Prepare: Budget Survival Food List

I have made similar entries on this topic before, but it comes up frequently in conversations with others unfamiliar or new to preparing.

Food. We take for granted that the grocers will be open twenty four by seven down the street or that Costco will have pallets of food always available. The reality is, we have it good with the amount and supply of food in our stores. It was not always that way.

"The First Things To Go After A Crisis"

Two generations ago, the standard grocery store was a corner Piggly Wiggly not much bigger than a 7-11. It was dominated by canned goods and staples like flour and sugar. Produce was out front in barrows for passersby to examine and purchase. A butcher stood at the back of the store and cut steaks and chops to order. There was no plastic wrapped meat and shoppers had a limited, but fresh choice of meats.

A generation before that, we had open markets with butchers, green grocers and the like often time hawking still living animals like chickens, geese and ducks. Eggs sat in baskets next to metal covered cans of milk.

And here we are today. With massive warehouses of food minutes away from home. Walmart, Sams, Costco and he numerous supermarkets as well.

Food, comparatively speaking to earlier generations, is still cheap. Those oranges from Brazil, coconuts and bananas from the Pacific, limes from Mexico were unheard of in our grandparents time. And the cost back then would have been a working man's wages for a handful or bananas or lemons.

However, at the same time that food is available and cheap, it is also a blink away from being gone. For instance, what happens when gasoline is no longer available for shipping? Or if civil war breaks out in Mexico? Or a virus or bug affects crops in Florida or North Dakota?

We depend so much upon healthy water, air, conditions, weather, relations with other countries and fuel that any of these factors or a combination of them could disrupt our food supplies in just a few days.

Fortunately for you and me, most of our fellow citizens are still scarfing down a) fast food, b) to go meals from restaurants, c) prepared foods from the gourmet grocers, d) frozen meals and e) a pre-packaged diet plan advertised by a middle aged celebrity which means..

There is plenty of food for us today and tomorrow to stock up on. Regular things like produce, meat, canned and packaged food, and frozen staples. That means we can stock up now and go back for more tomorrow before it is all gone.

With the diminishing power of the dollar, how long before Mexico, Chile or Brazil decide they aren't going to send any more lemons, limes, oranges or bananas our way?

Or what if the Middle East goes nuclear bonkers (five minutes away any day) and oil shoots to 200.00 a barrel? Nearly everything in the store will be in short supply or so high priced your mortgage payment will look like a deal compared to food.

With money tight, what can you do today?

First, stock up on things which can make meals for several days and months. Not a frozen "hot pocket pizza" but real food.

Suggestions -

- Rice
- Dried beans
- Powdered milk
- oil and cooking lard
- canned vegetables and fruit
- canned meats like tuna and salmon.
- Sugar, syrup and honey.
- spices
- salt
- canned soups
- flour, baking powder and baking soda

All of these foods will keep for months if not years. And when combined together, can make healthy and filling foods.

This will work as long as water and power are available. For water, start storing water now and have a plan to get more. Even rain water can be filtered and boiled and drunk. Further power can come from a hot plate attached to a car battery if need be.

Best of all, budget and money. These foods above are relatively inexpensive. Unlike Long Term Foods like MRE, these ingredients can be combined to make many meals over a long period of time. MRE and the like are good for short term, on the move meals and worse of all, are very expensive.

So, save some money, make a list and start stockpiling these foods now. One more piece of advice, augment your stored food with a decent garden. Seeds are real cheap and available right now.

SHTF: Gardening

Nightline had a story Thursday night about the return of the Victory Garden. As usual, they blabbed about the "sustainable, eco-friendly" reasons for growing at least some of your own food.

Despite the fact that the story was taped in the trendy, high dollar suburb of Venice, CA and most of those interviewed were well-heeled and single, just having this sort of story must be significant.

Victory Gardens hail from World War Two (they had a version in WWI as well), when the government encouraged Americans to start gardens in their backyards allowing farm produce to be sent to the troops and starving allies like England. Amazingly, at its height, 40% of the produce consumed by Americans came from backyard and community Victory gardens.

Remember, in the 1940's, most Americans either lived in rural areas or urban. There was little if any suburban dwellers. So these Victory Gardens were producing food from postage stamp sized lawns, window boxes, roof top planters and vacant lots.

Imagine what today's suburban farmer could do with their 100 x 200 lot in a modern subdivision.

Asides on the Nightline story..

There were three interviewed in the story.. a single guy, a garden consultant and a odd ball film maker who had a few raised beds in front of his ocean front home. Wow - what diversity.

They should have included a Midwestern (or anywhere in the U.S.) family with kids working a backyard garden complete with a few yard walkers who were trying to shave their grocery bills.. (and prepare for the coming food shortages.. )..

They should have included an urban dweller with a mini farm in an adjoining vacant lot..

They should have included one of those supersized community lots seen in many large urban areas..

But they didn't. Oh well.

Next up Compost.

Do you compost? I do. Everything from the kitchen in the form of vegetable and fruit waste, tea bags and coffee grinds goes into the compost heap. With spring approaching, I have my own way of expediting the compost process.

I take my large planting pots from last year and add..

- A layer of leaves.
- A layer of dirt.
- A big old pile of rotting vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, etc.
- Anther layer of dirt.
- Another layer of leaves on top.

Mash the whole thing down underneath another empty pot and leave it alone for a couple of weeks. After that time, I dump the full pot into the top pot, turn over and leave it alone for a couple of weeks. Repeat until planting time.

It works for me.

Watch out for vermin in the compost heap. Rats and mice love digging for those kitchen scraps and once you have those guys, they aren't leaving anytime soon.

I go out in the evening with a flashlight and my little Robin Hood (a kids wooden bow and arrow with the rubber tip removed and the end sharpened with a pencil sharpener). Scares the devil out of those pests.

Time to get to the hardware store and check out the seed selection. In my area, the seeds come out now and disappear at Easter (must be a Lent thing). After April, you can't find any vegetable seeds at the store.

Remember, you can produce your own food at home and it is mandatory that you start this year. There is no reason to expect our economy to support Washington's madness much longer.

Good luck!