The middle class crisis...some simple ways to fight back

Reading the thread about why corporations pay such low wages and every ones responses, along with other discussions here on ATS, as well as general consensus with most of the public juat makes it blaringly more obvious that people are dissatisfied with the way bussiness has moved so far towards the corporate elite and global economy.

This is in itself a conspiracy against the masses, the middle class is waning and the poor are in dire straights.

But people never talk about solutions that the masses can actually bring about, they blame it on the economy, the government, the stock market, the CEOs.
That puts people in the role of victim, which brings about feelings of helplessness, causes people to give up and just go with the flow.

Which is exactly what they want.

There are simple things that almost anyone can do and if enough people start making the changes a real effect will be felt by the Walmarts and Nikes who rely on foreign labor and low wages to their american workers.

Shop responsibly. Shop thoughtfully, and truly recognize the difference between need and want.

Whole foods/Wild oats pays even part time stockers 10 dollars/hr and has awesome insurance coverage for those same part time stockers.
That along with being able to find fair trade and organic foods makes it a good choice to shop for at least some of your groceries.
The bulk bins are a great money saver as well. Find other similarly responsibly owned and operated stores to do your shopping.

Buy beer from microbrewery instead of Budweiser etc.

Go to your local farmers markets for meat, veggies, fruit, and often times tons of other goodies and meet great people while your at it.

Join a local food coop

Shop at small locally owned shops for gifts and such.

Shop at etsy for a HUGE variety of all sorts of artisan crafted items everything from fine art to hoodies, lots of them are really really reasonably if not underpriced.

Take the handmade Pledge.

Obviously its not always possible to buy everything in this way but think about the impact from even a 25% shift in spending away from the Big Companies. By examining and understanding the difference between a true need and a want ways to cut spending become more apparent and it can free up money to spend on these other options.
It takes more work and you might not have as much...but we are straining resources by over aquiring anyway.


[edit on 30-1-2008 by gluetrap]

Great post, gluetrap!

Wonderful suggestions, all!

Another thing we can do is bring our own cotton bags to trundle home our purchases instead of relying on the plastic bags that are such a blight on the environment.

At the local "alternative" grocery store here in my town they have a bounty system; you get a nickle credit for every bag used that you brought in with you.

Until just now I'd never heard of Etsy.

One google later and I've got a new bookmark.

When I have more time I'm going back to scour that site throughly.

It looks like a wonderful resource for not only conscientious consumers, but as a venue for my own hand-crafted goods.

Thanks for that!

off/topic:

The other day on impulse, I purchased a refreshing high-proof beverage packaged in a glass container at the supermarket, and asked the bagger to bag in paper, rather than plastic. (I swear he rolled his eyes when I turned back to the checker to pay for my purchase )

So what'd he do?

He put the bottle in a paper bag inside of a plastic bag!

And then the checker made a crack about "Oh, he's going to drink it in the car, ha-ha."

Then it was my turn to roll my eyes.

A fifth of 80 proof rum, yeah, right...

Sheesh, talk about insensitive!

I was on my way home to join in the asteroid watch here on ATS and if the world was going to end, I sure didn't want to meet my impending doom sober!

At any rate, it was, in all likelihood, simply a misunderstanding on his part, I'm not one of those that would do so but I'm quite certain people ask for a double paper/plastic combo bag all the time.

Especially the poor sods on foot.

But the point is, how do we break this cycle of overconsumption and waste with the bloated sense of self-entitlement endemic to modern consumer culture?

Who knows?

But the pocketbook's a good place to start.

Starred, flagged!

Thanks
A Lot of those things are good for the enviroment and even better it puts a splinter under the fingernail of corporate giants

and etsy rocks..seriously i could get lost for days there!

reply to post by gluetrap


Thanks for the suggestions. I have done many of them for years.

One of my sons is a manager at a Whole Foods store. He started out as a part time cashier and worked his way up. They also offer excellent profit sharing. He has been working there now for about 8 years.

Over a decade ago, I was at a craft store, and they had marked down canvas totes like you mentioned for about .50 cents a piece. I bought a dozen of them and have been using them ever since instead of plastic bags at the grocery store.

I also never used disposable diapers on any of my children. I bought 8 dozen diapers when they were on sale for about $4.00 a box and used them for all 4 of my children. I still have some of them that I use as rags now around the house.

