Food Shortage in Oklahoma

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Numerous-Poetry5180@reddit

this is scary. I’m Choctaw but live out of the state now (grew up in Oklahoma). so many people rely on the tribes services. keep us posted.

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bristlybits@reddit

how's the soil there, can they maybe start a more local food grow?

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totpot@reddit

The land the Choctaw originally inhabited was very fertile. The land they were given by the government is basically clay.

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build greenhouses/hothouses and use buckets and grow bags. Hydroponics is actually easy as well if you get someone to teach you the tricks. But they need to get large hoophouses started or insulated greenhouses built. Pit greenhouses work well in colder areas as well and take a lot less poly to cover and are way easier to heat. With 16mm 3 wall poly I can heat my 12x24 pit greenhouse with a 1500 watt heater if I need to. Just remember frost heave when building it and have good drainage for the foundation footers. concrete block walls poured full, externally insulated and make them bigger than you think you need. In a heated pit greenhouse you can get continuous crops and 1000 square ft will feed a family of 3 if done right. If a source of heat is a problem the answer is simple too. Build an enclosed rabbit raising building on the north side of a row of pit greenhouses, Use the heat coming off the rabbits to heat the greenhouses and also to block the north winds. Build the pits 5 ft into the ground, use the foundation wall of the rabbit barn as the back wall on the pit greenhouses and the rabbit manure once composted as your grow medium.

That way a 100 x30x12 ft rabbit barn can support a 100x24 pit greenhouse and provide food for 75 people or so if you can source or stockpile starches like corn, potatoes or rice. This is figuring a 12 ft sidewall and a 2 ft above ground wall on the southern side. I recommend using a gutter drainage system to collect water coming off the poly to refill water storage tanks inside the greenhouse too.

the poly would only be 16 6x26 and 1 4x26 to cover it. Door it in several places into the rabbit barn with stairs to the floor of the pit greenhouse and do the endwalls solid insulated. In a 30x100 rabbit barn you could easily have 3500 rabbits which would also provide meat for the tribe. Best thing is it would only take around 20 people to run it and they don't all have to be young. Use a rolling roof rake to clear the snow off the poly in the winter and have some solar blocking shades for spring and summer to cut down the light coming in.

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2quickdraw@reddit

Forgot the multiple ways to most cheaply feed the rabbits. I raise meat rabbits, they aren't cheap and I've been studying ways to feed them if I can't get pelleted feed and hay. I have sacks of rolled multigrains, and buckets of lentils and split peas, which can be combined with greens from the garden and hay.

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Optimal-Archer3973@reddit

I was also looking at the huge price decrease on dent corn and soybeans as being an affordable and applicable food for them. I think, no matter what some pelleted food would be needed but still, if it is not available, the greenhouse refuse should offer critical nutrients.

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9Implements@reddit

I watch a YouTube channel where a guy makes artificial ponds and he needs clay soil for that.

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monkeyamongmen@reddit

A lot of that's done with PE liners now. Clay is pretty old school. Source: replaced a bunch of clay ponds.

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9Implements@reddit

It’s a 5 acre pond…

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monkeyamongmen@reddit

I've done over 7 acres in HDPE. It is expensive at that scale though.

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No-Development820@reddit

I grew up in SE OK and successfully grew vegetables after amending the clay with gypsum and potash, (ashes from your fireplace, bonfire, etc).

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Optimal-Archer3973@reddit

Yep, but speaking from experience amendments take time versus potting soil in buckets and time is critical now. As it is say they decided to do this tomorrow, they could start the buckets and move them into the greenhouse by the time it is done. Potting soil, or soil/compost mixes can be bought in bulk like semi load size loose cheaply. Clean used buckets can often be purchases for 1 each. So think $2000 or so and you could have enough buckets started to fill the greenhouse and by the time it was done you simply move them a bucket at a time to fill the greenhouse before it gets cold and a crop within 90 days of planting. Most plants will want a slightly acidic soil anyway and your gypsum/ash will make it more alkaline. Good for potatoes and some plants but not good for others. Buckets allow finer control and better ability to mix different plants next to each other to make complementary gardening possible as well as insect control easier.

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HistoricalWash6930@reddit

In September? Bit late for that

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Additional_Wolf3880@reddit

You can grow things during the winter.

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HistoricalWash6930@reddit

Not enough to sustain communities. Some root vegetables and greens aren’t going to help much if you can’t get fruits, meats or other vegetables.

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lol_coo@reddit

Untrue! Greens can save you from malnutrition from a diet of mostly corn or grain. Absolutely worth growing yourself.

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JesusHMinus@reddit

No, everyone should just give up unless conditions are perfect. /s

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HistoricalWash6930@reddit

For both of you… No where did I say you shouldn’t grow greens lol perfectly reasonable part of a diet and a great options for individuals especially peppers.

Unfortunately we’re talking about potential food shortages because of supply chain/shipping issues and/or labour issues for farms. Not sure how you think growing winter crops at a scale and in a short enough timeline to solve that problem for entire communities. Won’t similar issues arise on top of the issue that they’d still be missing out on staples they need for a healthy diet?

