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Why You Need to Create Multiple Streams of Food
In today’s video, I talk about the importance of creating multiple streams of food. In these turbulent inflationary times with supply chain disruptions and food shortages, you need to be able to stock your Four Corners Pantry with as many streams of food as you can.
Affiliates note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. My content may contain affiliate links to products and services. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission. It does not affect the price you pay.
Recall Multiple Streams of Income
When you hear the term “multiple streams of income,” you may think of different ways of earning money. For example, you may have a regular job, a freelance gig, and money coming in from investments. All your income streams provide funds for yourself and your family.
If something should happen and you lose one of those income streams, such as if you are laid off from your regular job, you still have other income streams to help you until you are able to replace your lost income stream with another, such as another regular job.
Now, not all income streams bring you the same amount of funds, but because your income streams are diversified, and you have more than one stream, you can weather difficult times in a better position than if you only had one income stream.
The same is true with your pantry. We live in turbulent times, including the possibility of food shortages because of factory problems, supply disruptions, and other availability issues beyond our control.
If you only buy food from your grocery store once a week, what happens if your store isn’t able to carry all the food that you usually rely upon? What happens if there is a natural disaster or illness and you are not able to get to the grocery store? Do you have enough food in your pantry to take you through terrible storms or challenging times?
What is Your Four Corners Pantry?
Before we talk about the different streams of food, let’s go over what we mean by your pantry, which can be thought of in the broader sense as the Four Corners Pantry that consists of your:
- Working Pantry – Where you access perishable and non-perishable food daily. Your working pantry is usually located in your kitchen.
- Refrigerator
- Freezer
- Extended Pantry – This is also known as your Prepper Pantry where you can store larger quantities of food for the long term.
When you have food that you buy at the supermarket or make homemade, you can store that food in any part of your Four Corners Pantry. And if you’re able to buy a lot of non-perishable food on sale at a big box store, you can store it in your Extended or Prepper Pantry.
Your Prepper Pantry comes in handy when you run low on food in your Working Pantry. You can take food from your Prepper Pantry to restock your Working Pantry, and then the next time you have an opportunity to get a lot of food, such as from a clearance aisle or warehouse store, you can refill your Prepper Pantry.
Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List
For an extensive list of the traditional foods you can make and purchase to stock your pantry, be sure to download my free 36-page Traditional Foods Pantry List. This comprehensive eBook is full of links to recipe videos, helpful articles, and more!
How to Create Multiple Streams of Food
Now that we’re familiar with the term “multiple streams of income” and the Four Corners Pantry, how can we go about creating multiple streams of food?
In my conversational video, I talk about the different streams of food in greater detail, but at a high level, they include:
- Animals – Such as eggs from chickens, if you can raise them at your home.
- Home Canned Goods – Water Bath Can or Pressure Can the bounty of food that you can harvest from your garden or that you can buy in season from your grocery store or farmer’s market.
- Kitchen Garden – Planting a victory garden full of vegetables will give you food to enjoy during harvest time, as well as food you can water bath can to enjoy later, such as over the wintertime.
- Store-Bought Canned Goods – Stock up on non-perishable canned foods whenever they are on sale and store them in your Prepper Pantry.
- And more!
Multiple streams of food is all about ensuring that you don’t rely on just one source for your food. You want to build up your food storage to include a variety of foods from various sources. For example, you may buy store-bought canned tomatoes, but you may also have your home-grown, home-canned tomatoes. Not only will you rely on your grocery store for food, but you will also shop at bulk warehouses and bulk drop-off services, farmer’s markets, and if possible, have a garden too.
As you learn more about these streams of food, think about how many you can create. If you’ve already established all of these streams of food, can you think of more streams? How about storing a variety of dried beans? Or whole grains, so you can grind your own flour?
Case Study: What Happened to Azure Standard?
Many people like to purchase products in bulk from Azure Standard because they are drawn to the variety of groceries, household, garden, and other items they can purchase at lower prices from Azure than from their local stores.
However, did you know that the Azure headquarters was damaged by a fire that limited their ability to ship supplies, such as liquids and carob products? If you relied only on Azure for those products and you didn’t have extra items stored in your Prepper Pantry, you would have to look for replacements elsewhere or do without.
Do you know of any other streams of food that you rely upon for the bulk of your products? If you had to replace that stream, could you do so from another existing stream of food, or would you have to create a new stream of food from different suppliers?
