Preventing food shortages and being self sustainable.

Hello there! I wanna address the readiness of soaring food prices and shortages and how can we overcome them. How can we protect our food supply from the thives and things of that nature when stuff hit the fan? I'm a community farmer who do his very to grow food that's culturally fit in his community historically and ethically to enrich the body and landscape. We gotta return to substainable farming to help our local ecosystems and people to better long term health. Give some powerful ideas and things to help our people during this coming famine that's soon to wash into our streets. Much love and blessings!

We need to Learn to Eat the Weeds.  Right now. Even before a disaster we can be foraging and eating what's growing wild around us. (For city-dwellers like me it will be essential in leaner times to know where local edible plants are growing in clean soil.) Locating wild food sources, identifying them, and learning what to do with them now will increase our well-being in the present as well as prepare us for anything in the future. The more we know, the faster and better we will be able to teach others, too.  

I think community farmers and local food production would go a long way towards mitigating food shortages.  Having local small farmers building connections with local grocers, millers, feed stores, etc. would be ideal.  And farmer's markets of course.  Then if the trains of grain and trucks full of California veggies stop coming to town, a local, established distribution network can attempt to take over.

I am just out side of a small urban area here.  I have a large yard and we keep expanding our food production every year.    We are just starting to get to the point when where we are producing more than we can eat and we hope to keep expanding our production to share as we can.  In the mean time...

We always try and be good neighbors.  We are lucky to have great neighbors and a good network of friends in the area.  We  spend a lot of time volunteering for various  and completely different  organizations over the years.  This has helped us meet an incredible group of people  that have become great friends who are impressive doers and good hard working people.  

I have been teaching, giving plants to, sharing seeds, and building  gardens and add edible landscaping to everyone I know.  Every little bit counts.

I will be growing extra seedlings to give away with the focus on container gardening and herb gardens.   I used to container garden when I lived in the city so I know what works well here.  

I am fortunate enough to be able to  support local farmers that use regenerative, organic, and rotational grazing practices.   I am always  referring  others to these farms.  I know not everyone can afford to support this kind of food production but I can so I am a big supporter of local food production.

I have also started to work on figuring out how to really cook with what we produce here and sharing those recipes and foods.   I have to cook from scratch due to some insane dietary restrictions for my health.  I have been expanding the garden with all sorts of food that is safe for me to eat.  This means getting creative in the cooking department and it is an insane amount of work.  
Also eating the weeds is one thing but making them taste good is something worth learning.  Learning to cook from scratch with basic ingredients is going to become really important as prices for prepared and processed ingredients continue to increase.   Old school cook books like the Joy of Cooking 1966 edition or depression era books are treasures on stretching basic foods.   Also fermenting, dehydrating, canning, eating nose to tail, recipes that use invasive species,  and cooking styles from other parts of the world will expand your options with low cost food options.

We are lucky that several state legislators have proposed bills this year to expand cottage food production limits,  allow for food producing gardens in yards for personal or commercial production, and expand raw milk products that can be sold.   It may be worth contacting your political overloads to see if they can make some of these things happen where you are.

I am also slowly stocking up on the things I can't get locally that I will need to preserve the local food that I do produce or source. Our winters are cold and long so preserving for the winter is a must.  Salt, fermenting containers, fermenting lids for canning jars, sprouting seeds, sugar, lemon juice, clear gel, vinegar, pectin, whole seed spices that I can't grow, canning jars, lids, and  other supplies are all needed to make the most of what we grow.  

If you can  stock up on staples of your choice.  It may be worth checking restaurant supply places for bulk packages if your regular stores are looking sparse.  

For some creative ideas on budget urban cooking check out June's Budget Eats videos  on You Tube.  

In urban environments, there are tons of resources, but they are moving quickly. Many people come in from the country to sell things at farmer's markets, for example, but go back for the rest of the week.  Restaurants have leftover food that they might be able to at least compost or give to animals, but it needs to be hauled off reliably on a consistent schedule.  Grocery stores have been persuaded to donate expired food to the poor, but persuading them that they aren't lowering the price of their food for sale is key.  Resources are more abundant but strategy is even more crucial.  Lots of people are around with skills, but they tend to be expensive.  People don't seem to retire any more, so volunteers are harder to find.  So many of the elderly are facing physical limitations, so priorities and adjustments for their volunteering is important.  So many young people these days grow up mostly playing video games and they don't have much connection to nature.  Getting them involved in food production will be key.
John S
PDX OR

What about investing in our own livestock such as chickens and stuff? I've got them and goats at my community farm.

