The Key to Beating Inflation and Becoming Nutritionally Independent
- Jacob Whelan
- Jan 30, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 31, 2023
The past few years have presented a fair share of challenges. Now, in 2023, with inflation at an all-time high, a recession looming in the foreground, supply chain shortages, and the increased likelihood of continued mass-layoffs, we are all looking for ways to save money and become less reliant on big-box retailers and large corporate industries.
Luckily, when it comes to nutrition, there are a significant number of ways that we can break away from big corporations and begin to regain dominance over our financial and nutritional independence. Becoming less reliant on these industries and becoming more self-sufficient and self-reliant is critically important and will mitigate the impact that shortages and inflated markets are having on our lives. As an added bonus, when we adopt these changes we are playing a vital role in strengthening and boosting our local economies, keeping our hard-earned money in the pockets of the hardworking men and women of the local communities.
Grow Your Own Food: One of the best ways to become more nutritionally independent is to grow your own food. Start with a small kitchen garden or container garden and gradually expand as you gain experience. Growing your own food provides you with the foods that you desire, grown responsibly to your specific standards. As you expand, consider starting a food-share and selling to the local community for additional income and a way to support your local community.
Join or Start a Community Garden: Community gardens are a great way to meet like-minded people and share resources. They also provide the opportunity to grow a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Community gardens are low cost and shared maintenance and have the potential to provide food for the entire community.
Rent or Lease Your Land: People with a little extra space in their backyard that aren’t interested in farming or gardening themselves can still reap the benefits of the land by renting or leasing portions of it to others. By leasing your land you can provide others with a place to grow crops or raise their animals while you sit back and collect a check. Additionally, many agreements include receiving a portion of the produce. An added benefit is that it is also a free way to regenerate and enrich your soil. Think of it as an Airbnb for food. More land equals more opportunity but you don’t need a lot of land to begin, just check your local laws and HOAs before getting started.
Visit Farmers Markets: Farmers markets offer a broad range of responsibly raised foods from members of your local community. Buying from these markets is a sure-fire way to save money and make you less reliant on big-box retailers, and doing so supports and boosts the local economy.
Eat Seasonally: Eating seasonally means eating fruits and vegetables that are grown in your area at the time of the year when they are in season. This is a great way to support the local economy and responsibly source the healthiest produce at the best prices.
Raise Your Own Animals: You don’t need a lot of land to raise your own animals. Animals like chickens, rabbits, and ducks require minimal space and are a great source of nutrition, with chickens and ducks producing eggs year-round. If you have more land, opting for goats, sheep, or cows opens the doors to financial gain by selling milk and portions of the meat. It also affords you with the ability to harvest fewer animals, and with less frequency. In addition, animals rejuvenate the land, making it more fertile for growing your own produce.
Join a Meat Share: A meat share is a type of community-supported agriculture (CSA) program in which individuals buy a share of a local farm's meat production. The shareholder receives a regular delivery of meat (e.g. beef, pork, poultry) from the farm, typically on a monthly basis. This helps support the local farming community and provides the shareholders with fresh, locally-sourced meat. Additionally, since you are buying in bulk under a subscription, meat shares give you access to high quality meat at unbeatable prices.
Buy In Bulk: Buying in bulk opens the doors to special offers and discounts, especially on meat, fish, and poultry, saving you money, and less frequent trips to the store will help to reduce fuel and transportation costs. Bulk buying can also support local and sustainable food systems, generating more money for the local economy. Additionally, having a full stock of food can provide peace of mind and help mitigate food insecurity during times of uncertainty.
Preserve Your Own Food: Learn how to preserve food by canning, pickling, fermenting, curing, dehydrating, or freezing. This will allow you to source food in bulk and enjoy your own produce year-round, mitigating the impact of supply-chain shortages.
Join a Food Co-op: Food co-ops focus on the community and sourcing food only from locally owned farms and businesses, allowing those involved to become completely independent from corporate food industries. Co-ops boost the local economy by keeping money within communities and in the hands of the hard-working men and women within them.
Learn to Hunt, Fish, and Forage: Many states offer terrific hunting, fishing, and foraging opportunities throughout the year, including guided hunts and lotteries for the chance to hunt big game. Become familiar with your state’s wildlife regulations to see how these could benefit you.
Shop Local: Shopping directly with local, family-owned farms, butcher shops, and small businesses provides you with the highest quality, ethically sourced, regeneratively-raised meats money can buy. When you shop locally you are supporting small businesses and the hardworking men and women behind them, contributing to a robust and thriving local economy. Many locally owned shops also offer weekly specials and discounts when buying in bulk.
Adopting these strategies, as they fit your lifestyle, will help to relieve some of the financial pressure and help you regain your nutritional independence, but the benefits do not stop there. Each of these principles subsequently has a positive impact on our carbon footprint as well. Becoming more nutritionally independent and less reliant on large corporate industries eliminates the need for long-distance transportation, reducing the strain on the supply-chain and decreasing the demand for commercially grown produce, most of which is grown using less-than-optimal modern farming practices that cause great detriment to the environment. This also leads to significantly less waste, both in the form of food waste and packaging. All of these equate to a significant reduction in our carbon footprint.
While it is true that not all heroes wear capes, if you adopt these strategies you may want to use some of that extra cash to buy one because through your journey of becoming more financially stable and nutritionally independent, you may just have helped save the planet.
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