Prepping is short for preparing, which could mean preparing for anything. Some people call themselves preppers who just like to make sure they have enough for surviving a month or two without power due to hurricane or tornado or whatever. Some people own the term because they are preparing for an apocalyptic event (civil war, riots, whatever). There are preppers on all parts of the political spectrum, but when I was growing up, it was just called normal Midwestern/Michigander behavior. We had to be prepared for power outages (amazingly common and frequent) and storms, and my stepmom always made sure the pantry shelves and freezers were stocked full of food. Gardening, canning, freezing, drying--all normal in both homes growing up. Apparently, that means I'm a prepper, too.
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it's that we really do need to keep things on hand as much as we can. Prepping, though, is based on three things (which, in turn, are based on socioeconomic class): time, storage space, money. Time It takes time to garden, and it takes a lot of time to put up food. This morning, for example, I had to put away the 50 pounds of whole wheat flour my husband found at a favorite store (Horrocks in Battle Creek, MI for $20!). That took time, especially when my main flour tote could only handle half of it (I'm so very much not complaining about that since we've been out of whole wheat flour for weeks now). Yesterday, it took me hours to weed a main bed, prepare it for new plants, and put those plants in with the breaks I needed due to pain and fibro issues. I have more to do today, along with picking shelling peas and putting those up. That all takes time. If someone is working more than one job (super common in the middle class and poor), they barely have the time for laundry and cleaning and making food, let alone prepping food for storage, shopping for things they need from bulk stores, making room in their pantries, etc. Prepping takes time, and that needs to be remembered when we talk about what needs to be done to make sure we have enough food and supplies on hand for an extended length of time. Storage Space One thing I see overlooked in how people talk about prepping or putting food up from the garden is lack of storage space. Not everyone lives in a house. Not everyone even lives in a decent-sized apartment. Not everyone lives in a tiny home because it's such a cute fad--they live in spaces that small because that's all they can afford. Some people are homeless and couch surfing or living out of a car or van. For anyone without storage space, prepping isn't realistic. Can you store more in a small space than you'd think? Sure. It takes money and planning, and there are some amazing ideas for that on Pinterest, but even still, lack of storage space really puts pressure on any pantry, let alone if you're trying to store enough food for months. Back to my flour example: fifty pounds of flour takes up room, a good bit of room. We're lucky in that we have the room. I will have to move and rearrange some things, but our basement pantry has room. For long-term food storage, a cold room or root cellar is critical, but that means that you have a house or access to space in a basement (many apartment buildings don't have those and are built on slabs). Again, that storage space issue becomes critical for anything for long-term. Money Finally, prepping takes money. You have to have the money in your budget to buy in bulk. For example, the cheapest, best way to buy meat is to get half or all of a butchered animal from the farmer. For beef in our area, that runs you $300 or more for a half portion. That means you have to have that kind of money in your budget all at once, which so very many people don't have. Sure, it's cheaper over the course of a year, but it's a lot of money all at once. Same for a lot of bulk foods--they are cheaper per unit, but they're more up front. Also, the storage options cost money, from racks to totes to ziploc bags to getting a deep freezer and paying to run it. While we have found that prepping, for us, is cheaper overall, especially in growing and raising our own food, it still has some serious costs. Not everyone has that kind of money in the budget. In fact, with the majority of Americans living paycheck to paycheck (and we are right there with you), I would argue that most of us don't. In my next post, I will write about some of the tips and tricks I've found over the years to help with time, storage space, and money.
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If you follow me on social media, you will see that I frequently share news about the Black Lives Matter movement, the protests that have been going on (finally!), and especially on Twitter, news about Black farmers and researchers and educators.
See, no lives matter until Black lives matter. Black people deserve full equality, equity, and equal power. I believe in reparations, though I'm still working out in my head what those could look like in detail; in destroying the effects of redlining and fixing that massive problem; the complete and full funding of schools with majority students of color; defunding the police and creating/recreating social support programs; more Black educators and farmers with programs in place to encourage them and support them; and so much more. If you aren't okay with my being an ally for Black and Indigenous people, for all Latinx people, for all LGBTQ+ people and for my trying to work for anti racism, then it's okay if you unfollow me or stop reading my blog. If you want to start a conversation, then this former high school teacher doesn't have a problem with that and helping you learn more about issues of equity and equality as long as you stay respectful of all people in your language. Black lives matter. Period. The Victory Garden program started during World War I and the Great Depression in many countries and really took off in the United States during World War II. Victory Gardens in the US were all about maintaining the food supply chain, keeping food local, and making sure Americans ate more vegetables and fruits while also feeding our allies and our troops. It was a fairly successful program, though there were a lot of ways it wasn't as successful as the propaganda suggested, like you would expect; however, in the end, it fed Americans and definitely created a whole new generation of gardeners as so many of the children of World War II grew up to have gardens of their own.
These days, with the pandemic and everything going on here in the US and, indeed, all over the world, more and more people are getting into gardening either again or for the first time. It’s been very exciting to watch the seed companies sell out over and over again, the farm stores sell out of chicks and ducklings to backyard and urban farmers, and more people joining the Facebook gardening, homesteading, and urban farming groups every day. We all should be growing our own Victory Gardens, now more than ever. We have seen the international food supply chain founder, seen empty shelves for weeks at a time, and food prices skyrocket. All those signs point to the need to grow and raise our own food as much as possible. In addition to the old-time Victory Gardens and traditional gardening here in the US, there also is a movement that promotes climate-friendly gardening methods. In reality, there are many smaller movements, from permaculture to Ruth Stout's deep mulching fans, but what they all have in common is using gardening methods that sequester more carbon, feed the soil, privilege the use of heritage plants instead of GMO or hybrid ones, and encourage composting. In our mini urban farm, we utilize all of the methods promoted by the Green America Climate Victory Garden project, from aggressive composting to no-till methods and deep mulch using yard waste from our own yard. The Climate Victory Garden idea is that, just like the Victory Gardens of old, if most Americans, or really most people on the planet, grew all the food that they were able to using carbon sequestering methods like no-till and deep mulching, not only would we have better food security, but we could make a real difference for the environment. Green America has a Climate Victory Garden registration map where you can sign up your garden as being part of the movement. To see if your garden qualifies, you need, at the very least, to use the following environmentally friendly practices:
So, please join us! If you're new to gardening, start with the links on Green America's site for ideas, and then check out intensive square foot gardening, Bokashi composting, Ruth Stout and Back to Eden mulching methods, and regenerative agriculture. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me either here or on social media. Let's feed our families and our world while making the world a better place to live! |
CarinaI'm a 40s something disabled mom living the life on our small urban farm. Archives
April 2022
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