Yes, we looked into both rabbits and chickens at our place. Poultry are specifically forbidden, and raising rabbits for us would be exchanging something we need more of (time) for something we don't use much (meat). But either one could be great for a different family.  Good idea.  Chickens are probably the most common urban livestock.
John S
PDX OR

John Suavecito wrote:Yes, we looked into both rabbits and chickens at our place. Poultry are specifically forbidden, and raising rabbits for us would be exchanging something we need more of (time) for something we don't use much (meat). But either one could be great for a different family.  Good idea.  Chickens are probably the most common urban livestock.
John S
PDX OR

What about quail? The eggs are smaller, but still good to eat. And they can be kept in much smaller enclosures, while being considered "ornamental".

"What about quail? The eggs are smaller, but still good to eat. And they can be kept in much smaller enclosures, while being considered "ornamental".

Another excellent idea. Many people consider quail's eggs to be gourmet.  One could even start an income flow by developing a relationship with high end breakfast places, to feed trendy,  big-spending rich people.
John S
PDX OR

My community farm grown an orchard of apples and stuff. I'm trying to add paw paws to their orchard this year. Any of you grown an orchard?

Yes, I have a food forest.
John S
PDX OR

Excellent! What you grow in there?

common fruits, rare fruits, edible weeds, common veg, unusual veg, herbs, mushrooms.

Wow! You grow stuff that's native to your area or region? I try to grow more indigenously, but add some non native stuff as long as they don't oversea my area.

Both native and from other areas, but many of the other areas have similar climates.

Which part of the country you're from? I'm from the Midwest Great Lakes where I grow stuff Native Americans and European settlers used to grow in their time and continue to grow on this day.

John S
PDX OR

Oregon you're from? You ever had wild camas roots before as well as water potato or duck potato which is similar to water lily?

Yep, Those are some of our native plants. Indigenous wisdom.

What about cattail, wild rice and other edible stuff from swamps and marshes? Anyway to make a salad from weeds and stuff from the wild?

What typically goes into my weed salads ; Dock leaves, chickweed, wild lettuce, violet leaves and flowers, queen Annes lace foliage, henbit tops, and any garden greens that managed to seed themselves into my grass. For the wild salad purposes, I pretend they are also wild.

Until you are familiar with the wild salads, I recommend folk to not use more that 50% chickweed in a salad. The stems can be too overwhelming, if the plants are less than robust. Also, the wild lettuce is quite bitter once the stalks start growing, so less than 1/4 for salads.

Many parts of cattail are edible.
John S
PDX OR

What types of wild fruit can be used for fruit salad?  Could Paw-Paws be used in a fruit salad?

We probably can't prevent food shortages entirely--in 2021 natural disasters decimated the global wheat crop, which is behind the higher prices in wheat now, and will be behind scarcity later--there's a lot each of us can do to ensure that we and our local communities are more resilient to future disruptions.

If your local community is prepared, regional, national, and global scarcity will hurt less. Help people learn how to store food without it going bad (bottling, rootcellaring, drying, freezing, dry storage with insect prevention, etc), enable people to grow what they can if you're in a rural or suburban area, help set up rainwater catchment, and so on. If your neighbours aren't starving and know you as a pillar of the community, not only will they avoid stealing from you, they'll prevent other people from stealing from you, too. Work together with your community--there is a reason for old proverbs like "a single twig breaks, but the bundle is strong".

Food co-operatives, food rescue, and even dumpster diving are options in urban areas, as is connecting to individual farmers in the countryside, and sharing those connections to people close to you. Historically, those connections are what saved individuals and small communities from famine in difficult times.

Encourage people around you to look at what food they buy and where it was grown. Relying on imports is a risk in a world with increasingly unstable supply chains. If there are imports you rely on, consider keeping 6-12 months (or more) onhand if possible. And look at what of those you can replace with locally grown/made options. Going through shortages is hard enough without going through significant changes in diet, or withdrawl from addictions (e.g. coffee).

