Food shortages are here and getting worse.

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poltiregist said:
Now I am seeing panic developing even from those that claimed to be preppers
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I can only speak for myself on this. While I am not panicked, I am certainly concerned and working daily to make sure our bases are covered. Like many on here, we garden, have an orchard, vineyard, chickens and rabbits. We do not have any way of getting milk or dairy besides trading. We don’t have any hogs…besides the ones my oldest raises. But he is hundreds of miles away. We do not have beef cattle or even sheep.

For these essential items I’ve been forming and joining local farm groups. Still, there really is no guarantee things will work out how it is planned. Ya know? There will be fighting and theft. Meaning someone I’m counting on trading with could end up not able to trade. We could have a drought that significantly reduce our crops.

Is your group 100% self sustaining?
 
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DirtDiva said:
While at the supermarket last week I checked on the price of flour. A 5# bag of flour that would have cost $2.99 pre covid last week was $4.99 and rising. Flock food (50 pounds) that I feed my chickens and ducks cost $13.00 pre covid now as of last week now runs $24.00. Sunflower seeds (50 pounds) pre covid ran $14.00 now runs $26.00. Rolled oats for human consumption have disappeared from the supermarket shelves in my area and grits have become hard to find. There is a noticeable issue with grain prices now across the board. The last grits and cornmeal that I bought I had ground at a local small farm. Was not cheap.
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Grits aren't even available on Azure, which sucks. I have a good stock of a lot and I have plenty of corn, but I have never undertaken nixtamilization (however it's spelled) and I love grits.

I have to say, though, we don't have bug out land. We just live where we live. We can grow a lot of what we eat, but we would never be able to grow it all.
 
I should say- we are in the middle of nowhere and we aren't doing as badly as most will be.

It's not so much that we don't have the space as much as farming is HARD work. We would be hard pressed to produce everything we needed. I think a lot of folks who have never farmed are going to be in for a rude awakening about how much work actually goes into feeding a family.
 
I still have plenty of canned goods on hand. When I see the shelves emptying at the store, I may end up going back to part time. If or when our banking system totally collapse there just won’t be a reason to work outside the home anyway. I will go full force on gardening again to have what we need to eat.
 
GeorgiaPeachie said:
Is your group 100% self sustaining? --- No we are not 100% self sustaining . However we have carefully put into position all the things we might need foreseeably to self sustain . Like everyone else we like going to the store to buy coffee , sugar and any other niceties . If Puttin EMP'd us tonight we would survive just fine . In place - Shelter , a spring for water and self perpetuating food supply with no need for stores or machinery or automobile fuel has been factored in . Even our own medical personnel is out back of my house right now , sitting on my bench enjoying the view of the fall foliage from our cliff edge .
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I grew up in the snow belt. Worked in a grocery store when storms were predicted. We would pull bread back stock out and leave in the trays. The dairy guy would wheel a stack of milk out and take bake a stack of empty crates.
This is what it will be like to depend on stores
It is not exclusive to the snow belt. In Southern Illinois a storm was coming. I packed a chip truck full and parked in my driveway overnight. Went to the local store near my house. Manager told me not to go out to the shelf because it was gone.
I told him we could do it hard or easy. The whole truck is his if he just wants to sign for it.
I trucked the chips out and they were gone before I left the store. He wanted me to bring more. Didn’t happen. 5k of chips at cost in 2 hours.1999 prices. Never had to put a bag up.
Also didn’t have to shovel my driveway, the truck kept the snow out.
This is the panic buying we will see. And the supply chain won’t be able to keep up. We all saw a hint of it at the beginning of the pandemic.
 
Danil54grl said:
I still have plenty of canned goods on hand. When I see the shelves emptying at the store, I may end up going back to part time. If or when our banking system totally collapse there just won’t be a reason to work outside the home anyway. I will go full force on gardening again to have what we need to eat.
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This has been the first time in over 19 years I let my Hunny have free range on the big garden. . . I told him early on what he was not taking into consideration. He told me he would, but yet it never happened. So I got nothing to process this year. I would have been very willing on my 2 days off. But it never happened. My outside backyard garden produced more but it was more like a daily harvest that I used when cooking. Think it is too shaded with the pine tree and tallow tree.
 
