Avoid panic buying in times of crisis by learning from my shopping habits (and other skills).
You’ve seen the pictures and the memes: empty grocery store shelves, everywhere. No toilet paper or paper towels to be found anywhere. (What’s with the toilet paper obsession anyway?) If you’re on any social media platform for any length of time, you’ve seen the panic. You may have witnessed it first hand in the stores.
I noticed that whenever I’ve been in the store recently (I’ve been avoiding going out as much as possible), I’m the only one whose cart isn’t full of paper towels or a random assortment of canned or packaged food. Why? Because I just didn’t feel I needed to panic buy a ton of things. I know exactly what’s in my pantry, fridge, and freezer, and I know my family has enough.
This post isn’t meant to be a pat on the back for me. I wrote this to help and inspire you. I want you to be self sufficient (or as close as one can be in modern times). None of the skills I mention below were things I were born with. In fact, most of it I’ve learned in the last ten years. For the first part of my adult life, I could barely cook anything that didn’t come out of a box or freezer bag, and I certainly couldn’t afford to buy in bulk. Over time I managed to learn the homemaking skills to keep my family self sufficient. If I could learn to do these things, you can too!
My Shopping Habits (and other Self Sufficiency Skills)
I Regularly Stock Up
I am the type of person who tends to “stock up” when I shop. I’m not talking hoarder or extreme couponer level stocking up. But I do like to have a little extra of everything.
Perhaps it’s that I don’t like the annoyance of running out of something and having to make an extra trip to the store to get it. (Who does?) Maybe having an extra or two or three of something helps with my anxiety. Whatever the case, I feel more comfortable if I’m prepared. That means having a backup tube of toothpaste, extra cans of cream of chicken soup, and a Costco-sized bag of shredded cheese.
Having extras of food items I regularly use makes it easy to throw together dinner at the last minute. It allows me the freedom to make pretty much whatever I’m craving without that extra trip to the store. (Note: I don’t bother buying extra of things I don’t normally use. That’s just a waste of money and space for me.)
There’s another reason I stock up. Living in a hurricane zone all my life, I know the importance of having the essentials on hand. In 2003 when Hurricane Isabel hit, power was out for two weeks in some places here. It’s only a matter of time before we get hit by another mega hurricane. So as hurricane season approaches, I like to make sure I have enough non-perishable food to last us a reasonable amount of time. (We also have a generator that can power our refrigerator, so we wouldn’t immediately lose all our cold food.)
If you haven’t previously been in the habit of stocking up when you shop, please don’t beat yourself up over it now. We never know what will happen in the future. Before the Covid 19 pandemic, I used to beat myself up over the fact that I had too much food. My freezers and pantry would be completely stuffed full, and I would be mad at myself for buying “too much”. I suppose I wanted a minimal Pinterest-looking kitchen and pantry. Now that we’re in a time of crisis, I’m glad I followed my gut and went with practicality over aesthetics.
I Diversify My Food Sources
There’s currently a lot of concern over grocery stores being out of certain foods. People are having a hard time finding eggs, meat, and other foods. On my most recent trip, I felt lucky just to get flour, because in a lot of places you can’t find it.
If I only got food from the regular grocery store, I’d be worried. Thankfully, my quest to find locally produced food and to support local farmers has led my family to multiple other food sources.
I get weekly deliveries to my door of fresh greens, produce, pasture raised eggs, and even milk from a local company. (For my local readers: I wrote a review on them a year ago.) I also can go right down the street to a locally owned store/small farm and get basic produce items, eggs, and bacon. Not only do these sources keep us in healthy fresh food, but we are also able to help keep local farmers in business.
Lastly, I have a backyard garden. This year I’m jokingly calling it my “Coronavirus Victory Garden”. Sure, it’s not large enough to supply all or even most my family’s food needs. However, any food I can grow at home means I don’t have to buy it, which means that food is available in the stores for those who need it. Last summer we had as many green beans as we could eat, and more zucchini and tomatoes than we could use. I still have plenty of it in my freezer. This year I’m growing even more food, especially foods that I’ve never grown before, such as purple sprouting broccoli, peas, and onions.
Homemaking Skills for Self Sufficiency
It seems that many of the traditional homemaking skills are in danger of becoming lost arts. In the past, people had to know how to grow food, can their excess, cook simple meals from whatever is on hand, and bake their bread. They knew how to sew and mend their clothing. In today’s fast paced world where everything is available almost instantly, there isn’t much need for these skills.
However, these skills are worth knowing. All it takes is a time of crisis, as we are experiencing right now, to realize just how fragile our system is. A few self-sufficiency skills can take you far in getting through a hard time.
I believe that anybody can grow some food. I also don’t believe that anybody has a black thumb. Even if all you can grow is some onion chives or parsley in a pot on a sunny windowsill, that is still fresh food that you can add to your diet (especially if you are reliant on prepackaged food) to give you nutrition. If you have any outdoor space you can grow plants in the ground or in containers. Yes, you’re probably not going to be able to grow everything you eat, but homegrown food is packed with nutrients and enzymes you need. Plus, gardening is fun and relaxing! (Check out all my posts on gardening here to get started!)
Growing your own food is one thing, but if you have a surplus, you need to know how to preserve it. Freezing your extra food is a good option. Another great option is to preserve it in a shelf stable manner by canning it. I haven’t done a whole lot of canning in the past, as I haven’t needed to. I’ve only ever canned tomatoes and pickles. However, I am growing as much food as I can this year, and I plan to can the surplus. If our power goes out, I won’t have to worry about losing all my precious home grown veggies. They will be safe in jars on the shelf.
Sewing is also a great skill to know. I’m not too concerned about running out of toilet paper during this nation-wide shortage. If worse comes to worse, I can cut up old clothing into rags and sew them into some kind of cloth “toilet paper”. Yeah, I know, it sounds yucky. As a mom who cloth diapers, this sort of thing no longer phases me. I think sewing is also a fun skill, and it’s fun to create new things. Being able to simply mend an article of clothing will save you money and a trip to the store.
I don’t think cooking is necessarily a lost art, but it’s surprising to me just how many people don’t know how to cook. Or some people can cook a few basics, but nothing beyond that. In this day and age, learning to cook is easier than ever. You can find free recipes anywhere online. YouTube has tons and tons of cooking tutorials. If you learn how to cook, you can make delicious healthy food for your family out of whatever ingredients you can get. If we end up with food shortages, this is an important skill to have.
In conclusion…
As we go forward through this pandemic, a lot of us are realizing how fragile our system is. When it’s all over, most people will probably go right back to their regular way of doing things. This will remain just a distant memory to them. But I hope that for some people, it’s a wake up call to change their ways. We need to prepare ourselves with the knowledge and skills to protect ourselves and our families during times of crisis.
I hope this post has given you a little bit of knowledge and inspiration. On the blog here I have plenty of posts about gardening that may help you get started if you wish as well as recipes that are easy enough for beginner cooks. There are lots of people out there far more knowledgeable than I, so I encourage you to look up tutorials on Google and YouTube for any of the skills I’ve mentioned above. I hope you are doing well during this time of uncertainty!
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