The First Step in Providing for Your Own Food

“Let’s start at the very beginning…. It’s a very good place to start…”  — Yes, I am singing the “Sound of Music: Do-Re-Mi” song in my head as I am writing this.   Want to provide your own food?  Want to start your food planning process, but do not know where to begin?  This should help you.

Start by making a list.  Simple…  but a necessary step.  List out your family and friends that you believe will help you in providing the food supply.  Take a peek at this chart:

NAME	SEX	AGE	RELATIONSHIP	APPRX WEIGHT	DAILY CALORIC NEEDS	PHYSICAL / HEALTH STRENGTH/WEAKNESS  TO BE AWARE OF…	SPECIAL SKILLS
	M	50	Husband	182 lbs		Wounded Vet / Leg Impairment – Recovered 80%	Military / Fisherman / Hunter / Construction
	F	47	Wife	128 lbs			Farmer / Gardener/ Fisherman / Hunter
	F	25	Daughter	135 lbs			Nurse / Gardener/ Fisherman / Hunter
	M	29	Son-in-Law	190 lbs		High Cholesterol	Solar Energy Field / Very Tech Savvy
	F	18mo	Granddaughter	18 lbs
	F	22	Daughter	130 lbs			Nurse / Gardener / Fisherman / Hunter
	M	47	Brother	180 lbs		Smoker / Wounded Vet / Shoulder Impairment– Recovered 60%	Mechanic / Military / Fisherman / Hunter
	F	45	Sis-in-Law	140 lbs		Immune Deficiency	Gardener
	M	17	Nephew	195 lbs			Fisherman /Hunter
	M	15	Nephew	185 lbs		One Kidney	Fisherman /Hunter
	F	12	Niece	95 lbs			Sewing / Knitting
	F	42	Sister	145 lbs		Smoker / Vegetarian	Nurse
	M	45	Bro-in-Law	195 lbs			Fisherman /Hunter
	F	9	Niece	60 lbs			Fisherman / Gardener
	M	8	Nephew	58 lbs		Type 1 Diabetes	Fisherman /Hunter
	M	79	Father	175 lbs		High Cholesterol / Smoker	Military / Fisherman / Hunter
	F	79	Mother	150 lbs		Early Symptoms of Dementia	Farmer / Gardener
	F	76	Mother	155 lbs		Type 2 Diabetes / Arthritis	Baker / Sewing / Knitting
	M	50	Friend	185 lbs			Military / Fisherman / Hunter
	F	46	Friend	135 lbs			Farmer / Gardener
	M	27	Friend’s Son	190 lbs		PTSD	Military / Fisherman / Hunter
	F	26	F Son’s Girlfriend	135 lbs		?	Farmer / Gardener
	M	24	Friend’s Son	185 lbs			Military / Fisherman / Hunter / Machinist
	M	19	Friend’s Son	190 lbs			ROTC / Medic
9 Dogs				687 lbs Total	1750 x 9 = 15,750		Guarding/ Protection/Watch
4 Cats				40 lbs Total	270 x 4 = 1,080		Pest Control

(Trouble seeing the graph?  Yeah… code smashes it… see below for a pic)

Now, go to: https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/default.aspx   and create a profile.  Make sure you select the highest activity level, because if you are providing for your own food, you will have a high activity level.  Once you have created your own profile, create a private group and send out invites to all the people on your list.  Create profiles for those who do not use the internet often and gues-timate for them as best as possible.  Keep in mind that it may be that a 79 year old will not do a lot of strenuous exercise, but may weed a garden, hunt rabbits, preserve food, cook and bake, and keep a watchful eye on the kids — or provide invaluable how-to advice.  Or you may wish to supplement Mom and Dad’s diet because they are on a limited budget.  Also, your 18 month granddaughter will not be doing any work, but it will be important to provide for her food.

The next step is to start creating favorite family recipes.  Go to:  https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/myrecipe.aspx  and complete steps 1-3 for each ingredient.  Remember to create breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack recipes.  Couple of things to be aware of are: Daily Food Group Targets (Grains, Vegetables, Fruits, Dairy and Protein Foods) and Seasonality of the Food items in your recipe, Total Caloric Intake and the Nutritional Benefits and Detriments to your group.

This information is the basis of providing for your own food supply.  Please feel free to copy and fill in, add to, or subtract from the above graph as you see fit.