I’m hearing more and more talk about food shortages due to the war, broken supply lines and the fact that inflation is running so hot even wealthy people will soon be living on beans and wieners. Or they won’t be able to afford to eat at all.
My father was one of those Okies John Steinbeck wrote about in the Grapes of Wrath and he lectured us constantly that we were lucky because once his family of eight made it to California during the depression there was a big sign at the border that said, “Okies go home.” Needless to say, this wasn’t the “Land of Opportunity” they were expecting and there were countless times his family didn’t know where their next meal was coming from. That kind of emotion scars you for life.
That’s why growing up we always had a huge garden, a washhouse with Mason jars covering every inch of available wall-space filled with green beans with chunks of ham, pickled peaches, all sorts of jellies and jams, salsa, and countless other fruits and vegetables that my mom canned every year in her pressure cooker that always sounded like it could blast off at any minute. In our pumphouse we also had a huge freezer filled with meat from animals we raised. We also had 30 laying hens that gave us about two dozen eggs every day that I wouldn’t eat even if I was starving because I knew where those eggs came from.
So I was lucky, I grew up never wondering where my next meal was coming from.
When I hear pundits talk about upcoming food shortages the words of my father haunt me because my wife and I currently not only don’t have a garden, we also don’t have a pumphouse filled with food and our only freezer is a small one that can hardly hold four quarts of ice cream, some 10 year old colostrum, ice packs for our arthritic joints, some ancient plastic containers full of mystery meat, and three ice cubes. Food wise, we mostly live week to week and I know this is not smart and it does give me a sense of food insecurity, especially when we go grocery shopping and see that all the Spam and Velveeta have already been gobbled up.
I can easily envision a circumstance down the road where consumers get real spooked like they did with toilet paper. Only when people start to horde food it will become an even more horrendous pain in the patoot than when they were stockpiling Charmin.
I used to have two fall-back positions. For the first 30 years of our marriage I never worried where my next meal was coming from because my wife worked as a checker in a grocery store owned by her uncle. I felt pretty confident that for a high enough price he’d let us shop after hours. But now that she’s retired and her uncle is dead I have no inside connections.
My other fallback position was my neighbor who 30 years ago bought a year’s worth of food and put it in his bomb shelter left over from the 1960’s Cold War. I often have visions of my neighbor resting comfortably in his Lazy Boy, 40 feet underground, eating dehydrated peas, piñon nuts and M & M’s, while I’m hiding under my desk as we were instructed to do by our teachers counting on it to protect me from the nukes launched by crazy Khrushchev, who was even nuttier than Putin, believe it or not.
My neighbor calls his secret stash “Mormon MRE’s” (meals ready to eat) because the Mormons believe in having at least one year’s worth of food on hand, and also because he was in the military and on occasion ate MRE’s. I’ve always made fun of him and his pessimistic outlook on life and I may have overdone it because now my friend tells me he’s not going to be neighborly and share ANY of his already expired fake food with me. So even if I get down on my knees and beg there will be no weevils with rice casserole, post-apocalyptic macaroni paste, dehydrated ramen noodles with chickpeas, desiccated Brussel sprouts or cardboard cookies for dessert.
Umm, yummy. I think I’d rather just go hide under my desk instead.
Start a dialogue, stay on topic and be civil. If you don't follow the rules, your comment may be deleted.
User Legend: Moderator Trusted User
I’m hearing more and more talk about food shortages due to the war, broken supply lines and the fact that inflation is running so hot even wealthy people will soon be living on beans and…
Cow calf andbackgrounding operation in South Central ND. We are in search of someone with strong mechanical skills. $3,000/month plus…
Seeking a full time ranch hand for a bison/cattle operation located one hour from Laramie Wyoming. Ideal candidate will have…
Wanted full time self-motivated ranch managerNeeds to be familiar with customary ranch activitiesWe are a cow/calf & hay producer.Equipment maitience…
Equestrian Center Manager for Premier Boarding Facility In Steamboat Springs CO. Responsibilities include overall care and management of horses, hiring…
Full time positionMedical insurance and beef provided. Time and a half on Sundays and holidays when it is your turn…
Job Description: Landscape Maintenance LaborerScope of WorkThe landscape maintenance laborer position is an integral part of EarthX, and ultimately the…
$18.36 per hourMust have High School diploma or GED Full benefitsClosing date of July 15th, 2022No felony convictions Must be…
Day Shift $30.00/hourNight Shift $35.00/hourBased out of Sundance, WYBenefits: Health and 401KEqual Opportunity Employer
Multi-project Operator- Operate excavation equipmentand farm tractors- Repair and install water lines and plumbing for ranch and irrigation water lines-…
In search of dedicated, hardworking and honest help for cow/calf operation. Home and utilities provided.
Duties include, fencing, irrigating, haying & cattle handling.Must have good horsemanship skillsMust be responsible, self-motivated individual, who is willing to…
Ranch hand needed on cow/calf operation in N Central WY. Duties include feeding with processor, haying, pivot/flood irrigation, some cow…
Large diversified ranch in central NE seeking ft ranch help. must be able to handle cattle. must be able to…
Family owned and operated ranch in south central South Dakota. We are located 35 miles north east of Valentine, Ne…
Do not sell my personal information