How we store our own food to help them last long term for future use? Any storage areas to keep food secure at all circumstances?

I think that to be self sustainable in the food department requires an annual cycle of food.  Grow it one year, save the seeds and store the crops to eat through the winter.  Plant again the next year.  Most things that are stored for more than a year (other than seeds) are just food at that point (canned goods, dehydrated, frozen, fermented, etc) so they'll feed you but you still have to make more to get through the following year.

So I think planning for a resilient garden/farm that can grow the right crops every year is a great start.  Preserve the harvest, save the seeds and build up a buffer of stored food for the bad years.

As for "security", it depends on what you're securing it from.  I think you have to decide what you're worried about and then plan accordingly.  If you build up your community so everyone is more resilient, then you may not have to worry about hordes of zombies.  If you have a variety of storage methods there's less risk of a power outage or flood ruining your whole pantry.

I'm taking about protecting food from thieves and crooks during the riots and unrest that lurk soon on this world. My potatoes and sweet potatoes always rot when I try to store them in a certain dark and lonely place, how can I store them right?

Honestly if you are worried about thieves and riots get out of the city. Other than that maybe build hiding holes in the walls.

In case if electric power shut down? How we better store up food to keep fresh and free from being spoiled? There were folk back in the old days who put meat and stuff under a dark and cool basement back then. Is the method still in practice today?

Typically meat would be cured in some fashion. You can confit it, or make hams etc.

There are a number of books on preserving food like they did in the old days.  In the really old days I think it consisted of drying, smoking, fermenting and freezing (in winter).  And keeping the meat "on the hoof" until it was cool enough to store.

In the semi olden days they were able to add canning, root cellars and other techniques.  

For potatoes, they like it dark, very humid and 33 degrees.  Typical root cellar conditions.  Sweet potatoes need to be cured first (warm and dry for a couple weeks), then stored in drier conditions closer to 55-60 degrees.  So normal basements in a dryer area like near a furnace.

I store:
Carrots, beets, onions and apples (in buckets) in a semi-decent root cellar
Garlic and squash are in a cold part of the basement
Sweet potatoes are in a warmer part of the basement

Blake Lenoir,  

I don't know have an answer for how to protect your food other than working with reliable friends and family in the area to share resources and decentralize storage.  If they are on board with putting some extra food in the pantry you could pool resources to buy in bulk, garden together, preserve food together, cook together, or work together in general.  


Luckily there is an entire section of this forum devoted to food preservation.  https://permies.com/f/97/food-preservation.
Different methods work best for different types of food.  If you ever get to the point where you are growing a large percentage of your own food you will find preserving it takes as much of more time than growing it.  Of course you will have amazing home produced foods for your efforts.

There are many books on various types of food preservation and it is best to get recent editions.  It is best to start with proven recipes till you understand the chemistry and food safety requirements of each preservation method.  

If you are looking to extend the quality of shelf stable pantry goods look into long term pantry storage.  It can be as simple as getting the dry goods out of the bag or box they come in and repackaging them in a glass jar  and storing them in a cool, dry dark place.  Many apartment dwellers use the space under beds, behind couches, under tables with a tablecloth to hide them and other out of the way pockets of space.  

Pressure canning is a way to make home made can goods of low acid foods like meats  and most vegetables.  It will give your food that canned taste and texture but everything will keep shelf stable for more than a year.  You will need a pressure canner (not a pressure cooker or instapot) canning jars, canning lids, canning tools including a canning funnel and jar lifter.   You will also need to learn the safely rules and learn proper canning procedures so you don't give yourself botulism.  

Water bath canning is great for high acid foods like relish, jams, jellies, tomatoes, salsa, and pickles veggies.  It is best to use recipes from book on how to water bath can.  It is easier than pressure canning but you can't safely do meats and most veggies with this method.

Dehydrating foods is a good way to store foods and save space.  You can make your own jerky but it tends to be difficult to store without refrigeration in humid climates.  Fruits and veggies tend to dehydrate well but they will have a different texture when rehydrates and cooked with.  Cooking with dehydrated foods can super easy once you understand the rehydrating process.  

