Are You Ready For a Famine? How to Increase Your Family’s Preparedness

Today I wanted to take some time to share some information I’ve recently received about a global famine, as well as talk about what we can all do about it.

Many of us have experienced unusual weather this year. It’s raining a lot where it normally doesn’t, and not raining at all where it normally does. As a result, cities are flooding while 80% of the western US is now in severe drought (compared to 20% one year ago), and many farmers haven’t even been able to plant their crops. This summer giant swarms of locusts have wiped out entire farms. This comes at a time when the global supply chains have already been drastically impacted by recent events.

Even before this disastrous growing season, the UN was warning of a global famine “of Biblical Proportions”. For those of us who live in the developed world with everything at our fingertips, it’s hard to imagine not having enough food in our grocery stores. I’ve had a preparedness mindset for most of my adult life, and it’s still hard for me to wrap my mind around a famine. You can find some actual numbers of how our food production has been affected here.

Dislaimer: this page may contain affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Co-op Warns of Price Hikes and Shortages

 

We get most of the groceries we don’t grow from Azure Standard, and this week they send out an email warning of impending price hikes and shortages:

“This season has been a hard one for many growers. The northern Midwest has seen severe drought. Here on the West Coast we have experienced extreme heat, especially in June, which melted our snowpack away early. Already as I write this in July, our irrigation water has been cut back.

This is affecting many crops in a couple different ways which I want to tell you about. I like to give you a heads up as soon as we know change is coming so folks don’t face it unexpectedly at the grocery stores. While there are some changes to anticipate, you can also expect that we are doing our best to provide you with the best products at fair prices.”

They went on to give a list of some specific items they will be having shortages of and hiking prices on, including fruits and vegetables, grains, almonds and beef. They recommended stocking up your pantry with foods you normally eat, since they may soon be unaffordable or unavailable. And I would definitely agree with that advice.

When the pandemic first hit last year, we already had a well stocked pantry. When most people were panic buying and our local stores were out of many staples, we were able to stay home for the first month and wait it out. This not only gave us peace of mind, but helped others out by leaving more food and supplies for those who had not been able to prepare ahead.

That’s the point of prepping. It’s not rushing out to panic buy and hoard all the food you can when there is a crisis. But rather, prepping is getting the supplies you need ahead of time when food is plentiful so you don’t have to fight tooth and nail for the last package of toilet paper. Prepping means keeping a full pantry like normal people have done for thousands of years. And it means forseeing upcoming problems and being ready in advance (“a prudent man forseeth the evil and hideth himself”).

What We are Doing to Prepare for a Famine

 

If anyone comes to my house expecting to find buckets of “prepper food”, they will be disappointed. I don’t spend money on any of that stuff. But what I do is keep a full pantry of the foods we regularly eat. When I go shopping, I rotate the older supplies to the front so they get used first.

 

We get most of the food we buy from Azure Standard. They are a natural foods co-op that delivers to most of the US. Unlike other wholesale type stores, there are no membership fees. And since their own trucks deliver to your town, there are no shipping fees either. All you have to do is to be available to meet their truck. You can find out more about Azure here.

Whether you want to use Azure, or Costco, or your local restaraunt supply store, find somewhere where you can get the foods you eat in bulk for a better price. And stock your pantry!

Something else we have done is to take part of our grocery budget and move it into our homesteading budget. Investing in growing our own foods will help us to be more prepared if there is a longer term famine. It will also save us money in the long run regardless of what happens.

Right now we’re limited on what we can do on our rental property. However we’ve still found ways to grow a large portion of our food. This year we are growing our own vegetables (including storage crops like potatoes) herbs, dairy, honey, eggs, chicken, lamb and turkey. We grow a little fruit, forage some and buy more from neighbors. We already ordered 100lbs of apples from a neighbor since we can’t easily grow our own here. We aren’t able to do all of this on our own property, but make it work by renting a small pasture for $25 a month.

You can find a list of how to grow more than 100 different kinds of food here.

No Matter Your Circumstances, You Can Be More Prepared

 

Don’t let your circumstances stop you. There is so much all of us can do to be prepared, whether it’s for a global famine, or for personal hard times. If you need to, sell something to help you better stock your pantry. If you can’t have animals, look for a spot you could rent to keep them. Find a farmer close to you who you can buy your food from directly. We are entering a time of hardship that our generation has never experienced, but we can be ready to meet it in stride.