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Optimal-Archer3973@reddit

The fact that they need to understand and start doing something now is the point. I am amazed someone else has seen this directly this soon.

I have been stockpiling food for 3 months now because I actually read the whole project 2025 and it stressed that controlling and limiting the American food supply was an absolute requirement for success. This is another reason you will see blackouts soon. a 2 day blackout can wipe out a huge amount of stored food. Grocery stores won't even run their generators because insurance companies pay them full retail for all spoilage during power outages.

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HistoricalWash6930@reddit

Who is they first all? Tribes are as beholden to private interests, and government agencies as anyone else, perhaps more so than most.

You’re acting like individuals just noticing a major problem have the institutional capacity and ability to make societal structural changes in the blink of an eye, that’s the entire problem you’re acting like is actually the solution. It’s great you’ve prepared for something you noticed was going to be a massive issue well in advance. Most people don’t have that luxury let alone the institutions that would need to respond and help in what could be a famine situation at the extreme.

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Optimal-Archer3973@reddit

No, I assume the tribe has a leader and can explain facts and they can come to a collective decision. I am part Native American Indian and am familiar with most tribal issues. They are not that much different from any other lower class American. The thing about tribes is they can generally come together if they have a plan faster than other groups and more often than not work together. Most Indians do not have some mystical connection to the land like fantasy writers promote and damn few have a green thumb.But they can build and are less affected by red tape in many ways so they can put up pit greenhouses and rabbit barns faster than most people. They have enough money to buy materials to save themselves most of the time when they pool resources for survival. Indian tribes can also think outside the box and be quiet about what they are doing. They can also defend themselves most of the time now as well.

I don't mean to sound like an asshole here but I have been derided for saying this since May. Look, rice and beans are a dollar a pound in bulk right now, pasta is about the same in bulk, twice that with sauce. so in reality you can feed a person for 20 a week if you have to. I am no less worried about everything than any reasonable person is but first people need to admit there is a problem and then work to fix it. I know of people growing potatoes, squash, and tomatoes in their homes in front of windows or on balconies in buckets right now because of food prices alone. What do you think will happen when a walmart grocery is half empty? Panic buying. The average prepper has at least enough common sense to feel there might be a problem and work to overcome it. The trick is figuring out what works best and is the fastest to do that will provide concrete results. I think we have 2 to 3 months before this hits so hard that there is no way for the public to ignore it. The trucker shortage just brought it about faster than I thought it would have come.

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HistoricalWash6930@reddit

Did you miss the part where all the stores are empty? No one is reading your screeds on Reddit in rural Oklahoma. If you think you have the solution and everyone else so dumb get your ass over there and help, or at least reach out to anyone in the leadership instead of ranting and raving at me about how smart you are.

This is the problem with crises, it takes advance preparation, coordination and incredible leadership to solve them. You seem think that’s as easy as a couple people seeing things the same way as you and magically implementing massive societal and community wide solutions in weeks. That’s not how real life works.

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Optimal-Archer3973@reddit

The last time I checked, they had things called cars and telephones there too. They might live there but can actually locate things outside of their area and buy them. And right now there is only one of me and I am working to help people worth helping in Wisconsin. Oklahoma winters are nothing compared to Wisconsin ones. I have stated a method that will work there and should be doable if the tribe comes together to help make it happen.

Lastly, they are stuck unless they change their funding to WIC on where they buy with the limited federal funds they have. This is a problem every tribe is seeing to some extent already. There is no help coming from white men, they will have to help themselves.

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HistoricalWash6930@reddit

So you don’t care enough to actually give what you think is a solution to anyone who can do anything to help. Check.

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2quickdraw@reddit

There's TONS of information available all over Reddit , all over Facebook, all over YouTube, and all over the internet in various forms, and people who have given it to out for free. People have to take the initiative to implement it THEMSELVES. If they sit on their rears and wait for it to be dumped in their laps, or for somebody else to do the work for them, they will be SOL. People have to take personal responsibility because going forward everybody's going to be taking care of themselves and their immediate families or doing without. If they can't get to a market, they can go online and order some rice and lentils and garden seeds in bulk, or have somebody who CAN go online in their local area do it for them. Every day nothing is done is a day closer to being too late.

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Optimal-Archer3973@reddit

I guess you can clone yourself, I cannot. I have explained elsewhere in this what they should do, The OP can contact me if they have questions. Others have provided other meaningful information and I am busy helping people in Wisconsin. They do not need my help physically, they have more than enough people on their reservation and they have people more knowledgeable in the specific trades they would need to complete it. As far as polyiso panels,https://ameriluxinternational.com/contact-info/ these are the people I buy from.

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Jerkrollatex@reddit

Your right greens kept poor southerns alive for generations. Greens, cornbread and beans were all a lot of people had for a very long time.

