A meal in a box and the "ageless oxygen absorber"

(The full contents of one meal pack from Meal Kit Supply Canada)

This post is long overdue.

Many months ago I got in touch with a company called Meal Kit Supply Canada, a distributor of prepackaged meals developed by the U.S. Military. The meals are warmed using a water-activated heating pack.

I had reached out to the company early on in the series, and Stevi Hanson, vice president business development, had sent me a sample pack of their most popular meals.

It seemed logical to wait for an actual emergency or outdoors experience to try them out. Thankfully there have been no emergencies, and my two outdoor experiences, the cottage and my week with Sticks and Stones Wilderness School, involved so much delicious provided food I may have gained a few pounds.

So the box sat in my closet for several months.

With the clock ticking on the wrap-up for the blog, I decided Sunday night was the night!

I slit open the case and perused my choices. The meals included vegetable lasagna, beef ravioli, and chicken and dumpling meals. I went for the chicken and pesto pack.

Pasta is just the main course. This meal comes with potato cheddar soup, crackers, a massive 1.5-ounce tube of peanut butter, vacuum-packed carrot pound cake, hot chocolate, and an electrolyte juice-type drink.

As a lover of gadgets and disaster preparedness (nerd flag flying high here), I have to admit that cracking this open was a bit like Christmas morning. My favourite part was the print on the directions for the hot chocolate: "Allow water just chemically purified to stand 30 minutes before adding to beverage powder." Perfection.

To heat the meals, you drop a sealed pouch of food into a plastic sleeve with a heating pack that is activated by water. You add water, fold the top of the bag, tuck the meal and sleeve back into the cardboard box it came from, and wait for it to heat.

I may have added too much water.

As I am typing, my meal and the cardboard box I stuffed it back into is making gasping noises like a dying fish on my counter.

I wait for the bag to settle down and manage to remove the meal without burning myself. The water in the sleeve has a strange odour, a product of the heating pack, but the sealed pasta is actually hot and there is a high volume of decent tasting chicken.

While I wouldn't describe it as fine dining - let's be honest, this is for a disaster - it is impressive for something that came out of a bag and is brought back to life with a heater pack.

The carrot cake comes in the shape of a bar of soap but is actually quite tasty. Because I am easily amused by the little things, I was delighted to find the "ageless oxygen absorber" packet that comes inside. 

Each meal also contains instant coffee, dried creamer, sugar, and a lemon moist wipe. There are also two of the sturdiest plastic spoons I have ever seen.  I am guessing the company that makes these gets a lot of feedback on how little things make a difference in harsh environments.

So how did Meal Kit Supply Canada get into the business of distributing meals in a box?

Hanson said the main reason was SARS.

"There was mild concern of an outbreak and some sort of breakdown in infrastructure," said Hanson.

Those concerns prompted company owner Blair Calder to seek out food products he could store in his basement.

Calder sourced the food products from the U.S. manufacturers and was told that there was no one distributing them in Canada. They negotiated exclusive rights and about five years ago the company was formed.

Their big clients are the RCMP and OPP, fire and emergency service workers, and government workers, including Toronto, said Hanson.

The meals can be picked up at Costco or ordered online or over the phone. The smallest case costs $129.99 and comes with 12 meals, four breakfasts, four lunches and four dinners. If you store them at room temperature, they last five years. The food is also preservative-free; the package is what keeps the products from spoiling, according to information on the company website.

Hanson said demand often increases during global emergencies. "After Haiti, we sold out our warehouse," mostly to the Red Cross and other emergency support groups, said Hanson.

They also experience boosts in sales when smaller disasters hit in Canada or abroad, said Hanson.

Opening the boxes and using the heating pack was fun, and I can totally understand the appeal of having huge, ready-to-eat meals in case of an emergency. But for someone like me, with lots of space in her apartment to store a variety of bulkier foods - I am more of a dried meat, fruits and nuts kind of lady -  and on a budget, I don't know if they would be my first choice.

That said, buying a box would be an easy solution to stocking up on food to last for 72 hours. If you were not expending much energy, the peanut butter tube alone could be a small meal.

I can also see why they would be ideal for people in remote locations or using up thousands of calories working in emergency situations.

Really interesting product. Still picking away at the carrot cake.

