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Image | Raising Mealworms for Chicken Food
Raising Mealworms for Chicken Food
by threemealsfarm

Today we are going to discuss creating a self-replicating food supply for your backyard flock.  Yes, we are talking about becoming worm farmers – mealworms, to be exact (not to be confused with our previous discussion about setting up vermiculture composting systems with red worms). 

Mealworms are the larval stage of the darkling beetle, and they make a great treat and food source for your backyard poultry.  With very little time and cost, you can have a simple setup in place that allows you to raise a batch of mealworms that will continuously reproduce and give you an excess supply to harvest and feed to your poultry.

Raising Mealworms for Chicken Food
 by threemealsfarm

Today we are going to discuss creating a self-replicating food supply for your backyard flock.  Yes, we are talking about becoming worm farmers – mealworms, to be exact (not to be confused with our previous discussion about setting up vermiculture composting systems with red worms). 

Mealworms are the larval stage of the darkling beetle, and they make a great treat and food source for your backyard poultry.  With very little time and cost, you can have a simple setup in place that allows you to raise a batch of mealworms that will continuously reproduce and give you an excess supply to harvest and feed to your poultry.

Image | The Essential Gardening and Food Resilience Library
The Essential Gardening and Food Resilience Library
by Old Hippie

Under the general topic of growing some (or all) of our own food, we have broken the larger topic down into several knowledge areas.  We think you should understand why growing your own food is a good choice to make, and so “Understand It” is our first general topic.  Following that, “Grow It,” “Save It,” and “Use It” will help you think about the critical topics of how to get food into the ground, how to get it out, how to keep it from spoiling, and what to do with it once you’ve got it on the shelf, in the freezer, or in the root cellar.  Introductory notes in each section will help you choose which books, publications or websites to read first.  We’ve included links in the text, so you can click for more information as you read. Some of the material that follows is fairly basic; other material is more advanced.

Don’t let something supposedly “advanced” keep you away.  Everyone has to start at the beginning.  We all did.  Whether you choose to grow food against possible shortages, or as an economic decision or as part of changing your lifestyle in healthy and rewarding ways, we hope you find this annotated bibliography of the books that have helped us will help you as well.  We’ve included full citations for each book, to help you locate them.

 
The Essential Gardening and Food Resilience Library
 by Old Hippie

Under the general topic of growing some (or all) of our own food, we have broken the larger topic down into several knowledge areas.  We think you should understand why growing your own food is a good choice to make, and so “Understand It” is our first general topic.  Following that, “Grow It,” “Save It,” and “Use It” will help you think about the critical topics of how to get food into the ground, how to get it out, how to keep it from spoiling, and what to do with it once you’ve got it on the shelf, in the freezer, or in the root cellar.  Introductory notes in each section will help you choose which books, publications or websites to read first.  We’ve included links in the text, so you can click for more information as you read. Some of the material that follows is fairly basic; other material is more advanced.

Don’t let something supposedly “advanced” keep you away.  Everyone has to start at the beginning.  We all did.  Whether you choose to grow food against possible shortages, or as an economic decision or as part of changing your lifestyle in healthy and rewarding ways, we hope you find this annotated bibliography of the books that have helped us will help you as well.  We’ve included full citations for each book, to help you locate them.

 
Image | 7 Things Every Reputable Food Reserve Company Needs to Tell You
7 Things Every Reputable Food Reserve Company Needs to Tell You
by Denis Korn

Having been in the outdoor/recreational and long-term food storage industry for over thirty-five years, I have seen a lot of companies and products come and go. There has been quite a bit of change over the years. While the food you rely upon in an emergency is vital and life-sustaining, unfortunately few preppers and planners do the valuable research they should for this essential category of provisions. This article is written to help educate and inform the serious preparedness planner and give those just starting off in food storage and resiliency-building a good foundation of knowledge to help evaluate needs and determine what are the best products for those needs.

Because I have personally witnessed, heard, and read so many conflicting, misleading, and outright deceptive claims and information regarding foods for long-term storage, I am writing this – the first of two – concise and to-the-point articles. While many food reserve companies are educated and reliable, many are intentionally or unintentionally ignorant and deceitful.