Survivor_316 said:
It's not so much that we don't have the space as much as farming is HARD work. We would be hard pressed to produce everything we needed.
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Do you (or anybody) still have HAND TOOLS??? Can you plow, till, harrow? Do you have Sickles and Scyths to harvest any wheat or other grains? Do you have storage and milling capabilities which do not need electricity??? Do you have a well and at least a hand pump to water your crops? Is you land fenced in to keep "most" animals and thieves outside? Are you and yours ready and capable to defend your crops "to the death"?? Can you fish and hunt nearby enough to supplement your lives?? Do you have the medical, metal, wood and water capabilities needed to sustain your lives through a SHTF situation where you can no longer get any supplies, gasoline, oil, welding supplies, propane or batteries for your lights and do you have the knowledge and practice to forage for the needed foods and energy for a single winter after your preps are eaten up???? Do you even have an outhouse for your hygiene needs and a trash dump far away from your living area to keep the rats and smell away???
Get yourself together and get ready for the "maybe" inevitable for which we are all getting ready for and do not forget the ULTIMATE need in survival.....
the mindset to be able TO DO THINGS YOU HAVE NEVER DONE BEFORE!!!
Sleep cold, eat cold, work cold and hot, drink warm (not cold) self-made teas, wear dirty clothes, have no toothpaste or brush, no friends over to grill (or trust) and only have the God you have found before this all started...NO TV, no radio, no internet, no entertainment or TITTY-tainment, no McDonalds and no cash or credit to get something you need/want/desire to be able to enjoy life....and all the time...sleeping with one eye open and gun in your hand on top of all this...someone out there is just waiting for you to close your eyes for the right second to take your stuff, life, wife and burn the rest down. Get ready, live free, Gary
 
GaRp58 said:
Do you (or anybody) still have HAND TOOLS??? Can you plow, till, harrow? Do you have Sickles and Scyths to harvest any wheat or other grains? Do you have storage and milling capabilities which do not need electricity??? Do you have a well and at least a hand pump to water your crops? Is you land fenced in to keep "most" animals and thieves outside? Are you and yours ready and capable to defend your crops "to the death"?? Can you fish and hunt nearby enough to supplement your lives?? Do you have the medical, metal, wood and water capabilities needed to sustain your lives through a SHTF situation where you can no longer get any supplies, gasoline, oil, welding supplies, propane or batteries for your lights and do you have the knowledge and practice to forage for the needed foods and energy for a single winter after your preps are eaten up???? Do you even have an outhouse for your hygiene needs and a trash dump far away from your living area to keep the rats and smell away???
Get yourself together and get ready for the "maybe" inevitable for which we are all getting ready for and do not forget the ULTIMATE need in survival.....
the mindset to be able TO DO THINGS YOU HAVE NEVER DONE BEFORE!!!
Sleep cold, eat cold, work cold and hot, drink warm (not cold) self-made teas, wear dirty clothes, have no toothpaste or brush, no friends over to grill (or trust) and only have the God you have found before this all started...NO TV, no radio, no internet, no entertainment or TITTY-tainment, no McDonalds and no cash or credit to get something you need/want/desire to be able to enjoy life....and all the time...sleeping with one eye open and gun in your hand on top of all this...someone out there is just waiting for you to close your eyes for the right second to take your stuff, life, wife and burn the rest down. Get ready, live free, Gary
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Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.
 
