Top 4 Tips for Feeding Your Family During Uncertain Times
Over the past few years, most of us have become increasingly aware of how fragile our food system is. From partially stocked meat and produce sections, to romaine recalls and even empty toilet paper shelves. These issues have shown us that a few supply chain issues could leave us without food for long periods at a time.
In this blog I’m going to share with you my top 4 tips to feeding your family in uncertain times. I’ll be covering:
Why you need to know your local farmer and food grower
How planting fruit trees and bushes provides year-after-year abundance
How to stock your pantry with items that have a long shelf life
Why growing a garden is your best investment for feeding your family year round
If you’re tired of hearing about scarcity on the news, and feeling unprepared for the next shortage, you’re in the right place! Good for you for taking the first steps to personal food security.
In March of 2020, my wife and I, like most of you, were extremely concerned about how the shutdowns were going to affect us long term. I made a quick trip to the grocery store to grab a few supplies in case this “COVID thing” lasted longer than a few weeks. In the weeks and months that followed, it became clear that life had changed. We needed to make a long-term plan to make sure we could feed ourselves and our family in case things got worse. I was never what you would call a “prepper” but I had been growing produce for years and I wanted to up my game. My wife is a great cook, and I wondered how long could we live off the food in our pantry. What changes could we make today to ensure our family was prepared?
Fortunately we were able to make a few simple lifestyle changes, and now we feel secure that no matter what happens in the world, we have enough food.
Here are my top 4 things you should do to help secure your family's food needs in any situation:
Tip #1: Know your local farmer and food grower
Knowing where your food comes from and who is responsible for it can be powerful. You can start by shopping at your local farmer’s market. Buying food that was locally grown and raised will give you insight to your local food production system. If you live in the Midwest like I do, you may not be able to locally source avocados, but your local farmer can provide you with the foods grown in your area, and you can rely on them if the larger food system hits a snag.
Talk to the farmers and producers at your local market. Ask them where they grow their food and how long they've been doing it. Vendors who sell food love to talk about what they do and how they do it. As one of them, I know I love talking to my customers about using organic practices and how my produce is more nutrient dense because I focus on long-term soil and plant health.
If a CSA is available in your area, you can sign up for a subscription. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. There are different types, and prices range from low to high. Typically, you pay up front for a guaranteed weekly amount of produce. This can include eggs or meat depending on what your CSA offers. The CSA I ran for the past few years included twenty weeks of deliveries, with 6-8 different fresh, seasonal vegetables. Joining a CSA helps you support a local grower, and puts you first in line for a guaranteed amount of food on a regular basis.
Tip #2: Plant fruit trees and bushes for year-after-year abundance
Fruit is one of my favorite foods. I love apples, plums, strawberries, blueberries and mulberries, to name a few. The list of fruit you can easily grow in your own yard goes on and on. For a fun seasonal burst of color, grow fruit trees and bushes. I have heard the best time to plant a fruit tree is “7 years ago” and the second best time is today. If you are serious about food security, plant a few fruit trees and maybe a berry bush or two.
If you have the space, I suggest starting with 2-4 fruit trees in your yard. Make sure you pick varieties that grow well in your region and have few, if any pest issues. It’s no fun to plant fruit trees only to have the bugs eat most of your harvest. Pick your favorite fruits. We like to eat plums, peaches and pears so that was the first few trees I planted. I suggest looking at your grocery receipts to see what you buy the most, and find out if you can grow them in your own yard.
If you have limited space, start with planting strawberries. They can be quite easy to grow and they come back even stronger the next year. In my opinion strawberries, raspberries (I love black raspberries) and blackberries seem to be fairly low maintenance and simple to grow. Mine seem to produce like crazy and spread more each year.
If possible, buy your fruit trees and plant starts from a local greenhouse and not a big box home improvement store. Local vendors usually offer local varieties, plus can provide better growing information as well as support.
One fruit tree that grows like a weed is mulberries. In my region mulberry trees grow so well they can be tough to get rid of! Mulberries are super tasty and are great in pies or jam.
Bottom line, start with fruit you like or are buying already and plant a tree or bush. With any luck you will be harvesting fresh fruit from your yard for decades.
Tip #3: Stock your pantry with items that have a long shelf life
There was a reason staples like beans, rice, and pasta were hard to come by during the pandemic in early 2020. These items can last years if properly stored.
If you’re going to stock your pantry for the long term, make sure you buy long-lasting food. According to doesitgobad.com: “Properly stored dried beans stay safe to eat indefinitely, but start to lose vitamin content after 2 to 3 years of storage.” Stashing dried beans can set your mind at ease because you will be prepared for almost anything. Plus, beans are versatile, high in protein, and filling. They can be utilized in a variety of recipes from salads to soups and taco fillings.
My wife and I stock our pantry with bags and cans of beans, boxes of pasta and other shelf-stable staples. I suggest a minimum of 2-4 pounds of dried beans in your pantry at all times. This will give you plenty of options if the food system unexpectedly takes a dump.
Tip #4 Growing a garden can be your best investment for feeding your family year round
This is the most important tip of all! Learning to grow produce in your own garden can take you “off grid” and bulletproof your family for whatever comes your way. Not to mention the money you’ll save growing your own food at home. If you add up what you spend on garden items like salad, tomatoes, peppers, spinach, and cucumbers, you will see how reliant you are on the grocery store for food you could easily grow at home. I average a savings of $25 to $50 weekly by growing food at home in my garden. That amount can really add up. Plus homegrown produce tastes so much better! If this seems overwhelming, know that growing just two medium-sized tomato plants has the potential to save you over $150 per year. If you add in cucumbers, peppers and lettuce, that savings triples.
With rising gas prices and inflation, growing food at home could be your best weapon.
I suggest starting small with easy-to-grow veggies like lettuce, spinach and radishes. They’re quick to grow and take up little space. Once you have confidence with these, you can move onto growing cucumbers, kale, broccoli, tomatoes or other more intensive crops. With proper storage instructions, the yields from a few zucchini or squash plants will feed your family for months.
Homegrown produce like lettuce will last weeks longer than what you buy at the store. Have you ever returned from the grocery with what you thought was fresh salad only to have it rot in just a few days? I recently had this happen and made a quick video about my experience:
If you are new to gardening or want to take your garden to the next harvesting level, check out my online gardening course. In the course, I will teach you how to grow food in your own backyard, or on your balcony or patio.