Food Shortage this Fall

[TnAndy]

Absolutely TnAndy is ready for any shortage possible. I don't think I've ever seen anyone more ready than TnAndy is!

Internet buddy of mine, ex-green beret, had (now passed on) a saying I've always found true: "To be prepared is not"......which I always took to mean you can't ever be totally ready.

Last week, for example, the choke cable on my lawn mower broke....a cable inside a sheathing on a mower maybe 10 years old.....how that would happen, I have no clue....but rather than go to town, I ordered one off the internet, it came yesterday. In the grand scheme of things, a broken choke cable on a lawn mower is nothing, of course. I could have simply gotten out of the seat, gone around the back and manually pulled the choke out enough to start it, or done some kind of self engineered work-around, but what is does point out is how dependent we all are on a supply chain of parts and supplies (who the heck keeps a choke cable in stock ?) to keep things running around a place.

Some years ago, wife and I were out in Kansas City and took in the local museum to the steamboat Arabia.....a boat that sunk in the Missouri River in 1856, later dug up in a cornfield (river shifted). What I came away with was the awe of a floating hardware distributor of mid 19th century that supplied stores all the way to Montana....meaning even as self reliant as people were then, they still had a supply chain ! Click on the link if you're interested and hold your mouse over the main photo to see a short slideshow of the museum.....and if you're ever in KC, be sure to go visit the place.....well spent few hours !

A Historic Kansas City Attraction | The Arabia Steamboat Museum

 

[Diggin It]

Last week, for example, the choke cable on my lawn mower broke....a cable inside a sheathing on a mower maybe 10 years old.....how that would happen, I have no clue....but rather than go to town, I ordered one off the internet, it came yesterday. In the grand scheme of things, a broken choke cable on a lawn mower is nothing, of course. I could have simply gotten out of the seat, gone around the back and manually pulled the choke out enough to start it, or done some kind of self engineered work-around, but what is does point out is how dependent we all are on a supply chain of parts and supplies (who the heck keeps a choke cable in stock ?) to keep things running around a place.

That's not uncommon. Last time it happened to me, I ordered two. Now I have a spare.

But I can't feed the masses at Dollywood.

 

[95XL883]

For anyone that has never eaten wild turkey they are not missing anything that is known for being great table fare...
IMO if you need to harvest small game to survive...rabbits and squirrels (marinated and fried) make much tastier meat dishes IMO...

This raises the debate of how well the game was processed. I am a city boy who took up hunting about ten years ago. With one exception, I have processed all of my harvests myself. Whether turkey or venison, my family finds what I process tastes much better than store bought beef or turkey. The wild turkey tastes much 吐resher even after several months in the freezer. And broth made from wild turkey is so much better then anything store bought and quite a bit better than broth made from store bought turkey or chicken. In addition, during the broth making, we are able to str off the dark meat. It also is delicious.

The only two downsides to wild turkey I have found is there is not as much meat as the freaks bred for slaughter and the butchering is a messy process. Just my opinion.

I have not tried squirrel or rabbit yet, Not much of a huntable population due to the dang coyotes, owls, hawks and there must be a bobcat prowling also.

 

[95XL883]

Slash, my apologies. I posted before I read on. We agree that for those who butcher with techniques not used in commercial operations, the result is much better tasting meat. I am meticulous to the point of ridiculous removing everything that isn’t.t edible. I process turkey immediately after the harvest with the meat and carcass placed in a cooler to brine. (To me brining is meat and carcass in cooler; sprinkled with non-iodized or sea salt and covered with a layer of ice. I top it with a couple of two liters bottles of frozen water. Drain the next day, carcass and legs into the broth pan; breast is frozen unless SWMBO says otherwise. Delicious!

 

[RSKY]

I really don't think anybody is going to go hungry. At least not anybody in rural areas. But our diets may get a little dull. Maybe white beans and cornbread three meals in a row. Now if you live in a large city the situation may be a little different. I can see problems arising in the processing and distribution networks. The long lines at food banks in large cities are scary. I can also see the government making it worse with well intentioned regulations.