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ersatzcookie@reddit

Beans, lentils, and other legumes are protein souces used by people who don't have much meat for millenia. Dried legumes are easy to store and can be transported in bulk. There are fast growing greens such as arugula, spinach, and radishes that can be sown and harvested in 30 days. These are also frost resistant. As others have mentioned, cold frames and hot bed techniques can extend the growing season through much of the winter. The Soviets used these techniques to grow fruit and vegetables north of the Arctic Circle. https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2020/04/fruit-trenches-cultivating-subtropical-plants-in-freezing-temperatures

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2quickdraw@reddit

Thank you for posting this so I didn't have to. I grow greens and some root veg all winter long under 50% frost cloth and 6 mil plastic over hoops. When it snows I just go out every few hours and brush the snow off the plastic on my patio bins , and on my bigger garden I have plastic tented over a PVC support system over the beds.

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Repulsive_Injury3298@reddit

Sprouts will save lives.

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someofyourbeeswaxx@reddit

Reservation land is always on land white farmers didn’t want.

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JMurdock77@reddit

But the moment they realize there’s gold or oil to be had on that land, they want it.

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GirlWithWolf@reddit

Natural gas too. Of course they want to be “fair” about it.

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feralfarmboy@reddit

Soil is not good out here

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throwawayt44c@reddit

I'm gonna need more rice...

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2quickdraw@reddit

Add a few sacks of lentils.

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therapistofcats@reddit

Could be Trump cuts.

In March, the Trump administration decided the program did not align with its priorities. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins defended the cut of a half-billion dollars by calling the program a remnant of the COVID era.

Kelli Case, an attorney for the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative at the University of Arkansas, said the program cut by the Trump administration was widely considered an overwhelming success because tribes selected foods based on their nutritional needs and “what people actually want to eat.”

On reservations, the problems addressed by the now-canceled program had been an issue for generations, perpetuated by a string of federal policies, Case added. The pandemic merely “highlighted and exacerbated those issues,” she said.

https://www.propublica.org/article/tribal-food-grant-cuts-trump-rfk-jr

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dnhs47@reddit

This. It’s intentional, and what you’re seeing is precisely what the Trump administration wanted to happen.

65% of Oklahomans voted for Trump. FAFO. Leopards incoming.

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fairoaks2@reddit

The rest of us don’t matter. Only MAGA.

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2quickdraw@reddit

Only white ChristoFascist male MAGA.

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jankenpoo@reddit

I guess you don’t get your Fascist merit badge unless you starve your own people? America is so Great Again!

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curiousjosh@reddit

yikes that sounds like it could be it.

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Devmoi@reddit

Jesus. I wish I had advice. All I can say is this is truly horrifying and it makes me hate this country right now.

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Sharaku_US@reddit

You should blame the people who caused this.

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Devmoi@reddit

And I do! They are fucking terrible. But also it disturbs me how we’re a first-world nation where people are running out of food. It makes me hate the people who allowed these jerks to rise to power.

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TheLeatherSmith@reddit (OP)

I don't hate the people who voted for them. I was one of them. He fooled me, I am ashamed that I was so ignorant. And he fooled everyone who voted for him. He's good at pulling wool over eyes you have to give him that.

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2quickdraw@reddit

Everybody who voted for this had four years of a first term to figure that s out, had four years of a better president who spent all his time fixing all of that crap, and then they voted for this s again and were proud of theirselves and of "owning the libs". Now it's too late. We told them for 10 years this was going to happen! Good luck with the horror show, because this country isn't coming back. I feel for you, but I won't help ANYBODY who supported Trump for 10 years, because they f* up the rest of MY life too.

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Gold_Dragonfly_9174@reddit

No, he's not. Not unless you want him to be.

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GoreonmyGears@reddit

Hate to say it but It's only gonna get worse. Prepare accordingly.

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TheLeatherSmith@reddit (OP)

Any suggestions? I'm new to prepping.

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GoreonmyGears@reddit

Well, seeds. That would be my suggestion. Lots of vegetable seeds.

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2quickdraw@reddit

Seeds, clean soil, bins or beds, fertilizer, shade cloth. Water.

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Optimal-Archer3973@reddit

buy rice, beans, and vitamins to start. Have at least 6 months of food on hand. Then start filling nutritional holes with dried and canned goods. Do not trust your refrigeration unless you have solar and batteries to run it.

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JustNeedAnswers78@reddit

Water is obviously the most important thing. Rain barrels, having some way to treat the water, life straws, or just plain old big jugs of water on hand is useful.

If having a garden or some type of crops isn’t an option, meal prep kits the kind that comes in the big buckets, those are good to have around.

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No_Albatross7213@reddit

Did some digging and it looks like there’s 3 main reasons:

tariffs
the idiotic ICE raids are scaring away farmworkers so a lot of food are rotting in the fields
climate change is also adversely affecting major crops, especially wheat and rice.

I hope the Choctaw Nation can figure out to set up their own farmland to grow crops… you guys will probably have to import the right soil for that though. 😬

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shallal@reddit

That food rotting in the fields should be picked up and distributed to the community. While people are looking for someone to blame, or money to make, food rots in fields while members of the indigenous community post online about needing help.

