Food Security is defined as all people, at all times, having physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. (1996 World Food Summit)
I don’t know about you but when I walk into my local grocery store and see empty shelves which 2 years ago were filled with basic food stuffs, my sense of food security is shaken.
I have a pretty deep pantry and like to keep extra fresh food on hand – mostly because I live 40 minutes from a grocery store and a simple thing like a snow storm, road closure, or the flu can prevent me getting there.
But there are other reasons:
· I don’t like being vulnerable to the decisions of others, especially when I have no control or input into those decisions. I’m talking about the government at local, state and federal levels, supply chain decision-makers, and grocery company management.
· I don’t like being caught off-guard by weather events, financial crises (personal or global), illnesses, injuries, unexpected visitors, spontaneous get-togethers.
· I want to know exactly what I am eating. (Bugs anyone?) The best way to do that is to work with raw/basic materials and make my own food products. Gardening, canning, freezing, dehydrating, baking, grilling, cooking, and butchering are how I do this. For example, I don’t buy pre-made pizzas - I make mine from scratch, also, homemade mac and cheese, vegetable soup from leftover vegetables collected in the freezer, hamburgers from our beef, eggs from our chickens.
· I buy bulk items to save money. Especially my grains, flours, other baking ingredients. I have a freezer that I keep grains/flours in until I’m ready to use them. My kids saved their gallon dill pickle jars for me to store beans, rice, noodles and other dry foods. That keeps moisture, insects, and rodents out of my stockpile.
· I want to keep the local markets open. So many mom-and-pop stores closed during the pandemic’s shutdowns and never reopened. A wonderful butcher shop near us was a local treasure…. it’s gone now. It was open 3-days a week with fresh meats and meat mixes. You could put an order in or send a message over social media and just walk in to pick it up. They closed in 2020 and never reopened.
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While we are often encouraged to buy local – I’ve been stumped about how to do that. I live in what is basically a bedroom community. We all work or worked somewhere else and drove 10 – 20 miles or more to our jobs. We come home to eat dinner and sleep. It’s also very rural. There just isn’t the population to support a full-time vegetable or fresh food market. What can we do?
Great question! Here are some ideas:
1. ****** MOST IMPORTANTLY******
Think of your local food shopping as filling a Hello Fresh box, rather than your grocery cart. You are buying ingredients to prepare a delicious, fresh meal. You are not buying boxes of premade, just-add-water dinners.
You will be eating more seasonally, too.
2. This Summer and Fall attend as many local farmer’s markets as you possibly can. Talk to the fresh food producers and ask what they offer off-season. Many of them have early Spring or late Fall gardens but the farmer’s markets are closed or they don’t produce enough to make it worth their while to stand outside all day. However, they may have enough to sell to some select customers. Collect business cards, take notes, get addresses and phone numbers.
Talk to local vegetable and farmer market producers.
Ask what they produce off season and if you could become a private customer.
3. Buy food from the vendors at the markets. Make it worth their time to prep, drive, unload, set-up, sell, take down, drive home so you can buy fresh, heirloom tomatoes or artisan bread.
4. Look around your neighborhood –
a. Who has chickens? Are they egg layers or meat chickens? If meat, will they sell any processed (butchers and cleaned birds, ready for the freezer?) If layers, can you get on their customer list? If you are buying meat chickens, check out my blog about using a whole turkey at Thanksgiving. The same process applies to a whole meat chicken. Consider how often do you eat chicken when ordering? How many can you buy at a time? When will they have chickens again? Some producers raise 2 or 3 batches a year, but not all of them do.
Many backyard chicken producers are interested in expanding their flocks from just egg layers to meat chickens and are looking for customers. They don't know you are interested unless you ask.
Some also incubate fertilized eggs and raise peeps.
b. Who is the baker in your neighborhood? If they don’t sell bread and rolls already, would they be interested in doing so, especially if you are a regular customer? (I’m already thinking about chicken noodle soup and homemade bread.)
c. Who has a small dairy? It’s not legal to sell raw milk in Ohio but it is in some states. Maybe they make cheese that can be sold. Ask about fermented products such as yogurt, kefir, sour cream. Fresh butter is sold by some of our Amish neighbors. Another option is joining a dairy herd share. You pay a fee and 'own' a portion of the dairy cow or goat. You are now entitled to a set amount of milk, butter, or cheese on a schedule. There is a contract involved and each party's obligations are made clear. There are also CSA's which are vegetable shares set up in a similar way.
