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.

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.

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.

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.

Grand Teton Ancient Grains

Grind Your Own Flour with the Mockmill

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.

Learn more about Mockmill electric grain mills for making fresh flour and their Flake Lover’s Flaker that flakes whole grain in minutes. (This is not a sponsored post. I bought the Mockmill products that I show you, and I’m a happy user of their devices in my kitchen.)

• Get the Mockmill 100 Stone Grain Mill (Same product I show you in my unboxing video.)
• Mockmill 100 Grain Mill unboxing
• Flake Lover’s Flaker from Mockmill in action (Using this device, you can flake whole grain in minutes.)

Start Your Traditional Foods Journey

Sharing my passion for traditional cooking goes beyond my YouTube cooking school—it also comes to life in the pages of my cookbooks. Both of my books, The Modern Pioneer Cookbook and The Modern Pioneer Pantry, are proudly published by Penguin Random House.

The first is filled with time-honored recipes to help you create a traditional foods kitchen, while the second is your complete guide to home food preservation. Order both books today to start or continue your traditional foods journey.

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!

Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy

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 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.

Kitchen Academy Videos

See all →

Baking Questions Answered with Ted and Mary!

Join me and my husband Ted for a Q&A filled with practical kitchen tips, helpful techniques, and answers to your baking questions.

Baking with Whole Grains: The Maslin Method, Grain Mills, and America’s Bread Basket

Explore whole grain baking with The Maslin Method, fresh-milled flour, grain mills, heritage wheats, and more.

A Sweet Season of Celebration and New Beginnings with The Maslin Method Baking School Series

Celebrate the close of a heartfelt book tour and the exciting launch of The Maslin Method Baking School for traditional baking.

Stay in Touch with Mary’s Nest

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy - For more detailed videos and exclusive members-only perks, join my YouTube membership community.
4. Order The Modern Pioneer Cookbook - Get a hardcover book of Mary's nourishing recipes from a Traditional Foods Kitchen. This bestselling cookbook is published by Penguin Random House with their DK imprint.
5. Order The Modern Pioneer Pantry - Get Mary's latest hardcover cookbook about preserving food and making delicious meals from your Four Corners Pantry. Mary's second cookbook is also published by Penguin Random House.

I look forward to having you join me in my Texas Hill Country Kitchen!

---

Shop for items used in this blog post or video

Favorite Food Storage Supplies

• 5 Gallon Buckets with Lids
• Bucket Lid Opener Tool
• Gamma Lids – White
• 5 Gallon Mylar Bags
• 300CC Oxygen Absorbers
• 10g Silica Gel Packs
• Handheld Foodsaver
• Foodsaver Jar Adapter Kit

Favorite Kitchen Supplies

• Favorite Aprons
• Spice Grinder
• Countertop Burner (On my kitchen island in many recipe videos.)
• Whisk
• Cast Iron Dutch Oven
• 8-Quart Slow-Cooker
• Fat Separator (Clever kitchen device to help you decant bone broth)
• Flour Sack Towels
• pH Strips (Helps you check on the acidity of your vinegar)

Amazon Shop and Shopping Guide

• Visit Mary’s Nest Amazon Shop
• Get a 30-day Audible trial with a free audiobook
• Visit my Shopping Guide page
  Get up to 15% off for stocking your Traditional Foods Pantry and equipping your Modern Pioneer Kitchen, including discounts from US Wellness Meats, Farmhouse Teas, Backwoods Home, Masontops, Cultures for Health, Survival Garden Seeds, Redmond Real Salt, and More!

Recommended Reading

• The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
• The Modern Pioneer Pantry
• Nourishing Traditions
• Food Storage 101 Where do I begin? (Cookin’ With Home Storage)
• Prepper’s Pantry: Build a Nutritious Stockpile to Survive Blizzards, Blackouts, Hurricanes, Pandemics, Economic Collapse, or Any Other Disasters
• Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Keep Your Family Safe in a Crisis
• The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making: A Cookbook
• Self-Reliance: Recession-Proof Your Pantry
• My Pantry: Homemade Ingredients That Make Simple Meals Your Own: A Cookbook