This week’s newsletter is brought to you by Marjorie Wildcraft’s, “Grow Your Own Groceries” that helps newbies and experts alike get more food from less ground with less time and effort than you thought possible. I strongly encourage you to check it out by clicking > here <.
You’ve probably been noticing how much your grocery costs are going up. Yes, you read the title of this article correctly, and honestly, I hope it only doubles. It could get much worse.
I’ll explain why. There are many unstoppable forces that are colliding and the result is that food prices will go up like an eruption from a volcano. I’ll highlight the three biggest forces in this article. By the end, you’ll realize that it is time to make some plans, take action, and get ready for a really ”new normal”.
The number one factor pushing up prices is simply the weather. It doesn’t matter what you believe about the cause of climate change – and who really knows? But the fact is that weather patterns are changing around the globe. We are getting more and more severe weather and the bottom line is that it is affecting crop production around the world. Right now, the US is in a severe drought. Many fields have already been cut and fed to livestock before maturity and a lot of what’s left is only expected to yield 20-40% of normal. And a lot of what actually is being harvested is being wasted on ethanol production.
India is currently experiencing a severe drought, as are parts of China, and Africa. Russia has had severe drought several years ago and went from being one of the largest exporters of wheat, to having to go out on the open markets to buy food for its people.
Australia used to produce enough rice to feed millions of people, but due to heat and drought they have lost almost 98% of that production.
Texas has been in drought for over four years now (or 12, depending on the part of the state) and the ranchers have been selling off their herds because they can’t afford to feed them. In the short term, this has kept the price of beef low, but soon the last of these great herds will have been butchered, and the price of beef will skyrocket.
At least one rancher in Kentucky got so desperate that he started feeding remnant candy to his herd—that’s got to make for healthy cattle and healthy meat!
Larry Pope, chief executive of Smithfield Foods (the largest pork producer in the world) has recently given a dire warning. “Beef is simply going to be too expensive to eat. Pork is not going to be too far behind. Chicken is catching up fast.” He also stated (in regards to ethanol) “Its almost a government-mandated disaster”.
Do you remember the flooding along the Mississippi last spring? That was farmland being destroyed. And the tsunami that hit Japan? That not only destroyed local farmland, but the water table is now contaminated with radiation which is affecting a much greater area than the devastation in the videos we saw.
Next time you are watching the news and see people stuck in airports because of severe cold, also think about the livestock and winter crops that are freezing to death. Remember that scorching heat this summer? Not only is it tough for you, but the corn and soybeans can’t handle it either.
Around the globe we’ve had droughts, floods, heat waves, cold snaps and worse. These losses have been going on for much of the last decade. To keep things stable, we’ve been eating our stored grains. We are now scratching the bottom of the bin. Even the conservative USDA is reporting our reserves are razor thin.
It is a simple supply and demand situation – the weather is destroying supply while demand increases.
#1 Severe weather is reducing global food production.
Are you getting used to the ‘new normal’ at the pump being somewhere around $3.50 to $4? Do you think oil prices will be going down? No, me neither.
All across the US you’ve seen those mega farms growing the corn, wheat, and potatoes that make up our basic food stocks. Every step in the process of growing that food involves oil and fossil energy. The planting, the chemical fertilizers, the harvesting, processing, and transportation are all processes that need massive amounts of energy (oil) to run.
As the price of oil goes up, so does the cost to produce food
#2 As the price of oil goes up, so do grocery prices.
Many Americans are surprised to find that we are no longer the ‘Bread Basket’ to the world. I certainly always believed that. I thought we produced two or three times what we needed and we were shipping it off to Africa, or India, or somewhere like that. The truth is we export only about 15% of what we grow. And, we import about that much. In fact, the US is getting closer to being a net importer of food.
So we saw above that almost all of the food grown in the United States is utterly dependent on oil and fossil fuels. Did you know that the US imports almost 65% of its energy? That means our food supply is largely dependent on foreign oil. The United States in not food self-reliant.
This gets us into the third biggest factor of why your grocery bill is going to double. The US Government has been issuing more and more money which is having two detrimental effects: inflation and the dollar losing value.
As the dollar loses value it becomes more and more expensive to buy the oil we need to grow food. The dollars that buy that oil are losing value – and with the possibility of the US defaulting on its debt, well, everything is going to get more expensive.