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No_Albatross7213@reddit

The farmlands are hundreds of miles away from Oklahoma, dude.

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shallal@reddit

Hmm. I hope the ---average American--- can utilize what topsoil and garden space is left to grow a variety of foods. They will probably have to import soil, though, for what is coming. Ftfy.

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The_Dutchess-D@reddit

I'd like to add that maybe the trucker situation is a factor? The Trump administration pulled 3,000 truckers off the roads over the last 2 months:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/08/21/trump-crackdown-commercial-truckers-non-english-speakers/85563272007/

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SubstantialPressure3@reddit

The cuts to USDA funding are are also a factor. The main factor, I think.

The Face of Disruption: Impacts of USDA Funding Cuts on Tribal Food Systems | First Nations Development Institute https://share.google/o2kGfACEI8NFv2Gqa

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lilspark112@reddit

I don’t know why this isn’t a top comment - this is a huge factor.

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Optimal-Archer3973@reddit

It is, but it is not the top factor to them. This is not a money thing, it is a supply issue. And the supply issue is nationwide.

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SubstantialPressure3@reddit

To be fair, I'm 12 hours behind most of the comments here

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abland1988@reddit

The federal government gave land to the Choctaw for a reservation. They made sure it was bare land with little topsoil or climate to grow on the reservation land. Plus access to water for the crops. Before being moved through the Trail of Tears, the Choctaw had land for farming and irrigation.

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shallal@reddit

Your ancestors tried to save mine, and if you need help, you should not hesitate in messaging me, and I will help you and your family any way that I can, and that it would be my honor. You have my bow, and my basket, and my plate.

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CallmeIshmael913@reddit

Hope you guys get resupplied soon. A community garden might be a good way to cut out the middle man in the long term. In Kansas and Missouri everything seems normal. Not on the res though, so IDK there.

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shallal@reddit

This is so offensive to people who were genocided and given land white people didn't want, will be the first affected by shortages, to have you tell them to just garden in clay soil. You should go pick crops for no monetary gain, and distribute them to hungry people. Me, too.

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Original-Video-8220@reddit

It’s called… Donald Trump has deported all of the farm workers and there is now no one to pick fruits and vegetables, because lazy white people have no interest in taking jobs picking fruit and vegetables for low wages. See white people think the immigrants are taking their jobs, they don’t understand that immigrants take the tough jobs lazy white people don’t want to take. It will be like this all over the entire country soon. So sorry you guys are dealing with this now.

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Dapper-Hamster69@reddit

Went to Walmart today in Tulsa, seemed stocked fine.
However, I know someone that does a 'care van' for a church. They are not getting donations like they were, both from regular people and businesses. Everything is going up for many reasons as well, and that may be why. They also are not getting non food items like clothes, soap, etc. They have had slow donation times before, but this has been going on for a bit.

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squirrel8296@reddit

In Kentucky, we’re not at shortages yet, but the produce we are getting is obviously pretty old and doesn’t last very long anymore. Where I used to be able to get produce and it would last 3+ weeks without spoiling, I’m lucky if I get a week now, and that’s regardless of where I get from.

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lola_dubois18@reddit

Same story in California. Produce rotting faster, much more expensive too. News says produce is up 38%. You can Google that.

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bananapeel@reddit

West Coast. Also seeing big gaps in the produce dept where they don't have anything to put on display, so they fill the empty spots with boxes. We are seeing the same with produce rotting faster.

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TheLeatherSmith@reddit (OP)

This is all very concerning.

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Amazing-Marzipan3191@reddit

r/collapse

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saltyoursalad@reddit

And extremely predictable.

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monsterfight2657@reddit

Same in Wisconsin. Fruit that I’d be considering throwing out at home is all that’s available. Bananas spoiling within a day or two of getting them. Slicing tomatoes look Terrible.

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Badly_Slay_63@reddit

I'm not sure where you are in Wisconsin, but I haven't seen any issues like that at the grocery stores in the Fox Valley area. I don't go to high-end stores either.

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mojeaux_j@reddit

Produce we're getting now is the stuff that has been sitting awhile. Essentially getting back storage on some stuff that was bought in mass before tariffs hit or is too expensive to source fresh now.

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Naive-Background7461@reddit

Screwworms are creeping north, affecting the beef Industry. 1 case of a human from south of the boarder having it here in the US.

Flooding, droughts and the trucker issues.

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MissDisarry@reddit

I’m sorry to hear of this. Where I am, I’m noticing bare shelves for particular products that I assume are imported. I believe this is tariffs, ice raids, mismanagement of food programs funds, distribution problems, and other parts of the system starting to break down a bit. We have a lot of local produce here, and it’s a small state so we haven’t seen too many shortages of fruits and vegetables yet.

If you can get to a big box store like Costco, I’d recommend trying to get stuff that will keep over the winter or that you are able to can. I think this could get worse.