"Deep survival:" Why some people are more likely to live

Professor Jim McLennan, a psychologist at LaTrobe University in Melbourne, has studied the theory of "deep survival" or why some people can remain calm in traumatic events. It turns out a great deal of how well you fare when suffering from extreme physical stress or pain has a lot to do with your state of mind.

Simply put, if you give up or panic, you are more likely to die.

You can hear more about his theories in this interview on RadioLive.

When the host asked him what advice he would give to someone in a difficult situation, McLennan made the comments below.

"Try and manage your fear, try and keep your head. Try to be alert to what is actually going on, what is it that is threatening you most, and what you can see and what you can become aware of (that) you could make use of to save your life in the given situation. Don't give up."

Bonus material: Great survival story blog courtesy of National Geographic. That is what you get when you Google "Deep Survival."

Lost your compass - but you have your phone

A short funny story posted on the West Fargo Pioneer written by Tyler Shoberg.

Shoberg has always carried a compass, a regular gift from dad, but during a recent outdoor jaunt left it at home. The author's guide, someone who should have known the area, got turned around and the pair was forced to rely on a map in a cell phone.

I am the first one to admit the allure of fancy gear - my obessession with multi-tools is well documented - but this reminds me I need to pick up a few more lessons on how to tell direction based on the sun and the wind.

That said, I am always on the hunt for a simple, small compass I can clip to my keys.

Bonus material: Check out this amazing survival story on the Star's website. My interest in bear encounters - how to understand their behaviour and avoid confrontations - continues to grow.

Vacation, cottage country, bears and forest fires!

(Photo of rather handsome black bear of undetermined sex taken by Michael Banani)

I am packing up to head to Georgian Bay for about a week. I will be back at my desk and back on the blog in early August.

The photo above is of a bear that has been sighted close to the island where our cottage is located. There have been quite a few bear sightings in the area this summer. Apparently we have a bear horn. I am pretty sure my best chance of staying safe is to keep my head up and make lots of noise when I walk. But I will be happy to have the horn if a bear shows any signs of getting near the dogs or the kids.  

On a not totally related but relevant topic, the Star's Tanya Talaga is reporting on massive fires in Northern Ontario forcing the evacuation of more than 3,300 people from their homes, including in Kitchener and Ottawa. UPDATE: By Thursday afternoon more than 3,000 people were being airlifted from their homes as firefighters battled more than 100 fires.

Not all forest fires are caused by people smoking or leaving smouldering embers in the woods, but I still wanted to link to some information from the Ontario Ministry of Natural resources on camping and fire safety.

I went to the site expecting simple instructions on building fires in clear areas and properly dousing your coals, but there is a ton of interesting information. My favourite part is the link to the science of fire.

On Monday the Star will publish my account of learning to make fire with a bow drill with Andrew McMartin from the P.I.N.E Project, a Toronto group that runs camps for kids and adult workshops with the goal of reconnecting people with the natural world and building healthy communities.

I do not actually make fire, just detail the humbling and therefore amazing process of learning all about the components of a bow drill kit. For anyone who wants to learn something and is willing to step out of their comfort zone - at least that was the case with me - I would highly recommend heading to their website and checking out the adult courses and workshops.

Have a good week. Whatever you do, don’t feed the bears and hope everyone you know and love is staying cool and comfortable.

 

"Canada's Oil Sands and the Survival of Humanity"

That headline is a direct rip off from a blog post I enjoyed reading this morning by Mike Valente, assistant professor with the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.

Valente writes about some potential consequences of allowing the Keystone XL Pipeline Project to go forward. At the bottom of the post Valente's short bio includes areas of study/ speciality including corporate social responsibility, the strategic adoption of business sustainability, and international business. So you can guess which way he sides when it comes to a massive oil pipeline connecting Alberta to the southern U.S.

Going to spend some time reading his previous posts and looking forward to what he writes next.

Explaining my decision to drink lake water to Mike Bullard

 
(Water I pulled from Lake Ontario. I boiled it and ran it through a filter before taking a few big swigs)

Had a short interview with the extremely funny Mike Bullard on Newstalk 1010 explaining how I ended up drinking water from Lake Ontario. Spent most of the interview laughing nervously and trying not to choke.

The station was kind enough to send the audio.

Emily Mathieu

It has been about six days and no ill effects to report. I promise to post something if anything happens but imagine at this point I am out of immediate danger.

One of my regular readers named Frank suggested I take the remaining water to an expert to test what made it through the filter.