As the Government prints more and more money it is the textbook example of ‘too much money chasing too few goods’. You are probably already seeing inflation, what you may not realize is that hyper-inflation is right around the corner.
Another complication is that as this crisis unfolds there will be all sorts of governmental interventions – most of these will have the net affect of increasing prices. Already, over 30 countries have put export controls on food products to keep food in their country. Within the US, the increasing regulations for ‘food safety’ have put some farmers out of business. Price fixing and rationing are certainly possible, and historically have been shown to be ineffective. Price fixing was tried as recently as the 1970’s here in the US, and you can expect it to come up again.
#3 Government spending and interventions to the food crisis will push up prices.
Unfortunately, this is a very long-term problem. I definitely recommend you start stocking up on food supplies, but the real solution is to learn how to grow your own. The weather patterns, the price of oil, and the various world Governments are not going to suddenly change track any time soon. And there are a host of other factors that will push up prices which I have not written about here. You simply cannot store enough food to get you and your family through this crisis. It is one of the reasons why I am so passionate about growing food in my backyard – and encouraging everyone else to grow food too.
You can take control of your grocery bills and get immunity from the crisis we are facing by simply using what you’ve got right in your own backyard. It is really fun and easy to do. And you’ll be eating much healthier than ever before.
Protect yourself and your family. Start growing your own food.
David’s note: Growing your own food is definitely an undertaking that is similar to eating an elephant. If you try to do it all in one sitting, it’s not going to work out so well, but if you take it one step at a time and keep making forward progress towards your goal, you’ll find that you’re continually better off than you were.
One of the best resources that I can suggest is Marjorie’s “Grow Your Own Groceries” and I strongly suggest that you check it out. Everyone’s going to be negatively affected by the coming skyrocketing food prices, but you can insulate yourself by growing SOME of what you eat…and enjoy food that’s tastier and more healthy at the same time. Head on over to Marjorie’s right now by > clicking here <
What are your thoughts on the droughts this summer and what’s coming for the price and availability of food? How about your experiences in new gardening this summer? What are you planting/sowing right now? Are you growing indoors, outdoors, or both? Share your thoughts by commenting below:
About David Morris
Look up the nearest LDS canning facility around your home – they have cans of milk, beans, grains, pasta, etc, already canned and for sale. They know ‘prepping’, too,and are good folk. Check them out.
Check out your nearest LDS canning facility – we have one closeby, and can either purchase cans of beans, dry milk, grains, flour, etc, from them or help out an afternoon or 2 and that helps pay for what you get. Good folks, and well-versed on ‘prepping’.
Suggestion: rather than just think ‘gardening’ broaden that prospective to ‘food production’. If you eat it, can you or someone near you (and you can barter w/) grow/raise it? Gardening is subject to your locale/climate. Intensive gardening where you always during the growing season replace harvested or no longer productive plants helps. Planting close together creates a micro-environment below the plant leaves which keeps water from evaporating off as rapidly. 3″-4″ of mulch (compost, leaves, or newspapers) conserves water and keeps weeds down. Mushroom manure (basically aged manure and hay mixture used to grow mushrooms once then discarded w/ 99+% nutrients still there) is the best I’ve found. Also acts as time released fertilizer. Use aged manures to avoid nitrogen burn. Two basic philosophies here: feed/enrich the soil or feed the plants directly. IMHO the first creating healthy soil is a long term solution which helps plants resist disease. There are a number of strategies for extending growing season w/ perhaps the greatest challenge being light duration and intensity. Mid-October through mid-March in USA usually require help in this area.
Don’t forget berry patches. Fruit and nut trees can usually be also found as dwarf varieties. Also as discussed this summer wild edible/medicinal plants.
Sprouting as mentioned above is excellent all year. Hydroponics is a viable indoors/greenhouse solution that takes little space and can yield more/area. The plants need water, nutrients, and O2 to the roots. It can be as KISS or complex as you want. A simple method splits a 55-gal barrel lengthwise, waterproof if needed, full w/ some medium like gravel, put seed in a biodegradable container or clay so it doesn’t wash away, insert that into medium, and flood and drain barrel halves several times/day. A 4′x8′ float system can be built w/ a 4′x8′ sheet of plywood, 2″x6″ boards, plastic sheeting, Styrofoam to cover top of water, and an aquarium O2 pump. That will handle about 160 plants @ 5″ apart. A simple nutrient solution is equal parts of chicken manure, rabbit manure, wood ashes, and earth worm casings. Add 20 times as much water. After flooding a couple hours, drain solution back into a container for reuse – may be 5-gal bucket w/ hose glued to bottom and to bottom of your tank, then raise bucket to flood and lower to drain.
