Is becoming Self Sufficient the new fad?

[Wifezilla]

My mom specialized in Minute Rice and Kraft Mac & Cheese

can I just say I HATE prius drivers

http://smotri.com/video/view/?id=v7525877b7f
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzQBz3h5gnc

 

[Up-the-Creek]

I've always been poor and so has most of my family. Canning/gardening/reduce/reuse/recycle etc. etc. etc. is nothing new. For some it is a fad, for others, the only thing we ever knew. I've never gone a single year of my 34 without eating home canned produce. My grandma survived the great depression, and I'm sure it may have had an impact. We have always lived independent of a lot of things folks are going to be missing soon We have no TV now, and I caught a bit of the Today show while sitting at the doctors office with DD this morning, and realized...I don't miss it at all. It's just a stupid time sucker

This is how I see it also. Nothing new here either. I am shocked to see others pick up stuff we have been doing for years and act like it is something new and special. I do believe it is a fad,..being green and this "farm fresh" stuff. Everthing you see advertised now is connected to being right from the farm and oh so good for you,..even dog food. PLEASE,...I hope people realize this is nothing but marketing,..nothing has changed but the packaging. As everything else, this too will pass. People will get tired of the chickens pooping in their yard,..they will get tired of weeding those cute little veggie gardens,..and off they will go back to their former selves. IMO,...yep, its a fad.

 

[dragonlaurel]

I'd like to be more "Green" but it takes too much $ green to do it. So I'll have to make stuff myself. Oops that's a cheap locavore and it's green too. Guess there is more than one way to manage it. . The marketing dept bigwigs will hate me.

Seriously- I don't have the budget for much organic produce, so I got 100 sq ft at the community garden last year. I was a beginner at growing lots of them, and still did pretty good. Saved plenty, and I'm still eating home made pickles. They were harsh (too vinegar-y) at first but are mellowing nicely.

Ah, but that makes you truly "green" as opposed to commercially green-washed

So poverty can be the fast track to being Green. Saving money has motivated me almost as often as "doing the right thing" has.

 

[Jared77]

I guess it depends on how far folks want to take it. Is it a fad to be a localvore or whatever that term is? Heck been doing that for years buying at the farmers markets. I hunt and process our own, and what I don't get there I buy at the fair from the 4H kids. So whats that make me?

Ive always had a garden, Im the son of a biology teacher and a VERY understanding mother so all these projects are nothing new to me. I don't know that its a fad persay, I think more folks are having a garden when you look at the price of food, it only makes sense. Especially when its so easy to fill the freezer with stuff they're already buying except it doesnt have the fancy packaging. I think people are out to save money, and with as many people affected as there currently are, I don't see that mentality changing any.

It wasn't as bad as my grandparents remember it with the Great Depression but its definately left its mark on this generation of people and those kinds of marks do leave a lasting impression so we'll see. I don't see people stopping gardening just because they got a job or a raise or paid off their house. I think once people see the cost benefits they'll probably keep doing it. Same with the home brewing. People still want a beer or a glass of wine or whatever, why not drink cheaper?

The chickens and miniature goat craze I think will fade to some extent. They are work, and a responsiblity that you can't just drop off at the local kennel like you can with a dog, or leave an extra dish out like you can with a cat.

I don't see a big surge in the number of game licenses going up in our state. With the current trend they are going down, less people are in the woods.

I think the fad part comes from the way that its being marketed. The whole free range, organic, know your farmer nonsense is where the fad comes in. People read labels they don't do the research about the label to really understand whats being marketed to them. Oh grass fed beef, cage free eggs, heritage tomatos. Its just a way of trying to get in on what people are big on at the moment. Those who really want to eat better, and are willing to put the work in will actually get something out of it. Those who just buy the ads, are just sheeple who want to be "cool" and "do something earthy". Lot of these folks were doing it for years before it became mainstream. 5 years ago nobody knew who Joel Salatin was except the die hards, now he's someone that lots of folks know.

Where this goes I really don't know. I'm just going to keep doing my thing cause thats all I know how to do.

 

[savingdogs]

Well the interesting part for me is that this is what my husband and I wanted to do 30 years ago when we first MET and we finally got the place to do it, have a big garden and some livestock, that is. He always aimed to be "self sufficient" in a defense/emergency situation and to store food and such, whereever we have lived. So it seems strange to us, who always wanted a few goats, to find they are a current fad when we are ACTUALLY finally goat owners, and to see people making goat milk soap on the morning news when I actually have been making soap for a couple years and FINALLY have some goat milk to use.