 
7 Things Every Reputable Food Reserve Company Needs to Tell You
 by Denis Korn

Having been in the outdoor/recreational and long-term food storage industry for over thirty-five years, I have seen a lot of companies and products come and go. There has been quite a bit of change over the years. While the food you rely upon in an emergency is vital and life-sustaining, unfortunately few preppers and planners do the valuable research they should for this essential category of provisions. This article is written to help educate and inform the serious preparedness planner and give those just starting off in food storage and resiliency-building a good foundation of knowledge to help evaluate needs and determine what are the best products for those needs.

Because I have personally witnessed, heard, and read so many conflicting, misleading, and outright deceptive claims and information regarding foods for long-term storage, I am writing this – the first of two – concise and to-the-point articles. While many food reserve companies are educated and reliable, many are intentionally or unintentionally ignorant and deceitful.

 
Image | Whole Food Eating
Whole Food Eating
by Teresa Piro

align=Have we forgotten where our food comes from? The importance of a whole foods diet has become more and more vital to our overall health and well-being, because, well, we’ve strayed so far from food. Farmers’ markets bring honest food to us. However, I certainly get lost and frustrated while shopping for food at a grocery store because a) there are too many products on the shelves and b) the multitude of choices requires label-ready due-diligence.

I read a recent statistic that the average supermarket carries 48,750 items. Where have the days of the simple grocery list of eggs, apples, carrots, broccoli, fish, milk, and butter gone? Food today has been exploited and nutrient-rich foods exchanged for empty calories.

Now, more than ever, it’s time we get back to the basics; be resourceful, ask questions about where your food is coming from, shop farmers markets, know your grocery, plant a garden, buy bulk dry goods, prepare your food at home, and cook with fresh ingredients as much as possible. It will save you loads of stress, and if done right, money, too. 

As I share and encourage you to reconnect with your food, I hope you’ll explore new health-promoting hobbies, passions, and activities that can be enjoyed with family and friends.

Here are a few ideas and recipes to inspire you:

Whole Food Eating
 by Teresa Piro

align=Have we forgotten where our food comes from? The importance of a whole foods diet has become more and more vital to our overall health and well-being, because, well, we’ve strayed so far from food. Farmers’ markets bring honest food to us. However, I certainly get lost and frustrated while shopping for food at a grocery store because a) there are too many products on the shelves and b) the multitude of choices requires label-ready due-diligence.

I read a recent statistic that the average supermarket carries 48,750 items. Where have the days of the simple grocery list of eggs, apples, carrots, broccoli, fish, milk, and butter gone? Food today has been exploited and nutrient-rich foods exchanged for empty calories.

Now, more than ever, it’s time we get back to the basics; be resourceful, ask questions about where your food is coming from, shop farmers markets, know your grocery, plant a garden, buy bulk dry goods, prepare your food at home, and cook with fresh ingredients as much as possible. It will save you loads of stress, and if done right, money, too. 

As I share and encourage you to reconnect with your food, I hope you’ll explore new health-promoting hobbies, passions, and activities that can be enjoyed with family and friends.

Here are a few ideas and recipes to inspire you:

Image | What Should I Do? The Basics of Resilience (Part 4 – Growing & Preserving Food)
What Should I Do? The Basics of Resilience (Part 4 – Growing & Preserving Food)
by Chris Martenson

Note:  This article is part of a series on personal preparation to help you answer the question, "What should I do?"  Our goal is to provide a safe, rational, relatively comfortable experience for those who are just coming to the realization that it would be prudent to take precautionary steps against an uncertain future.  Those who have already taken these basic steps (and more) are invited to help us improve what is offered here by contributing comments, as this content is meant to be dynamic and improve over time.

Increasing Your Local Food Sources

For us, the next step after getting some food stored away was to increase our local sources of food.  Our primary local sources include the farmers who produce our meat and raw milk and the community-supported agriculture (CSA) vegetable operation to which we belong.  Our local demand translates into more local food—a worthy outcome by itself, but we also happen to get superior food as part of the bargain.