GaRp58 said:
Do you (or anybody) still have HAND TOOLS??? Can you plow, till, harrow? Do you have Sickles and Scyths to harvest any wheat or other grains? Do you have storage and milling capabilities which do not need electricity??? Do you have a well and at least a hand pump to water your crops? Is you land fenced in to keep "most" animals and thieves outside? Are you and yours ready and capable to defend your crops "to the death"?? Can you fish and hunt nearby enough to supplement your lives?? Do you have the medical, metal, wood and water capabilities needed to sustain your lives through a SHTF situation where you can no longer get any supplies, gasoline, oil, welding supplies, propane or batteries for your lights and do you have the knowledge and practice to forage for the needed foods and energy for a single winter after your preps are eaten up???? Do you even have an outhouse for your hygiene needs and a trash dump far away from your living area to keep the rats and smell away???
Get yourself together and get ready for the "maybe" inevitable for which we are all getting ready for and do not forget the ULTIMATE need in survival.....
the mindset to be able TO DO THINGS YOU HAVE NEVER DONE BEFORE!!!
Sleep cold, eat cold, work cold and hot, drink warm (not cold) self-made teas, wear dirty clothes, have no toothpaste or brush, no friends over to grill (or trust) and only have the God you have found before this all started...NO TV, no radio, no internet, no entertainment or TITTY-tainment, no McDonalds and no cash or credit to get something you need/want/desire to be able to enjoy life....and all the time...sleeping with one eye open and gun in your hand on top of all this...someone out there is just waiting for you to close your eyes for the right second to take your stuff, life, wife and burn the rest down. Get ready, live free, Gary
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Yep. We have all of those things. 😊

We just grew up on farms and know it takes a lot of hard Manual labor to feed everyone. I am regaining my health slowly, but just can't put in the amount of physical labor it would require to do everything if we lost our food stores.

(But I wouldn't take a wife. I'm the wife. 😁 I would take my husband.)
 
Survivor_316 said:
I am regaining my health slowly, but just can't put in the amount of physical labor it would require to do everything if we lost our food stores.
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I am also regaining my health. I was injured on the job, lost my left ear hearing, cracked my neck, broke my back and only after 2 YEARS! did the 5th orthopedic doctor find the broken bone and screw it back together again with 2 titanium plates and 6 screws at 3 inches each. The fourth and fifth lumbar verterbrae are now grown together into a single bone. I can now slowly work hard but not too long. At 64, we are all not as young any more.
You should get you some welding classes and practice a few small things. Sheet metal and heavy iron are the minimum what you should be able to fix lady...and get some riveting pliers and assorted sizes of rivets for fixing sheet metal and thin plastics like water barrels.
 
Survivor_316 said:
It's not so much that we don't have the space as much as farming is HARD work. We would be hard pressed to produce everything we needed. I think a lot of folks who have never farmed are going to be in for a rude awakening about how much work actually goes into feeding a family.
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....... then the deer come and eat everything..

Went to the store last night, and prices are skyrocketing on certain items. The craziest was the oats. I bought about 150 lbs months ago, but it's all in mylar and cans, so I was just going to buy another tub. Sheeeeeit. They WERE $2.18 a few months ago, last night, $6.00. Speaking of $6, gas is hitting that again now too. I think what I noticed most last night at the store was a the quiet eerie feeling from the other shoppers. The sheople are starting to really feel it.
 
Was listening to Southern Prepper One. He gives a daily update from people who send him pictures and personal experiences.
I want to share one viewer’s letter.

They live in a very small town in Alabama. Just recently they have had things stolen…all the figs from their fig tree…another day someone hit their peaches…yet another day they had all their quail stolen…and then some hens. This always happens when they are gone to a doctors appointment or the store.

Take head everyone! Start guarding your food! Up until I heard what happened to them I was of the opinion that it is way too early in the coming famine for me to be affected. Boy did I get a needed slap in the face!
 
Here is another thing you have to consider...
If you can't raise any crops for a sustained period of time due to inclement weather, flood, fire, etc. what are you going to eat? You can only store so much food and it won't last forever.
That's why I have been spending a lot of time identifying natural food sources at the BOL and trying to figure out how to eat reasonably balanced meals when the crops fail and the food stores run out.
The Indians did it, so I know it's possible. I've learned about a number of the foods they ate prior to agriculture when they were hunter-gatherers. Some are seasonal, but some can be found year round like wild potatoes and of course game.
Here is a surprising find: Fried muscadine leaves. Just fry them in some oil and a pinch of salt. They cook very quickly and are crispy and quite tasty. A very healthy alternative to potato chips.
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GeorgiaPeachie said:
Was listening to Southern Prepper One. He gives a daily update from people who send him pictures and personal experiences.
I want to share one viewer’s letter.

