Prepping for fresh produce shortage

Posted by Interesting_Sky_7847@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 56 comments

I’m in the U.S. and with the looming threat of increased tariffs and mass deportations, I’m starting to get extra worried about access to fresh produce. I’m wondering about ways to ensure we can stay healthy and get the nutrients my family I need if we can’t easily access fresh produce. Store bought canned vegetables have so much sodium that I’m generally hesitant about them. Is canning my own produce now the best option? I don’t have much experience in that area. Also would stocking up on any multivitamins be wise? I appreciate everyone’s help!

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gilbert2gilbert@reddit

They can go in the freezer, you know.

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leyline@reddit

They don’t call it icebergs lettuce for nothing!

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Brichess@reddit

Iceberg lettuce also generally doesn’t have too many nutrients if they’re worried about the type you get from fresh produce

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leyline@reddit

Oh, in that case - can it. Mmmm lettuce in a can. All the flavor, none of the texture.

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Brichess@reddit

if youre gonna go for preserved lettuce pickled is definitely the way to go, its kind of like kimchi but worse

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Additional-Stay-4355@reddit

Mmmm lettuce flavored slime

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cryssHappy@reddit

You mean chewy ice?

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leyline@reddit

As long as it’s green, just tell them it’s the fancy salad they serve on cruises, with blue cheese, just like on the Titanic.

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TheSensiblePrepper@reddit

Freezing does keep the nutrients and vitamins intact more than canned. Generally.

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SteakMountain5@reddit

Genuine question, does frozen veg keep longer than canned?

We’re trying to dip our toes into canning this winter, another tool for our toolbox.

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TheSensiblePrepper@reddit

Not as long. If you vacuum sealed and frozen you could likely do 2-3 years. I have had canned pickles that were 20 years old and just fine.

Canning, if stored correctly, is a great option if you don't mind the change the vinegar and/or salt takes in the product.

The best is Freeze-Dried. Easily 25+ years to potentially longer than you.

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grandmaratwings@reddit

Canning doesn’t require vinegar or even salt. Pickling requires both. Canning vegetables does require a pressure canner as they’re a low acid food.

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11systems11@reddit

Is there going to be tariffs on vegetables?

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Cronewithneedles@reddit

Mass deportation of farm workers + climate/water issues

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11systems11@reddit

That's not a tariff but thanks for the heads up

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sanitation123@reddit

20% tariffs across the board on every item imported, 60% from China. The US imports a lot of produce from Mexico.

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preppers-ModTeam@reddit

Your post or comment was removed because the topic you are posting about has been already posted by a different user, has been discussed recently, or is posted about frequently.

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Halo22B@reddit

I'm in Canada and my fresh produce comes from California....I think your worries are overblown

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Led_Zeppole_73@reddit

I don’t buy much from the store during summer as I garden, have fruit and nut trees, raise poultry, put up venison and have a large fish pond. The excess is frozen held in two large chest freezers. I’m planning on an indoor grow room with LED lighting for growing peppers, tomatoes and other leafy greens during winter.

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Rude_Veterinarian639@reddit

I've done this. I build an indoor grow room in my unfinished basement. I grow in it year round so my summer harvests are massive!!!

And I've got year round tomatoes, peppers, greens, celery, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, strawberry plants, carrots, herbs, beans and peas

Even have a watermelon down there this winter!

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Led_Zeppole_73@reddit

Wow that‘s great!

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NorthernPrepz@reddit

You can pack your own. Also, fresh produce isn’t going to zero. Also it gets imported from plenty of other places and us has more purchasing power than other places.

Seasonal workers will still be allowed in, not everyone picking produce is an illegal immigrant. They also can’t arrest everyone that quick, that would also be dumb. I’m not saying there won’t be issues but food won’t disappear. No politician wants that, it’s bad for business.

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ABC4A_@reddit

44% of farm workers are undocumented

https://missouriindependent.com/2024/09/16/deportations-raids-visa-access-how-the-presidential-election-could-impact-immigrant-farmworkers/

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NorthernPrepz@reddit

That is a helpful stat, thank you!

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ARGirlLOL@reddit

Purchased from other countries at 20% tariff or higher so 20% more expensive. I feel like that detail is forgotten.

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NorthernPrepz@reddit

Again, maybe, those tarrifs are likely transactional, they might be dropped in exchange for other tariffs or issues resolved. No one is going to go down as a popular president and not get slaughtered in the midterms by triggering 50% food inflation overnight and then causing a wage price inflation. Last time they promised to shut down the DoE then they found its who controls the nuclear arsenal so that didn’t happen. Again, sure, hedge, garden, freeze. I am urging against panic, panic is bad.

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ARGirlLOL@reddit

First, isn’t it great we live in the universe where our best hope for affordable food is that the newly elected president doesn’t enact what he campaigned on? Second, he has, many times now, promised that we’d never have to vote again and with his sycophants controlling the house, senate and the Supreme Court I’m sure he’ll have no problem with his military purge of admirals and generals and his bureaucracy purge so my guess is that none of have to ever again.

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desperate4carbs@reddit

Sprouts are the way to go for a guaranteed supply of ridiculously nutritious fresh greens. If you store seeds carefully they should last for years.

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Additional-Stay-4355@reddit

Grow some veggies!

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slendermanismydad@reddit

You can grow a lot of veggies indoors too. You don't need those huge racks, they have smaller pots with lights to grow cherry tomatoes, and mini veggies. Do you have space for a greenhouse?

You can find canned vegetables without a lot of sodium. That's what I buy.