And there's more.  Our CSA is run by two fabulous young farmers whom we adore, it employs a crew of young local people, and they grow everything organically.  We are getting tastier and healthier food, increasing demand for local food, and supporting our local community, all in one fell swoop.  If you do not yet belong to a CSA and have the opportunity, it is well worth pursuing.  And if a CSA is not available or affordable to you, then at the very least, make connections with local farmers and food producers and purchase food from them directly whenever possible.

 
What Should I Do? The Basics of Resilience (Part 4 – Growing & Preserving Food)
 by Chris Martenson

Note:  This article is part of a series on personal preparation to help you answer the question, "What should I do?"  Our goal is to provide a safe, rational, relatively comfortable experience for those who are just coming to the realization that it would be prudent to take precautionary steps against an uncertain future.  Those who have already taken these basic steps (and more) are invited to help us improve what is offered here by contributing comments, as this content is meant to be dynamic and improve over time.

Increasing Your Local Food Sources

For us, the next step after getting some food stored away was to increase our local sources of food.  Our primary local sources include the farmers who produce our meat and raw milk and the community-supported agriculture (CSA) vegetable operation to which we belong.  Our local demand translates into more local food—a worthy outcome by itself, but we also happen to get superior food as part of the bargain.

And there's more.  Our CSA is run by two fabulous young farmers whom we adore, it employs a crew of young local people, and they grow everything organically.  We are getting tastier and healthier food, increasing demand for local food, and supporting our local community, all in one fell swoop.  If you do not yet belong to a CSA and have the opportunity, it is well worth pursuing.  And if a CSA is not available or affordable to you, then at the very least, make connections with local farmers and food producers and purchase food from them directly whenever possible.

 
Image | Food Inflation on the Way: Stunner from Russia
Food Inflation on the Way: Stunner from Russia
 PREVIEW
by Chris Martenson

World events have just taken a turn for the better, if your measurement happens to be soaring food prices.  Otherwise, they are ominous, because food inflation centered on grains is on the way, and what follows next, more often than not, is social unrest in the poorer nations.

We’ve been following the wheat story here for a while, and today’s announcement by Russia is a stunner:

Food Inflation on the Way: Stunner from Russia
 PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

World events have just taken a turn for the better, if your measurement happens to be soaring food prices.  Otherwise, they are ominous, because food inflation centered on grains is on the way, and what follows next, more often than not, is social unrest in the poorer nations.

We’ve been following the wheat story here for a while, and today’s announcement by Russia is a stunner:

Image | What Should I Do?: The Basics of Resilience (Part 3 – Storing Food)
What Should I Do?: The Basics of Resilience (Part 3 – Storing Food)
by Chris Martenson

Note:  This article is part of a series on personal preparation to help you answer the question, "What should I do?"  Our goal is to provide a safe, rational, relatively comfortable experience for those who are just coming to the realization that it would be prudent to take precautionary steps against an uncertain future.  Those who have already taken these basic steps (and more) are invited to help us improve what is offered here by contributing comments, as this content is meant to be dynamic and improve over time.

Storing Food

Everyone should have a minimum of three months' worth of food stored.  It's cheap; it's easy; it's a no-brainer.

Three good reasons for storing food are:

  1. Because it's cheap
  2. Because it's prudent
  3. Because your great-grandparents would yell at you for not doing it

Once upon a time, there was a person in every community whose job it was to ensure that sufficient food stocks existed in their town to carry the people through the winter.  Their job was to travel to all the farms and granaries, total up all the food, divide by the number of people in town, and assess whether the community would be able to make it through the winter.  In fact, it is only very recently that we have lost this function, and today most people think it rather odd to even wonder about food security.

But for all of human history, and even up until about a hundred years ago in the United States, this was not odd at all.  In fact, the reverse—going into winter without ensuring a local store of food sufficient to feed the community—would have been considered incomprehensible.
What Should I Do?: The Basics of Resilience (Part 3 – Storing Food)
 by Chris Martenson

Note:  This article is part of a series on personal preparation to help you answer the question, "What should I do?"  Our goal is to provide a safe, rational, relatively comfortable experience for those who are just coming to the realization that it would be prudent to take precautionary steps against an uncertain future.  Those who have already taken these basic steps (and more) are invited to help us improve what is offered here by contributing comments, as this content is meant to be dynamic and improve over time.

