Permaculture Self-Reliance

Let's start with food. What could food self-reliance look like? Some people really do grow most or all of their own food. But most of us don't, and that's OK.

Recently on the 90PercentReduction email list, a permaculturist named Bob Waldrop made an excellent post called "Six Components of Personal Food Security." I forwarded his post to the Austinperm email list. There, a couple of people responded by posting their favorite books on food self-reliance.

Here, I've added two more components, and some more examples of each component. And I've included the book titles.

By the way, Mr. Waldrop's post was based on his and his wife's experience of successfully putting together a diet of mostly local, fresh food on an extremely limited budget. I've added a pointer to his local food story in the Links list below.

EIGHT COMPONENTS OF PERSONAL FOOD SECURITY

(1) Grow some of your own food. However much you can. For some people, this will be a large household garden; for others, it'll be a little four-by-four biointensive plot; for still others, it'll be a couple of small pots on the porch or balcony, or in the kitchen window. Or even just a jar of sprouting mung beans on a kitchen counter. Know yourself: Better to start small than to start on a scale that's too big for you. You want to be energized and encouraged to do more, not exhausted and overwhelmed. You want learning experiences to build on, not failures that will prompt you to give up.

(2) Buy some food from local farmers and ranchers. Buy however much you can afford and is available. Farmer's markets aren't open year-round in many places. Also, not everyone can afford to buy all their food at farmer's markets. Although, nowadays, a lot of the farmer's markets I visit seem to be price-competitive with grocery stores. And some of the farm markets are accepting food stamps. And farm produce subscriptions -- CSA baskets -- are becoming more widely available and reasonably priced. If you eat meat, get together with friends/neighbors and go in on a share of a cow, hog, or other locally raised meat. Even if you can only afford to buy a small portion of your food from local farmers, just buy what you can. It'll pay off in your health and well-being.

(3) Do some home preservation and processing of foods. Make yogurt or (even easier) kefir. Grow sprouts -- you can do this even in an apartment that gets no sun. Instead of buying sausage, buy fresh ground pork which is typically less expensive, and mix in the spices and seasonings yourself. Learn to can, freeze, and dehydrate. (The accompanying photo shows a little batch of habanero peppers drying. The amazingly productive little plant is growing in a small pot on my front porch.) Make your own ketchup, mustard, soup base, salad dressing.

(4) Prepare your meals from basic ingredients. Dried beans, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, veggies, fruits, fish, meat. Get as basic as you can. It's cheaper and more nutritious. And learning to cook this way is fun and empowering. Knowing how to break a meal down into its most basic components, and knowing how to make delicious meals from a variety of low-cost foods, you become more resilient, less vulnerable.

(5) Prudently store food for future use. Keep a bit of food on hand: nuts, beans, rice, nut butters, dried fruit, a few canned goods. A few weeks' supply, maybe a couple months' supply, is good to keep on hand if you can afford it. Keep it in good containers made of glass, stainless steel, very sturdy plastic, etc. Some people go to the other extreme and keep years' worth of food on hand, but even if you have good containers, food stored for long periods is vulnerable to spoilage and vermin. Also, if everyone tried now to buy and hoard this much food, we might precipitate the very scarcity we're trying to avoid. I don't think the hoarding instinct is something we want to encourage.

(6) Be a very smart and principled and frugal supermarket shopper. Buy in bulk when you can. Notice what's on sale and stock up. Avoid buying too many foods that are highly packaged, highly processed, or transported from far away. All of these are not so great for the planet, or for you either.

(7) Forage for fresh local food. Hunt and gather: Learn your edible weeds. Find the "public fruit" in your neighborhood. Gather nuts. If you eat meat, learn to hunt. Or go in on a share of someone else's hunt.

(8) Work on a farm. Spend a day or two a week volunteering on a local farm. You probably won't get paid in money, but you'll probably get to take home all the fresh in-season produce you can eat! Which is the same as money, if you ask me.

GREAT BOOKS FOR BOOSTING YOUR FOOD SELF-RELIANCE
(Thank you, Sasha and Mitch, for your excellent recommendations!)

Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon (a cookbook, and a lot more)

The Post Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook, by Albert Bates

Wild Fermentation, by Sandor Elix Katz (an excellent resource - I got into making pickles after reading this book)

Stocking Up 3rd edition, by Carol Hupping and the staff of the Rodale Food Center

Root Cellaring, by Mike and Nancy Bubel (a classic, highly recommended by many experts)

Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning by The Gardeners and Farmers of Terre Vivante

The Resilient Gardener, by Carol Deppe (recommended by a resilient central Texas nurseryman who specializes in permaculture and native plants)