I now live in the south, and buy very little in the way of veggies from the grocery store at all. Instead I buy seeds from the local co-op and raise my own. I still have lots of almost everything in the freezer, and some that I canned. I had such a great bounty that much of what was planted yeilded enough to share with family members and friends. It was wonderful to swap produce with others that had strawberries, blueberries, and apples, as I do not have any fruit trees except for the tangerines I planted last year. I have already planted seeds for the garden to be set outside in about 6 weeks here.

If I need anything from a grocery store, I not only shop for myself, but neighbors as well, and vice versa. Everyone makes up a list, usually just one person goes and the funds are settled later. This saves on time and gas, and we rotate who goes shopping to make it fair. We also all belong to a food co-op run by a local church and get purchases there once a month.

As for other types of purchases in the way of clothing? I have not purchased a new item for myself in about 5 years. I shop only at resale stores, and you would be amazed how many items can be found in such places with the original tags still on them. Last visit there, I got a waffle iron that was never used for $2.00, and a set of 8 glasses for $1.00. In the fall, I found an amazing bargain of about 15 skeins of yarn for $3.50. I had 3 baby showers to go to, and I hand made baby blankets, bonnets, hats and booties as gifts. I do buy new items otherwise for gift giving.

There are some fantastic salvage stores also in this area. If you go often enough, eventually you will find what you need. I have found shampoo, and other toiletries that are usually sold at salons and spas for about 80% off the original price, and stock up when I do. The trick at these stores is to only buy what you need, but bring extra cash to stock up on items you like for those times you can find them.

Some people might call me cheap, but I consider myself frugal. I had an opportunity to retire at a relatively young age to work on other endeavors at my leisure, and I would absolutely hate to have to re-enter the workplace. How was I able to acheive early retirement? By doing some of the things I listed above and more. I raised 4 kids on my own as a single parent. We always had a roof over our heads, and food on the table. My kids have never been the best dressed in town, but they sure did learn some values! If I can do it, anyone can!

There is a thriving but small bartering community to be found in growers, crafters, artisans and more.

I have traded my soap for haircuts, plumbing, groceries, jewelry, and more
I have also traded dogsitting and help with training them for all sorts of goodies, including a brand new farm style kitchen sink

seriously most of my christmas gifts are trades and its awesome stuff, one of a kind too, im not talking about crocheted kleenex box covers.

Its all about a change in thinking, if we hate the big companies and the powers that be then we have to start somewhere to change the way things work.
Think of it as a form of non-violent protest

reply to post by gluetrap


I like the way you think.

As an added bonus, these types of local, grass-roots activities cheese off the big corporations.

We can eat better and enjoy the fruits of our own labors, shared with local people we'll come to know as friends, instead of lining the pockets of the faceless fat cats to whom we're just a number behind a dollar sign.

And that makes cents, er...sense!

I just wanted to add that these sorts of things are very grass roots-ish, and it goes along with that whole think globally act locally slogan
But it doesnt have to be quaint or homespun, quite the opposite!

it seems small but stop and think about it,
its something almost anyone can do to some extent and the more people that switch to this way of thinking the more effect it has on the local economies
thereby switching the focus from mega dollars and faceless corporate entities to keeping the money in your own city or region which in turn has a positive effect on other businesses, property values, and the overall stability and sense of well being of a community.

I know this might be slightly off topic, but please bare with me since it does relate.

I think one of the biggest problems now a days is the obvious reliance on outside sources, whether it's the federal government, or companies that would rather get their work force from india or hire illegals. We have forgotten about the most single important aspect that can help us outgrow and outdo these outside sources, and that is COMMUNITY!

In my own personal opinion, the way things have been going with politics and the economy, I would much rather we did away with the federal government altoghether. I know, I know, you're thinking "Question You're MAD!!" Well, yes I am mad, I'm incredibly upset with the way the government has been ruining its citizens at every turn. But ask yourselves this, back in the 1800's the federal government had little to no intervention in state affairs and people were doing fine on their own, why? because they stuck together as a community and did everything possible to support each other as well as the state's economy. Not only that, but state independency also allowed for healthy competition as well as interdependency between states. Now it's kinda hard to do that sort of thing when there's a wal-mart, Target, or whatever you wish to call it in every single state. Kinda hard to compete when these mega stores can take the most money while the small local businesses close or stay way behind.

Now a days, even our state senators living it up at washington are more interested in finding new ways to screw their own people than they are about supporting them. Whether it's a new stupid tax or scaring us into submission. It's simply getting out of hand and it's just disgusting.