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reincarnateme@reddit

Many truck drivers have been pulled off the road for not being fluent in English.

https://truckdrivernews.com/english-proficiency-rule-now-in-effect-for-all-u-s-truckers/

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QHCprints@reddit

Anecdotal but I just passed a local factory today and noticed their lot went from empty other than workers' cars and semis loading/unloading to having a least a hundred empty trailers sitting.

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totpot@reddit

I was watching a trucker's youtube channel today and they talked about how they went to a (usually) very busy Walmart distribution center this week and activity was down so much that he could do donuts with his semi in the lot.

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free_dead_puppy@reddit

Sounds sick. What's his username on there,m

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Severe_Driver3461@reddit

One day last week work was cancelled due to 🧊 a guy I work with said they were waitng for people at the farms and that the people scattered into the woods

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Nouseriously@reddit

Roadblocks around the Alabama/ Georgia border

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Alarming_Jacket3876@reddit

Can you please elaborate on this?

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Inside-Criticism918@reddit

Oh no. Sadly not surprising. I lived in bama when they started targeting people under Obama. I can’t imagine what it’s like under this administration..

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Broad-Character486@reddit

Maine here, my local grocery has had almost no produce for several days.

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AmericanaCrux@reddit

What region of Maine?

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Broad-Character486@reddit

Downeast. Luckily, we can grow most of our produce at this time of year. Better sack away a bunch of root veggies.

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AmericanaCrux@reddit

Good luck out that way!

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Broad-Character486@reddit

Thanks, you as well

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saltyoursalad@reddit

Thanks, Trump 😒

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pathwayportals@reddit

Also Tribal. My nation doesn't have as many communal resources like this, but I've been around enough mutual aid to have seen similar projects work. Being a agriculturalist, I have seen a LOT of crops fail lately. All the weird weather fucked up so many farmers. The supply chain itself is also collapsing (less farm hands, trucker prohibitions like another commenter said, tariffs, etc etc) from MANY angles. But I really think the crop failures are a huge issue that's getting overlooked. The change of seasons is different now, NOTICABLY this year, for many landkeepers near me, and is drastically impacting harvest

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Khaleena788@reddit

Sounds like a labour shortage problem. Careful why you vote for.

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dsinferno87@reddit

I worked for a food pantry that delivered to those in need; do you know if that food they bring is from farms? Because I believe Trump has limited that. The food pantry I used to work for would go to grocery stores, work campuses that had cafeterias, restaurants, and local farms to get their food. This is what we should all be doing, rather than rely on the govt. Otherwise, I'd bet all our brothers and sisters who pull our crops who've been deported, has a major effect on this issue. There is also the botfly problem, that may hit our livestock soon... and the tariffs have increased prices on food... stay safe. Maybe look into the zero-waste food pantry.

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Safe-Tennis-6121@reddit

I wonder if this is tariff related? In the sense of a supply chain disruption caused by companies not importing but also not having enough American sourced goods to meet their quotas.

You could think of it as a lose-lose kind of situation because if they raise their prices to pay the tariffs then people won't buy the product they will buy something else.

A lot of times food banks are stocked with goods that are about to expire. Oftentimes these are high-end cuts of meat etc that would never sell.

But I wonder if stores are getting leaner in their own operations. I mean if no one has thought filet mignon in three months then why order it?

On a personal level I need to reduce my grocery shopping costs soon.

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werealldoomed47@reddit

I don't think this is tariff or company related. I think this was a doge cut to either something in the welfare system, or USAID. If op has people they know on reservations elsewhere I think he should ask. This could be a nationwide thing that's going undiscussed.

I hope I am wrong but I could definitely see this regime starting with the native Americans.

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loveshercoffee@reddit

I wondered if that was the case as well. A lot of food aid has been cut.

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werealldoomed47@reddit

The worst part is American farmers supplied that food. Not just domestically but international food aid.

It was a baseline guarantee to farmers that their crops would sell at a set cost and above that went to retail.

These guys are so incompetent they're doing more damage than they think they are.

It's about to get so fucking bad here.

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CrashingAtom@reddit

Idiots have to learn that their votes have consequences. Will they learn? Probably not.

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zanybrainy@reddit

And a lot of idiots have to learn their not voting has consequences too.

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CrashingAtom@reddit

Seems like they’re not going to learn either, which is sad.

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werealldoomed47@reddit

No they won't and we will all pay the price

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werealldoomed47@reddit

Amen.

Shit is going to get so bad by new years.

And no one in a position of power is competent enough to fix it after the fact.

We are all living in a bankrupt casino. The food won't last forever.

May the odds be your favor.

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loveshercoffee@reddit

Absolutely!

I am in a farming state (Iowa) and our farmers are getting clobbered. I also work for an inner city school that gets a ton of food aid via school breakfast, school lunch, after school snack, fresh fruit and vegetable program and a school pantry.

The cuts are already an issue and we don't know what will be cut next.

