Another Reason to Grow (At Least Some Of) Your Own Food

As discussed before we love growing most of our own food.  There are numerous reasons for this like the exercise you get working in the garden, the amount of time you get to spend in the great outdoors, the pride and confidence you get growing your own delicious food, and the TASTE of homegrown versus store-bought food... The list is limitless.

I searched on the Internet and found a visual representation of homegrown versus store-bought tomatoes (see below).  The difference is stunning! Just look at that pink, tasteless thing on the right. It'll do in a pinch, but which would you rather eat? For me, it's not even up for debate.  Although they're both technically tomatoes, they are as far apart as Mercury is from Pluto.

Image credit (homegrown on left / store-bought on right)

But another BIG plus about growing at least some of your own food is it gives you some semblance of being self-sufficient.  Oh, I know the grocery store is fully-stocked and right around the corner, but will it always be open and fully stocked? Hmmm... We found out several years ago after several hurricanes that the fully stocked open store can become a closed, empty building in no time at all.  I remember the National Guard passing out MREs (meals ready to eat) and ice to our town's citizens shortly after the storm blew through.

The Supply Chain in our country fueled by "Just In Time (JIT)" delivery means that there are approximately 3 days worth of inventory in the grocery store if something (weather, natural disaster, war, terrorism) were to happen.  I contend that there's less than that should there be a "run" on food by a panicked populace. If something stops the 18 wheelers from rolling, it won't take long before the shelves look like the photo below.

Oh, that would never happen here!  This is America.  Well, I saw this in the news this morning:

Image Credit

The photo above is a grocery store in Venezuela.  This article from January 9, 2015 says:

(Bloomberg) -- Shoppers thronged grocery stores across Caracas today as deepening shortages led the government to put Venezuela’s food distribution under military protection.

Long lines, some stretching for blocks, formed outside grocery stores in the South American country’s capital as residents search for scarce basic items such as detergent and chicken.

Oh but don't worry, apparently everything is just hunky-dory.

“Don’t fall into desperation -- we have the capacity and products for everyone, with calmness and patience. The stores are full,” Interior Minister Carmen Melendez said yesterday on state television.

She sounds oddly reminiscent of this guy.  Remember Baghdad Bob?

Image Credit

So I wanted to see how things are in Venezuela now, six months later.  Have things stabilized?

This Article answers "That's a negative, Ghost Rider" by stating:

Venezuelan farmers ordered to hand over produce to state

As Venezuela's food shortages worsen, the president of the country's Food Industry Chamber has said that authorities ordered producers of milk, pasta, oil, rice, sugar and flour to supply their products to the state stores.

Venezuela's embattled government has taken the drastic step of forcing food producers to sell their produce to the state, in a bid to counter the ever-worsening shortages.

Farmers and manufacturers who produce milk, pasta, oil, rice, sugar and flour have been told to supply between 30 per cent and 100 per cent of their products to the state stores. Shortages, rationing and queues outside supermarkets have become a way of life for Venezuelans, as their isolated country battles against rigid currency controls and a shortage of US dollars – making it difficult for Venezuelans to find imported goods.

In March, Venezuelans were so worried about food shortages and diminishing stocks of basic goods, fingerprint scanners were installed in supermarkets in an attempt to crack down on hoarding.

Admittedly, the United States of America isn't Venezuela and we aren't there yet, BUT it is not an enviable position for anyone to be totally  dependent upon the grocery store for all of your food. Growing and preserving your own food and beginning to build an inventory of preserved food in your pantry is not something that you can do overnight, but you can begin to take immediate steps to grow at least some of your food and can it, keep a few chickens for meat and eggs and begin to learn different time-proven skills of self sufficiency.  It is like an insurance policy for your family.  I think that it is prudent.

Purple Hull Pea

It's good to have cash in the bank and emergency cash at home, but if some disaster strikes, I'm not sure that paper currency is nutritious or tastes good, but I know that row of purple hull peas out back is!  (And you don't have to wait in a long line at the grocery store to get it!)