onsumption. Unless you are really hungry, these foods will lose their appeal AND eat into your wallet. However, it's wise to store some of these products for emergencies.

With rising prices at grocery stores, your best bet is to stock up during sales and take advantage of bulk purchases. This will keep your diet as normal as possible - something that is vital during times of stress. For additional savings, consider purchasing foods through a coop and divide costs among friends and family.

When you find great deals, stock up! You'll want to know how to preserve your food investment for best shelf life, maximum nutrition, and long term storage. You'll have foods you're used to eating handy and viable when you need them.

People tend to forget that not only are store bought foods the best buy, but eventually you will run out of freeze dried or dehydrated products or your supplier will, so learn to store your own. It will keep your family safe and well-fed tomorrow and 10 years from now.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

November 17, 2007

AP

ORIGINAL CAPTION: Kylon Bogofsky of Chehalis, WA who came out to John Kesting's dairy farm near Curtis to help with the aftermath of flooding, looks at a pile of cattle drowned by floodwaters De. 6. (Mike Kane / Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

CHEHALIS, Wash. -- Homemade cow and goat cheese from Twin Oaks Farm and Creamery has been a staple at the Olympia Farmers market for three years.

Photo: Shane Lamson uses a pressure washer to clean a tractor on a dairy farm owned by John Brunoff near Chehalis, Wash. Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007. The tractor was submerged in floodwaters from last week's devastating storms. Lamson's time was being donated to the farm by Lamson's employer, Symons Frozen Foods Inc. in Chehalis. The Brunoff farm was included in a tour given to reporters and government officials Wednesday by the Washington Farm Bureau of farms affected by the floods. (AP)

Now with all but one of the farm's goats dead, and several of its cows dead or sick, it's uncertain when the popular cheese will return.

"I'm just a little cheese maker," said Heather Howell, who owns the creamery with her husband, Gary. "I don't know how long it's going to take us to get back. That's the hardest thing. I know people love my cheese."

The creamery and other small farms that were hit hard by this month's devastating flood are still assessing their damage and hoping they can financially recover and get back to work.

Department of Agriculture Director Valoria Loveland said they don't yet have a good figure on the total damage suffered by farms, but initial reports show that livestock losses alone numbered about 1,600.

Loveland encouraged farmers to go to their local farm services agencies and report their losses to ensure they get the help that they need.

"I certainly hope that people are able to stay on the farm," she said. "Anything I can do, I'm gonna help them do that."

Howell estimates her damages are close to $500,000, between loss of livestock and their feed, about 500 pounds of cheese, as well as flood damage to their home on the farm.

She cried as she recounted how, before she and her family were forced to evacuate the rising waters, she locked her 30 goats in the barn, thinking they were on high enough ground to be safe. One goat, now named Lucky, was the sole survivor.

"I raised all those babies," she said. "It's just terrible."

Charlie Haney, general manager of Olympia Farmer's Market, has raised thousands of dollars for about a dozen of her vendors whose farms were damaged or completely devastated.

"I've been here 17 years," Haney said, choking back tears. "These are my family and friends."

She said that the market has been providing items the farms need for cleanup, including gravel. Donations are being collected at the market as well, with 100 percent of them going to the farmers.

The Washington Farm Bureau has raised nearly $50,000 so far for flood relief, and officials recently toured several farms in the area along with legislative leaders.

Photo: A massive deposit of trees and other debris left by the flooding Chehalis River is shown near a house that was flooded last week in rural Lewis County near Chehalis, Wash.

Lewis County and Grays Harbor counties were recently declared federal disaster areas, which allows up to $28,800 in aid for each uninsured household, plus low-interest federal loans.

But many are going to need more.

"In terms of the survival of a farm itself, some of them have lost everything," said Dan Wood, a spokesman for the farm bureau. "It's not that they're shut down temporarily, they don't have any livestock. It's incredibly devastating."

At John and Traci Brunoff's organic dairy farm in Chehalis, a six foot-high water line on the shop building marks the water's high point. The Brunoffs' milk, which they sell to Wisconsin-based Organic Valley, came from the 272 Holstein and Jersey cows that lived on their 100-acre farm. Only 14 survived.

John Brunoff estimated more than $1 million of damage to the home and farm, with the livestock loss alone at $650,000.

Brunoff said he's waiting to hear about what aid might be available to him before deciding whether his family can financially survive staying on the farm.

"It's tough for me as a farmer," he said. "My pride gets in the way. I never like to ask for anything except in a desperate situation. It's a totally humbling experience."

Jennifer Belknap, who runs Rising River Farm in Rochester with her husband, Jim McGinn, said they lost about $6,000 worth of produce in the flood, but managed to get much of their equipment to higher ground.

"It could have been much worse," she said.

The cabbage, kale, onions, carrots, potatoes and other assorted vegetables that they grow on their 20-acre farm were under water and are now covered with mud, and are now a loss.

Much harder hit was Boistfort Valley Farm in Curtis, where acres of produce was buried under a foot of mud.

A busy team of volunteers were spread across the farm: using back hoes to push away the mud, hand washing tools found buried in the mud, and keeping up the spirits of owners Mike and Heidi Peroni.

Of the 35 acres that are currently being farmed, Peroni said there's about 15 acres of salvageable crops. The problem is they have no potable water and can't wash the vegetables. Pallets of stored vegetables were all lost, as were thousands of dollars worth of supplies like plastic bags, digital scales and plastic crates.

"We're effectively out of business," he said, estimating the damage at about $800,000. "We're at a standstill."

http://www.komotv.com/news/local/12561776.html