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Additional_Wolf3880@reddit

I think they are doing exactly the kind of damage they designed. Theil wants a world with 100,000 people. They are going to starve us and withhold medical care and make us beholden to them for everything while they eat Kobe beef and sail around in mega yachts.

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GeneralSpoon@reddit

Not discounting your words, but any year between 1776 and 2025 is a year that Washington has been hateful and malicious towards tribes; ambivalence and forgetfulness is the best it has ever gotten.. Its a consistent through line between all administrations in the history of the US.

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OkCurrency588@reddit

I think the food distribution to reservations program is run by USDA. I could easily see this either being something that got cut or simply something that no longer has the staff to support full services. It always surprises me how few employees are in charge of things like this.

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squirrel8296@reddit

Most of our produce in the US comes from within the US. California specifically is the biggest source by a wide margin.

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No_Albatross7213@reddit

Yeah. I think it may be tariff related. A lot of our food is shipped overseas to be packaged, which is dumb imho.

I’ll do some digging and see what I find out though.

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9Implements@reddit

We lost a contract with a Native American tribe likely because someone said something negative about Trump. They really think he’s got their back. Good luck with that.

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TinyEmergencyCake@reddit

if the government or big company says not to worry...that's when you prep.

Prep for Tuesday, not after supplies start running low.

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TheLeatherSmith@reddit (OP)

Good advice, too bad we are already in the midst of it runny low.

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Optimal-Archer3973@reddit

please read my comments here. If your tribe can do it in scale to your needs it will work well. Pit greenhouses and rabbits will keep you guys alive while you are figuring out what is going to happen next. The last time I was on your reservation you guys used to have a couple backhoe loaders and plenty of guys who could lay block and do concrete.

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MiaPia10@reddit

Food pantries in my area have been struggling the last month as well.

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Optimal-Archer3973@reddit

Most are empty in Wisconsin. They are calling begging for fresh veggies from my gardens after I sent over 200 lbs of yellow squash to one. And I have been canning like mad for the last month.

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Repulsive_Injury3298@reddit

While you are waiting for shipments if you can order sprouts online and get them shipped to you, you can grow extremely nutritious sprouts on your counter top. There are lots of sources but both Walmart and Amazon sell them. Organic is best and I buy from Food To Live and Sproutpeople. You can use jars and muslin or be fancy and buy sprouting trays.

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FormerNeighborhood80@reddit

I hope none of your elderly are dependent on these food shipments. Is there someone in the Choctaw leadership who could find out more? We shopped at Walmart this week and there was zero cheese or luncheon meat. We went to another store the next day and there was plenty. We are prepping too.

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Prestigious-Newt-110@reddit

I’ve seen this at Target in the past during back-to-school season. Sandwiches for kids’ lunches or after-school snacks. Hopefully it’s this and not something more concerning, but of course as a prepper I’m anticipating the day when it’s the latter.

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Substantial-Yam-8586@reddit

There’s no migrates to pick the crops as they have all been detained and/or deported. It’s only going to get worse.

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Optimal-Archer3973@reddit

I have been watching this unfold for 4 months. Before trump took office America had 5 months of food at any time in its supply chain. Right now it is less than 2 months and it is dropping 3 or so days every week.

I have been telling everyone two things, make sure you have 6 months worth of food on hand and do not trust the power grid. Dry or can or pickle for preservation. This has been intentionally done and there is not a damn thing we can do about it now. You are seeing it because the Indians are the low man on the totem pole so to speak. This is nothing, it is going to get much worse this winter. Rice and beans to start, get enough to stay alive then start filling it out. Lastly, if it gets as bad as I expect you need to diversify storage locations. I expect trumps government to start door to door searches on fake pretexts in January looking for things like food stockpiles, ammo, and fuel. Do not trust natural gas for generators either as I expect that is what they will disable to shut down power grids. There is a reason trump is against windmills and solar, it is actually very hard to disable them in a way they cannot be fixed quickly unless they are blown up and that will never be viewed as an accident or done by a single person.

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Canukshmuk@reddit

I wonder if some of this might be the new restrictions on who can drive trucks in the US? English language and visa requirements?

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ProfessionalFly2148@reddit

After the Florida semi truck accident they were also stopping visas for truckers and I think I saw that might be somewhere around 20% of trucks on the road with drivers on visas… fits with the ice / illegal detention goals. This was only the past 1-2 weeks

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The_Dutchess-D@reddit

Yup https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/08/21/trump-crackdown-commercial-truckers-non-english-speakers/85563272007/

3,000 less truckers on the road

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CannyGardener@reddit

To put some context to this, we have \~3-3.5 million OTR semi truck drivers active in industry, ballpark.

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lezcamino@reddit

No. Those drivers are all still on the road. Any new visa drivers coming in now would be months away from being on the road.

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happylark@reddit

How do you know that? I don’t believe you.

