Paul Sakuma / AP

Nothing is more American than making chicken salad out of chicken... you know.

Almost like Newtonian law, every downward economic force creates a, well, not quite equal, but opposite entrepreneurial reaction.

Here are three examples of businesses trying to push back against the downturn.

WEDDING INSURANCE

Travelers Insurance

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[TRV  Loading...      ()   ] is pitching the need for wedding insurance as we head into June. The company says more than 40 percent of claims over the last two years involve vendors and venues, as some "went out of business or experienced some other financial setback." I bet. While I can see a situation where the restaurant hosting your reception suddenly closes, or the wedding florist goes out of business, there were other things I didn't consider. Travelers says one in five wedding insurance claims "were the result of a key family member...not being able to attend at the last minute for reasons like sickness, untimely death, travel delays, etc.:" You can insure against that?

HOME TENDERS

How's this for a business idea? You offer realtors someone to baby-sit vacant bank-owned homes, promising that a living, breathing human on the property will sell it twice as fast. AND it doesn't cost a thing. That's the business model behind Designer Home Tending, which started in Idaho and has moved into high-foreclosure areas like Las Vegas, Sacramento and Los Angeles. The company makes money by charging a small rent to its pre-screened "tenders". It promotes itself as a win-win, by helping realtors sell property more quickly "while also offering others some affordable housing that is really needed during these down economic times." Of course, if these tenders are doing the trick, they will need to move out almost as quickly as they move in. Designer Home Tending says tenders can mow the lawn or clean the pool and keep the house clean "at no cost".

FAT FARMS

The travel industry is hurting, but apparently not in one big, bulging corner. The Pritikin Longevity Center claims its Florida retreat has seen an increase in bookings in the last two months. The Longevity Center focuses on "those who need to make 360 lifestyle changes". Which, to me, means you end up back where you started. I'd prefer a 180 lifestyle change, especially in my 401k. Pritikin—which claims Michael Moore is a frequent visitor—says clients are baby boomers and executives who are stressed out "and often candidates for heart attack, obesity, diabetes or other life threatening diseases".

Again, like my 401k, minus the obesity.

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