Preparedness for when

Frugalsod

1Tonsil wrote: »

I was interested to read that so many of you have cut down on eating meat. Four months ago my husband was told to cut down on meat and to eat healthy. No red meat at all and more fish, fruit and veggies. It suited me as I would rather eat that way anyway. I have long spells of not wanting to eat meat at all. My OH has got used to the healthy eating now and prefers it. Our food bills have come down despite the ten percent rise in vat on many foods.There is a glut of fruit and veg due to the very hot , humid summer we have just had, so we are making the most of them.

I think it is a combination of things. Many people simply cannot afford lots of red meat every day. Though for others it is healthier to cut down red meat significantly, which is the reason for me, though the costs of red meat is also off putting.

Though for Greece the higher VAT must be having an impact on diets for the majority of people. If such a change happened here I think I would be impacted much less than I used to because of my change to clean cooking and making much more from scratch.

For my chillis I can stretch a pound of mince to last 18 meals so well below the 1 or 2 ounces a day of red mean that they recommend. It is bulked up with lots of lentils and beans so is actually pretty healthy everything considered.

Have you looked into storing, canning or preserving the excess fruit and veg some way?

1Tonsil

At the moment I am freezing it or preserving it, but seriously considering getting a dehydrator.

Infidel

Does anyone here source their own food? Grow their own food, fish, keep chickens etc.

I was talking with an interesting couple this summer and they were telling me "anywhere there's a water source they can survive".

As the original post touches on. We're basically all at the mercy of big supermarkets these days. Even something as simple as a petrol problem could send the whole country into panic within a matter of days.

thriftwizard

Infidel, I think you'll find a number of us grow stuff, make stuff, preserve stuff & keep chickens, and forage too. If you mean are any of us self-sufficient, probably not; the few people I know who are close to self-sufficiency have very little time free to "waste" online, if they even have a reliable connection & power! But we are all working, on one level or another, to be free from total, unthinking dependence on supermarkets and the just-in-time delivery system that they all rely on.

Frugalsod

Also self sufficiency does require access to land and many of us are in flats so no gardens to start with and so no scope to be self sufficient. Though many here are far more tolerant of potential changes down to better food management and sufficient stores to get through any short supply upheaval.

There there may be planning restrictions that also put a stop to many such plans.

GreyQueen

I have 300 sq m of allotment under cultivation (well, apart from the path up the side, the bit under the shed and the bit in front of the shed).

This means I am self-sufficient in basic carbohydrates (spuds to you) plus some other things like onions, leeks, beetroots etc. And courgettes.

I could keep chickens up there if I wanted to, but I choose not to. My reasoning is thus;

1. Allotment is 1.25 miles from my city centre flat. My only transport is a pushbike and I have ME. I would need to tend the chooks at a minimum am and pm, and I am not prepared to do that. Plus I go away to visit family for a few days at a time, like now.

2. I would need to built a chicken colditz to protect them from foxes which are rife in the city.

3. Human beans are stealing chickens (and their food) off the plots, so that would always be a risk.

I am more self-sufficient than many and less self-sufficient than some. There's always room for improvement.

jk0

Doesn't this picture of Janet Yellen remind you of one of the 'Wonga' advert ladies?

I guess Americans might not understand the irony.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

I honestly don't think anyone can be totally self sufficient , p!us you do need an income to pay council tax etc

We have chickens, quail ducks, geese and pigs..we got to buy in hard feed, as there is no way we could grow enough food for ourselves and the animals.

The main way I look at growing/ rearing some of our food is that we know what type of life it has had, and we know nothing has been sprayed on it..

Its not cheaper, especially when it comes to reari g your own meat/ eggs etc

mardatha

Even something as simple as a petrol problem could send the whole country into panic within a matter of days. "
Only thing that could send me into a panic would be a serious jelly baby shortage...

Frugalsod

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

I honestly don't think anyone can be totally self sufficient , p!us you do need an income to pay council tax etc

We have chickens, quail ducks, geese and pigs..we got to buy in hard feed, as there is no way we could grow enough food for ourselves and the animals.

The main way I look at growing/ rearing some of our food is that we know what type of life it has had, and we know nothing has been sprayed on it..

Its not cheaper, especially when it comes to reari g your own meat/ eggs etc

I think knowing what your food has been through before you eat it is a big part of many who grow their own food. Some will have financial reasons for doing so as it can be cheaper than shop bought organic food. Saving money is a factor but self sufficiency does seem to be low on peoples agenda. Having a greener lifestyle can be part of the reason but then you are probably doing many other green lifestyle things to reduce your impact on the environment.