5. Do you know any 4-H or FFA kids? They often sell fruit throughout the year. You might pay a bit more but not much. It is fresh and of high quality. Be prepared to process it – berries in the freezer or make jam, oranges in cold storage (I did a post about our cold storage room last Winter.)
6. Those same 4-H/FFA kids raise animals to show at the local fairs. They usually raise a few more than they can show and must sell the extras. Best part – these animals are raised on the best feed and with the best care. You can find chickens, turkeys, duck, beef, lamb, pork, goat, rabbit, and more. Get yourself to your country fair and talk to these kids and their parents. This is really prime meat often sold at market prices.
Talk to 4-H kids and their parents at your local county fair. They often have animals which aren't being shown. These animals are given the best care and often available for market prices - much lower than what you will pay at a 4-H fair auction.
7. Local butcher shops. We have a great butcher shop not far from us. Open year around, they do custom butchering, but also sell fresh and frozen meat to retail customers.
8. Talk to your local gardeners – we have some friends who LOVE to garden but end up with more food than they can process/store. Asparagus, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, corn, etc. You should offer to pick it yourself and bring a pie, loaf of homemade bread or jam as a thank you.
9. Your local beef farmer. You can buy what is known as freezer beef, or freezer hog. There is a downside to buying meat like this. First, you will be buying ½ or ¼ of a steer – that means several hundred pounds of meat and several hundred dollars for the meat and the processing. Same with a hog. You need a freezer or some access to rented freezer space to keep this amount of meat. The good news is you will save significant money in the long run and have delicious meat for months and months to come.
10. Area orchards and fruit stands. We go to a large orchard pretty regularly. They are open 9 months a year, keeping fruits and vegetables in cold storage so they stay in tip-top shape. This is where I bought 2 bushels of mixed – seconds apples for applesauce. They have broccoli, cabbage, carrots, potatoes and other root vegetables now (late January), as well as many varieties of apples.
11. Look for publications listing local producers, homesteaders, and farmers who do direct to customer selling. Several county Farm Bureaus are putting together these booklets and websites, as well as County Extension services, Visitor Bureaus and more. We used one of these guides in Virginia when our plans for a vacation didn’t work out. We had a blast driving from farm to farm and winery to winery.
12. Do you know someone who likes to hunt? Venison, turkey, pheasant, and pork are common wild game in the eastern US. Elk, moose, bear, and other larger game are popular in the western parts. There are some great outdoor cooking shows on YouTube and the Outdoor channels on television which show how to prepare and enjoy these meats. Help underwrite the costs of hunting for that friend and see what he/she brings home.
Hunters love their sport and may have extra meat available.
13. Fishing – Trout, bluegill, crappie, perch, and other panfish are the best eating where I live, but salmon, walleye and other larger fish are delicious. Even the kids can contribute to dinner. If you live near the ocean, consider shellfish and salt water species.
14. Look for local food in unusual places. While driving around rural backroads we found many hardware stores, small shops, even equipment dealers with locally produced food on their shelves. You may only find honey and maple syrup at one store and condiments at another, but it’s local food and can be added to your pantry. Our local butcher also has a variety of noodles, condiments, and other dry foods.
We drove around our local Amish community and found local food outlets everywhere. Some were farmsteads selling their maple syrup and eggs, others were seasonal produce stands. Even a local housewares store had syrup and honey.
Our area butcher shop sells retail meat, noodles, condiments, and more.
Don't forget the larger flea markets. Many area orchards set up regularly.
Bulk food stores are a great place to buy your dry goods -
flours, seasonings, spices, beans, soup mixes, canning supplies, even snacks and lunch meats cut to order.
15. Call the county extension office to see where farmer’s markets, food stands, and fresh food markets are located. Many have local directories for these producers.
16. Consider gardening for your family, in a community garden, or with another family to share the work. Learn to preserve your bounty through canning, freezing, dehydrating, or freeze drying. A farm supply store in a nearby town now sells Harvest brand freeze dryers. These are a significant investment, so ask other family members if they want to share the cost and use.
Local food is all around you. Grab some good, basic cookbooks (@ Goodwill) and get dinner started.
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The Homestead Rendezvous is May 20th, 2023 in Bergholz, Ohio. Meet local producers, agriculture businesses, gardeners, chicken and egg producers, maple syrup and honey farmers, vegetable gardeners, homesteaders. There will be workshops throughout the day taught by folks with literally decades of experience.
As always, the Homestead Rendezvous is free to attend. Bring the family - just leave the pets home, please. There will be farm animals on-site.
Eat Well!
Polly
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