Fermenting is becoming one of my favorite ways to make pickles and hot sauce.  Home made fermented foods taste so much better then what you can buy at the store.   I find fermenting lids and glass weights that fit wide mouth canning jars to be the easiest way to ferment.  I also keep  extra kosher and sea salt on hand for fermenting.  You want to avoid salts with iodine or anti caking agents added to the salt.  

There are other methods  of preserving various types foods but I haven't tried them yet.  

The important thing is to research the how and why of each type of method and will it work in your climate.  We have very cold winters so our basement is cool enough to get my potatoes and sweet potatoes through most of the winter.  I will pressure can a bunch of the potatoes  when they start to go soft to extend the shelf life and use when I to throw together a fast meal.  My best keeping and healthiest potatoes will be replanted in the spring.  

Blake Lenoir wrote: In case if electric power shut down? How we better store up food to keep fresh and free from being spoiled? There were folk back in the old days who put meat and stuff under a dark and cool basement back then. Is the method still in practice today?

Well, what part of the world do you live in? We don't need your city, just a general idea of what your climate is. For example, in a normal winter, I can leave turnips and carrots in the ground, no special storage needed. Sunchokes can also be left in the ground and dug when needed. We don't usually have temps below 25*F for more than a few hours at a time.  This year, we've had separate stretches of 3 to seven days in  a row. My turnips are mostly mush. New to me this year, the Daikon radishes are gone too. I was hoping to save some seed. Potatoes and sweet potatoes do not survive my winters.

In colder regions some people will bury root crops below their frost line and dig them up in batches. Our frost line is 4 inches. I think for safety, my shallowness food should be 2 feet down. This method may not be worth it if your Frost line is 5 feet down. Frozen ground is not fun. It is not a good plan to starve to death with food under your feet.

People near me just cover their carrots (in the garden, undug) with a foot of straw or leaves.  Then the snow on top of that further insulates them.  Just go out in January and move it aside and dig them up.

Where I am the frost line is 4 feet deep so keeping root crops in the ground is problematic without deep mulch and low or high tunnel over it.  Even with that protection the ground may still be frozen.   This also means my basement is about 50F  over the winter and the floor of my basement is about 37F so storing alliums, winter squashes, potatoes, and sweet potatoes pretty easy.  

 

What to do if you live in an apartment with no land access to grow? No available land for community garden and no basement for storage? Wish I could move, but it’s currently not an option.

Anna Bo wrote:What to do if you live in an apartment with no land access to grow? No available land for community garden and no basement for storage? Wish I could move, but it’s currently not an option.

Welcome to Permies Anna and congratulations on your first post.  The easiest option to start is a potted garden in your apartment.  If you do a search for growing plants in apartments. you may get some ideas.  Depending on the light, you may need to get a lamp so the plants get sufficient intensity of light.  This is a great place to start: https://permies.com/t/33885/Potting-Permaculture-Permaculture-Pots

Best wishes on your quest

When I was in an apartment with no growing space, I found older people I knew who had garden space they could no longer maintain.  They were used to the home grown vegetables and also had lots of wisdom about growing in the area!  They would let me use a part of their garden space to grow things, and I would help weed and tend their fruit and vegetables as well.  So both of us benefited, and I got to play in the soil.  

Kate said: You will need a pressure canner (not a pressure cooker or instapot)

Why not a pressure cooker? Is it just to volume capacity, or is there an actual difference? Having never pressure canned, I was excited to receive a smallish pressure cooker I figured I could experiment with. I'd rather make my learning mistakes with 3 quarts than 10!

One possible reason - the pressure bobble doesn't list a weight, and I'm at 5600 feet which I think qualifies as high altitude?

Thanks, Alexa.

Alexa Ayers wrote:Kate said: You will need a pressure canner (not a pressure cooker or instapot)

Why not a pressure cooker? Is it just to volume capacity, or is there an actual difference? Having never pressure canned, I was excited to receive a smallish pressure cooker I figured I could experiment with. I'd rather make my learning mistakes with 3 quarts than 10!

One possible reason - the pressure bobble doesn't list a weight, and I'm at 5600 feet which I think qualifies as high altitude?

Generally, pressure cookers are not recommended for canning for a number of reasons.  This has something to do with regulating the pressure in the canner I believe.