Food Bartering

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Amish Heart

Amish Heart

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Dec 3, 2017
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I am going to assume that preppers have a good food stock already stored. In my opinion, I think a year is minimum. After that years worth of food runs out, it will need to be replenished. I believe that years storage should be continually replenished and not wait until you are in dire straights. To do that, you would have to produce a whole lot of different foods to replenish your stock, or possibly produce one or two items and live in a community where barter is safe and acceptable.
I believe that preppers should start now, and not wait till things are really really bad. Why? Because you have the ability now to try out production of something that can be bartered. And you get to know people in your community in good times that will be safe to barter with. So, how would you start something like this if you didn't barter before? Try giving something away....a loaf of baked bread, extra chicken or rabbit meat, chicken eggs, a loan of equipment that your neighbor needs....
Right now I have an excess of roosters, chicken meat, and chicken eggs. I trade those. I have received raw milk, fresh ground hamburger, ground sausage....This spring I will be incubating chicken eggs, and I will barter the chicks. Our turkey order of live chicks will be coming in in a few weeks, and when they're big enough, I'll be bartering butchered or unbutchered tom turkeys that I'll have in excess. My seed starts will be started in March in the greenhouse. I can barter tomato plants, squash plants, etc... I also make jerkey and many dehydrated products and mixes.
Is anyone else doing this or thinking about doing this?
 
Thanks, but come on, I want to encourage you guys. How about seasoned farmer's cheese? You can make a cup of it very easy in your kitchen (milk vinegar and maybe some garlic seasoning) and bring some to your neighbor. You can even make it out of powdered milk.
Anyone can raise some meat rabbits in your apartment. And believe it or not, people will buy the poop for fertilizer. Our son sold a grocery bag full of rabbit poop for $20.
I have a red wiggler worm farm in a tub. The worm casings can be mixed with water in a gallon jug for fertilizer tea.
Maybe I asked the wrong question. What can you produce that can be of value to you or your neighbor to trade?
 
I trade beef, chicken and pork for things that I need. I've got a solar guy lined up to come out and check out my system this summer and add a propane generator to my well pump. I'm trading a beef and hunting rights on my property for elk this fall. No money out of my pocket. Every year we give each kid a half a beef, half pig and chickens.
 
Amish Heart said:
I am going to assume that preppers have a good food stock already stored. In my opinion, I think a year is minimum. After that years worth of food runs out, it will need to be replenished. I believe that years storage should be continually replenished and not wait until you are in dire straights. To do that, you would have to produce a whole lot of different foods to replenish your stock, or possibly produce one or two items and live in a community where barter is safe and acceptable.
I believe that preppers should start now, and not wait till things are really really bad. Why? Because you have the ability now to try out production of something that can be bartered. And you get to know people in your community in good times that will be safe to barter with. So, how would you start something like this if you didn't barter before? Try giving something away....a loaf of baked bread, extra chicken or rabbit meat, chicken eggs, a loan of equipment that your neighbor needs....
Right now I have an excess of roosters, chicken meat, and chicken eggs. I trade those. I have received raw milk, fresh ground hamburger, ground sausage....This spring I will be incubating chicken eggs, and I will barter the chicks. Our turkey order of live chicks will be coming in in a few weeks, and when they're big enough, I'll be bartering butchered or unbutchered tom turkeys that I'll have in excess. My seed starts will be started in March in the greenhouse. I can barter tomato plants, squash plants, etc... I also make jerkey and many dehydrated products and mixes.
Is anyone else doing this or thinking about doing this?
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a prepper's food stockpile is only a hedge until their self sufficiency plan kicks - and fills in any deficits thereafter >>> the plan kicks in the very second a pending SHTF so much as even looks serious ....

anybody that kicks back and runs their stockpile down without compensating has a totally wrong concept of prepping - YOU NEVER STOP PREPPING ....

a prepper never accepts the official or guess-ta-mation of the SHTF longevity - having a stockpile 2-3X that estimate can't ever be accepted >>> look at the damn current Virus SHTF - the REAL end is still not predictable ....
 