Whatever happens I intend to be prepared for the sake of my children and grandchildren. Canned/frozen food will keep until the next year or the one after. And if no shortage happens then a much smaller garden for a couple years.

Better safe than sorry. Or better safe than hungry.

RSKY

 

[s219]

If times are tough this fall, I will plant some collards. Last time I had a crop of them it was all I could do to keep up. They can feed an army. We were eating them from fall through spring. Quite a plant.

 

[JamesHW]

Scary story that falls into the that is all we need category; US farmers on high alert after USDA confirms bird flu case/

The US Department of Agriculture this week confirmed the presence of an infectious and fatal strain of avian influenza in a commercial turkey flock in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.

The detection of the virus was the first of its kind in several years, and any US farmer who remembers the last outbreak of bird flu knows the implications could be massive if the problem is left unattended. More than 50 million chickens and turkeys across 15 states were killed between December 2014 and June 2015 in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus. It was a devastating period for the poultry industry, as some 30 countries banned US chicken and turkey products to avoid accidental transmission.

 

[RickB]

Smithfield announced their Sioux Falls SD pork processing facility is closed indefinitely, idling a plant that handles up to 20,000 hogs per day. The Cargill beef plant in PA is closed. There are several other large plants shut down. The impact of all this remains to be seen, along with how many more facilities will close and for how long.

 

[YanmarFever]

I don't think food shortages will be severe. Possibly simpler menus will be needed, rice&beans etc third world style, worst case. But not desperate shortages.

Personally I'm stuck in town with adequate delivery service available from several supermarkets. And being California, much of what's sold here is grown here. But I think shipping all over will continue.

I phoned over to the contractor who prunes, discs, harvests my orchard to see if he and his crew are ok. He replied no changes. He has a bunkhouse and maybe ten laborers there plus a few intermittent workers from nearby. He said work is progressing normally like any year. I think the crew is pruning in his vinyard at this time of year. He had 6 and then 8 working steadily for nearly two weeks in my orchard pruning when I departed there mid-March, after the lockdown was declared. In summary everything is normal for my apple crop and likely his wine grapes.

An interesting statistic I saw recently, half the farm labor in the US is undocumented. I hadn't realized it is that high. Around here its mandatory for a new hire to present ID and SS card plus if his English doesn't sound like he attended a US high school, then naturalization papers or a green card that are persuasively credible as a minimum, to keep the employer out of trouble. So nobody's undocumented, at least at first impression. These are the guys picking your food, let's hope they stick around.

California,
We went thru 62 workers in 1 year in order to find 4 that could be trusted to do a good job, I have become lifelong friends with the 4.
We treated the 4 real good with raises, paid vacations, bonuses ect....
Out of the 62, 1/4 of them had phony social security#s and fake ID. We had to check them all out on the government website.
We have down sized and dont farm that much land anymore, but it was a quite the learning experience for sure.

 

[YanmarFever]

I don't raise livestock to save money, I do it so that I know what they've been eating and because the flavor is better. A few Thanksgivings ago my brother was lamenting about all of the work he put into helping get the feast ready, but he couldn't enjoy it because since his heart attack the doctor told him not to eat store bought turkey. Ever since then I've raised a turkey for him every fall, and this year I will attempt to raise enough for every one of my siblings. My pork last year cost me 3.69 $/lb, and I am preparing to smoke my Easter ham now.

My dog also enjoys having the animals around... he knows not to get into the electric fence but loves going up and watching the pigs as I feed them. The chickens don't make good playmates for him but he and the turkeys are great buddies every year. He's a little lost in the fall when everybody goes away and all that he has is the chickens... but by then it's bird season so he gets them to chase. I laugh when people ask if he's gun shy... just like my last dog, he comes running when he hears the sound of gunfire.

Do you cold smoke your ham?
Also why did the Doc tell your brother to avoid store bought turkey, is there something about the turkey we should all know about?
Thanks