Community self-defense against hunger and infections of inequality

Squat water and cooking

Food nourishes your body as well as your relationships. Food keeps friends together and traditions alive. Eating enough food and enough variety of nutritious food is essential to good health. Food gives the body energy and helps people deal with stress and think well. Food protects a person from infections and other health problems, allows his muscles and the organs inside his body to work properly, and makes his skin, hair and teeth beautiful and strong.

But not all foods make you healthier. Alcohol and factory-made foods that many people now depend on contain too much salt, low-quality fat, and sugar. Overly-processed foods can cause or increase health problems like fatigue, mood swings and extreme emotional states, heart attacks, and chronic illness like diabetes. Staying healthy depends on cooking your own food, eating meals together with other people, eating enough food, and eating a variety of good foods.

Water

If you don't have running water, store water in clean containers. Cover all water containers to keep rats out. If the container was used for storing cooking oil, wash it well with soap and hot water before storing clean water in it. Never store water in containers that have been used for chemicals, pesticides, or fuels.

Keep the city water you haul up to your space in separate containers from any rainwater you capture -- mark the containers. Rainwater is great for flushing toilets, cleaning the house, washing your hands or body, or even washing dishes, but unfiltered rainwater shouldn't be used for drinking or cooking. Wash all water containers with soap and clean water at least once a week.

In houses without running water you have to set up washing facilities. The most important are convenient handwashing stations. The principle of handwashing with carried-in water is that you use gravity to deliver water through a tap over your hands and into a basin or a drain.

Collapsible water carrier. A cheap storebought solution for cold "running" water for handwashing stations is a collapsible polyethylene water carrier shaped like a cube when filled with water, with a handle and a leak-proof spigot. They almost always hold 3 or 5 gallons. The price of these things usually ranges fron $5 to $10, and they're sold by Coleman, Reliance Products, Ozark Trails, Texsport, Rothco, Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon, and a score of other companies, but they're all identical right down to the red handle and the red-and-white tap. Just set it on a shelf (like a piece of plywood across your non-working sink) and put a basin (like a 5-gallon joint compound bucket) on the floor to catch the water. Have soap handy.

Tippy tap. An easy DIY solution for cold "running" water for handwashing stations is a "tippy tap." One design is made out of an empty 5 liter (1.5 gallon or 2 gallon) jug with a handle. A milk jug works well. You also need a candle, pliers, a nail, some string, and soap. See www.cdc.gov/safewater/publications_pages/tippy-tap.pdf for construction details. Another design is operated by foot pedal, and uses a differently-shaped 5 liter container. Construction details are at www.wot.utwente.nl/publications/tippy-tap.pdf. For any tippy tap, you also need a bucket to catch the water or a drain (like in a bathtub) for it to go down.

For hot water, use your stove and pour the water from a kettle or directly into a heat-resistant basin for washing dishes, washing your face, or washing your body. Mix it with cold water, and save the rest of the hot water for rinsing or heating back up your washwater when it begins to cool down.

You really ought to call the water company and get the water turned on, though. If you don't, and your squat gets hot, the cops can clear out your place for a health code violation, even if you have established legal residency in the house.

Cooking

If you don't have a working stove, get a $10 hotplate, cans of sterno, or a cheap one- or two-burner propane camp stove and some propane cylinders. If you want to put in a little more work and be crafty, there are some dependable DIY solutions, too.

Soda can stove. A lightweight alcohol burning stove can be fabricated out of soda cans, V-8 cans, or beeer cans. It can burn denatured alcohol, or 70% or 90% isopropyl alcohol. It requires a few cans, an x-acto knife, a scratch awl or other sharp instrument, sharpie, ruler, scissors, a small amount of fiberglass insulation for a wick, and either high-temp tape or some high-temp RTV silicone or JB Weld. Fabrication details are at zenstoves.net or www.thesodacanstove.com and more info is at Wikipedia.

More DIY stove designs are at wings.interfree.it. Don't use unvented stoves that burn wood or charcoal inside the house unless you would like to die of carbon monoxide poisoning or in a house fire. Make sure you have fire extinguishers, working carbon monoxide detectors, and fire alarms around the house.

Food storage

Whenever possible, eat freshly prepared food. If you store food, keep it in ratproof containers like glass jars or canister sets (usually metal or ceramic). Another option is to hang a crate from a wall or a sheet between two corners of a wall, and store food out of the reach of critters. You will be glad you did.