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iridescent-shimmer@reddit

I'm probably going to buy bulk bags of frozen fruit tbh. I know everyone saying "grow your own" but fruit doesn't grow well in my backyard. I've tried for years. Our CSAs don't tend to have them either.

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gadget850@reddit

> so much sodium

There's a thought. What if preservatives get banned?

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Former_Ad_8509@reddit

Get into canning. Subsistence gardening too if you can.

Store bought canned veggies and fruits are not that bad of an option. Look for low sodium and no sugar added. They retain their vitamins and nutrients 100% the first year, slowly degrading after that.

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ommnian@reddit

I see these comments all the time, and I just don't get it. About the only produce I buy 'fresh' on a regular basis is celery, carrots, onions and potatoes. Almost everything else is canned or frozen -corn, tomatoes, peas,green beans, brussel sprouts, broccoli, peppers are all frozen or canned, except for the brief month or two while they're in season.

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Hungry-Insect5460@reddit

Do you think the canned and frozen vegetables are picked and canned by a documented worker?

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karl4319@reddit

Look into a vertical tower garden. They can be expensive, but most of the cost is up front and they are relatively low maintenance. They use aeroponics, so not good for trees, cereals, or root plants. But amazing for leafy greens, herbs, and fruiting plants. Best of all they take up almost no space and use little water or power.

I got one, set it up in the corner of a room, and have fresh tomatoes, peppers, herbs, strawberries, arugula, spinach, chickpeas, mustard greens, beans, snow peas, zucchini, eggplants, and butter squash at the moment.

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jusumonkey@reddit

The easiest things to can are high acid foods so I hope you like pickles! They only need to be canned in a water bath which is basically just boiling in a pot for 30min.

Low acid foods like meat and potatoes with out added acid needs to be pressure canned for 120min.

I almost always suggest to people to can their own produce. Whether you grew it yourself or bought it on sale jar it, sterilize it and it's good to go for years.

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grandmaratwings@reddit

Most fruits are high acid foods and only get water bathed. Same with tomatoes. The times for water bath processing depends on what you’re canning and your elevation. Times also vary for pressure canning. I don’t think 120 min is the usda recommended canning time for anything. The longest processing time I’ve seen is 90 min for quarts of meat. Vegetables pressure can for less time. Corn is 55 min for pints. I think green beans are 25 mjn for pints. If I pressure canned green beans for 120 min I’d have a jar of mush.

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FattierBrisket@reddit

Learn to sprout various seeds, then learn to enjoy and cook with the result. Clover seed, alfalfa, lentils, broccoli, radish, etc etc.

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ThisIsAbuse@reddit

Yes, this is a concern of mine as well recently. But I prepped a while ago with lots of canned, salt free, 25 year shelf life veggies of all kinds. Along with fruits and all sorts of other things.

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Rikan_legend@reddit

Or just adjust your finances, if u have to pay more for produce then you’ll probably have to cut other bills, expenses etc

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No_Character_5315@reddit

Start a garden a simple green house can be done for not alot of money.

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Imaginary-Angle-42@reddit

We typically buy no salt added canned vegetables. I also use the liquid which is possible since there’s no salt or save it. (Or I just drink it while I’m cooking.)

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Unlikely-Ad3659@reddit

I am a whole foods vegetarian. As in no processed foods.

Anyway, from a nutrient standpoint, canned are not great, but last longest. The other issue is a lot of veg lose nutrients pretty fast after picking, peas being the worst offender, Onions lose the least.

So ideal is buy fresh and local, or better yet grow your own.

But if you have to buy for long term, buy frozen, they are usually frozen within a day after harvesting and keep the most nutrients, more so than supermarket bought fresh as they often take a week or more to get to your shopping cart. The other big negative with store bought is they often refrigerated them to keep them looking perfect, this might seem a good idea, but once put on display at room temperature they go off fast, you might have noticed store bought veg doesn't last as well as it used to, this is why. This will get even more common if there are labour shortages in the future and veg has to travel further.

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tuskenraider89@reddit

start a garden and freeze stuff. There’s even a method called no dig gardening. I think. Can’t remember in English . Also grow some herbs in pots on the window

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cryssHappy@reddit

You need to think back - what our ancestors did. My grandparents had a fruit cellar. Dug about 30' from the house, it is below the sod, with raised wood beds and a tin roof (WA ST). Usually straw laid down in the beds and then the veggies and fruit laid down. Potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, beans drying, etc. Hydro grown veggies (butter lettuce). Or small garden boxes that can be early started. Also stacked tires to grow tomatoes or potatoes.

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kkinnison@reddit

Join a local CSA. Visit farmers markets. Get a chest freezer and store produce when it is cheap and in season. or do canning

Even during the pandemic and Chinese Tariffs, food prices didn't change much, just scarcity of more exotic produce.

There is more than enough food being produced to feed the entire world. The issue is the logistics of transportation and spoilage limiting what can be sold and eaten

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BroadButterscotch349@reddit

This is what I did. We already owned a vacuum sealer. We bought relatively thick bags on Amazon.

You can freeze a lot of veggies. I don't have garden space, save for maybe a few of those hanging tomato planters. Start comparing store grocery ads, including the Latin markets. They typically have huge produce sales. I was able to get 4 yellow or orange bell peppers for $1.25, zucchini or potatoes 3lbs for $1.49, and lots of other big deals. Spent a day packing it all in the freezer. We're going back each week until it's full.

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Incendiaryag@reddit

If you have a local community farm veggie /fruit box service, sign up. They are less likely to be impacted by removal of undocumented immigrants as smaller, local farms. During Covid a lot of grocery box service stopped taking new customers. It's a great way to try new veggies for canning and jarring.

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UniqueImprovements@reddit

Grow your own.