Personally I think we should do away with the federal government altogether and go back to governing ourselves at a local level in a similar fashion. Every time I see or hear the awful news about something some government official does I always end up thinking "Why don't we simply just take away the power away from the politicians? Why don't we simply band together as a community, do our own thing away from the government, and if the government comes snooping around we simply say we're not interested in their business? that way we can continue supporting our community and tell the government to step off?"

I don't know, maybe I'm dreaming too much and it might not be plausible now a days, its just that I'm saddened to see how our communities have been warped all thanks to the federal government snooping into every state's business and telling us how we should do business (NAFTA). There's very little unity in communities anymore as far as I've seen (unless you live in a suburb or above, and even then, it's kind of minimal by comparison)


This reminds me of the movie called "Merlin" in that movie, in order to defeat the evil sorceress that was almost god-like, all merlin and a number of the towns people that were present had to do was simply... turn away and ignore her. Basically the idea was that, if she was ignored and no longer considered of any real importance to these peoples lives, then she didn't really have any purpose in the world any more. I can see how this could be applied, if enough people did the same thing, simply turned away, ignored the big corporations, didn't think they were of any real importance anymore and if instead, we become more realists in our approach to supporting our economy as well as our community and families.


[edit on 31-1-2008 by Question]

I dont think that its off topic at all
the problem now adays is people feel so very stuck like it is all out of their hands. This is due in large part to the breakdown of the community, now we have megachurches, supercenters, 6 lane highways and a less than stable leadership at the governmental level
the loss of the corner mom and pop store where you knew everyone and would chat for an hour while you bought your bread is indeed a tragic loss for more reasons that the economy

why do you think that online forums are such a popular thing?
there is a sense of community and in some cases a huge outpouring of support from these communities, i have experienced and reaped the benefits of support from online friends, and it truly helped me cope with a tragedy.

So everyone goes along in life grumbling about big business and lamenting the loss of the middle class, which is made up in large part by small business owners, while stocking their shopping carts high with groceries and electronics and their local walmart. Boosting the profits and bulking up the wallets of "The Man"

farmers markets are wonderful places full of life, people get to know eachother and by the end of the season my customers are hugging me and asking me about my dogs...I never get a hug at blockbuster!!

have you ever noticed the difference in smell between a walmart neighborhood market and a Wild oats, or Whole foods.

seriously everytime I walk into Wild Oats i'm hit with how good it smells and how pleasant it is to be there even when im shopping with my 6 yr old.

!

So how is it that this corporation can buy real foods that are ethically produced, manage to have substantial profit sharing and pay 100% of the insurance costs of even part time employees and only charge 10 to 15% more on most comprable items.

they sell bread now that a lady makes here in town, she does it all herself and would sell out of 30 loaves a night at the market. Now wild oats buys directly from her she has an entire rack of bread in a good spot in the store.
it is 3.50 a loaf and WOW is it yummy it is made with hand ground whoel wheat and oats with added honey..its not typically wheaty or course though
Mrs Baird sprocessed chewy sugar in a sack is 2.98 a loaf and has zero nutritional content and will keep you hungry and pack on the lbs.

So even though the initial cost for the bread is a littler bit higher, you eat less because it is more filling, it wont contribute to weight gain, diabetes or other health problems, you dont need to buy more clothes because your pants dont fit anymore

and you had the best PB&J around

But most of all the lady who makes it can continue to make it, pay her bills and spend her extra money in your own community rather than on lobbies and pay-outs

reply to post by gluetrap


well I'm convinced.

I don't know what we have here in GA, or even IL (I'm planning on moving back to IL, GA's job market is too hostile despite my qualifications, guess it's only easy to get a job here if you're illegal and willing to work on pennies on the dollar) But I'll make sure to look up some local stores and do away with mega stores unless its something I'm certain I won't be able to get anywhere else.

I live in oklahoma, in a mid sized city..but still its oklahoma, if we have it its easy to find
look up made in GA or Made in IL websites or check with the county extension offices for farmers markets

or look around for local grain fed cattle farmers..they know lots of good people and resources and are usually super friendly
We bought 1/4 of a grain fed hormone and antibiotic free cow for 3.99 a lb...so we get hamburger for 4 bucks a lb which is a little expensive, but we also get steak and roast etc.

They also threw in a bunch of organ meat, bones and not so tasty parts for cheap cheap cheap for the dogs.

Its a whole lot of meat for three people, six months to a year depending on how much beef we eat. they sell chicken too and im thinking of ordering a bunch

every city has small locally owned gift shops....they usually arent in the mall though!

