Most of the posts on Home Food Gourmet are about the hobby of preserving food as in canning, dehydrating, fermenting, curing & smoking and freezing. While for most of us preserving food is a hobby, for others it is an economical way to save money and have healthy food year round. Some of us like gardening to get that sense of satisfaction of doing it yourself and getting good produce. For others it is about putting food on the table. The economy and environmental factors may cause some to switch from the hobby side to the putting food on the table side.
It’s not news to anyone that our economy has taken a nosedive into the curb. For the over 90% that are still employed simple things like being able to put food on the table is not yet an issue. For many of the others that is not the case. Having access to a garden can mean the difference of having vegetables for the kids or not. Having a garden can generate a tremendous amount of fresh produce that can save money. Money that can be used for other things such as meat, gas, clothes, medical expense and others.
It’s no surprise that internet searches for topics such as gardening, canning, preserving food, home food preservation, dehydrating and dehydrators is up 40% or more over last year at the same time. Many people are looking at preserving food as a means of subsistence rather than a hobby.
If the economy wasn’t enough, everyday on the news there seems to be another recall because of E. Coli or a plant being closed down because of unhealthy conditions. While things aren’t as bad as Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle“, it still makes you wonder about the safety of your food.
But every cloud has a silver lining. Preserving your own food, whether you are canning, dehydrating, pickling or fermenting is a way to have more control over how your food is processed. Not only from pure safety perspective, but from an overall health and satisfaction perspective as well. You know where it came from, how it was washed, how fresh it is and what ingredients went into it. The levels of sodium and fructose in much of the processed food bought in the store is way north of amazing.
You also have control over the flavor. Every year I am continually amazed how good the vegetables we get from the garden and farmer’s markets are over what we can get from many of the grocery stores. Our family like many others tend to spend more time in Wal-Mart these days. It saves you a lot of money and it’s convenient, but the produce sucks.
When you taste your own spaghetti sauce, tomato soup or fresh/frozen green beans from your garden, it has more flavor than anything you can get from the store. The ultimate test is processed food robot kids that typically think that nothing is good unless it came from under plastic or a frozen food cardboard box. My daughters absolutely love fresh green beans from the garden. I could probably get away from serving meat when fresh/frozen green beans from the garden on the menu. I find that home made spaghetti sauce puts any brand from a store to shame.
Whether the economy has you down, you need a hobby or you want good, healthy food, gardening and preserving your harvest can save you money and be a lot of fun. Some parts of the country can plant all year round and others are either beginning or soon will be planting. If gardening isn’t for you, visit your local farmer’s market. It is many times cheaper and more fresh than what you can buy in the store and it helps develop your local economy. It also saves literally tons of carbon dioxide emissions since it is not transported from places afar.
Other methods of preserving food can also be found at the Home Food Store. Equipment for dehydrating fruits, vegetables and herbs; making sausage, and even commercial grade vacuum sealers can get you started down the road to being more self-sufficient whether you need to now, may need to in the future or just want to be.
Tags: canning, carbon dioxide emissions, curing, dehydrating, dehydrator, economy, fermenting, food, fresh produce, garden, herbs, hobby, Home Food Gourmet, Home Food Store, making sausage, pickling, preserving, save money, smoking, vacuum sealers
Great Article! Do you suggest a specific vacuum sealer?
Thanks for your comments on my article.
As far as vacuum sealers go, the old rule applies that you get what you pay for. Many vacuum sealers you find in the store are designed for casual use and quickly degrade if used often. I went through a number of these units before I figured out and moved to a commercial style unit. If you are in a commercial environment I would suggest the Pro-2300 since it is made out of stainless. (A requirement in most places) If you plan on doing quite a bit of vacuum sealing at home, I would then suggest the Pro-2100. It is the same unit as the Pro-2300, but has a powder coat finish.