Why did you just buy 800lbs of wheat berries?
I'm a fan of the "ready-made" post, so here's something I wrote for a food storage email list I'm on. A new person on the list posed the question of why we are pursuing such extreme versions of food stockpiling, rather than the more traditional "emergency stores" version of food storage (you know, have enough food for a 3 days and water for a week version?). Well, here's my response. Now, if you'll excuse me, I promised myself I was going to go sit on the couch and read a magazine.
I'd like to take a stab at why we're working on BIG-scale food storage, because I've thought a lot about it. Many people do food storage based on the idea that they might have to live off of their reserves for maybe 1-2 weeks during a disaster, but what we're engaged in in this project is usually different. This is more of a change in lifestyles than a little bit of just-in-case safety packratting (although that's also a really good idea). Here's some of my thoughts on why *my family* is doing this-I do not speak for anyone else ;-).
1. Buying foods in bulk is much cheaper than buying piecemeal, but there's a big learning curve and upfront cost. We see hard times ahead (and if you doubt this, I'd encourage you to check out this post at the Automatic Earth, which highlights the parking lots in Santa Barbara currently being used for the middle-class homeless living in cars), and want to get the process of bulk-buying underway while we still have the means and energy to do so. Once you've got food stores in place (which can be expensive), maintaining them is easier and cheaper.
2. Buying bulk and stockpiling foods (via canning, freezing, whathaveyou) is a good way to eat locally year-round. This will matter more and more as energy costs continue to climb, and slowly the industrial food production system we're all living under breaks down. Right now, we're accustomed to being able to get just about any food we want any time of year, but that whole system is predicated on having lots of cheap energy, and those days are coming to an end. By learning the skills now to preserve lots of local foods, we're learning how to survive and eat well during the winter months, when fresh food is only limitedly available.
3. Along with #2, Sharon at Casaubon's Book has discussed on her blog in the past how radical changes in diet can be very wrenching, both for one's physical and mental health. By choosing to adapt to this diet now, we will be helping ourselves greatly in coping with the troubles to come. We'll be familiar with the diet, we'll know what we like and what we don't, we'll know how to store it, how to prepare it, and how to replenish it. The food will not come as a shock to our systems. Our minds, which may already be reeling from massive social changes, won't also take a hit from our foods-they will *be* our comfort foods, not a new form of deprivation. And we'll have gone through our trial-n-error phase already; no reason to stockpile 500 lbs of spelt only to find out that everyone in your family hates spelt!
4. My husband made this point, and I really love it: industrial foods have a much higher evil-per-calorie ratio than home-produced foods. The amount of evil that industrial food producers can pack in per calorie is really stunning, especially considering how much higher in calories most of that food is. From the greenhouse emissions involved in growing and shipping the food, the health and ecosystem ramifications of heavy pesticide and fertilizer use (Google "blue baby days Iowa" for a really fun one), the obesity-inducing levels of high-fructose corn syrup and palate-deadening levels of salt, and just the complete loss of connection with how one's food is grown and how to prepare it (beyond "cut open package, heat for 3 minutes on high"), industrial food is just pre-packaged, ready-to-eat evil. *My* food is not, it was grown with heart by people I know (sometimes by me), prepared with ingredients I can pronounce, and served in love to my family.
5. Finally, someone had better learn how to do all this stuff, cause when The Bad Times hit, our communities are going to need teachers. The original Victory Garden generation may be fading away by then, and honestly, the world has changed and there are new innovations that make this lifestyle much different (Gamma lids, anyone?). We can learn these things now, and later we may be a valuable commodity to our communities. Here's a rally cry: "A Home-Canner for Every Street!"
I'd like to take a stab at why we're working on BIG-scale food storage, because I've thought a lot about it. Many people do food storage based on the idea that they might have to live off of their reserves for maybe 1-2 weeks during a disaster, but what we're engaged in in this project is usually different. This is more of a change in lifestyles than a little bit of just-in-case safety packratting (although that's also a really good idea). Here's some of my thoughts on why *my family* is doing this-I do not speak for anyone else ;-).
1. Buying foods in bulk is much cheaper than buying piecemeal, but there's a big learning curve and upfront cost. We see hard times ahead (and if you doubt this, I'd encourage you to check out this post at the Automatic Earth, which highlights the parking lots in Santa Barbara currently being used for the middle-class homeless living in cars), and want to get the process of bulk-buying underway while we still have the means and energy to do so. Once you've got food stores in place (which can be expensive), maintaining them is easier and cheaper.
2. Buying bulk and stockpiling foods (via canning, freezing, whathaveyou) is a good way to eat locally year-round. This will matter more and more as energy costs continue to climb, and slowly the industrial food production system we're all living under breaks down. Right now, we're accustomed to being able to get just about any food we want any time of year, but that whole system is predicated on having lots of cheap energy, and those days are coming to an end. By learning the skills now to preserve lots of local foods, we're learning how to survive and eat well during the winter months, when fresh food is only limitedly available.
3. Along with #2, Sharon at Casaubon's Book has discussed on her blog in the past how radical changes in diet can be very wrenching, both for one's physical and mental health. By choosing to adapt to this diet now, we will be helping ourselves greatly in coping with the troubles to come. We'll be familiar with the diet, we'll know what we like and what we don't, we'll know how to store it, how to prepare it, and how to replenish it. The food will not come as a shock to our systems. Our minds, which may already be reeling from massive social changes, won't also take a hit from our foods-they will *be* our comfort foods, not a new form of deprivation. And we'll have gone through our trial-n-error phase already; no reason to stockpile 500 lbs of spelt only to find out that everyone in your family hates spelt!
4. My husband made this point, and I really love it: industrial foods have a much higher evil-per-calorie ratio than home-produced foods. The amount of evil that industrial food producers can pack in per calorie is really stunning, especially considering how much higher in calories most of that food is. From the greenhouse emissions involved in growing and shipping the food, the health and ecosystem ramifications of heavy pesticide and fertilizer use (Google "blue baby days Iowa" for a really fun one), the obesity-inducing levels of high-fructose corn syrup and palate-deadening levels of salt, and just the complete loss of connection with how one's food is grown and how to prepare it (beyond "cut open package, heat for 3 minutes on high"), industrial food is just pre-packaged, ready-to-eat evil. *My* food is not, it was grown with heart by people I know (sometimes by me), prepared with ingredients I can pronounce, and served in love to my family.
5. Finally, someone had better learn how to do all this stuff, cause when The Bad Times hit, our communities are going to need teachers. The original Victory Garden generation may be fading away by then, and honestly, the world has changed and there are new innovations that make this lifestyle much different (Gamma lids, anyone?). We can learn these things now, and later we may be a valuable commodity to our communities. Here's a rally cry: "A Home-Canner for Every Street!"