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Preparing for Inflation and Food Shortages

Posted July 20, 2022
in Homestead, Podcast, Preparedness, Thrive

Josh Thomas

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Food and gas prices continue to rise, and we don't see an end. We should all be thinking about preparing for inflation and potential food shortages. Here are our tips to make wise decisions, not fear-based decisions.

Don't Make Decisions Based on Fear

There are a lot of rumblings about food shortages and supply chain issues that will be coming within the next year. If you've been to the grocery store lately, you're already seeing inflation as prices have increased.

In some cases, grocery store prices on food have doubled since the beginning of the year (2022).

We know this is challenging and hard on a lot of people. But we want to encourage you to identify the problems and issues, but don't start scrambling and making decisions in fear.

If you don't have your food supply built up, we encourage you to look at this post on stocking up on food. But continue reading because we'll also share some tips in this post that will help.

Analyze the Situation

Take the time to thoughtfully, prayerfully, and wisely analyze your situation. Figure out where your weaknesses are, what you can do right now, and how you can move forward to strengthen your position.

However, do all this in a wise way, not a fearful way.

There's a saying that says, "Fear is a liar." There's some truth to that, but there's also something incorrect with that saying. Fear is a motivator, and it gets our attention. But it can cause us to either not act or to wake us up to take action.

We've been saying for two years now that this inflation is not transitory. It's also not going away anytime soon, no matter what "they" are telling us.

Because fuel prices continue to increase, and 50% of the nation's fuel consumption is for food production, it's only natural that we'll continue to see food prices rise.

Onion seeds in a brown paper seed packet.

Practical Steps to Prepare for Inflation

Because we see all these issues compounding at an alarming rate, now is the perfect time to start preparing yourself. Glean the wisdom and knowledge to bring some of your livelihood back into your own hands.

We have some practical steps to encourage you to either start or continue to be prepared for the continued inflation.

Purchase Seeds Now

As more and more people turn to gardening and growing their food, sourcing seeds is going to become more difficult. Not only that, but you'll likely be seeing an increase in those seed costs.

If you can purchase two years' worth of seeds now, you'll be in a great position to grow a garden and learn the skills necessary to save your seeds for future gardens.

A woman holding up a jar of freeze dried food with filled pantry shelves of home canned food behind her.

Build Up Your Bulk Food Supply

If you don't have food in long-term storage, now is the time to start building that supply. You can learn the seven pantry staples we always have on hand here.

We recommend stocking up on bulk whole grains if you need a place to start. See how we store our grains here.

If you're going to be storing grains, we recommend looking into buying a home grain mill such as a Nutrimill, Wondermill, a KitchenAid mill attachment, or even a hand-crank mill.

Homesteading Hack: Use that link to Nutrimill and type in the coupon code "HOMESTEADINGFAMILY" at checkout to get $20 off your purchase!

You'll need to have a way to process these whole grains into things like flour or rolled oats (in which case you'll need an oat flaker).

Stock Up on Meat

Right now, the grocery stores are pretty stocked up on meat, but we're soon going to see the flipside of this. Farmers are currently selling off their stock due to higher grain and feed costs so that these prices will be reflected soon in the meat costs.

If you can stock up on meat now, it's as good as having money in the bank. Try to buy double the meat the next time you go to the grocery store. If you can afford it, try sourcing half a cow or a whole cow.

Bulk Up on Fuel Storage

If you can bulk up on your fuel stores, this can be very valuable in getting gas at their current prices instead of waiting until later when prices are higher.

You can usually find fuel storage containers on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace.

Up close photo of chickens eating fermented chicken feed.

Build Up Animal Feed Supply

The same idea goes for your animal's food supply. Grains, hay, silage, and dog food will increase over the next year. If you can afford to buy now in bulk and stock up, you will be saving money on animal feed in the long run.

Learning to ferment grains for animal feed will also help you save money while improving the health and quality of your livestock.

Get Creative in Saving Money

If food and gas prices are already difficult for you, it's important to understand they're not going to get better. So get creative in finding ways to save money.

We did a video on how to beat inflation at the grocery store; if you didn't watch it, go do so!

Cut out a few extra activities this summer.
Camp out in the backyard instead of taking a family vacation.
Group your errands into one trip instead of making multiple trips in the car.
Park a car and only use one (ideally the one that uses less gas).
Sell a car if you have an extra car that's unneeded.
Trim out the extras while you can and don't get to where the bank account says you can't.
Consider downsizing your animals. If you have extra horses just hanging out on pasture, it might be time to sell them to someone who will be using them. I know this can sound harsh, but if money is tight, we'd rather that money put food in your mouth than the mouths of extra animals that don't provide anything in return.

Bulk Up and Trim Down

We hope you find this information encouraging and motivational rather than something to drive fear. Our biggest encouragement is to bulk up on the things you can, and trim down on those "extras" that you can do without. Trimming down may squeeze out a little excess, allowing you to start bulking up your food stores.

If you don't do it now, you'll be forced to do it later.