I did buy the freezer from sears but its a trade off
and I buy clothes at gap and old navy because they fit!..and have a weakness for target
But i have managed to not go to walmart for over 2 years and whew what a relief!

Nice thread. I just wanted to chip in and say that the organic corn and tomaters I got last summer at the Farmer's Market in my area were delicious...I mean like way more flavor than the grocery store produce items that travel all over the continent from warehouse to distribution center and what have you...man, my mouth is watering right now with the memory of the taste...also I could be mistaken, but I think they lasted longer too in the fridge or in a basket...anyway, I can't wait for it to open up again...we don't have a food co-op here however but I wish we did have one...

my addition to what we can do to help is convert you're entire house inside and out to compact fluorescent lighting (you can get natural full spectrum, cool white, or warm white and they come in a variety of size and shapes...so no more excuses!), and use LED's where possible. They last 10 times longer than regular bulbs and save you a ton of energy...also green!!!

Good luck everyone, we may be headed for some hard times in the years to come so some of these tips are good to know about. I wish the govn't. would subsidize solar panels for every American home...
Sky....

[edit on 31-1-2008 by skyshow]

I've grown my own food for two years, now. My cholesterol was at 270 and the Dr. wanted me to start on statins. I told her I'd need a year to try to bring it down with diet alone. She assured me that it would be practically impossible. As of two weeks ago, it's down to 199 (the upper limit of 'normal'). I didn't lose a single pound either (bummer). She laughed when I asked her if they (the pharma co) pay her to say it's impossible to do it without meds. But, I wonder. (Without going into my regime I will say that cinnamon is a major part of it. And you can buy cinnamon capsules for less than 10$)

Doing research for school, I learned about irradiation of foods. Brought about by the meat companies not wanting anyone to get sick on undercooked meat (because their practices are so filthy), people don't realize how much of their food is irradiated. Irradiation serves to keep the produce looking fresh, extending it's shelf life and therefore it's profitability. I had a head of (obviously) irradiated broccoli in my fridge for two months (dont ask) and it looked and smelled exactly the same as it did the day it went in. This means the people who are trying to eat better ie...fresh vegetables...are actually eating worse. The food is rotten and full of free radicals (toxic), but it looks fine. To make matters worse, it is not against the law to sell irradiated food without labeling it as such. It must be labeled by law, when sold to the grocer...but they have no law that says they must tell the consumer.

It isn't hard to grow produce, and you dont need a huge farm. On the average, in America, your food is going to travel over 1000 miles before it hits your table....even if it's grown near you. Become a 'locavore' and eat nothing that comes from more than 100 miles from your house. That'll save on carbon emissions, alone. Not to mention eating good food is a completely different experience.

I believe the answer is re-education or re-orientation. If we raise our children (or grandchildren) to believe that the ultimate success in life is the size of their bank account or the size of their SUV, should we be surprised when they become unfeeling little capitalists?

I'm not a total Luddite (I'm on the Internet!) but I have examined my life to see what I can do...it's all I can do, right? So...I don't eat commercially raised meat or milk, anymore. I bake my own (whole wheat) bread, grow my food, make my pasta and boycott WalMart. I don't participate in commercial orgies like Xmas and all those other commercially based holidays that are basically engineered by the corporatocracy to separate me from my money.

Most importantly, I've learned the difference between wanting and needing something. You hit the nail on the head, there. I was buying 'stuff' because I was falling for the hype. It's amazing how much crap a person can live without if they'll just turn off the TV.

Guys

This thread has been a pleasure to read so far, with so many good ideas in it and some insightful thoughts on the way of the world.

I mentioned this in another thread the other day - the governmental trend is towards seperating family and breaking community. Its being done for a reason, and its not just being done in the US - I see it here in the UK too.

The reason is that family and community are powerful, powerful institutions that can bring about change an awful lot faster than expected when they need to, and that removes the power base away from central governments.

I'm uncomfortable with such policies, it strikes me as the absolute opposite of what so many people fought to prevent in WW2.

I'm all for community, and family. Its nice to find a whole bunch of other folks are too

some folks got together and made their own local neverending barter system. this is in michigan, btw. everyone who wants to be a part of it, lists the items they have that they don't need or want, and then others who need it or want it, can contact the person and go pick it up. it's free. that doesn't stimulate the economy but saves money, which i suppose could stimulate the economy.

one way this could work out nicely is for food stuffs. we have 2 tangerine trees in our yard, that are absolutely loaded with tangerines, every other year. most of the tangerines go to waste. something like that would be a nice commodity on a barter system. people who need or want the fresh fruit, can bring a couple bags, fill them up and save a bundle of cash. for just 5 tangerines it's nearly 2 dollars at the supermarket, and we have hundreds and hundreds of these things, all organically grown, right in our backyard lol

i'm sure there are other people who have similar scenarios. grapefruits, strawberries, avocadoes, beans, etc.

