What is there was a nationwide food shortage? Do you think that could ever happen? What would you do/grow in order to prepare yourself for such devastation?
There WAS nation wide food shortages!
In 1813/1814 volcanic eruptions in the south pacific cause the US to have virtually no summer.
Snow in June, Hard freezes in Sept.
There was virtually no growing season and thousands died.
Most of our Irish Immigrants came to America because of a Potato famine in Ireland where MILLIONS starved to death.
The US 'Civil War' (Wasn't anything 'Civil' about it.) ruined crops in the south, and starvation killed thousands.
Some people resorted to picking undigested kernels of grain out of the Union troops Horse Dung and eating them, others ate leather belts, shoes, harnesses to keep from dying.
1930's in America saw the 'Dust Bowl',
Unusually dry weather for about 10 years in the plains, western states & south that usually produced most of our wheat and most of our corn.
Floods in the 'Corn Belt' & Rice production along the Mississippi River states have driven up prices in the '80's and again in the last couple of years.
I live in Indiana, and we were effected both times.
People wonder why I grow garden, home can as much as I do...
First off, I like doing it!
I like knowing EXACTLY what's in my food supply!
And home canned food tastes so much better since it's picked at the correct time (Ripe) instead of industrial pickers taking everything from green to rotten!
No rat droppings or insect parts allowed in my canning!
No harmful chemicals, no poisons, no preservatives except for some table salt...
Secondly, It's good for me!
I'm former military, I was in three aircraft crashes, shot once and caught some shrapnel...
Had car and motorcycle wrecks, and my family is prone to lots of things like diabetes, cancer, arthritis, ect.
And I'm German/Native American, so, I LOVE TO EAT!
Working in the garden keeps the arthritis from the many fractures and dislocations limbered up so I don't stiffen up.
Working in the garden gets me off the sofa and away from the table and getting some exercise!
Bending, stretching, lifting (Gardening is 'Country Yoga'),
And lot's of 'Tinkering' with tomato cages, bean poles and pea fences, WEEDING!...
Turning the compost pile over, mending fences, digging potatoes, ect.
I have the blood pressure of a 25 year old, cholesterol is down some (still WAY high) and I keep my weight in check! (Weight is a BIG DEAL for Germans! We are ALL FAT!)
Third, I have about 2 years of home canned staples at any given time, since I know 'This-or-That' can get rainned out, eaten by bugs, early frost can get things, ect., so I usually put up at least two years worth when I'm running low on something.
Fourth, I get EXACTLY what I want!
If I want to put up 'Indian' corn as a lark, I can do it!
If I want to make 'Bread & Butter' pickles out of Zucchini, then I can have that!
(BTY, Zucchini makes GREAT pickles!)
If I want to mix string beans with great northern beans, then I can put them up that way!
Fifth, I get chemical free meat.
The large cattle/pig/chicken producers pump the cattle full of growth hormones and anti-biotics.
Those are CHEMICALS, not living pathogens, they don't 'Disappear' or 'Die' with low heat (cooking) and are passed right on to the consumer...
SO!
If I get or grow livestock locally, I know what is going into the meat I'm freezing/canning.
This gives me an automatic 2 year 'built in' buffer against failures, shortages, or just plain stupidity!
(like speculators driving up the price of Wheat, Corn, Soybeans, livestock, ect. like they did oil prices over the summer!)
I'm guessing a 2 year supply could be stretched to 2.5 or 3 years if I had to by hunting, fishing, foraging more than I normally do... Game meat and fish can/freeze very well too!
(Walnuts, Pecans, Hickory Nuts, Black Berries, Mushrooms, ect.)
I also like the fact that I have plantings seeds for two or three years from letting the last of each crop go to seed.
I have some types of seeds that I haven't seen sold in the catalogs for several years, but I like the way they produce/taste, so I do the seed storage every year on those items...
(Like 'Indian' sweet corn! Find that in the seed catalogs!)
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BTY Guys, SUGAR is a NITRATE, and will store indefinitely if you keep it air tight.
Sugar has been found in 4,000 year old Egyptian tombs, as good as the day it was stored!
Same with salt, keep it from moisture, and it will be good for at least 4,000 years!