Today I would like to share ten tips for securing your food supply so
that in the event of a natural disaster, a terrorist attack, or civil
disobedience on a massive scale, you will be able to eat and to thrive –
no matter what.
Protecting Your Food Supply – No Matter What Happens
1. Grow your own food. This sounds so simple yet few
actually do it. There are lots of excuses: not enough room, not enough
sunlight, don’t know how and so on. Well I say get over it. Whether you
have a backyard area, a raised garden, or a few pots on the deck, with a
little bit of work you can grow something. Try using edible plants in
your landscape, or how about some fruit trees or an herb garden?
2. Learn to “put up” food by canning,
freezing or dehydrating your bounty. With or without modern gadgets,
putting up food as it is called, takes some effort, but the results are
worth it. You save money, control the use of salt and preservatives, and
guarantee a source of food when the grocer’s shelves are empty.
3. Plan for supplemental power when the power grid
shuts down. You will be out of luck if you only rely on a freezer. One
option is to get an emergency generator – just be sure that you also
store an adequate amount of fuel. Or forget about freezing and either
purchase canned foods, or can and dehydrate your own.
4. Zip those lips. Be discreet. Don’t brag about how
much food you have stored or you will find yourself the hit of the
cocktail set when friends and neighbors take note of where to eat when
the SHTF. Speaking of which, do you have a way to defend your food
supply?
5. Get creative about storage. As with the garden,
you may need to get creative when it comes to food storage. Walk around
your home or apartment with a new set of eyes. What about under the beds
or in a back corner of the closet? The crawlspace under you house is
good, too – just remember to keep things elevated a bit so that a damp
floor does not ruin your stored food.
6. Have alternative cooking sources. You are going
to need some way to cook your stored food if the power is out. Pick up
an inexpensive wood or charcoal burning grill such at the Volcano II Collapsible Stove. You
can also – very very little money – get a rocket stove that will burn
wood or biomass (twigs, pinecones and such). You will be amazed at how
versatile these little stoves are. Also consider a solar oven. Whatever you choose, make sure you either have fuel or access to fuel.
7. Learn depression cooking. Cook from scratch, make
your own bread, and learn to cook full meals from low-cost, easily
stored staples such as beans and rice. One of the mistakes people make
is to acquire food for emergency use yet continue to purchased pre-made,
pre-packaged, or takeout food for daily consumption. They never learn
to cook, let alone learn to cook using the most basic of ingredients.
8. Take advantage of nature’s bounty. Depending on
where you live, fishing or hunting or both may be an option for you.
Learn fishing and hunting skills now and please, don’t forget to learn
to clean and cook your bounty. There are some excellent videos on
butchering as well as preserving your bounty. It is not as difficult as
you think.
9. Store food properly. Read about the six enemies of food storageand
plan accordingly. Purchase food in bulk, then package and store dry
goods for the long term in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. Or shop at
dependable vendors such as Emergency Essentials for
foods that are already safely packaged for long-term emergency use. You
will be surprised at the many options available to you.
10. Depend on yourself, not the government. No list
would be complete without reminding you that you need to rely upon
yourself, and not others to tend to your needs if a disaster or other
major catastrophic event occurs. Your neighbors, who have not prepared,
may be downright hostile and the government, while well-intentioned, may
take some time to get needed supplies to your area. Analyze the
potential for disaster in your geographical area (earthquake, wild
fires, floods, tornado, hurricane) and have a plan that you can
implement should you need to shelter in place or evacuate.
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