Book Review: The Post Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook by Albert Bates

In his new book; “The Post Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook, Recipes for Changing Times,” Albert Bates answers any and all questions you could possibly have about how to weather the coming changes due to peak oil, resource depletion and global warming. “The Great Change,” as Bates calls it, will necessitate the rethinking and restructuring of virtually every facet of our lives, all the modern “conveniences” that we have come to take for granted as a society, in order to build a more sustainable culture, a culture that we permaculturists frequently like to describe as one that “works with rather than against nature.” Whatever area of interest you wish to tackle first, Bates has provided an overview with instructions and suggestions (including websites for further study) for you to get started, whether it has to do with energy efficiency, growing food, the canning and storing of food, transportation, waste management, water treatment and conservation, money, ethics or community, you name it!
Furthermore, Mr. Bates goes where most people who talk about sustainability fear to tread, and deals with the issue of over population. He clearly explains Albert Bartlett’s Third Law and concepts of “exponential growth,” coming up with a striking statement: “If population is to decline without catastrophic intervention, at least half of us must pass through life without producing children!” (Exclamation point, mine) Saving it for last, Bates has even thought of a section on first aid which I found really fascinating, while at the same time a bit queasy-making. I found the idea of having to stop a person from bleeding to death, or rescue someone from drowning, splint a broken bone or administer to someone after an electric shock, while waiting for the docs to come, a bit daunting.
But, take heart, lest the reader become dismayed by the magnitude of the task that lies before us, the remedy is just a few steps away in our kitchens, as Bates gives new meaning to the term, “comfort food.” Bates offers up a plethora of easy and fun recipes that you can whip up whenever you begin to feel the peak oil/climate change blues, including one for “Grasshopper Quesadillas.” Be prepared, though, all the recipes are vegetarian (except for the grasshoppers; are bugs meat?) and use a lot of soy and soy products, in addition to heavily catering to the sweet tooth in all of us.