Whether we choose to look the other way or not, the planet is facing a food crisis. Even if your grocery store is fully stocked, it won’t take long for food to run out if people come from towns over because their store is out. Recently, President Biden warned of food shortages due to the Russia-Ukraine war. The food crisis is looming and it is going to get worse before it gets better, so it’s best to prepare now.

If you already have a stockpile of food in a prepper’s pantry, you should go through everything and make sure you didn’t use things up or that some things aren’t close to expiring. If you are just beginning to put some food away for a rainy day, start with these 25 food staples. If they are close to expiring, use them now, and replace them.  For the rest of us, we should consider changing our shopping style when it comes to food. Gone are the days of running out to the store to splurge on a few expensive items. Prices are going up and we are staring down the barrel of what could be the worst food crisis in centuries.

When we are faced with hyperinflation and empty shelves as all of the geopolitical problems collide, it can be difficult to know what to do unless you have been thinking ahead. The sad truth is that right now, inflation is much worse than we are being told and we all know that based on how much more we are having to pay for our groceries; which are necessary to live. Because of that, nothing will ever be cheaper than it is right now, but we should still avoid splurging on those luxury items, like nice ribeye steaks. Stretching our dollars is going to be key.

In order to stretch your dollar as much as possible, you should be looking at “investing” in the longest-lasting produce you can, rather than buying vegetables that only last for less than a week.  Instead of lettuce, you could buy bok choy, kale, and cabbage. Not only do these make a more hearty salad, but they can all be put into soups and will withstand cooking better. They will last longer in your fridge, so you can buy more at one time.

Remember the term “Waste Not, Want Not?” It’ll be important to remember that as we continue to navigate the odd landscape that has been 2022 so far. You should try to look for “root cellar” style foods that are proven to last longer and can be stored longer, and then grow your own greens and berries, or the foods with shorter expiration times. That way, you can pick as you go. Some longer-term foods to consider are:

• Onions
• Carrots
• Garlic
• Apples
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Kohlrabi

Some of these, such as garlic, are great options if you have a garden. I started my garlic in the garden 4 years ago from an organic globe I purchased from the local grocery store. I let it grow out a little, then planted all of the cloves in the fall. That next spring, I had a globe of garlic from each planted glove.  The next year, I saved 2 globes to plant in the fall. Now I almost get as much garlic as I need (and we eat a lot of it, especially considering the pandemic that has been ongoing and the immune system boosting you can get from it!).

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Because of the food shortages and high prices, there is no better time than now to consider starting your own garden and creating your own orchard. Research now, on how to do things for your area! The best thing I did when it comes to growing my own food was to learn which agricultural zone I live in. If you don’t know this, you could be planting things that won’t survive a frost and could lose all of your food and hard work over one night.  For those of you interested but have not had any gardening experience, consider these

I grow lettuce indoors and avoid buying it if I can. I have spinach that I allow to go to seed and come back year after year. We often have the “problem” of missing potatoes and getting random potato plants growing up as well. If you live in a cooler climate, like I do (agricultural zone 4b), you should be starting tomatoes now too. I have several grow lights and start heirloom organic tomatoes from seeds I saved in February indoors. I now have decent-sized starts that a store would charge you for.

There are always things we can do to make sure we have all the food we need! I like to share the things I have learned with newcomers to our area too because growing your own food in our ag zone can be a struggle. The more we help others, the more they will be willing to help us. This crisis could get bad enough that we will need to rely on our local friends and neighbors to feed each other. Be a person people want to barter and trade with.