Food budgets for your needs

There are some people who live on ridiculously frugal food budgets, like a few dollars per person per week. It can be done, especially if you can garden a little and forage a bit. That’s fine. Some people are even satisfied with that sort of thing.

If you are the type of person who has no problem eating a half cup of plain oatmeal for breakfast every single day then maybe you can pull it off too. For some people food is just fuel. They eat only to make the hunger pains go away.

Then there are people like me. Growing up food was a huge part of my culture. Family and extended family meals were hugely important. They still are. We love eating good food, cooking good food and serving attractive meals. It’s an experience, one of life’s joys.

The food budget for the second group of people is going to be a lot higher. Just accept that and plan accordingly. That doesn’t mean you can’t be frugal, just not as frugal as the food is only fuel crowd. We have to add a lot more variety, spices, and quality ingredients.

Sometimes we can save a lot of money by spending more time. For example homemade bread with pea soup made from dried peas is yummy and cheap, but takes a lot of time. The peas have to be started the day before. Good bread takes hours to make. It’s a lot more work than a bowl of rice.

If you are not fussy about your meals, food storage is easy. If good food really means something to you, prepare your storage accordingly. Don’t assume you’ll go from the food is life camp to the food is fuel camp overnight. You’ll be very unhappy if you try.

In a crisis, a hot dish of good food can do wonders for your mental health. Plan accordingly.

-Sixbears