They live in a very small town in Alabama. Just recently they have had things stolen…all the figs from their fig tree…another day someone hit their peaches…yet another day they had all their quail stolen…and then some hens. This always happens when they are gone to a doctors appointment or the store.

Take head everyone! Start guarding your food! Up until I heard what happened to them I was of the opinion that it is way too early in the coming famine for me to be affected. Boy did I get a needed slap in the face!
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Thanks for the alert . Though I live on a dead end dirt road am already taking precautions on protecting my resources . I let my guard dog sleep through most of the day and then release her to patrol the grounds at night . I haven't lately but when the covid began to creep into the area and noticed a suspicious vehicle, spent a few nights sleeping close to my milk goats with a shotgun .
 
poltiregist said:
Thanks for the alert . Though I live on a dead end dirt road am already taking precautions on protecting my resources . I let my guard dog sleep through most of the day and then release her to patrol the grounds at night . I haven't lately but when the covid began to creep into the area and noticed a suspicious vehicle, spent a few nights sleeping close to my milk goats with a shotgun .
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That's one good thing about having crazy dogs. Mine sound pretty viscous. Our FedEx lady won't knock on the door because she's afraid of them. I never let them out once, so it must be her own personal issues, but living in the middle of nowhere with crazy dogs has its perks. 😆

But yeah, @Helen Back we have a TON of deer. I don't think our fence will be tall enough for everything.

We grow quinoa and sunflowers because they are the easiest crops for grain and oil, but we would need acres of it if we had none from storage.

@GaRp58 I think that is a really good idea! I'll look into that!
 
Lower Mississippi River levels could mean higher prices for consumers --- Here is another article on the Mississippi river drying up and with a picture showing the dire situation . At this point it would take a LOT of rain to stop the barge transports from stopping completely . Interesting days ahead for preppers and horrific times for those that hadn't prepared for this serious a development . Trying to eat may = the loss of shelter for some . From what I have gathered already many or eating food through their credit cards .
 
Update from my above post - My information from off the river is the boats are now stuck on the bottom of the Mississippi river bed effectively stopping " ALL " barge traffic . Some that didn't get stranded in the sand have managed to tie up to trees or whatever they can find to wait for rain to once again get the river level back to a navigable level . Many of the boatmen will likely be leaving their boat to make their way back to their homes waiting for a LOT of rain . This was described to me as being thousands of boats stranded but personally think that may be an exaggeration . -- I just discussed this situation with the boatman's woman and the very likely event of unemployment . However they are part of my survival group and are well prepared for living with no income . He does owe a little on one vehicle but has more than enough funds to simply pay it off , at which point he would be like me " completely debt free " including having no house note . He and his woman may be the first of my tribe to go completely into our survival mode plan .
 
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This report is dated Monday 10/10
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local...cle_55e6abb4-0321-5dfe-8a72-698e66427a74.htmlCHICAGO — Two stretches of the southern Mississippi River were reopened to commercial traffic over the weekend after dredging operations deepened the shipping channel near Memphis, Tennessee, and near Stack Island, Mississippi, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Monday.
The major shipping waterway had been closed to vessel traffic at the two locations since at least last week after several barges and boats struck the river bottom in the drought-parched river.

The closures disrupted the flow of newly harvested grain from Midwest farms to export terminals at the Gulf Coast, where some 60% of corn, soybean and wheat exports exit the country. Northbound shipments of road salt, fertilizer and other goods were also stalled by the closure.

Twenty-two southbound towboats hauling 392 barges were still waiting to pass a section of river near Stack Island on Monday morning, but a line of northbound towboats had already been cleared, said U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Ryan Graves. There were no vessels waiting to pass near Memphis, he said.
 
Oddcaliber said:
Well,being at the end of the Mississippi river in New Orleans this is definitely bad for busines. When time permits I'll have to go and observe the river level.
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Do let us know what you find out!

poltiregist said:
I haven't lately but when the covid began to creep into the area and noticed a suspicious vehicle, spent a few nights sleeping close to my milk goats with a shotgun .
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Smart. You are on top of things! We are considering adding another large dog. They are going to be more valuable, like they were for years and years to watch animals and for protection.
 
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