In my haste to get to my desk I dumped the remaining water from round one but love the idea and plan to scoop water from a few locations, run it through the same process and get an expert to tell me what sticks around.

I do not plan to drink a sample from each.

The end of days - at least the ones I plan to spend on Vivos

I am hoping this post marks the end of my engagement with Vivos, a company that sells spots in retrofitted bunkers to people for a hefty price.

There are many, many more questions to be asked but based on the way they respond to emails I don’t think engaging with them further will serve much of a purpose.

On Monday I hope to be back to writing about realistic solutions to severe weather events or temporary halts in city services instead of trying to make sense of fear mongers. 

Here is the most recent interaction I had with them.

Q: I asked (again) if they have a plan to maintain the mental well being of their members in case of a prolonged stay in the bunkers. They ignored the question in the last round of emails.

Response:

“There is. BTW, what is the plan for the health and well-being of your followers/readers that will be desperately fighting and struggling to survive on the surface if necessity requires Vivos members to be underground in their blast proof shelters?”

So I didn’t get far with that one. I asked the company to expand, phrasing the question a few different ways with specific points to be certain they knew what I was asking for. Here are the questions I emailed to a Vivos company representative. That is how the person responding the latest round of emails identifies themselves.

1. My question was (again) what are the specifics of your plan?

2. Do you have a plan in place to keep people calm / prevent anxiety and potential mental issues within the facility for extended periods of time?  

3. Do you screen people before they are signed up to ensure they do not possess any volatile traits that could endanger other residents in close quarters if reaching the surface for extended periods of time was not a possibility?

4. Do you intend to have someone on site qualified to assess and treat psychological issues?

Response number two:

“That is four questions, not one as you indicated.  As a categorical response for the edification of your readers that may have concern for the well-being of the Vivos members, be advised that each Vivos shelter is typically populated with at least 30 (per cent) of the members comprising doctors, surgeons, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, EMT’s, dentists and a variety of experts throughout the medical field.  Details of the specific operational plans for Vivos shelters are available only to actual co-owner members, provided through the escrow process. 

If you have a specific personal mental issue or psychosis of concern to yourself or any of your followers, we would recommend you seek professional help and advice on where you should find a solitary shelter.   However, it is certain that you would not pass the rigorous evaluations of our screening process, nor be approved and/or invited to be a co-owner of a Vivos community shelter.

If you would like to debate this subject further, we welcome your arranging for a national live broadcast.  One of our experts will be happy to clarify any further questions you may have without your apparent post editorialization.  Until then, we wish you well.”

This one actually made me a bit sad. At this point I would be delighted to discover that Vivos doesn't exist and I had been fooled by a brilliant pack of liberal arts students from California.

I hope anyone considering buying a space reads these emails to get a better understanding of how Vivos communicates and respond to questions and challenges about their plan.

This is what you get above ground. Wonder what it will be like beneath the earth.

I hope this is my last post but I can't promise. Goodbye for now Vivos and good luck.

 

Is this the end of Vivos? At least on the blog?

My somewhat cordial relationship with Vivos may be drawing to a close.

If you read this blog you know I have developed a keen (what some may call obsessive) interest in a company called Vivos. They sell spaces in retrofitted bunkers throughout the U.S. as well as a facility in Europe. The shelter spots start at (U.S)$10,000 and can go past (U.S)$25,000 depending on what kind of space you want to enjoy.

In my previous posts I expressed my opinion (mine and mine alone) that Vivos was using fear to sell spaces in their underground facility.

My first response from the company was a bit on the defensive side, going as far as to question where I would like Star readers to be during a catastrophic event.

At the end of that post, as I have with most about Vivos, I stressed my point I do not want Star readers to be within a 1,000 miles of those doors.

But I did have more questions. I wanted to know what kind of preparations they were taking with security or who would maintain order beneath the earth.

The company directed me to a link that explained people would self identify based on existing skill sets. They also sent some information on the size of the various underground networks.

I was surprised and to be honest a bit impressed they continued to answer questions so I sent a few more. 

My next round was related to the management of people's mental health or what would be done to keep people calm and mentally stable if they needed to stay beneath the earth for up to one year, as the company suggests they are capable of doing. This sprung partially from a comment on my blog from the founder of a website called 2010Hoax.com who has also questioned Vivos’ plans.

Here is my question. I edited out the thanks for the response and my hello.