If you don't have a refrigerator, you can throw out any food that requires refrigeration or use one of the methods below to cool food using evaporation. Put the food in covered shallow pans for more complete cooling.

Pottery cooler. A double-pot cooler consists of a small clay pot inside a large clay pot. The space between the pots is filled with water. Use a large pot and lid that have not been glazed (coated with a hard, smooth, baked-on covering) so that the water will evaporate through the pot. The small pot should be glazed on the inside to make it easier to keep clean and to stop water from seeping into the stored foods.

Cupboard cooler. Put a crate or box on its side, and then set it on bricks to raise it off the floor. Put a container of water on top of the crate and drape sackcloth or other coarse cloth over the bowl and around the crate. The cloth should not quite reach the floor. Dip the cloth in the water, so that the wetness spreads throughout the cloth. Place the food inside the crate. As the water in the cloth evaporates, it will cool the food. This method works best if you can keep the cloth wet all the time.

Alternatively, you can store food in the coldest part of the house, like hung from the ceiling in a back corner of the cellar.

Waste disposal

You know you need to keep the house clean: keep your garbage in a covered trash can to discourage rats, roaches, and health code inspectors; find out if there are trash pick-up fees, and get everything squared away so you can throw stuff out.

Eating a variety of good food

In much of the world, people eat one main low-cost food with almost every meal. This food usually provides much of the body's nutritional needs. Examples are: rice, cornmeal, yam, potatoes, wheat, and oatmeal.

Consider getting a few of these low-cost foods in bulk and using them for the basis of your squat's home-cooked meals. Jars full of brown rice, quinoa, grits, and oatmeal, or a shelf with yams or plantain can ensure that you and your squatmates never go hungry, and never have to rely on bagels and other overprocessed foods to eat.

To be healthy, starchy foods must be combined with "helper" foods that contain protein (which helps build muscle and other body tissues), vitamins and minerals (which help protect and repair the body), and minimally processed fats and oils (which give energy, help the body make hormones to withstand stress, and contain fat-soluble vitamins).

The healthiest diets have a variety of foods, including some foods with protein, and fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins and minerals. You need only a small amount of fats and oils. But if you have problems getting enough food, it is better to combine your main food with a little bit of fat or oils (like butter, bacon, olive oil, eggs, nuts, coconut milk, or coconut oil) and minimally-processed sweetners (like maple syrup, honey, or molasses) than to eat too little food.

Keeping more than just your nose clean

How illnesses and parasites are spread

Many illnesses are spread by germs that pass from one person to another. Here are some of the most common ways that germs and parasites are spread:

  • By touching an infected person

  • Through the air; for example, when someone coughs, germs in small drops of spit can spread to other people or objects

  • Through clothes, cloth, bed covers, or cuddle puddles

  • Through insect bites or animal bites

  • By eating contaminated food or sharing utensils contaminated by a sick person's spit

  • By kissing, making out, or fucking

  • By touching somebody else's blood, shit, or vomit

Different health problems are spread in different ways. For example, tuberculosis (TB) germs are spread through the air. Lice and scabies are spread through clothes and bed covers. Cleanliness in the home and personal cleanliness are both important to prevent sickness by stopping the spread of germs, parasites (like scabies), rodents, and bugs.

Food Safety

Many common diseases of the intestines are spread through food. Sometimes people who harvest, handle, or prepare food pass germs from their hands into the food. Sometimes germs and molds in the air begin to grow in the food and it goes bad. This happens when food is not stored or cooked properly, or when it gets old. Washing your hands prevents the spread of disease. Keep a clean rag for drying your hands; wash it often and dry it in the sun. Or dry your hands in the air by shaking the water off.

