Dome Helpful Food Guidelines for Economic Downturns and Shortages.



1. Learn to cook, actually do it. This one trick will cut your food budget by nearly as much as you want.
2. Go vegetarian, but don’t be picky about it. If you are offered cheap or free meat, take it. If not, don’t spend your food budget on wasteful things. Plants, especially currently subsidized grains, are the least expensive staple foods. Get them now and use them.
3. Don’t let current health fads scare you. There are many “long answers” to health questions. We've all heard them, often in a confusing fashion. The short one is simply this (despite what you’ve heard): diet plays only a minimal role in short term health. As long as you have the needed calories and most of the vitamins and minerals you can last for about a decade without any major problems. Possibly up to three or four decades. So don’t sweat the idea that you aren’t low carb, vegan, South Beach or what have you compliant while making sure you stay alive.
4. Don’t over eat.Don't start out on a restrictive rationing system. Keep your calories to what you need to maintain your weight and plan for it. No more than that. Going hungry in hard times isn’t a good idea either.
5. Don’t be afraid of fat to bulk up calories. Fat is satiating, gives favorable food texture and mouth feel and tends to be cheap. Making crackers, breads, rice or polenta with fat in it will make a large difference in how you feel about such foods. This isn’t a time to punish yourself by withholding anything based on a desire to lose weight. (You almost certainly will, even with enough calories…) Also, don’t be afraid of dying because you don’t have enough protein. Everything has protein in it. You’ll get enough for a few decades, even eating grains and veggies the whole time.
6. Be willing to be bland, but don’t forget the salt! Or other flavorings if you have them. A bit of salt and pepper can make the difference between being fairly pleased with your food and having to choke it down.
7. Finally: Always remember the first rule. Survive. Everything else is a game you play to make yourself happy. If you don’t get number one right, you won’t have a second chance.

A lot of people will swoop in with their own ideas on this topic the instant they learn of your interest in it. Some of these well meaning ideas and plans are going to be good, such as how to preserve foods for the long haul, cheap recipe ideas and action plans such as gleaning and bartering or even growing your own food, if at all possible.

Others will be going on about about personal taste preferences and their current health ideas. Those last people need to be ignored. You do NOT need to be low carb for a week-long power outage or a fruitarian to ward off zombies. What you do need is to have a bit extra on hand, know how to make it if the power is off and be able to secure fresh water. (The government currently suggests a months’ worth of food, I think.) If you are on a budget right now, say because you have food assistance, then trying to get enough hamburger and frozen foods won't work at all.

Pro Tip: If the food stamp money is running out (thanks government shutdown!), Corn meal bought in the bulk section will probably be the cheapest and most filling thing you can purchase. Learn to turn that into polenta (corn pudding/cereal) with a bit of oil and you will be full and able to survive for a good long while. Rice is also good, and if you have the extra money, buying your own refined flour and sugar can allow you to make a lot of things that will be nice to have on hand. Bread, biscuits, crackers, tortillas, cakes and cookies, pie crusts and more. True that will take a bit of know-how and practice, but right now you can still get online. If you don't have the skills needed to cook, get them now!

So make a point of buying some extra rice, beans, core meal, oil and sugar. Some leavening, spices and flavorings are great, if you have the extra funds at the moment. Then practice using such things at least a few times a week. It will not only save you a lot of money over prepared foods, but will allow you to be used to a meal of beans and rice or homemade burritos when the trucks stop moving due to the coming strike. (Planned for April 12, 2019. A one day total truck stoppage would be hard and take about a week to fix. If something happened and made it two or three days, people will start suffering and even dying from it. This one is clearly meant to be a warning shot. That doesn’t mean having a bit of extra in the cupboard won’t be welcome if the shelves empty in the stores.)

Also: If things are getting really tight, then whining about what you like to eat is moronic. Bland and boring foods that stop aching hunger are much better than having one night of pizza... Then starving for a week or worse, the rest of the month. I shouldn't have to explain this.