Q: “Do you have any concerns for the psychological well-being of the people inside/ how will you ensure people are relaxed and calm?

Is there some kind of special measure in place or do you screen people to ensure they will not be a danger to other residents in high stress, contained environments?”

 I also mentioned I intended to reference the comment the founder of 2012Hoax.com put on my blog.

Behold the response.

A: “We previously entertained your inquiries with the belief that you were a credible and neutral reporter.  However, it is clear by your ongoing diatribe that your mission is to discourage your “followers” from preparing for potential future events and seeking a genuine survival solution.

  It is ironic that you have critiqued Vivos for “fear-mongering” rather than alerting, while based on a snapshot of your publication’s headlines, it appears you are guilty of that which you condemn.

 We wonder where you obtained your expertise that you so pretentiously prescribe and rant to your misguided flock.   We too are grateful that you won’t be within 1,000 miles of any of our shelters!”

Dear misguided flock: Imagine my excitement to learn you exist!

During our time together I pledge to do my utmost to make sure you enjoy the best of what life, camping stores and freeze dried food companies have to offer. I do not however plan to stop asking Vivos about how they plan to contain and control frightened citizens stored inside submarine-like conditions for an extended period of time.

Dear Vivos. Thank you for the response. In case my repeated references to my opinion throughout my blog posts has not been clear, I want you to know I am not "neutral" but actually quite curious about your proposed facility and plan to continue being opinionated about the way you market your products.  Still waiting for an answer to my question. I am honestly curious to know if you have one.

Vivos, keeping order in the bunkers and peevish swarms of bees

My fascination with Vivos continues. This week I have been writing about yet-to-be-completely-retrofitted shelters the U.S. company says they are converting to luxury accommodations to weather catastrophic events, man-made or otherwise.

My main fascination with, or objection to, the company (not the Star’s opinion) is because they obviously use fear to sell spots in their underground network. This isn’t "Be prepared for the worst and stock up on clean water and a medical kit." This seems more like "Your children will perish in a lake of fire unless you crack out the credit card."

I wanted to know: How much room will they actually have for people? The company got back to me in less than 24 hours, via email, with a breakdown of the size of some of the facilities.

The largest North American shelter is "136,000 square feet, on 4 floor levels with accommodations for 1,000 people," the spokesperson wrote.

They are also working on a facility in Europe that is "nearly 250,000 square feet and capable of accommodating 2,000 people. Their smallest is in Indiana (about 8,000 square feet) and can hold 80 people, the company said.  

So, provided you get your spot and make it past the roadblocks, crowds of hysterical people, angry dogs and swarms of peevish bees (can you imagine the end of days without bees?), how long can you stay inside the shelter?

A Vivos spokesperson answered some of the questions in an email.  

"There is no “maximum” time a person may stay in the shelter.  We stock and supply each shelter with enough food, fuel and supplies to provide for a “minimum” of 1 year of autonomous habitation for survival," said a Vivos spokesperson.

"This period may be extended depending on the circumstances of the catastrophe, e.g. outside air, ability to grow food on the surface, temperatures, supplemental fuel/power sources, etc.  The Vivos 1000 economy class shelter is stocked for just 6 months duration to bring down the cost of co-ownership."

Next questions? Who is in charge of curfew, who gets to hold the remote (or tasers -- they sell them on the site) and make sure the crackers and cheese don’t run out?

For that one, Vivos sent me to a link. It sounds like the plan is to figure out who is best at playing police, doctor, nurse, cook, and they will assume their roles. There will also be a "security/caretaker" on site, the company said. It is worth taking a read yourself.

When I first emailed the company, a spokeswoman asked where I wanted Star readers to be when disaster struck. While I appreciate that the company is now sending me straight information (free of comments about the safety of our readers), I still say I do not want any of you within a thousand miles of any of the Vivos shelters or their heavily enforced doors.

Can you really put a price on fear? Turns out you can

UPDATE: 2012Hoax.org general position on Vivos.

Let this be a lesson to you. If you ask for more information from a company that sells the public a way to ride out a nuclear event, or massive environmental catostrophe you should be prepared for a slightly defensive response.

I mentioned in my previous post that the videos for the Vivos shelters - basically retrofitted bunkers where rooms are being sold at a high price - were so thick with images crafted to generate fear they seemed like they could be a joke, or brilliant piece of satire.  