Solution lasts a week or two. You can buy premixed nutrients.
Consider raising fish – in combination w/ hydroponics it’s called aquaponics (and plants eat the fish excretia). 6-yr Penn State study show 25% increase in lbs of catfish harvested w/ addition of Tiwanese Freshwater Clams – plus clam meat and shells for lime. Small livestock like rabbits, chickens (if you’ve got a pond, ducks), and goats (see original episode of Doomsday’s Preppers on pygmy goats [and duckweed!] ) help provide meat (w/ all 26 amino acids we need – together beans and rice also do that).
I am a young mother of three, but I have been working on my preps for a few years now. My husband believes nothing bad will ever happen, but the kids love the idea of being prepared. We have 1 acre in Florida that houses a few goats, 20 chickens and ducks, 2 dogs and a cat. We garden every year, but only moderately successful.My daughter and I recently learned to butcher rabbits at a friend’s house, so I think rabbits will be the next addition to our homestead. I have been canning and dehydrating like crazy since school has returned. The internet is just cram-packed full of great ideas and recipes, I wish I had more time in a day to try them all.
Can anyone tell me the shelf life of dehydrated meat..ie; beef jerky, dehydrated veggies, fruits, etc. Any special instructions I need to follow? I have a dehydrater, and am purchasing one of those gadgets that removes air and seals the bag so I can start the process soon. Thanks for any advice that can be shared. Also thinking about canning foods, however, never tried it. Feel free to email me or post here. Thanks in advance! Peace……..
Mr. Kelley,
If you’re planning to dehydrate your own beef jerky, fruits and vegetables, you need to thoroughly research information on food dehydration. Dehydrating foods isn’t difficult, but moisture content is a biggie. Too moist when stored means mold, and the food will have to be thrown away. Start with an Internet search. Preserving Food: Dehydrating Fruits and Vegetables by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension offer extensive instructions on food dehydration.
Ziploc bags, or sealer-bags is a good method of storing dehydrated foods, but you should take it one step further and keep it stored in a bucket or storage tub, where light can’t penetrate. As with all bulk food storage, light, moisture and temperature and temperature fluctuations need to be avoided. Ideal temps are between 55 degrees to 70 degrees.
its the chem trails that are causing the crazy weather changes. If we want to grow the food we must stop them. Our ground is getting poisoned by this. You need to grow inside.
Farmers’ Markets are not just good for buying extra veggies but are also a source of great information about what plant varieties grow best in the area and what pest control methods work also. Simple things you would not have thought of like not planting summer squash until after Father’s Day to avoid squash borers can save you lots of time.
I hope to be able to stay in my present suburban neighborhood where space is limited but I know the soil and have gardened a few years. Intensive gardening methods (square foot gardening, square box gardening, etc.) but this works best when you have access to things you may need to amend the soil (like lime, bone meal, etc.) There are lots of books in the library on intensive methods but if you are going to use them I suggest getting started by preparing the beds this fall.
If I have to bug out to some rural property we own, then I will need to turn a hay field into my garden and will have to use Dry Land Farming techniques as there will be no way to go intensive for a while anyway. I expect water to be a potential issue. There are fewer books on Dry Land Farming out there but you might want to check out Steve Solomon’s Gardening When it Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times.
It’s like the “three is two, two is one and one is none” rule–its best to have backup knowledge of more than one gardening technique whether it’s intensive gardening, dry land gardening, grow lights for indoor container gardening, hydrophonics, greenhouse, etc. so you have a better chance to adapt your techniques to meet different conditions.
And, don’t forget sprouting…lots of nutrition when it’s hard to grow anything.
I had a shocker today at my favorite store Martins in south bend Indiana , all the meat prices has sky-rocked . Plain old ground beef $3.65 lb , chicken from $1.29 lb to as much as $2.29 .Prices has already started heading up. I have only so much to spend on food luckly I have a large garden , green house and hydroponices .We have more than enought veggies , meat going to be the tricky part. Look like it time to get some chickens and rabbits. Time are changing not for the better.
