Why Everyone, Prepper or Not, Should Build Up Their Food Supply Immediately

Food is far more expensive today than it was a year ago. The chances of it being cheaper this time next year are slim considering the economic trajectory of the nation. In fact, some of the more aggressive economic doomsayers are projecting massive increases in certain foods, especially proteins. We’re already seeing this with eggs. Chicken and beef are next.

For those who have been keeping up with “conspiracy theories” about The Great Reset, multiple manufactured crises, and the globalist elite cabal’s depopulation and control agenda, we know one of the near-term goals of the Powers and Principalities is to force as many people as possible to depend on lab-grown meats and insects as their primary sources of protein. But one does not need to be a “conspiracy theorist” to realize the climate change cult is gaining influence and pushing for a meatless society.

Whether through distrust of our financial futures or by heeding the warnings of conspiracy theorists, it behooves Americans to build up their accessible food supplies as soon as possible. This should be a top priority, which means if you have to cancel your Netflix subscription to squeeze out a little more food to store away, please consider doing so.

Before I get into more details, let me say that I absolutely understand not everyone is in a position to stock up on a ton of food. Many of us are struggling just to get today’s meal on the table, let alone next week, next month, or next year. Then, there’s the challenge of storing large amounts of food when space is at a premium. I get it and I’m empathetic, but I strongly encourage everyone in tough situations to seek ways to make self-reliance possible. Whether we want to admit it or not, there is a food war being waged against us. You can attribute it to whoever you’d like but acknowledge that food is being used to control us and risks will only get worse in the near future.

As Henry Kissinger famously noted, “Who controls the food supply controls the people.”

While we witness massive challenges that are putting our future food security in jeopardy, we also have to take into account sudden catastrophic collapses as not only possible but likely. We’ve seen strange weather all winter that makes it difficult or even impossible for some to get to the grocery store. The supply chain has been in a constant state of flux for nearly two years. Bird flu, strange mass deaths of cows, attacks on our power grid, fertilizer shortages, farms being bought up by the Chinese Communist Party… the list of events that put America’s food systems at major risk seems to be growing every week.

It’s important to note that I have never been a “Chicken Little” when it comes to this stuff. I laughed at the hysteria surrounding Y2K. I didn’t freak out and run for the hills after 9/11. The economic downturn of 2008/09 made me tighten up my finances but I didn’t run out to buy a bunch of gold at that point. The rise of Obamacare was the first event that prompted me to buy a couple of bugout bags, just in case. I was lambasting people for stockpiling a year’s supply of toilet paper in the early days of the Covid lockdown. The point I’m trying to make is I have been a steady hand for decades, never succumbing to paranoia or heeding false alarms of impending doom.

Today, I’m ringing the VERY REAL alarm bells about food security because the writing on the wall is undeniable. That’s why I consider myself to be a “Late Prepper.” It’s okay to be late as long as we act quickly.

Now, let’s get into the details. First and foremost, I strongly recommend everyone stock up on food they want to eat first. Make sure you have plenty of food that you eat regularly. There’s no point in getting a year’s worth of long-term storage food if your pantry and refrigerator are bare. Stock up heavily on the foods you and your family will eat whether there are food shortages or not. Get it built up to a reasonable amount and then start rotating with new purchases.

For example, if you know your family will eat six cans of soup for lunch per week, get to a three-month supply of your favorite soups. Then, start replenishing this supply with six more cans rotated in every week. If you have a heavy week and you eat eight cans, replenish with eight more. Repeat this process with all of the various foods you eat that have a good shelf-life.

As preppers have been saying for years, take advantage of sales. With the canned soup example, it wasn’t too long ago when I could get each can for under a buck. In my area today, I can’t find a basic can of soup for under $2. Stocking up is harder now than it was, so getting bulk when the price is right makes the most sense.