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philschr@reddit

How do you known’t that? I don’t believe you either

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Canukshmuk@reddit

My understanding is that the English proficiency testing is the biggest issue currently. It means that drivers can be immediately put out of service if they come across an inspection station that decides their English isn’t good enough

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GirlWithWolf@reddit

That’s terrible. I’ve lived on the rez, a few to be exact, and sometimes there are elders that really need the assistance. I don’t know what is causing it but my guess is it is 100% intentional. I lived in Oklahoma for a few years and know a lot of Choctaw, but I lived on the other side of the state. Good luck cousin. ✊🏼

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Arafel_Electronics@reddit

may be completely different but the food pantry i volunteer at of course lost usda funding because... (well, we all know) so there's just not as much funding available

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Aegongrey@reddit

From one niijii to another, I hope those comods start rolling again

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Own-Gas8691@reddit

well, the farm workers are being abducted and imprisoned, so the farmers aren't getting their produce out. gonna get worse.

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TXTruck-Teach@reddit

DODGE cuts to fund food banks through agriculture subsidies. Remember government cheese. The US is out of helping the farmers and poor hungry folks.

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Mean_Wishbone_6822@reddit

So we raise and sell beef cattle. They’re selling so high right now that we can’t justify having one butchered for ourselves. The price of feed has been steadily rising, we have hay and feed shortages from the weather. Screwworms has halted beef imports from Mexico so that’s also a cost that consumers are eating. Cattle are selling at an all time high right now and I don’t expect it to get any better. I know that’s just beef but other foods will be similarly affected

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Far_Recommendation82@reddit

went to Walmart today and holy shit the prices just got some more bulky items, then went to food Lion.

it was 6 dollars for a polish sausage.

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TheLeatherSmith@reddit (OP)

I know right! We can easily spend $50 at Walmart and barely get 10-15 items. It's ridiculous.

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l1ghtmaker@reddit

I am not from the US. After reading this, the implications for winter / spring season in terms of food seem dark. If there is food shortage during the harvesting season, think about a couple of months out…

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TheLeatherSmith@reddit (OP)

I hadn't thought of this. Now I'm worried.

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opthaconomist@reddit

It’s everywhere being affected. Unless I get an early morning pick up my grocery will have rotting fruits and veg

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SquirrelyMcNutz@reddit

I bought 4 lemons about a week ago.

One of them turned moldy over half the damn thing basically overnight. It was weird. They were firm lemons and pretty sure they were slightly underripe at time of purchase.

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The_Dutchess-D@reddit

Strawberries and cucumbers seem to rot in 24 hours now. (I'm on the East Coast if it matters)

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TheLeatherSmith@reddit (OP)

I've noticed the same thing.

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BuffaloOk7264@reddit

Where are you?

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opthaconomist@reddit

Central Texas

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lola_dubois18@reddit

Agree, fruits and veggies are rotting faster. I’m in CA where produce is usually fantastic.

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SubstantialPressure3@reddit

I know there's been issues with other tribes not getting deliveries, or substandard deliveries. Some of it is political. The Face of Disruption: Impacts of USDA Funding Cuts on Tribal Food Systems | First Nations Development Institute https://share.google/bHTc3GlV6xm31VxEM

Let me know if there's something I can do to help

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ACrazyDog@reddit

The food distribution for lower income people on the reservations in Oklahoma is a program called FDPIR —

FDPIR

In a basic search engine crawl I did not see any nationwide changes.

The food distribution is routed through the tribe.

It did look like there was a mechanism to teadd FDPIR benefits for SNAP though, to spend shopping at a public grocery store. If your tribe’s grocery is running low, that might be something to investigate

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TheLeatherSmith@reddit (OP)

I didn't know this, thank you

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wellblessyourcow@reddit

Late to the comment, but I got you. It'd be more accurate to know which tribal food distribution you're talking about. But in general the issue is with the USDA food distribution hubs, it's not a food shortage but a shipping fuck up.

The larger wealthier tribes like Chickasaw and Choctaw have been getting their deliveries. It's the smaller centers and tribes that are being shorted. Basically about six months ago the USDA consolidated their shipping to two main centers for distribution to cut down on having regional distribution centers. This is a shit idea. There's a lot of difficulty now getting smaller orders of refrigerated food sent directly to the tribes waiting for them. All the shipping of food is taking substantially longer. Sometimes when the trucks do come the food is rotten. The tribes with their own distribution are doing better because their orders are larger.

Also the Chickasaw and Choctaw (only ones I have direct knowledge of) were already supplementing the USDA food with their own purchases.

tl;dr It's not a shortage, it's a shipping fuck up. Smaller tribes and centers aren't getting fresh stuff in time.