Storing Food

Everyone should have a minimum of three months' worth of food stored.  It's cheap; it's easy; it's a no-brainer.

Three good reasons for storing food are:

  1. Because it's cheap
  2. Because it's prudent
  3. Because your great-grandparents would yell at you for not doing it

Once upon a time, there was a person in every community whose job it was to ensure that sufficient food stocks existed in their town to carry the people through the winter.  Their job was to travel to all the farms and granaries, total up all the food, divide by the number of people in town, and assess whether the community would be able to make it through the winter.  In fact, it is only very recently that we have lost this function, and today most people think it rather odd to even wonder about food security.

But for all of human history, and even up until about a hundred years ago in the United States, this was not odd at all.  In fact, the reverse—going into winter without ensuring a local store of food sufficient to feed the community—would have been considered incomprehensible.
Image | Food Outlook 2009 – Understanding the Risks
Food Outlook 2009 – Understanding the Risks
 PREVIEW
by Chris Martenson
Sunday, May 24, 2009

Executive Summary

  • Global grain stocks at lowest levels in over four decades
  • Shockingly low fertilizer sales suggest possibility of a disappointing yield
  • Food supply and demand are tightly balanced
  • Food distribution networks are cost-efficient but not terribly robust
  • Ways you can increase your food security

Introduction

Food is something that many of us take for granted, but it is important to recognize that this luxury is a recent development in human history. It is time to give more thought to this critical staple in our lives.

In March of 2008, food commodity prices hit an all-time high. This coincided with a world-wide food crisis, food riots, and even a few instances of national rice hoarding. Many believe that this was triggered by economic conditions (e.g. a flood of cheap money), not a fundamental or structural shortfall in food production. But I hold the view that both were at fault.

Food demand has grown steadily over the years, as has food supply. However, in recent years the excess margin of supply over demand has tightened and even gone negative several times. Reserve stocks are incredibly tight, resting at levels not seen since the early 1970’s. 

It is easily conceivable that food deliveries could be disrupted within any country, leading to rapid onset of local food shortages. This report will apprise you of several of the challenges that currently exist regarding world food supplies and the possibility that these challenges could lead to a structural shortfall in global food supplies in 2009 or 2010. It also contains specific actions that could greatly enhance your own food security.
Food Outlook 2009 – Understanding the Risks
 PREVIEW by Chris Martenson
Sunday, May 24, 2009

Executive Summary

  • Global grain stocks at lowest levels in over four decades
  • Shockingly low fertilizer sales suggest possibility of a disappointing yield
  • Food supply and demand are tightly balanced
  • Food distribution networks are cost-efficient but not terribly robust
  • Ways you can increase your food security

Introduction

Food is something that many of us take for granted, but it is important to recognize that this luxury is a recent development in human history. It is time to give more thought to this critical staple in our lives.

In March of 2008, food commodity prices hit an all-time high. This coincided with a world-wide food crisis, food riots, and even a few instances of national rice hoarding. Many believe that this was triggered by economic conditions (e.g. a flood of cheap money), not a fundamental or structural shortfall in food production. But I hold the view that both were at fault.

Food demand has grown steadily over the years, as has food supply. However, in recent years the excess margin of supply over demand has tightened and even gone negative several times. Reserve stocks are incredibly tight, resting at levels not seen since the early 1970’s. 

It is easily conceivable that food deliveries could be disrupted within any country, leading to rapid onset of local food shortages. This report will apprise you of several of the challenges that currently exist regarding world food supplies and the possibility that these challenges could lead to a structural shortfall in global food supplies in 2009 or 2010. It also contains specific actions that could greatly enhance your own food security.
Image | Prefab Root Cellar
Prefab Root Cellar
by JW

An interesting design for a prefabricated root cellar that might provide an easy turnkey solution for helping folks establish a food storage room for their garden produce.

http://www.treehugger.com/kitchen-design/get-back-your-roots-groundfridge-prefab-root-cellar.html

Prefab Root Cellar
 by JW

An interesting design for a prefabricated root cellar that might provide an easy turnkey solution for helping folks establish a food storage room for their garden produce.

http://www.treehugger.com/kitchen-design/get-back-your-roots-groundfridge-prefab-root-cellar.html

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