Mulchmouth

It feels like a uniquely American capitalist take to assume these traditions will make you completely self sufficient. You need a lot of people, a lot of time, a lot of knowledge across a lot of subjects, and a lot of luck to provide for everyone's nutritional needs.

So should you even bother trying to be more self sufficient with your food? I argue yes. Foraging and gardening are fun and will teach you so much about many things. They are deeply rewarding activities that can supplement your diet. There are herbs I haven't bought in years because I grow my own. There are dishes I can only make with foraged ingredients because I can't get them in stores.

There are a number of people asking about what do we do if the food supply lines breakdown? The simple answer is A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DIE.

Not all land is tillable, not all harvests go well, there are so many areas ravaged by ecological disaster after ecological disaster they cannot support enough biodiversity presently to support us. Even the people who right now who live entirely off of what they and their community grow and harvest from the wild are probably uncomfortable with the idea of having zero back up plan if there is a bad season.

Does that mean learning how to grow food, forage, or hunt are meaningless? Absolutely not. Learning these skills now does make you more self sufficient, it reconnects you to the food web, and it will absolutely make you more aware of what industrialized food supply lines offer. These are good, rewarding, and meaningful skills to have that often align with many people's personal values. I may not get along with my MAHA in laws, but we are always excited to give each other garden updates and share our harvests when we can.

That is all basically just a rehash of the first post. I truthfully cannot dismiss the anxiety people have about supply line failures. I remember during covid lock down when it was hard to just get flour and toilet paper, let alone fresh produce.

So what would I recommend people do with that anxiety? Find community.

You are never going to survive the apocalypse on your own, that is a myth. Humans are a social species. We evolved to help each other, we have survived because we help each other. Even in hunter gatherer societies, trade was a massive, massive benefit that kept people from dying of malnutrition.

If it's any consolation, I really doubt that society is going to crumble over night. You may as well plan for the rapture happening. At least in the states, I think it's much more likely we are going to face rising food costs, and have highly questionable food safety standards. Learning how to garden, forage, or hunt with a community is a much more reliable safety net.

Cat in the Brush - RISOGRAPH PREORDER

Continuing my bird tarot deck, some of these are from asks so they might seem familiar haha.