Why your Preps are not enough! And Even misguided

[handgun]

I will only say this once on INGO. So grab a soda some sort of snack and put on your reading glasses.

WAKE UP **** HAS ALREADY STARTED HITTING THE FAN. One word Food.

There has been something major weighing heavily on my mind from time to time. Preps are one of them. While I enjoy reading about bug out bags and preps and what should be in that list of preps. What gun is best for SHTF. What people think about Gold and Silver.. ready eat meals, protein bars, how they expect they will hunt and fish for food.. Peoples exit plans while being all secretive. That has been a great enjoyment and educational at the same time. There is something that i see majorly flawed.

Food. Arguably the one thing that will drive the population who isn't prepared crazy and maybe even zombie like.

I am going to argue here right now that even if you have 5 yrs worth of food for yourself and yours stocked up in various locations.. It is NOT GOING TO BE ENOUGH. It does not matter how much food you have stocked up . Why?

Because the **** has already hit the fan.. Here is why..

Food production is practically at the Maximum yield, There is almost no way that it can be increased. And Bio Diesel and Bio ethanol are only accelerating the problem. Food prices have been on a consistent rise since 2004. There is no end in sight. Press and others have blamed it pretty much on the ethanol.. Driving up the prices.. which is partially to blame, but the real problem is there is a World Wide Food Crises going on. And We have yet to see the threads unravel. But we will and being a mere 28, Mark my words on this.. It will be the biggest problem of my generation and the next.

While preparing for Disasters, either man made or natural, or economic. Is all great I suggest you do it. However currently I will have to wait on the sidelines, and will catch up hopefully before its too late for the big SHTF.

While canned food is great.. the problem is those cans have bottoms... and are not bottomless. I don't care how good of a hunter or how many rounds of ammo you have and how many fish hooks you have.. The wild life will quickly reach near extinct levels.

You must buy seed and learn to plant it now.. and then take that seed and do experiments to see if it can truly produce additional yields again from its seeds..

The problem with almost all seeds now on the commercial level is.. They can only be used once. The food produced and its seeds will render a yield of crop the next year that can not be eaten.
The bastardization of our food crop to produce the more and more food per acre or larger x y or z has caused the seeds these plants produce to be not usable. Also, a seed that is for commercial use say here in Indiana, will not produced properly in say Georgia. They are very zone specific. Buyer beware..

You must seek out "Virgin" seeds.. and conduct your own experiments DO NOT TAKE THE SUPPLIERS WORD ON IT.


So you might think i am a quack. I am not. Talk to your farmers. Do some internet searches using proxy servers in and outside the US and foreign search engines. See where is suffering now what is short what caused that shortage, Dig for the truth..the media and world governments are hiding it from you. Why do you think everywhere is going broke? It has to do with alot of very foolish spending and subsidized food.
Not too long ago there was a major rice shortage.. it did make the news briefly

Please head this warning, please prepare yourself if you are able. I can not at this time, but i can warn others. The Threat is real. The domino's are already falling.. its only a matter until it reaches beyond the half way point of the cascade, and the pieces are only going to accurate..

I try not to be all doom and gloom. but the above is going to be the real reason for global economic collapse. not Obama care.. (which i oppose as well)

 

[rotortech]

Heirloom seeds are not hybrids and will reproduce faithfully. I have them in my bag. Good point on experimenting in the garden. Plant them, harvest food and seeds. Plant the seeds the following year to be sure they run true.

 

[churchmouse]

This is in a way sensible. We are now gardening again for the first time in 8 years and the learning curve is vertical. My daughter was asking about a scenario such as you state just the other day. This is going to be a full time job.

Yes, The S has started through the fan just slower than folks are realizing.

Zombies already walk the streets.

 

[bluewraith]

Knowing how to grow your own food should be something you already know how, and are, doing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0YaNuOPDY8

It may be a kids movie, but this scene really says a lot about the current generation.

Another term to search for would be "Self Reliance" or "Homesteading". You'll be able to cut out a lot of the paranoia crap from the search results, and find some valuable information that could lead to a better food supply for yourself. It *is* possible to maintain your own food supply, but it isn't as simple as planting a pizza. It requires not only a change in diet, but lifestyle as well.

Once you get your garden up and running, always plant more then you think you will need. Preparing a store room for 2 years of food isn't just about SHTF or TEOWAWKI.. think of last year when the corn fields were too muddy to work, or this year when its been too dry. That severely cripples your output, and having a 2 year buffer in storage can help even out the bumps.

 

[buford t justice]

And I will post this question again,What is the largest source of protein on the planet at the present time.

 

[Indy500]

And I will post this question again,What is the largest source of protein on the planet at the present time.

Probably an elphant or a whale. They're both pretty big.

 

[spencer rifle]

The problem with almost all seeds now on the commercial level is.. They can only be used once. The food produced and its seeds will render a yield of crop the next year that can not be eaten.