To prevent the spread of germs in food:

  • Wash your hands with soap and water before preparing food, before eating, and before feeding anyone

  • Wash or peel all fruits and vegetables that are eaten raw

  • Do not let raw meat, poultry, or fish touch other food that is eaten raw. Always wash your hands, knife, and cutting board after cutting these meats

  • Avoid coughing or sneezing near food so your saliva does not get in the food

  • Throw food out when it spoils

Here are some of the most common signs of spoiled foods:

  • Bad smell

  • Bad taste or a change in taste

  • Changed color (for example, if raw meat changes from red to brown)

  • Many bubbles on the top (for example, on the top of old stew or soup) along with a bad smell

  • Slime on the surface of meat or cooked foods

Cooking food kills germs. All meats, fish, and poultry should be well cooked. Nothing should look raw or have a raw color. If the food begins to cool, germs quickly start to grow again. If food is not eaten within two hours, reheat it until it is very hot. Liquids should be bubbling, and solids (like rice) should be steaming.

Cleanliness in the home

Since people who share a sleeping area or house are in close contact with each other, it is very easy to spread germs, parasites, and illness to the whole group. Your group will have less illness (and less rats, flies, and bugs) if they:

  • Wash cooking and eating pots and utensils with soap and clean water after using them. If possible, let them dry in the sun

  • Clean the living space often. Sweep and wash the floors, walls, and beneath furniture. Fill in cracks and holes in the floor or walls where rats, roaches, and bedbugs can hide

  • Launder bedding often -- the heat of a clothes drier kills bedbugs, lice, fleas, and scabies and their eggs. If you can't get to a clothesdrier, hang or spread bedding in the sun to kill most bugs (but not their eggs). Sunlight also kills many germs that cause illnesses

  • When you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth with your arm, or with a cloth or handkerchief. Wash your hands

Toilets

  • Get the water turned on and use flush toilets

  • Flush shit with two or more gallons of city water, captured rainwater, or greywater poured from a bucket into the bowl

  • Use public accommodations (in restaurants, libraries, friends' homes, showers in gyms, etc.)

  • Two 5-gallon joint compound buckets (one for piss and one for shit) make a good short-term solution. Cover the piss bucket when not in use and discreetly dump it in a house drain or a street drain before it gets too full and nasty. Line the shit bucket with a plastic bag, do your business, knot the bag and discard it in a garbage can or dumpster on the street. Top your compound bucket with a toilet seat for a more comfortable experience

  • For a longer-term waterless solution, learn how to make a dry, covered composting 5 gallon shitbucket with dry soil and hay below and on top of each person's shit. Never pee in the shit bucket: if it gets too wet it will stink

  • Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands. Make it easy: put soap and a sink, tippy tap, or collapsable water carrier near all toilet facilities

Personal cleanliness

It is best to wash with soap and clean water every day, if possible. Also:

  • Wash your hands before eating or preparing food, after passing urine or stool, and before and after caring for a baby or someone who is sick

  • Change socks every day. At least wear different socks at night than you wear inside your shoes. Wash your feet regularly with soap and water and let them dry completely. Wash your socks regularly and dry them in a drier, on a line, or against the skin under your clothing (for instance, hung from your belt down into your clothes).

  • Piss after having sex. This helps prevent infections of the urine system

Sleeping arrangements

Many problems in a squat can be mostly prevented by being intentional and thoughtful about sleeping arrangements. Some of these problems include:

  • Coughs, colds, fevers, and flus

  • Fear, intimidation, harassment, physical assault, and sexual assault

  • Scabies and lice

  • Insomnia, exhaustion, and stress

  • Hypothermia

Your options have a lot to do with what kind of structure you are squatting.

If you are in a squat where people share a few rooms, one way to prevent problems is to invite the regular nightly residents of each room to decide what kind of environment they want in there. For example, one of the best ways to prevent assault and harassment is to let folks designate one room an alcohol-free sleeping area that people cannot come in or sleep in if they have had anything at all to drink that day. Rooms could also be designated for night owls, for early-birds, and so on. Make sure the bathroom is still accessible from common areas or other rooms.

Of course some people might not like this kind of partitioning. Spirited house meetings might follow. People might break the rules just to be an ass. That's how it goes -- so think ahead of time about how you'll respond to keep the situation cool.

People who are sick should sleep separately from people who are well so they don't pass their cough or cold or fever or whatever along. People with lice or scabies should sleep separately from other people (and not on the carpet, the couch, or the mattress); everybody should wash their bedding (and roast the fuckers in a clothes drier) regularly until everybody in the squat finishes treatment with permethrin cream, and floors should be vacuumed (toss the bag outside). Putting cardboard under your bedroll gives you extra insulation from the cold and keeps you from sharing as many critters with the carpet.