There are trade groups here as well, much better ones than freecycle,


If i had that many tangerines i would be in citrus heaven!
I grew tomatoes and potatoes this year and had more than i knew what to do with...
everyone I know had all they wanted.

The real key is changing the way the money is spent, moving from large nationally owned corporations with zero ethics to buying from the people in your community.
Farmers markets/artisan markets/art fairs are awesome, especially when they are held regularly weekly or monthly because people come over and over again so a community of sorts is formed.

Paying cash whenever possible, waiting to buy the new tv until you can actually afford it.

We have one credit card frozen in a chunk of ice for emergencies only
the rest of the time we use a visa check card, so we can still shop where credit cards are needed, pay our bills online etc, get a hotel room or rental car.

Also none of these things will immediatly solve the economic crisis that is facing the country, but it does boost morale, and the sales would immediatly improve the community. Spend more at kathy gifts and she will then spend more at franks shoes who goes to the locally owned hardware store and buys a new riding lawnmower.
Its a trickle down effect.
There was a big movement towards this starting this last year in my city, we went from a single farmers market on saturday's to 4 a week run by different people and all were successful, many merchants sold at several of them as well.
From there the local art festival got a huge boom and saw record attendance and our local music festival grew in leaps and bounds and was compared to south by southwest in its early days by the national music critics and writers.

All of those things build community and all of them focus on a more Indie lifestyle, which naturally looks away from corporate capitalism and focuses on quality and local artisans.

Hi Everyone,
Great Ideas.
I'd like to add a few, if I may, that have helped my wife and I, as we are retired and living on fixed income.
We also have a fairly large vegetable garden, living in the Middle Atlantic states. Its' about 20' by 100'. I grow my own tomato plants from seed, and have about 60 plants a year, everything from plum tomatoes to beefsteak(only grow the VFN-resistant varieties), to cherry tomatoes(which our grandchildren love!) In addition, we grow leaf lettuce, basil (so easy to grow), parsley, potatoes, green beans and zucchini(yes- after about 2 weeks of harvest, we're giving a ton away. We eat whatever fresh tomatoes we can, but then puree in a blender the remainders, cook them down, and freeze them in plastic containers, and use them all winter for soup, and tomato sauce.
Soup is a great way to stretch the budget. We drop 64 ounce of frozen tomato puree into a very large pot of boiling water, add peeled and chopped potatoes, basil and a can of Bumble Bee baby whole clams($1.28 in Walmart), and simmer it for a couple hours. It makes enough Manhatten Clam Chowder for the two of us for an entire week- total cost- $1.28, since the veggies we grow ourselves. We each have one cup for lunch and one cup for dinner-It works out to about 4 cents a cup. Not bad, and it's all organic-we use no pesticides.
By the way, you can get the seeds at Walmart or most hardware stores, in early spring for 10cents a package, to maybe 30 cents a package. 3 or 4 packets of basil will supply you for a year. It all grows, there is no waste. We freeze and dry whatever bsil we don't use fresh, but use whatever fresh you can-it's fantastic.
We Americans eat much too much meat. What we did is eliminate all red meat several years ago, and eat mostly skinless chicken and fish. Our supermarket has a sale about once a month, where you can get 4 pounds of flounder fillet for $9.99.
We buy the boneless chicken breasts when they are on sale, take one and cut it into small bite sized pieces, then sautee it with tons of vegetables and plain brown rice. Sometimes we add some stewed tomatoes, which we also jar and freeze, and spice it slightly to make like a Jambalaya. Again, the veggies and rice make for many portions, and it works out to about 50 cents a meal, all in one pan!
The other thing we do is clip tons of coupons from the Sunday papers. Here's the deal on that- usually the first Sunday of the month, Proctor and Gamble have their inserts, and the third Sunday, Unilever has theirs. We check the papers, before buying them, and if there are a lot of good coupons, we may buy two papers. We always shop for sale items, and go for grocery stores that double (sometimes triple) the coupons.
Anyway, I hope this helps.

