The average American citizen has little time or interest in producing enough food to feed themselves or their family, and for many people (city dwellers and such) it’s simply not possible regardless of interest. This is unfortunate for our country’s preparedness during times of crisis. The just-in-time delivery of food resources is a recipe for disaster WTSHTF. The rate of inflation on groceries is astronomical. It costs a lot to produce, ship, and store. So what solutions are there for the urban/sub-urban survivalist with little time, land or interest in producing a continous supply of food?
Stockpiling several months’ worth is a given. We should all be doing that, but consider “Community Supported Agriculture” as another option. While this won’t likely help in a TEOTWAWKI situation, it’d certainly be a benefit in a Great Depression type scenario. This should also not be used in place of building the gardening/farming skills one will need WTSHTF (if you’re able to build these skills), but it is a great supplemental food source for people that are not self-sufficient. What is Community Supported Agriculture? Good question. Let’s ask the Department of Agriculture:
Community Supported Agriculture consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community’s farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Typically, members or “share-holders” of the farm or garden pledge in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm operation and farmer’s salary. In return, they receive shares in the farm’s bounty throughout the growing season, as well as satisfaction gained from reconnecting to the land and participating directly in food production. Members also share in the risks of farming, including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or pests. By direct sales to community members, who have provided the farmer with working capital in advance, growers receive better prices for their crops, gain some financial security, and are relieved of much of the burden of marketing.
Let me sum this up for your Ranger Man style: Yo! Find a local farmer dude that offers this service, sign up, toss him the necessary cash before the growing season begins (like now), and go pick up grub throughout the growing season.
The farmer gets a sweet injection of cash when he needs it most, and you support a local dude, get local grub, and build a relationship with the farmer. The relationship alone could be worth its weight in gold. WTSHTF, and you need a food source, EVERYONE will be bum-rushing the few local farms left around. Do you think you’ll have an edge over others if you’ve been supporting him through a partnership like this for the past 5 years? You bet! Many times it’s not what you know, but who you know.
Besides that, produce in the grocery store is shipped from all over the globe (supporting oil rich nations), and it’s largely genetically engineered to look fresh even when bounced around in a cart for 8k miles over 5 weeks. In other words, they’re NOT produced for their quality of TASTE. Anyone that grows fresh vegetables knows the difference is remarkable.
This country (or any country) would be wise to support LOCAL food production. People don’t realize how fragile the food supply system is, so . . . YOU! Go find a CSA farm near you now: http://www.biodynamics.com/csa.html
– Ranger Man
8 comments
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Chris Tackett
Even here in the boonies this concept has taken hold. One of our local farmers whos sone is recent AG graduate started the it last summer. They have a bunch of roadside stands around the area as well so they are most likely selling a ton of fresh veggies every week during the season.
Good post!
Thank you.
I think this is a good idea. Maybe if SHTF the farmer brown would be willing to swap goods or labor for chow. Lots of people will have this same idea but with an established relationship atleast u’ll be at the front of the line. With fuel unavailable he will need muscle and mite need security.
Another great place to find CSAs in your area . . .
http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
. . . just type in your zip code and see what comes up in your area.
LocalHarvest, It’s Ranger . . . I mean Farmer Approved!!!
Farmer Troy . . . formerly Ranger Troy
Interesting indeed. Its worth looking at what the British did when faced with a food shortfall during the war – they turned every equare foot of ground they could into ‘Victory Gardens’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dig_for_Victory
Looks nice. thanks for the idea
“Find a local farmer dude that offers this service, sign up, toss him the necessary cash before the growing season begins (like now), and go pick up grub throughout the growing season.”
Here is the problem I see with this method:
Farmers like everyone else are dependant on our national infrastructure to produce food. For, instance, the farmer need fuel for his tractor, fertializer (organic or chemical), as well as electricity to pump water for irrigation. He (or she) also likely depends on modern harvesting equipment.
WTSHTF, its likely the farmer you are depending for food, will be just as helpless as everyone else. Most farmers don’t have 19th Century farming equipment. Prior to the tractors, farmers relied on horse, mules or oxen. They used animals for plowing the fields, towing wagons, and even pumping water for irrigation. Today we just don’t have a sufficient number of animals to run farms like they did before tractors. They also had an extensive set of hand tools, and they maintained their heirloom seeds (as appose to use of hybrid seed provided by a seed distributor).
Its going to take time for farmers (if they survive) to re-learn the old ways. If your going to team up with a farmer for your food needs, you have to make sure that the farmer can produce food without relying on external resources. The farmer also needs to grow foods that can be stored for long periods like dryed beans, potatos, or grain.
One last point, I like to bring on on this topic. How far away is the farmer from your property, Is he 20 miles away? How would you transport a large quality of food to your home:
1. Without being detected by the have-nots that may try to rob you on our way home. “There goes a guy on a bike with a large cart from that farm over there. He looks like easy pickings. I can take him out with a single shot with my sniper rifle.”
2. Assuming you managed to get your food home, I think the have-nots would realize you have stash of food at home. When you least expect it (when your sleeping), or when no one is home they’ll come and rob you.
3. If your going to provide manual labor for the farmer, how long will your daily commute from your home to his farm take without motorized transportation? Ever petal a bike twenty miles over hilly terrain on a hot sunny day? Now imagine doing this twice a day, six or seven days weeks (yes, you will almost certainly be working weekends to support a farm without modern farming equipment). Now think about how your going to secure your home while your away working at the farm.