Again my favourite part in the sales video starts at (2:07) Column of fire, frightened eye, mother and baby, concerned seniors and depressed family dressed all in denim on the beach.

Further searches on Google to learn more about the company and read more about their latest offering on the market ($10,000 to weather the end of days in their economy bunker) turned up a link to a website (www.2012hoax.org) questioning if/how the bunker system could actually work or would people be comfortable and capable of lasting several months in any of the Vivos facilities. Getting a spot in the more spacious bunkers starts at $25,000 (U.S.).

I sent a note to Vivos asking to comment on the link, did they have photos I could see of the facility and how long they had been in business and what stage the facilities are at in terms of construction.

I also spent some time poking around the media review section of the website and posted a link to a Reuters video showing parts of already built underground bunkers that will be retrofitted to resemble the "luxury" accommodations shown in videos on the Vivos website, according to the company.

Based on the response I received to my questions, I can now report with confidence this company is 100 per cent committed to sticking to the talking points used to sell its products. (Cold chills increasing ten fold)

But I still wanted to post the full response from a woman who identifed herself in an email as Barbi Grossman, Media Director for The Vivos Group.

I sent a note to www.2012Hoax.org where I found the content questioning the facility and asked for clarification and a comment.

They sent a general comment regarding their online position on Vivos, which is about a year old.  

"Our Vivos page would show our general stance, that Vivos perhaps require some investigation into what they're offering, and whether it really is necessary," said someone from the site in an email noting any response to the "moron" comment would have to come from the founder, who is away.

Here is Grossman's full response.

“Emily,

We are well aware of this moron’s website and attempt to defrock virtually everyone and everything that is providing solutions to the Earth changing events and catastrophes that are already around us. Unfortunately, there are many uninformed “hoaxers” professing their lack of knowledge and/or expertise to the naïve. They don’t have a clue about the virility of our hardened shelters, originally built by the government in each respective country to withstand 20 megaton nuclear blasts, their state-of-the-art construction, impervious strength, mechanical and electronic systems, Nuclear, Biological and Chemical filtration, extensive security devices, food, fuel and medical provisions stocked for a fully autonomous survival for the Vivos members that will inhabit each shelter. Frankly, the ‘2012hoax[ed]’ websites misled allegations are not worth responding to.

Proof of Vivos shelters may be found at each of these pages, and more throughout our website:

http://www.terravivos.com/secure/indiana.htm Completion scheduled for late August 2011

http://www.terravivos.com/secure/nebraska.htm Completion scheduled for Fall 2011

Or, perhaps you would prefer to take the word of CNBC, CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, MSNBC, BBC, CBC, N24, NPR, NTV, Al Jazeera, RTL, SBS, Nippon TV, Reuters, and hundreds of other international media that have personally toured and inspected the Vivos shelters. http://www.terravivos.com/secure/news.htm

Unfortunately, ‘2012hoax[ed]’ will never see, know for certain, nor be offered a spot in Vivos. They and their ill-informed followers will be the ones banging on the door the loudest to get in.

 So, which side of the door would you like your readers to be on?

 Best regards,

 Barbi”

(The following note to readers has nothing to do with the views of the Toronto Star and everything to do with the opinion of Yours Truly.)

Dear readers, I must admit that aside from my family (Thanks for reading Granny, love you!) I know very little about your daily lives or plans to weather impending disaster.

But I hope and pray you, anyone you love or even like will not be within a thousand miles of those shelters or the badly frightened people who will no doubt end up fighting over deyhdrated muffins behinds the doors. (Who do you think gets to enforce order in those types of situations?)

Being prepared for the worst and encouraging people to think about their options can be a positive and educational process. How you prepare is all about personal choice, whether that means digging your own bunker, taking medical courses, owning a gun (with the proper permits of course) buying 200 cans of pork and beans or surrounding your home with a highly trained swarm of bees. It is up to you. 

Using terrorist attacks, disease, the Mayan prediction that the world will end in 2012, super volcanos and a video that implies a person's children wil suffer a painful death to sell yet-to-be-retrofitted shelters is simply an example of a business preying on the weak.

I don't think Vivos is a joke, at least not the funny kind, just another company making a buck off an increasingly fearful and vulnerable segment of society.

Again Vivos (Harold Camping, Glenn Beck) thanks for caring.

Still taking my chances with that column of fire.