bags of beans are good too. they stay good for a long long time and are good for you (if you're not allergic). we buy them for stockpile, every so often. also big containers of oats. last forever and a very complete food. can get them at wild oats, as well. local honey is good for just about everything, even a diabetic may find it useful for applying to wounds (to help them heal faster). and here's a surprising one and based on your personal pallete, but a big bag of organic, dehydrated coconut flakes (coconut is very good for you, unless you're allergic) and can be added to your oatmeal to give it some umph. barley grass is also good for you.


i studied natural medicine for awhile. i was in college for that purpose, oanyway.
i have a whole list of natural cures.

for example, diabetic neuropathy and autism, can be treated with methyl b-12 (look it up, amazing stuff). has to be methyl b-12 though. i'd say this would be good for older people as well. as we age, the enzyme that breaks this down outta b-12, is in less abundance. methyl b-12 is the nutrient your body uses to regenerate nerve tissue. i'm living proof of that. i use to have horrific neuropathy from gulf war syndrome, but after about a month of taking the 5000mcg (micrograms) once every three days, all the symptoms are gone, but you have to keep taking it. the good news is, you only have to take it once every three days so that bottle will last a long time.

alpha lipoic acid is a super anti-oxidant, many times more effective than grape seed extract or vitamin c, etc.

salmon fish is extremely good for memory problems. mom had advanced alzheimers and the only thing that would bring her back to us for a few hours, was a big helping of salmon (she'd eat it one day and the next day, she would remember my name and carry on conversations that made sense).

baking soda cures many many problems, so many in fact, i'm kinda losing track. but i've heard a teaspoon in a glass of water, every morning, is good for prostate and other issues. i've used it to remove unusual skin anomalies.
apparently it's really good at balancing pH. it's cheap too, lasts a long time, and can be used for other things as well (deodorizer).

hawthorne berry lowers blood pressure by dilating the tiny capillaries all over the body, increasing oxygen flow by fifty percent and lowering blood pressure.

milk thistle is good for your liver and since your liver is your body's filtration system, it's a good idea to keep it healthy.

echinacea can cure alot of viral and bacterial infections. but only if you don't have an auto immune disease.

too much cinnamon can be harmful. take it sparingly when in concentrated form.

green tea is good. apples are good. cranberries are good. avocadoes are good. almost anything super spicy hot, is good, such as cayenne pepper, jalapenos, etc

lacto bacillus acidophilus (pro-biotic) for rebalancing the digestive system.

tons of stuff in the spice cabinet have interesting and useful histories.

eat a whole clove of garlic, raw, at the onset of a cold.

use salt water solution (saline) to flush your sinus passages if you have a persistent sinus problem/cold, etc

extremely hot and thick oatmeal, eating as soon as you can stand it and is safe temperature, to help sweat out a virus or cold.

good old bran flakes to regulate bowels.

celtic sea salt or himalayan crystal salt, much better for you (still has all its trace minerals in it, minus the added junk that's in processed table salt. will feed your adrenal glands which are typically worn out from western lifestyle)

eh, i could go on for a long time on this topic but these are ways to be well and feel better and do so without compromising your budget too much. the only real expenses are the methyl b-12, acidophilus, hawthorne berry, echinacea, alpha lipoic acid and milk thistle. everything else is edible and can double for other things as well.

for example, you can use oatmeal for certain types of skin care.
baking soda can also be used in some forms of cooking. honey also has other uses than just for food.

erm, i better stop.

Natural and herbal medicine is also one of my areas of study, and natural skin care is what I do for a living
oatmeal is good for everything
Jojoba oil is the best natural or synthetic moisturizer around
pure shea butter is fabulous...buy it online from a supply company it will cost 1/4 of what it costs for the good stuff at a store and is generally more pure
Any sort of natural salt is good for soaking, wound care, seasoning and drawing out of impurities
I prefer Glacier or actual dead sea salt
A good handmade soap will blow you out of the water...but i am biased

I am anemic, sometimes fairly severly and cant take iron supplements
but when i get really worn down my osteopath gives me a B-12 shot and im like new woman for quite a while afterwards
Omgega 3 is something everyone should take
acidopholous or other beneficial bacteria are good for everyone
drink kefir if you can stand the taste..if not eat yogurt or take capsules, we tend to have an overgrowth of the yeast fungi due to our high sugar and processed food intake.

how does this relate to the topic at hand you ask?
well it takes the money out of Big PHarma and corrupt medical systems.
makes you healthy instead of simply treating symptoms which is often what doctors are doing nowadays!