As for perishable foods, there’s always a risk of buying too much and wasting it. With food prices where they are and the assumption that they’ll get even worse, nobody should be wasting any food at all. One increasingly common practice is to freeze dry extra foods. It’s expensive up front but in the long-term a properly utilized freeze dryer will pay for itself. We recommend Harvest Right freeze dryers for this. Canning is also a popular option. I’m not a fan of dehydrating foods (which is a shift since just a few months ago I was recommending it) because the quality loss is just too great. Some foods are fine to dehydrate but most of them just aren’t very edible.

For those cannot or do not want to freeze dry their own food, buying packaged freeze dried food is an option. It can be expensive; I had major sticker shock the first time I went to buy freeze dried strawberries.

There’s also a quality concern as some of the “budget” brands of freeze dried fruits and vegetables get low quality leftovers and package them up in hopes that by the time anyone every opens them, the apocalypse will have come and their customer service line will have been shut down. I work with a company that offers an awesome fruit and vegetable bucket. The first bucket I bought is no longer used for long-term storage because we’ve actually been eating and enjoying it. (disclosure: they are a sponsor so use promo code “jdr” at checkout for 15% off and free shipping).

Once your pantry is full of food you actually eat and you could survive without having to leave the house for weeks or even months, then it’s time to get into long-term storage. It’s unfortunate that many prepper websites recommend stocking up for three months. It seems like a long time but if there’s a full-blown food crisis those three months will go by fast. I’m a big fan of no-limit food prepping. In other words, when people ask me for how long they should stock up food, my answer is, “Longer than whatever you have now.”

That’s not a copout answer. Unless you’re sitting in a bunker with three decades worth of long-term storage food filling up your stockpile rooms, then there’s always a need for more. Cans and other shelf-stable foods can last for years. Properly contained frozen meat can technically last indefinitely though the quality drops dramatically after being in the freezer for a year. Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MREs) can last five to ten years from their packing date. Build your food supply with these and calculate how long you could survive without government assistance should there be a total societal collapse.

Do I think it will come to that? Eventually, but in the near-term it seems hard times that fall short of collapse is more likely. Better to be safe than sorry, especially when we consider that this is food we will eat over time anyway. Don’t get a bunch of food that will go to waste if our nation’s trajectory miraculously improves. Rotate, rotate, rotate.

All that I’ve discussed so far is advice for those who are currently living like most Americans in cities or suburbs. Ideally, we’ll be moving away from such places and getting situated in the relative safety of rural America. That’s when we can get into the best way to dramatically improve our food security: By making our own. Those with the means and a healthy concern for their future should consider living where they can grow food, raise livestock, and be completely self-reliant. There are other concerns that arise from embracing such a lifestyle, but food security is mostly alleviated when you control the sources of your own food.

For those of us stuck in or near the city and with various restrictions that make complete self-reliance impossible, we can still grow something. Our own food-growing adventures in my family with a tiny backyard showed that it’s not always easy, but it’s worthwhile. We failed after four attempts to grow avocado trees. We also failed with most of our other crops in grow bags, but we’ve been wildly successful with tomatoes. I imagine others will have better fortunes growing foods than we did, but unfortunately I cannot speak from experience.

At least we have plenty of tomatoes.

Last but not least, there’s the “easy button.” For those who just want to buy a few months supply of long-term storage food in buckets that they can stash in the closet for when the crap hits the fan, I have multiple options of various price-ranges on my food page. We’ve gone through pretty much every food company’s products and abandoned most over quality. The ones we have at my store (remember, promo code “jdr” at checkout) are the highest quality we found which is why I sell them directly. We also sell organic, sous vides, freeze dried chicken at Prepper Organics (promo code “jdr” again). Beef is coming soon (ping me if you’d like to be notified when it’s available).

For those on a budget, there’s the ultimate “easy button” for a three-month supply of food that’s currently on sale. Even those who are growing their own food should have a backup supply just in case the world goes really crazy and the garden or chicken coup get taken out.

I do NOT want to sound like a fearmonger. I pray that none of this will be necessary and things can go back to normal. I’m just not very hopeful that it will. But never forget that through the doom and gloom, there really is a bright future ahead. For Bible-believing Christians, the future we see is one in which the hardest of times are followed by a wonderful eternity.