Strategy Overview: Food

A look at the FAO Food Price Index shows that we have a problem:

Looking at that graph you can see that there are two things going on in recent years:

1. There is an overall trend of rising food prices.
2. On top of that trend is a pattern of instability.

These are the two basic features of the effects of resource depletion.  The resource (in this case food) becomes gradually more difficult to acquire, and the difficulty of acquisition can go through "shocks" or similar.  This doesn't just mean price, but instead encompasses more penetrating problems like basic availability.  For example, so-called "food deserts" are starting to develop where grocery stores have closed down and locals need to drive many miles to get their food.

Two strategies can be used to deal with this situation, not only for food, but for many other resources.


Guarding against price/availability shocks

The short description is hoarding.  Think "squirrel."

The basic concept is simple: if some food item will not be available for six or nine months, you build up a supply ahead of time.  This is not a new idea.  It used to be standard practice for people in rural areas to do this.  My mom used to put lots of food away every year so that we would have cheap and healthy food while fresh food from the garden was unavailable.  All of my friends' mothers did this.

These days most people use "just-in-time" food supply and buy food as they need it.  The problem comes when money is tight and then some essential component, like food, becomes expensive or otherwise hard to get.

The main issue is storage.  At first glance that seems to be just a matter of finding some extra room.  The real difficulty though is preserving the quality of food.  It might go bad.  It might lose its nutrient value.  It might be attacked by rodents or insects (grains often have insect eggs within them).

What it comes down to is re-discovering knowledge that used to be commonplace.  Canning, drying, dry storage techniques for grains.  There is a lot to know about these things.  It is prudent to learn about them ahead of time and work out the kinks in your own situation.


Dealing with long-term price/availability problems

You can hoard packets of tasty and nutritious instant oatmeal, but when they become completely unavailable or too expensive for resupply, you have a problem.

Getting around this requires systemic change and often a little creativity.  Substitution with something that is more reliably available becomes necessary.

For example you can buy quick oats by the 50-lb sack and add dried fruit and spices as you please (or not).  You can still cook it in the same microwave and use the same cup just like you did with your packets, but keeping yourself in oatmeal is now radically more robust and economical.

Going down this path generally involves some level of growing your own and changing the foods you acquire.  The bottom line is, you have to develop a food supply that is stable and secure.  That might mean having your own garden or it might mean having some arrangement such as a local farmer's market or shared garden space.

These two strategies, hoarding and finding alternatives, are applicable to a variety of similar problems.  You can ride a bicycle instead of drive for many activities.  You can use a Linux-based computer or open-source software instead of unnecessarily paying for proprietary software.

In concept these things are very simple.  In practice they are not easy.  It takes a lot of know-how that has been discarded by modern culture.  Getting up to speed with reliable technologies takes some effort and persistence.