5 Steps to Food Security

 

  5 Steps to Food Security

 

In times of uncertainty hunger only makes matters worse. Hunger deprives us of our strength and energy. This can cause us to fall into even worse situations due to lack of ability. There is no question that hunger is something that we should strive to remove from our risk matrix by placing it high on our priority list. Let us look at some steps that we can take to improve our Food Resilience and mitigate hunger as a risk for ourselves and our families.  

 

Step 1: Buy Extra of What You Like 

The most basic step that any of us can take is to simply purchase a few extra food items over our normal, routine grocery purchases. This can be as simple as picking up an extra can of ready-made pasta, such as Spaghetti-Os. There is no reason to complicate matters in the initial phase of increasing your on-hand food items. It is best to buy the food items that you normally use and that you enjoy. This makes it easy to know about how much you may need to put away to cover a given period due to familiarity with the item and how often you already consume it. 

Step 2: Add Staples 

The next step would be to begin putting away extra staple items such as rice, sugar, salt, dried beans, and other base components to making meals. These items tend to have exceptionally long shelf lives which makes them more flexible regarding stock rotation. For example, a safely stored bag of rice or dried beans can easily be viable for eating twenty years or more in the future. 

Step 3: Consider Specialty Additions 

Some items may be considered bonus or specialty items that are not required to maintain health or activity but will improve moral and quality during times of difficulty. Some specialty items that you may consider adding could be as straight forward as canned meat. While protein from meat is not a requirement it certainly adds to the flavor and energy level the food provides. Meat is very calorie dense and as such can provide much more energy by volume. Volume begins to become a serious concern for those with larger families or those with multi-generational households. Another specialty item that may be considered is candy. Of course, candy is not an item that is going to improve your health it may certainly be a serious moral booster to children during hardship. 

Step 4: Begin a Garden 

The ultimate method of ensuring food security is to be capable of producing food for yourself. The most basic method is to grow some or all your own food in a garden. Gardening is a wonderful way to improve the quality of your food as well as its availability. Gardening is by no means a simple undertaking and should not be put off until the last minute. Gardening is a skill that will take time and effort to develop but the harvest of high-quality produce is well worth the investment. Many people feel excluded from this opportunity due to their place of residence. Perhaps you are in a congested metropolis with only a small flat as a residence. This is a common scenario in the modern era, but this does not eliminate the possibility of producing some of your own food. Container or urban common area gardening may be a viable option. A harvest form gardening leads us to our final step. 

Step 5: Home Preservation 

The last step in this initial primer on Food Resilience is Home Preservation. Home preservation is the method of preserving some or all the produce of your garden. This can include making jellies, jams, and fruit preserves or freezing vegetables. With the moderate investment of a pressure canner and a vacuum sealer the possibility of food that can be stored away is exceptionally broad. It is quite possible to move form simple jams and jellies to soups, stews, and condiments. There are many resources available to get you started with home preservation such as the Ball Book (https://amzn.to/2P8Orq7). There may even be a local workshop to give you a more hands on training experience.  

These are just a few basic thoughts and ideas to start you off on your journey to Food Resilience. It is important to remember that while there are many serious and dangerous event possibilities that could require us to have food security there is also the more mondain things such as job loss. How much peace of mind would it provide you to have food stored for uncertainty? Imagine a three-month supply of food stuff stored away for a rainy day. Having this bounty would give your peace of mind that would allow you to focus on other things that may need your attention.  Hopefully, this primer will get you started on your journey to improving you and your family’s food resilience.  

Victoria Favet Paratos – Victory Favors The Prepared