Multiple Streams of Food Help Protect Against Inflation
Your pantry also gives you protection against inflation because if you can stock items when they are on sale, you can draw upon your supplies of those items when they may be radically going up in price because of inflation.
Maple syrup is an excellent example of a nutritious food with a long shelf life (so it’s great to stock), and it is also a product that has experienced significant price upswings in the past few months.
In the following video, I talk about 10 Steps to Inflation Proof Your Pantry to Fight Rising Grocery Prices. Also be sure to download my free checklist that outlines the steps you can take against inflation.
How to Create Your Prepper Pantry
What happens if you’re convinced that now is the time to start creating multiple streams of food, but you haven’t created all the corners for your Four Corners Pantry? Specifically, if you don’t have an Extended or Prepper Pantry, how can you start one?
I’m here to help you with the following videos to get you started stocking your Prepper Pantry with real food and on a budget. You can do this, and you’ll be so glad you steered away from storing junk or convenience food. Having real food on hand will help you provide good nutrition to you and your family in case of difficult times.
Create an Emergency Food Supply Too
And once you create your Prepper Pantry, take the next step and create an emergency food supply. I’ll show you how to create a two-week emergency food supply with my comprehensive video and free printable, a Two Week Emergency Food Supply Shopping List and Meal Plan.
- How to Build a 2-Week Emergency Food Supply (Includes Printable Checklist and Meal Plan)
Whole Grain As a Stream of Food
We talked about storing whole grain as another stream of food. In the following video, I describe why you need to store whole grain (and not flour) in your Prepper Pantry.
Once you have your whole grain, I also show you three ways to make your own flour at home. This is the perfect stream of food for baking in case our grocery stores run out of flour or we are unable to get to the supermarket to buy flour.
Grind Your Own Flour with the Mockmill
You can grind your grain with a manual or electric grain mill. And when it comes to electric grain mills, after I did A LOT of research, I decided to buy a Mockmill. And am I so happy I did! The Mockmill is a very affordable but beautifully crafted German-made mill that stone grinds grain with settings ranging from 1 to 10—fine to coarse ground grain.
And I have great news! The folks at Mockmill are very kind to offer my viewers and readers a special one-time discount on any of the grain mills that they sell.
- Use my affiliate link for a special one-time 5% discount on Mockmill Stone Grain Mill products, including Ancient Grains, like Einkorn, Emmer, and Spelt. (The discount will appear when you checkout.)
You can see me unbox and try out the Mockmill 100 Grain mill in the following video.
5% OFF SPECIAL DISCOUNT
- Use my affiliate link to get a special one-time 5% off Mockmill stone grain mills (The discount will appear when you checkout.)
Kitchen Academy Videos
Are you looking for more traditional foods videos? If so, I invite you to join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy. Members of this optional paid YouTube community get access to exclusive videos, live streams, and other members-only perks. Plus, your YouTube comments include a special members-only badge.
In the following members-only video, I talk about the Importance of Making Our Food Homemade.
Stay in Touch with Mary’s Nest
- Subscribe to My YouTube Channel for Traditional Foods Videos (Free) - When you subscribe, be sure to click on the notification bell that will let you know each time I upload a new video.
- Subscribe to Mary’s Traditional Foods Newsletter (Free) - Get a free 36-page eBook for signing up: How to Stock Your Essential Traditional Foods Four-Corners Pantry.
- Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy (Optional Paid) - For more detailed videos and exclusive members-only perks, join my YouTube membership community.
- Order The Modern Pioneer Cookbook (Optional Paid) - Get a printed book of Mary's nourishing recipes from a Traditional Foods Kitchen. This bestselling cookbook is published by Penguin Random House with their DK imprint.
I look forward to having you join me in my Texas Hill Country Kitchen!
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Learn more about Mockmill electric grain mills for making fresh flour and their Flake Lover's Flaker that flakes whole grain in minutes.
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Disclaimer:I am not a medical doctor, a medical professional, a dietician, or a nutritionist. All content found on the MarysNest.com website, including text, images, videos, eBooks or eGuides, social media, or other formats, were created solely for informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or proper nutritional advice. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have watched in a video or read on this website. Use caution when following the recipe in this video. The creator and publisher of this video and website will not be held responsible for any adverse effects that may arise from the use of this recipe and method or any other recipe and method on this website or corresponding video channel.