This is not by accident. Seed dealers and developers want to make money, too. If you can just save some of last year's seeds and plant again, where's the economic future in that? Locally grown heirloom seeds are the best bet.

And don't pay attention to official inflation figures. They lie. Anyone who shops for food knows they lie.

 

[rockhopper46038]

And I will post this question again,What is the largest source of protein on the planet at the present time.

My guess is insects.

 

[mike8170]

And I will post this question again,What is the largest source of protein on the planet at the present time.

Long Pork?

BTW, we have a huge garden. Large enough that I built a furrower for the back of the 9N tractor in order to get seeds in the ground. We also allow about 15% of the plants to seed and collect them for the next years planting. It actually works out pretty good. All of my vine plants, carrots, lettuce, onions, tomatoes and peppers came from last years plants, and currently the tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers are already producing We are just going to continue this trend, and bujild upon it, because with the weather the last two years, veggie prices are going to do nothing but climb. The weather has been of two extremes, drought or flooding, neither of which are good for crop production.

 

[Justin Case]

Copepods. The oceans are the largest source of protein and copepods are the largest source of protein in the oceans.

 

[indykid]

Copepods. The oceans are the largest source of protein and copepods are the largest source of protein in the oceans.

Then I will just go in back of my house and harvest a bunch of stuff from the ocean, thanks for the info... oh wait, the nearest ocean is just a little bit away from Indiana.

Oh well, time to break out the Soylent Green machine.

Slightly off-purple as this is not intended as rude sarcasm or any intent at a flame, just making a joke!

 

[handgun]

Then I will just go in back of my house and harvest a bunch of stuff from the ocean, thanks for the info... oh wait, the nearest ocean is just a little bit away from Indiana.

Oh well, time to break out the Soylent Green machine.

Slightly off-purple as this is not intended as rude sarcasm or any intent at a flame, just making a joke!

Dude its purple to me lol..

 

[Sailor]

Food production can be easily increased. Permaculture techniques are greening deserts, and making less productive areas more efficient.

It drastically changes how we think though and thus is not widely accepted.

Also high yield urban gardening could pick up a lot of the supply.

 

[Bruenor]

Don't forget about the amount of food waste we see in this country. Half eaten plates of food being thrown out, food left to rot in the fridge because people forget about it, and of course (my favorite, and I'm guilty as well) overeating by the population. Eliminate these, and you effectively eliminate the problem.

 

[smccabe17]

I just read this before heading out to the garden. My broccoli is finished. Had the last cuts on it today. I am going to leave one plant up and just try and collect seed. That is one of the things I have never done. It is the variety Packman so I know they seed is going to be worthless, but it is at least practice. I am going to leave some San Marzanno tomatoes also this fall.

I was just thinking that in preparing for growing your own food, fuel and sprays may not be available. Make sure you have plenty of shovels, hoes, and hand tools that are quality. A good wheelbarrel will be handy also.

Garden chemicals will dry up quickly also. Do you know how to compost to provide your own fertilizer? Do you know how to control cabbage lopper or ahpids?

Just some thoughts. Great column OP.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Food production can be easily increased. Permaculture techniques are greening deserts, and making less productive areas more efficient.

It drastically changes how we think though and thus is not widely accepted.

Also high yield urban gardening could pick up a lot of the supply.

+1 Food production still continues to increase, the use of that food is what has been changing. I don't think the food supply is a major concern. Does that mean we can't be prepared with a garden? Absolutely not. But it's not my top priority.

For right now my top priority is energy; it continues to get much more expensive and it's not something you can just go out and hunt for or grow, you need to have the infrastructure in place beforehand. There are many things that can cause a disruption in energy and it's not something you can "store up" in large quantities easily, so you must be able to make it. My main priority is to be able to keep my fridge & freezer + a few basic appliances etc going in a short-term or long ter power outage. A large part of my food stores in regular rotation is frozen food in my freezer, fruits, vegetables, meats etc, all can spoil in a matter of days without a backup source of power.

 

[Exodus]

Most protein is soybean.?
I've started growing heirloom plants this year, but an unexpected move killed getting seeds.

 

[Bomb]

Dont eat raw soybeans they're bad for you

 

[ChrisBarnes]

I have to say I agree with the OP here. My wife and I have been gardening for years and will continue to do so. Maybe we have because our parents did as well. Yes we are farmers here in Central Indiana and yes a lot of the things you all have said are true about production and pricing. Yet lets stick to the OP's topic we all need to help ourselves survive past our current supplies and live out our lives not the next 3-5 years.

 

[Bill B]

While it might be true that yields have levelled off (bushels per acre) the amount of acerage available is still enormous. But even that is irrelevant as we (the US) produce many tons of excess food every year even with programs to limit the amount produced.