Self sufficiency plans should continually be worked on. It's really difficult to do it all, but necessary if you live lone wolf. If you are living in a community, it is good to be able to fill a need, for instance, chicken and eggs. I know we have at least five times as many eggs as we need in a day, so that's an easy one for me. Our next door farm neighbors just came over for a visit. They have a freezer stored in one of our outbuildings and their inlaws freezer is in there, too. Our outbuilding is sturdy and has electricity. Our neighbors and their in laws are amish and don't have electricity. They just brought over 10 lbs of ground beef, some strawberry jam, home canned beets, 2 qts of peaches, a lb of jalepeno cheddar sausage, a loaf of home made honey wheat bread, and a pkg of hard candy. We supplied the electricity for their freezers, so it was a trade. We have some fence boards down on the property, and our neighbor offered to work with our grandson to get all the fencing repaired as soon as the weather warms up. From my cousin's place down the road, I came home with 2 gallons of raw milk, and I left 4 dozen eggs. I hear my cousin's daughter will be making mozzarella and fresh yogurt next week, and she'll make extra for us. She'll probably want to go to the bigger town shopping next week, and since it's far for horse and buggie, I'll drive her in my Challenger.
And absolutely, never stop prepping.
 
I dont do a whole lot of bartering per say. I do some exchanging with a neighbor friend from time to time. I helped him with his college papers and will can up his tomatoes when he gets them from his garden every year. Give him some jellies and pickles. Let him borrow my tiller when needed. He does fabricating or fixes things when hunny is too busy. He made me my first cheese press, painted my tractor. . . we just kind of swipe back and forth. When I was milking Betsey. a friend would bring me eith feed or treats for her in exchange for the milk. We pick up pecans at a sons house in exchange for a pie. I know I could do a lot more bartering if I needed to, but right now it's just relatives and close friends.
 
Danil54grl said:
I dont do a whole lot of bartering per say. I do some exchanging with a neighbor friend from time to time. I helped him with his college papers...
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I'm in a similar boat, exchanging services for food or other things. You can make a lot of friends with a baler or a brush hog, especially as large farms are subdivided into smaller parcels. They don't have the tools or skill set to manage what they've bought, but they may know their way around the tax code.
 
Thanks, though really I'm just lucky granddad had a place his kids didn't want to take on.
 
A direct edibles swap or trade is not directly feasible for me. Although I live in the country, I do not have land. And if I tear up the forecourt then I either have to drive my vehicle over the carrots or my landlord has already noticed and throws me out.
The problems just when you can not live on a property where your own garden is available but only live for rent (which is common in my country).
What I do have is enough food to be able to exchange some of it in the neighborhood or among friends if necessary. I have no specific barter items stored, but only stuff that I also use myself. The space is just limited.
Since I come professionally from the craft I hope with my skills to be able to offer something more to the exchange.
 
Amish Heart said:
Self sufficiency plans should continually be worked on. It's really difficult to do it all, but necessary if you live lone wolf. If you are living in a community, it is good to be able to fill a need, for instance, chicken and eggs. I know we have at least five times as many eggs as we need in a day, so that's an easy one for me. Our next door farm neighbors just came over for a visit. They have a freezer stored in one of our outbuildings and their inlaws freezer is in there, too. Our outbuilding is sturdy and has electricity. Our neighbors and their in laws are amish and don't have electricity. They just brought over 10 lbs of ground beef, some strawberry jam, home canned beets, 2 qts of peaches, a lb of jalepeno cheddar sausage, a loaf of home made honey wheat bread, and a pkg of hard candy. We supplied the electricity for their freezers, so it was a trade. We have some fence boards down on the property, and our neighbor offered to work with our grandson to get all the fencing repaired as soon as the weather warms up. From my cousin's place down the road, I came home with 2 gallons of raw milk, and I left 4 dozen eggs. I hear my cousin's daughter will be making mozzarella and fresh yogurt next week, and she'll make extra for us. She'll probably want to go to the bigger town shopping next week, and since it's far for horse and buggie, I'll drive her in my Challenger.
And absolutely, never stop prepping.
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self sufficiency plans are just that - you don't have to have chicken 1 to have a flock & eggs figured into your planning - same with a garden - a waste disposal system - alternative heating/cooking method - water catchment - ect ect

just because a prepper doesn't live it doesn't mean they can't have it when necessary - takes planning !!!!!
 
I think it's a good idea to live some of it now. Even with all the planning in the world, a lifestyle change would be difficult to do in an instant. Another idea is trade some labor with a farmer or tradesman near you. You can trade your labor right now, so you know what you can do on your own later. Reading about growing vegetables, buying seeds, and then leaving it at that will not do. You will not be a gardener unless you practice. And if you become a gardener, maybe you'll be able to provide some food for yourself, and some to trade for other things that you need.
I've never understood the thinking to buy things you don't normally use to barter with. If you don't normally use it, why would anyone else? I get that buying cigarettes and alcohol for barter, that you would not use is promoted in prepper speak, but why not have extra food on hand above your preps that you can barter with. It doesn't have to always be the "luxury items". I was living outside a large city last March when the shutdowns in that state started. We had always raised lots of fowl and grown a big garden on the acre we had there. Our stores were out of eggs, milk, meat, and bread, and there were very long lines just to get in the store. I had neighbors and friends needing the eggs we could supply, and people were wanting chicks...the feed stores sold out in a week and couldn't get anymore. Even though I knew we were moving to our farm four months from then, I kept our incubator going to supply chicks...I did four hatching groups, and they would go in one day to people that needed them. Newbies, that never had chickens before, but were tired of the shortages. Start with something you can do now.
 
