Why do you store food?

[me&thegals]

I have had the urge, too, to put away more than usual. I already am an overstocker when there are good sales or I buy in bulk. But this year I keep having the niggling feeling I should maybe do more. I don't know if it is animal instinct, bad news everywhere, the influence of this site, or what.

So, that's why I opened this thread. Thanks for all your responses! It's neat to see how when the economy starts going down, people (some) instinctively return to the basics (food).

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I agree with you, Bee. Most of my concerns about food are more along the lines of how I can increase my means of production, less about how much I can store from the grocery store. I am doing both, but I know that my storage space and conditons are less than ideal and I also worry about being the person in the neighborhood that looks well-fed should things go south. I'd rather have my garden ready and recruit some extra hands, if the need should arise.

 

[Homesteadmom]

In 1994, dh & I were in a head-on collision with a semi on the interstate & injuries kept us from working for over 2 yrs. Disability kicked in for the following Jan after dh's last paycheck ended, mine was over in mid Nov. Foodstamps did not want to admit I was not getting childsupport on a regular basis & only gave us $85/mo, so between that & my $754/mo disability I had to pay the mortgage, utilities, clothing & shoes for ds, food & medications(no insurance either as I made too much to qualify for state assistance). It took 6 mos for dh to get SS too. So there were many mos we were down to not much food in the house for the last days till FS's & check came. We also got commodoties @ the local armory each mo too. Because of that time I have vowed to never be caught in that situation again & my pantry stays full! As do my freezers. But with the economy the way it is I have been stocking up more & more. My concern is that the stores are not carring as much variety as they used to in some things & with businesses closing there will be less & less choices. I also buy in bulk with grains so I need a safe way to atore them to keep them rodent & pest free. Buckets & gamma seals do that for me. I also have a concern after watching Gerald Celente one day, as to the retail market collapsing & the demand out weighing the supply. So we increased the size of our garden this yr to be able to put up more food for the winter & planting fruit trees too. We will be eating more & more in season here & more & more from we can do for ourselves. I have concerns about people knowing what I have & wanting it for themselves because they failed to prepare. Dh & I have already discussed the possibility of helping another family by letting them move in with us if need be, but they would have to help produce food & maintain the property & house too.

 

[me&thegals]

I've heard California agriculture is already getting hit, but it's apparently a water issue. I may not have all my facts straight, but what I heard is that Utah is only going to be piping half the water to CA that they used to. Apparently dairies in CA are shutting down and a LOT of cattle is going to market now. So, I think meat will be the same in price or maybe even cheaper when that glut hits the market, but after that... It and dairy would probably be way up.

I would be more concerned about grain production, though. Meat is such an inefficient way to feed the world, so I don't get as worried about drops in the meat market. We really can live without as much meat. But, if weather or other factors made it difficult to grow grains, that would really be a problem. I'm trying to get my grain-farming husband to grow some next year that we could actually eat instead of this crap that goes for ethanol and high-fructose corn syrup!

 

[Wifezilla]

Meat is such an inefficient way to feed the world

"Vegetarians argue that cows and sheep require pasturage that could be better used to raise grains for starving millions in third-world countries. This argument ignores the fact that a large portion of our earth's land is unsuited to cultivation. The open range, desert and mountainous areas yield their fruits in grazing animals. Grasslands perfectly suited to grazing cover an area in China's interior equal to three times the entire amount of land under cultivation in the rest of the country.24 Citing the arguments of vegetarians, the Chinese government has opted for more intense cultivation of existing agricultural lands rather than development of these untapped regions in order to supply much-needed animal products to the Chinese diet.

A far more serious threat to humanity is the monoculture of grains and legumes, which tends to deplete the soil and requires the use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides. The educated consumer and the enlightened farmer together can bring about the return of the mixed farm, where cultivation of fruits and vegetables is combined with the raising of livestock and fowl in a manner that is efficient, economical and environmentally friendly. Cattle providing rich manure are the absolute basis for healthy, sustainable farming. On marginal land, wise grass feeding practices can actually improve soil quality and restore pasture land. It is not animal cultivation that leads to hunger and famine but unwise agricultural practices and monopolistic distribution systems."
http://www.westonaprice.org/mythstruths/mtbeef.html

 

[me&thegals]

I very much agree with you, Wifezilla. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you didn't change anything else about how we do agriculture and just used the existing monocrop system, if you put all the food directly into human consumption rather than animal, you could feed a lot more humans than if it first went through animals.

I understand you don't favor a carb-based diet, and I'm not even talking about that sort of choice here, just a purely efficiency standpoint here.

If I had my way, I would completely transform our current ag system into sustainable meat grazing, followed by chickens, etc. The animal poop would be the only fertilizer, followed by vegetable growing, and so on. Basically what we've talked about before on this site about the Salatin way of doing things.

But, since we in America do not have a sustainable food system, one cut in water irrigation supplies and part of it starts to crumble.

 

[dacjohns]

I've heard California agriculture is already getting hit, but it's apparently a water issue. I may not have all my facts straight, but what I heard is that Utah is only going to be piping half the water to CA that they used to.

Just curious, not trying to dispute.

I didn't realize that Utah pipes water to California. I'm pretty sure that Los Angeles gets much (if not all) its water from the Owens Valley which is California.

The Colorado River flows through Utah but I think the water that ends up in California comes from behind Hoover Dam in Nevada.

I would like to know about piping water from Utah to CA. It would be interesting to see that engineering feat.

 

[Carolyn]

I have been preparing for years, I have "gut " feelings, I am surprised that we have gone this long. I am 54 and my oldest is 31 and the youngest is 23--they can all milk, can, cook from basics --from scratch, on an open fire, including my son. We don't only stockpile, cause once its gone--its gone. If something does happen, it won't just bounce back. We have gardens, goats and are getting the chickens back. Save seeds from year to year. But I was raised this way. We lived in town-so we didn't milk cows or goats, but one of my aunts had chickens for eggs, my dad hunted--sage brush mule deer--yechhh (when my ex hunted, we had grain fed white tale deer)--maybe if the mulies had been grain-fed, they would have been better, I don't know, the hunting areas were different. We grew everything we ate, in a garden and had apple trees, wild plum trees and rubarb and 2 of my aunts had raspberries and strawberries. My mother made all of our clothes, even my brothers shirts and all of our coats. I do the same thing, all of our clothes are home made--well except for a pair of jeans now and again. I have a spinning wheel, which I am ashamed to admit- I haven't used in several years, love to felt wool. We use cloth napkins, family cloth (along with TP) GS used cloth diapers, DD's use moma pads. We milk goats to make soap (which we sell) and laundry soap. I don't think we can go off grid, but my son has traded for a diesel generator --bio diesel (grrr, can't spell tonite ) it would cost too much to go completely off grid, but I am picking up ideas that would help us make it if something happened to the electricity. I am studying herbs now for different ailments--jsut in case. We have changed our way of living to become a habit, then if- well -when something happens, it doesn't affect our lifestyle much at all. Life is good .

 

[Carolyn]

oh I guess I really didn't answer the question--yes I think things are going to happen--drought, floods, poor ecomony and other things will happen..

 

[Wifezilla]

"Stuff" always happens. I think we are about to step in to a big pile of NEW stuff, but yeah...be prepared.