What would you do if one day you woke up and your cupboards were bare? The media reported there were riots in the streets and houses being broken into as people searched for something to eat. Well fed military men were shooting looters on sight. Grocery stores were boarded up. Gas stations closed. Houses and businesses by the thousands being abandoned. Pets such as dogs and cats were disappearing at an alarming rate and no one, not even the government has an answer. You say it can’t happen? You think that civilization will continue on as normal for years to come and hard times are just a dream? You see the question is not if this will happen the only question is when.

What will you do at this time? Are you going to be part of the solution or one of those crying yourself to sleep from hunger? One can see signs of this in our cities already. Just talk to folks who provide food for the homeless. Listen to the stories of men and women who had it all and then lost it all. Many of them didn’t think it could happen to them but it did. And that is with civilization still working. Imagine how terrible it will be when pieces begin to be removed from the equation.

Many of you have heard these fears before and years have passed and still nothing has happened. Don’t be fooled by Gods grace for the days of darkness are coming and its time to get ready. But how?

First we have to start reducing the distance to our food supply. As corporations take over more and more of our food comes from long distances. Not just a few miles but hundreds or even thousands of miles. The end result is our food supply relies on thousands of people working at every part of the world to put food on your table. After all if Florida oranges are not available maybe we can then turn to California or Mexico. But what happens if all three of them stop producing? Do we then have to turn to Australia? What if the cost of shipping triples so that the cost of oranges rises to five or ten dollars a pound. Will oranges be a necessity if you can’t afford milk?

Part of the solution is in localizing our food production. Instead of huge distances each settlement and food source should not be more then an adult male could walk in a 12 hour period. This is a distance of 50-60 miles in all directions. I’m sure some could walk more and some less but this gives us a workable distance. Within this distance we must be able to meet at least 75% of our own food needs. We can survive on that percentage if we have to but the left over percentage can come from outside sources or from people within our commnities who are willing to experiment.

If you study the way our ancestors lived you will find their food requirements were very simplistic. They did not have thousands of choices but in many cases had perhaps 25 staple ingredients to work with. Summers were often spent collecting, harvesting and storing foods for the long winters. Everyone had their own root cellars and nearly everyone had their own gardens. Some tried to meet all of their own needs as it was the only way they could eat.

Now I realize not everyone wants to return to those days for they were hard, long and meant days of hoeing, pest control, and so much more. But I think our food supply has become so sanitized that people have forgotten essentials that keep us alive. Most children don’t realize their burgers come from cows or the slice of turkey comes from birds that had to be killed. Its as if we want our meat but don’t want to hurt the animal that provides that meat.

In addition we go to the stores and look only for the most perfect fruits and vegetables not realizing maybe 50% of nature provides that nice look. Much of the imperfect food is tossed into the garbage piles or made into juices or whatever.

I believe every family has to be part of the solution in some way. If each person can supply even 10% of their food needs that will mean a month of food they have taken care of each year. Growing up our family had a large vegetable plot and our own chickens. We lived in Michigan and each fall families went and shot a deer or bear for food purposes. We fished, hunted for mushrooms, trapped rabbits and squirrels and tried to let the land provide for us.

Unfortunately mankind has made a serious mess and I don’t believe its yet possible to return to the way things were. We’ve stripped, polluted and covered the land with urban sprawl. Nearly half of our wildernesses are either off limits to hunting or there is a shortage of ways to hunt. Our laws are becoming more restrictive so even owning a hunting rifle is frowned on. We have Bambi groups that frown on shooting deer. Nemo groups that frown on fishing. Bugs bunny groups that front on hurting rabbits.

But there is one fact that is clear. When people get hungry and I mean really hungry their social philosophies are going to fly out the door. They will eat the mushrooms that grow in their yards and in the forests. They will eat the deer meat. They will gain a sudden interest in raising chickens or other animals for food. And we must emphasize this and quit relying on super cheap, non-organic food that does not carry the essential vitamins and nutrients we can find in the soils of the area in which we live.