Some people didn't have to fill a Trader Joe's cart with panic beans
July 17, 2022 9:59 AM Subscribe
In Remote Alaska, Meal Planning Is Everything Eating (and eating well!) in the Alaskan Bush.
"In March 2020, when pandemic stay-at-home orders had just started and everyone was figuring out how to get groceries and purchase in bulk for the next several weeks, I already had a chest freezer full of food and a pantry stocked with months’ worth of meals at my home in Fairbanks, Alaska. I had been living in the Arctic for more than a decade, and the fly-in community of Bettles, Alaska, had prepared me for pandemic life in ways I hadn’t realized."
"In March 2020, when pandemic stay-at-home orders had just started and everyone was figuring out how to get groceries and purchase in bulk for the next several weeks, I already had a chest freezer full of food and a pantry stocked with months’ worth of meals at my home in Fairbanks, Alaska. I had been living in the Arctic for more than a decade, and the fly-in community of Bettles, Alaska, had prepared me for pandemic life in ways I hadn’t realized."
("panic beans" was a close contender)
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:51 AM on July 17, 2022 [17 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:51 AM on July 17, 2022 [17 favorites]
Amazon shipping groceries to the high Arctic may yet keep Jeff Bezos out of the 9th circle of hell.
posted by Bee'sWing at 11:03 AM on July 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Bee'sWing at 11:03 AM on July 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Amazon shipping groceries to the high Arctic may yet keep Jeff Bezos out of the 9th circle of hell or ensuring his place in the deepest pits due to carbon footprint?
that said, I am not criticizing these people (just can't resist op to slag Bezos) it's not for me, but I always follow Moose Enchiladas for the whole tour.
posted by supermedusa at 11:11 AM on July 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
that said, I am not criticizing these people (just can't resist op to slag Bezos) it's not for me, but I always follow Moose Enchiladas for the whole tour.
posted by supermedusa at 11:11 AM on July 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Eponysterical?
posted by lalochezia at 11:56 AM on July 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by lalochezia at 11:56 AM on July 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Interesting, but no mention of Sailor Boys?!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:57 PM on July 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:57 PM on July 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Parts of the rural north country in the lower 48 have similar food culture, if not to the extremes rural AK deals with. Chest freezers forever!
posted by Wretch729 at 2:53 PM on July 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Wretch729 at 2:53 PM on July 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Thanks for the story. Over the pandemic, I renewed my hunting & fishing licenses and this series of decisions has led to me owning a chest freezer as well. Also helped a friend with a large garden a fig tree, which I still have so many cans of jam from. Would love to eat moose burgers. I live in one of the most urban places imaginable in a very liberal place so it's been interesting inviting friends over to share in potlucks that sound similar to these. Had people over last week to have some hares braised in wine. Working on acquiring sausage making equipment currently...
Obviously not for everyone, but living in such an urban place, it's definitely given me a greater appreciation for the cycle of the seasons and wildlife (and community).
posted by bradbane at 3:18 PM on July 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
Obviously not for everyone, but living in such an urban place, it's definitely given me a greater appreciation for the cycle of the seasons and wildlife (and community).
posted by bradbane at 3:18 PM on July 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
Interesting, but no mention of Sailor Boys?!
The article is from The Eater Guide To Alaska. Sailor Boy Pilot Bread got an entire article to itself.
posted by zamboni at 5:54 PM on July 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
The article is from The Eater Guide To Alaska. Sailor Boy Pilot Bread got an entire article to itself.
posted by zamboni at 5:54 PM on July 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
I remember hitting a Sprouts to pick up emergency canned rations, something to get me through 2-3 weeks of quarantine. Checking my April 2020 credit card statement:
Best Buy has a 18 month no-interest deal on appliances so I just got a 2nd (swing-open, chest freezers seem utterly PITAs to fish thru) freezer for $40/mo; my kitchen freezer compartment just holds things I've opened and am going through now, pretty great.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 10:00 PM on July 17, 2022
Mar 8 SPROUTS FARMERS MAR $40.26(back then a dollar went further sigh)
Best Buy has a 18 month no-interest deal on appliances so I just got a 2nd (swing-open, chest freezers seem utterly PITAs to fish thru) freezer for $40/mo; my kitchen freezer compartment just holds things I've opened and am going through now, pretty great.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 10:00 PM on July 17, 2022
Re Sailor Boy Pilot Biscuits, see also The Doomsday Diet.
posted by Bee'sWing at 4:29 AM on July 18, 2022
posted by Bee'sWing at 4:29 AM on July 18, 2022
Interesting article aside, this is the second time in four days I've seen someone use "shoot" where they mean "chute" in writing. I hope it's not becoming a thing.
posted by terretu at 4:43 AM on July 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by terretu at 4:43 AM on July 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
Tired enough to misread that as "panic bears" and therefore expecting a different story entirely.
posted by doctornemo at 11:14 AM on July 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by doctornemo at 11:14 AM on July 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
This article was great. I love how they have so much access to fresh produce they can grow, because of the long sunlight hours, until they totally and completely don't.
Parts of the rural north country in the lower 48 have similar food culture, if not to the extremes rural AK deals with. Chest freezers forever!
I was just thinking about how much of this sounded like keeping kosher growing up in a town without any kosher butcher or grocery store... we'd drive 3 hours to Baltimore, load up, bring home the haul and load up the second fridge and freezer for the next few months.
Even now we have a chest freezer crammed into our NYC apartment because kosher meat is super expensive, so when it goes on sale or we're out of the city somewhere there's less sticker shock,, it's stocking-up time.
It might not be moose or caribou (though technically both are kosher animals...), but I relate.
posted by Mchelly at 11:53 AM on July 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
Parts of the rural north country in the lower 48 have similar food culture, if not to the extremes rural AK deals with. Chest freezers forever!
I was just thinking about how much of this sounded like keeping kosher growing up in a town without any kosher butcher or grocery store... we'd drive 3 hours to Baltimore, load up, bring home the haul and load up the second fridge and freezer for the next few months.
Even now we have a chest freezer crammed into our NYC apartment because kosher meat is super expensive, so when it goes on sale or we're out of the city somewhere there's less sticker shock,, it's stocking-up time.
It might not be moose or caribou (though technically both are kosher animals...), but I relate.
posted by Mchelly at 11:53 AM on July 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
A lot of the world has and still does live in ways like this, for a lot of human history. A lot more of America than AK and the UP too.
I'm tired of the post-Covid life tourism takes. Ooh, availability of food varies. Ooh, parents are often the primary carers of their own children. Ooh, rural living is different from city. Whatever.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 2:19 PM on July 18, 2022
I'm tired of the post-Covid life tourism takes. Ooh, availability of food varies. Ooh, parents are often the primary carers of their own children. Ooh, rural living is different from city. Whatever.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 2:19 PM on July 18, 2022
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Also, "Moose Enchiladas" is my new sockpuppet name.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:50 AM on July 17, 2022 [8 favorites]