (http://www.thebellforum.com/media/2011/07/freeze-dried-food-glenn-beck-tea-party#dsq-new-post)
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