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sole_food_kitchen@reddit

I’m not American but if people in your community rely on this and you want to buffer them from it you could look at solutions like community composting, growing food, raising chickens and rabbits. You may be able to get local hunters to donate meat but not sure how that works in America. If you’re really dedicated to it a community milk cow can keep alot of people in milk and butter for at least part of the year. Goats are a more reasonable me tho of getting the same outcome

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frankylicksjflo@reddit

I’ve noticed fruits and vegetables this past month have been close to rotting or actually no good to purchase. I’m in the same region almost just across the border in Texas. I’m thinking the high temps and no one to pick crops is taking its toll. Temps are starting to go down so hopefully better conditions and fresher selections

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Veiny_Transistits@reddit

No problems up in the PNW

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SecReflex@reddit

I've noticed this too. Produce closer to spoilage

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Bajadasaurus@reddit

California supplies a lot of produce to the nation, and they've been under attack for months now by the Trump administration. Farm workers have been rounded up and taken into ICE custody by the thousands. Check out the FlightRadar app and you can see this process happening daily as Volaris flights take those kidnapped by ICE to CECOT in El Salvador.

California has been sounding the alarm about fields being left to rot in the sun because there's no workforce at hand to step in and replace all of the brown folks who get disappeared. Dairy products, different types of nuts, citrus, fruit, and veggies-- all impacted.

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Veiny_Transistits@reddit

Wonder how my Californian family, deep red farmers, feel now.

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DeflatedDirigible@reddit

I’ve seen…and smelled…those rotting fields of produce.

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oscarink@reddit

They want to end tribal sovereignty and sustainability. It's all by design.

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PNW_Undertaker@reddit

Watch the movie ‘kiss the ground’ then get tribal leaders to watch it and maybe make action from it.

It explains it all and explains what needs to happen. My hope is that native tribes would lead by example on this for the rest to see.

You can grow so many things with hydroponics as well and it isn’t hard to setup - very cheap in fact.

It is a very serious problem that every nation in history has dealt with…. But there’s a solution to it and it isn’t hard.

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strappedMonkeyback@reddit

Check out aquaponics

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zaevilbunny38@reddit

It has to do with trucking, here in Chicagoland most of our produce comes off the trains and is trucked withing 4 hours. As a logistic hub we are mostly unaffected. It's once you get over 5 hours away that things fall apart. Simply instead of securing wages for truck drivers and making sure they system ran. They have been importing truckers to keep wages down. So US citizens won't drive, and many of those that have been brought in shouldn't

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Upbeat-Reflection821@reddit

Native Americans in Oklahoma overwhelmingly voted for this administration, but considering all of the other cuts, I am actually surprised they haven't pulled all federal funding from the tribes. I would consider this the tip of the iceberg and try to plan for what would happen if the tribe loses all federal assistance. It wouldn't be legal for the government to do, but that hasn't stopped them yet.

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vroomvroom450@reddit

I’m so sorry. This sounds like it will affect so many people.

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achew-beccah@reddit

It’s trump

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curiousjosh@reddit

Was USAID delivering food to your tribe?

If so that's a big thing that republicans cancelled.

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funsized43@reddit

Many food pantries receive federal funds and funds from grants which were cut because of BBbill.

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Michellenjon_2010@reddit

There's no one to harvest, and now truck drivers are being targeted.

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XelaNiba@reddit

https://www.newsweek.com/ice-immigration-raids-farms-crops-rotting-2092749

https://www.reuters.com/business/immigration-raids-leave-crops-unharvested-california-farms-risk-2025-06-30/

Crops that are harvested by machine like wheat and corn are doing great. Crops which require human beings to harvest are not so great.

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CAredditBoss@reddit

Harrowing

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pathf1nder00@reddit

Truck drivers prohibited that can't speak English. Farm workers rounded up. Funding pulled back for assistance programs.

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SingedPenguin13@reddit

Perhaps less field workers due to fears of deportation like here in the southeast?

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bristlybits@reddit

this most likely

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FlimsyIndependent752@reddit

Sick

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Orwells_Roses@reddit

There are probably a variety of factors that have led to this, from DOGE cuts, ICE abducting farm and meat factory workers, tariffs, to truck drivers being pulled off the road and detained if they don’t pass an English test.

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Tumeric_Turd@reddit

Basically, the US has a greedy old sleaze-bag conman pulling economic levers like a drugged monkey.

Focusing on filling his own coffers, revenge against anybody that points out he's a sleaze-bag conman and and always has been...

The rest of the world is stepping back, they can see no good comes from dealing with agent orange and you can't believe a word that comes out his mouth anyway...

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KindredCleric@reddit

PLEASE start doing research into gardening or whatever homesteading you can see yourself doing. It seems like between import nonsense and a lack of essential migrant workers, things are going to get more difficult.

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ImSirius678@reddit

Better start learning to grow your own food like the ancestor’s did. The current method of shipping all across continents is wholly unsustainable long term.

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ImSirius678@reddit

Damn for a group called PREPPERintel folks here sure seem to loathe the far out concept of being actually PREPARED for anything. Laughable. Just keep relying on others to take care of provide for and protect you. What could possibly go wrong (:

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OkCurrency588@reddit

This could be tariff related, but what government agency typically runs this program? Is it state or federal? If it's federal it may also have something to do with cuts to USDA staff/programs. I know a bunch of people who got DOGE'd here in Washington DC and a lot more retired or took buyouts. Services and coordination in a lot of areas are definitely going to suffer.

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