With food shortages and supply chain disruptions being a matter of "when", not "if", it's important to be taking steps to make sure your family can be fed when the conventional systems that provide food collapse.
I think it's important to do more than just stockpile food. That's a crucial step, but since shortages can't be predicted, neither can length of time you need to stockpile be planned for.
Growing food is similarly important. But not everyone has the time or space resources available to grow a sufficient amount of food. Most small scale gardens have unpredictable and relatively small yields.
It's still important to stockpile and to grow what you can. Every little bit counts, and the act of growing things and caring for them has benefits beyond the quantifiable yield.
But being able to find food is an important skill that rounds out the above preparations.
When my wife and I decided major life changes were needed to be able to withstand the challenges to come, we knew that foraging, hunting, and fishing would be an important part of those preparations.
For us, this meant moving out of the desert where we lived to somewhere that edible plants, fish, and game were abundant and easy to find. When you're acquiring new skills, as we are, it helps to be running the game on easy mode.
And so far, we're confident we chose wisely. Each week we learn about and identify new plants in our area that are edible, and are finding ways to incorporate them into our meals.
In addition to giving us opportunity to learn where to acquire food in the wild should we need, it's also having a small positive impact on our food budgets.
The amount of food that becomes available when you know what to look for, and when you just let nature have its way with an area, is incredible. Even in the campground I work at, there's a vast difference between what edible plants can be found on the periphery of the property that I tend to let go as wild as I can get away with versus the more well tended customer-centric areas. Just a little re-wilding goes a very long way.
We're fortunate that we had the ability to pack up and move to a more abundant area. But even if you're in an urban area or a more challenging area, you can become more aware of the food around you.
If you haven't yet, start taking note of where you can find edible plants or where small game animals are to be found. Start learning how to identify and prepare them. Even in the desert we moved from, there was food to be found. And like I said, every little bit helps to increase your own security.
What is your favorite food to find in the wild right now?