I thought I was doing something really unusual....

Same with the chickens. We wanted to have a few chickens since we saw an old friend who moved from the city near us, out to the country to have a few horses and a few chickens, and introduced us to farm fresh eggs. This was probably MORE than 30 years ago. And again, we finally are getting the chicken thing down and now they are the hot topic on Portlandia, near where I happen to live.



It reminds me how I named my daughter Lindsey and everyone that year had the same idea, why I don't know. Prior to that I had only heard of one female named Lindsey and I named her after a MAN, so the fact that Lindsey was the number one most popular girl name that year stumped me just as much as this trend matching what I thought I chose independently.

 

[valmom]

I think my motivation started (very long ago!) because I always wanted to know HOW something was made. The Little House on the Prarie books were my first inspiration. My mother and grandmother were convenience all the way. I taught my grandmother how to crochet! I started my fiber obsession in 3rd grade. So, as far as SS- I can keep us warm

Then, I was always into horses, as was my mother- who bought us a pony when we moved to the "suburbs" in 3rd grade. That fueled my desire to live where I could keep my horse at home (well, that morphed into horsES). My father gardened every year probably as a cost saving measure, so it is something I just do every year. Whether it is successful or not every year, I still put something in the ground. It's just what I grew up doing.

When we moved to VT, a friend needed to get rid of her chickens to put her house on the market and we got them and started the fresh egg obsession- I can't envision ever not having chickens! We also started tapping our own maple trees. I learned how to make jams. I started making soap because my SO can go through a bar of soap every 4 days or so (I have NO idea how!) and it made sense to make it myself. With what I sell at work to people I have recouped my initial investment and make enough to keep me in oils pretty much. I am now making my own pasta because we have eggs to use up and it is a good thing to eat your own food as opposed to corporate food.

So, although I am not really SS in terms of needing to do it to live, it adds to my life to live this way.

(and I, too, find Prius drivers very holier than thou!)

 

[AL]

my mom grew up during depression times and you farmed mainly to eat...a store was not often
she swore never to live that life...and she hasn't had her hands in dirt and not a fan of animals all over 60 years now.

This is my dad. He said he swore he would never be a farmer or anything resembling it. We had a small garden growing up, but he just prepped it adn my mom did everything else.
He does help me with mine when I ask though.

I think some of the folks getting started in SS ventures are sincere. There is a lady at my work who just took a class offered by homeland security in self "preservation" in the event of a "major hurricane". They had concealed weapons training. She is now an instructor. She wants chickens and a couple of containers of basic veggies.
Another friend always wanted a cabin in the woods - they are building one themselves with their own pine trees. Now, she is asking questions about gardening (unfortunately I am the wrong person to ask :/ ), chickens and canning.

I started it partly for fun and partly because of the need to be able to care for myself and my family. I hope I have more time LOL

 

[patandchickens]

I don't know that its a fad persay, I think more folks are having a garden when you look at the price of food, it only makes sense.

Except the way I see magazines advising people to take up gardening, and the way a lot of people seem to be actually taking up gardening, is NOT going to save them money, not anytime real soon anyhow. Because people are going all "oooh, it has to look like a magazine" and buying all sorts of tools and supplies and fertilizers and building raised beds and buying soil for heaven's sake; and then spending $80 on seeds the vast majority of which will die outright because when you've never gardened before and are planting a 50x100' garden that is just realistically what tends to happen.

Certainly gardening CAN save you money (depending on your buying habits I suppose). But how much of the current fad DOES save people money, I'm real skeptical.

Of course a few people will get really into it and become actual effectual gardeners and save money now and in the future; but mostly, not so much. IMHO.

Where this goes I really don't know. I'm just going to keep doing my thing cause thats all I know how to do.

Yup, exactly

Pat

 

[freemotion]

I certainly hope it grows and doesn't fade because it is so difficult sometimes to get supplies needed. Try finding canning jars/lids around here other than late summer/early fall. Try to make jelly in March when you run out....can't find pectin. Try to buy lye for soap making.

That is one reason to stock up, too!

So whether it is a fad or a trend or just hobbies for the middle class, I hope it lasts and demand is created for local stores to carry things I need.

 

[chickenone]

I NEVER saved money with my garden, especially the first year. My soil was thick red clay and I used to buy lots of amendments for it. BUT, I had amazing fresh vegetables without any pesticide residue. And I loved going out and being able to pick my salad, or my beans for dinner along with some herbs; pulling potatoes and onions and cooking them up with some fresh eggs...

that was why I did it.