Another good source to learn about gardening is your local Agricultural Extension Agency, there is one in every county of every state. They have plenty of free brochures, books, and advice. They are very helpful in gardening tips, bee keeping, canning, preserving, and much much more, just have to go to the local office and seek some advice.
Hello David,
As you know David we have a small organic farm in KY and 98% of our food source comes from our farm. During the cold seasons we grow our food in hot houses. The weather does influence crop yeild. However, for all small orgainc farmers we know the importance of living in harmony with nature. We know how to let the earth provide all the beneficial microbes and nutrients.
The government and the media are blaming the drought. It’s more than that. Monsanto, Dow, BASF and other biotech industries have created GMO’s under the pretense these genetically engineered foods are drought resistent and insect resistent. GMO’s do not work naturally with the land; they deplete it and destroy it. Now that GMO’s have been around for 20 years we’re seeing the devastation they’re causing on the soil. Properly cared for land and planting crops which God has made, not man-made crops, will provide lasting harvests. Water is always a concern, however, having healthy land and “real” crops minimzes losses.
By the government’s own admission over 80% of the food in grocery stores is GMO!!!
We need to take back our land and rebuild our natural resources the way they are meant to be.
I can suggest to people to offer to take away outside doors from those who are buying new ones. I mean the outside doors with windows. They can be set around gardens, nailed together,and then, on top, to make your own hothouse. Myself, I got a clear 9′ X 12′ tarp to go over my raised garden bed. I cannot keep it on 24 hours because it will grow mold. But, it is good for keeping grasshoppers out, mosquito sprays out, cold of the night, etc. Right now, I have toads patrolling my garden! But, I’ve heard of a man nearby who has done the “door” thing for a number of years, successfully. He is able to grow through the fall, and sometimes, some things in the winter. But, we live in Texas. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!
Do you have proof of this Stephen?
Thanks,
David
It used to be common practice years/decades ago in SW PA to build cold frames and small greenhouses of old window frames (w/ glass intact) as primary components hung on a frame. Now we have more durable options than the glass.
OOps, my bad David. I thought you were replying to Shirley. To Stephen’s GMO stuff Dr. Joe Mercola would probably be up to date on GMO stats. Possibly there is some confusion about depleting/leaching nutrients out of ground. Ag-bus doesn’t enrich soil (and really only NPK) while there another dozen nutrients. They’ve decided it’s more cost-effective to ‘feed’ (sort of) the plants getting nice big vegetables missing most of the nutrients.
I have heard this directly from someone who used to drive chemicals for them… scary sh– going into our ground and food.
Here are few of the articles off google:
prwatch .org/spin/2011/01/9903/ whole-foods-market -caves-monsanto
organicconsumers .org/ monsanto/
huffingtonpost .com/2012/09/19/ monsanto-corn-study-france _n_1896115.html?utm_hp_ref=green
dailyfinance .com/2010/02/04/ monsanto-the-evil-corporation -in-your-refrigerator/
Square Box Gardening! I found the book telling how at the Library. Excellant
for begining gardeners. No rototilling, easy weeding, easy watering, etc.. In
4′ by 4′ above ground boxes made with 2″ X 6′” lumber, Divided into 1 foot
sections. Great soil combination formula. I also found the book at the Dollar
General store. You don’t need a large area to do this.
David, good advice, I couldn’t agree more.
I live at 8200′ elevation consequently a short growing season. I tried gardening years ago, got wiped out by the moles/voles, one or the other. I am now using what they call the ‘Garden Patch Grow Boxes’. I have 11 of them and altho I would need a lot more to supply all my gardening needs, they do the job on a smaller scale quite nicely. I have an over supply of cukes, carrots and some lettuce. I attend my local farmers market every chance I get and get stocked up that way. I often think about what is coming our way after the floods last year and the drought this year and it’s not pretty. I’m trying to prepare my kids as well, I just hope they’re listening.
World news tonight had this same predition on its news segment last night. They predicted a high increase in food prices to start by next month.
I grow tomatoes, beans and potatoes. I am working on growing broccoli and other winter veggies.
Now would be a good time to learn about freeezing and canning all the food you grow, you can’t eat it all up before it goes bad
DEHYDRATION …and proper storage after, sealed in pint jars with moisture and O2 absorbers…and it’s good for years… To use most products dehydrated, you cover with water for 30 min to one hour, allow to sit , then use like fresh. You can also buy frozen, dehydrate and then store without refrigeration.
Bravo