Part of self-sufficiency, to me, is not purchasing processed foods. Our family is not 100% with this yet. Some pleasures that we do not make or grow ourselves are ancestral foods, for example. We try to stay with homegrown, then local and organic but we do sometimes fudge on things like miso, coconut milk and even a bit of pineapple on occasion for my youngest child’s pizza topping.
Food storage is key to self-sufficiency
We are not claiming to be perfect, whatever that means, and we are done being legalistic. We do, however, try to have limited pre-packaged or processed foods. We prefer local and organic and do work to grow as much as we can.
This cuts down on fossil fuels used to ship what we consume as well as reducing what goes to landfills.
Eating seasonally also helps us by shifting our expectations of what we are “entitled” to consume to what’s in season or what did we “put-up” for eating now. While I wont deprive my family if there is a truly nutritional need, I will pose the question, “What did we “put-up” at harvest time to eat this time of year?” If there isn’t enough, in quantity or variety, I will adjust my plans for next year’s food preservation. With a growing family, nutritional needs and quantity can shift dramatically.
If you are interested in this topic, I encourage you to get the Fall 2009 issue of the SongCroft Newsletter. I go into great detail on food preservation techniques as well as provide recipes. I know you’ll find it helpful. Leave a comment and let me know if this helped you.
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