I dont barter food, I tried back along but got no takers so I wont waste my time again.
people here only get their food from the supermarket, if it dosent come in plastic packaging they wont eat it.
wife once gave someone an apple straight off the tree and the persons jaw dropped, they didnt know apples grow on trees!!
 
Amish Heart said:
Wow, that's crazy, bigpaul. Well, if you have extra apples again, can them or dehydrate them. I live in a community where people use cash and barter. I'd say some would think we're behind in the times, but actually we are ahead because of what is coming.
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we have access to foraging being out in the British countryside, when we first came here we use to see some people including kids picking stuff but I havent seen anyone doing it for years, I guess we have it all to ourselves now.
 
People as a whole need to learn to barter all goods not just food, I have a local contractor that I barter my labor for his heavy equipment work , also barter heating and air for hunting rights on 64 acres 1/2 mile from my house. I have a older man that if I harvest a deer and want to make jerky out of it he will help for a portion of it . I really don’t mind helping someone as long as it’s fair and reciprocal to both partys.
 
We help an 74 year old widow with her garden at the lake nearby and get pears for canning and some veggies back. I chainsaw some wood for the other widow 2 houses down the street and she does the chicken and duck butchering which my wife does not like to do and her son is a painter and will help us in spring on the house. I bought a pig and butchered it with another neighbor in Dec. He is getting one in Feb. and we will split it 50-50 also and will smoke it here since he has no smokehouse. There are many older people who garden in town and sell what they have in excess for the extra money, we buy happily from them because we have the money and less work till our garden starts producing...as win-win process Amish! GP
 
Just as it should be , that the way I was taught as a youngster. Lend a helping hand to the elders in need I can think back to age 12 when I would ride with the delivery driver at a company that my mom worked for for thirty years, it was a elderly food assistant program called MEAL ON WHEELS that took prepaired meals directly to the needy . it made me proud to be able to help on delivering food during my summer break from school.
 
The first money I earned was with a discarded but functional lawnmower and a 1 gallon gas can. Walked around the few blocks in the area, asked 10 cents for a front yard and 25 cents for a backyard. The older folks loved the idea and I soon had regular customers who expected me every 2 weeks. Sometimes I got to use their mowers since they were newer NOT SO LOUD!!! GP
 
I have bartered a couple of things in the past but its nothing something that is prevalent in modern Britain.
there is no way I am doing it post SHTF, not safe.
 
Don't see it to negative Paul

If i got one $ by each time i help people and got nothing back i would own an house ;)
But i don't give up to help others, especially friends. We do this batering since longer, helping each other with those skills we have and the other don't have. Was mostly an win - win situation at the end.
I help of course my neighbours too but i don't aspect to get something back. But it helps to have an peacfull and friendly neighbourhood an i don't need to lock always everything.
In the SHTF or post SHTF situation you need to be more carefull of course, i'm sure i'm very picky then who i'm going to help. Of course in those situations will be the risk higher than in "normal" times to be cheated or even to be an victim. But i don't believe everyone will turn to evil so fast. Of course a lot will, but i'm sure most of them wouldn't survive for long. I haven't lost my believe in the humans really even i'm having my doubts and i'm doing hard to trust in people. But sometimes you'll get really positive reactions and surprises. Just my opinion.
 
I just dont trust people, been let down too many times, I dont have much/anything in common with the sheeple and that goes 100 fold post SHTF, whether they live or die means nothing to me.
once the power grid goes the "great die off" will begin, I see no point in giving food, or anything else- to people who arent going to survive anything more than short term.
 
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Sorry you have been living with so much negative experiences bp. Life was never promised to be easy, we only hope it will be worth it to be a correct person. We have also lost a lot helping others, but have also received much help. All good and bad comes back to you, try to send more good than bad into the world so you get some of it back! keep your head up mate. Gary
 
I havent had a bad life Gary, but where people are concerned I've picked some bad ones so my trust of others has gone, its me and mine all the way now.
 
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