Are you prepping?

[Graeme M]

I might be wrong but I think Australia is a good place to be these days. I'm not sure we are facing societal breakdown just yet but I do expect both individual and national prosperity to keep falling in many countries and wonder at what any major Chinese slowdown might bring. More generally, some of the blogs I follow have been talking about increasingly less available energy for a while - fossil fuels drove our growth in recent decades by providing almost unlimited cheap energy. Now that's less so and renewables are a poor replacement (and we are doing dumb stuff like building out AI at scale in an energy deficient environment). So what sort of geopolitical tensions might that mean? US interest in Venezuela, Greenland and Iran seem to be early signs. I'm not prepping yet but I might be thinking differently were I in the UK or maybe the US.

 

[Veganite]

I might be wrong but I think Australia is a good place to be these days.

I have heard Australia would be a good place to be if WW3 was to break out. I'm not sure living a real-life Mad Max scenario would be much fun though. Vegan food would definitely become more challenging to find and/or grow.

New Zealand rates as the number one place to be, according to AI.

The prospect of nuclear war is a sobering thought. I wonder how many seconds the Doomsday clock might lose this year, with the current international political rhetoric. I try not to think about this scenario much, to be honest. My main reason for any sort of prepping is fear of the "big one", which I fear a lot more than getting nuked.

*

 

[LoreD]

I've been watching people online complaining about increases in their monthly food bills. One woman said that her family of 4 had been spending $1800 per month for food, and it had increased to $2200. I was confused by how that could cost that much, even before the price increases.

I watched some videos of a woman who recreated those expensive meal prep kits by buying the exact same items from the meal kits. If the veggies were organic, then she bought organic. The cost of the meal prep kits was $11-15 per person. The copycat was $1.79-2.29 per person. Essentially, you pay $10 for a laminated recipe card.

On basic items, except for organic rice (Lundberg), I haven't seen the massive increases in my food bill. I just bought a huge container of Simple Truth organic spring mix for a regular price of $5. Bulk carrots are $.99 per pound. Out of season tomatoes are pretty pricey (but I had a coupon). Dried beans are pretty stable in price. Kroger just introduced their super low priced frozen veggie brand for $.85-.99 per bag.

People seem to have forgotten everything they learned during Covid. All of those cost cutting methods that went out the window when they went back to work.

I have been doing pretty well. Even with organic items my daily food bill is about $5. Today, a bowl of organic oatmeal for breakfast, cup of coffee with soymilk, huge salad and bakery sourdough bread with plant butter for lunch, leftover soup, roasted butternut squash and rice for dinner. I'm having homemade popcorn and some iced tea for evening snack.

I don't know what these people are buying that would cost $2200 for a family of 4. I'm really confused.

 

[PTree15]

I've been watching people online complaining about increases in their monthly food bills. One woman said that her family of 4 had been spending $1800 per month for food, and it had increased to $2200. I was confused by how that could cost that much, even before the price increases.

I watched some videos of a woman who recreated those expensive meal prep kits by buying the exact same items from the meal kits. If the veggies were organic, then she bought organic. The cost of the meal prep kits was $11-15 per person. The copycat was $1.79-2.29 per person. Essentially, you pay $10 for a laminated recipe card.

On basic items, except for organic rice (Lundberg), I haven't seen the massive increases in my food bill. I just bought a huge container of Simple Truth organic spring mix for a regular price of $5. Bulk carrots are $.99 per pound. Out of season tomatoes are pretty pricey (but I had a coupon). Dried beans are pretty stable in price. Kroger just introduced their super low priced frozen veggie brand for $.85-.99 per bag.

People seem to have forgotten everything they learned during Covid. All of those cost cutting methods that went out the window when they went back to work.

I have been doing pretty well. Even with organic items my daily food bill is about $5. Today, a bowl of organic oatmeal for breakfast, cup of coffee with soymilk, huge salad and bakery sourdough bread with plant butter for lunch, leftover soup, roasted butternut squash and rice for dinner. I'm having homemade popcorn and some iced tea for evening snack.

I don't know what these people are buying that would cost $2200 for a family of 4. I'm really confused.

I have noticed price increases on certain staples I buy, so yes, my bill has gone up, but not by the leaps and bounds others have seen. I am not surprised that a family of four could spend $1,800 a month on food. I see people in the checkout line regularly racking up $400 and $500 totals.

 

[LoreD]

I have noticed price increases on certain staples I buy, so yes, my bill has gone up, but not by the leaps and bounds others have seen. I am not surprised that a family of four could spend $1,800 a month on food. I see people in the checkout line regularly racking up $400 and $500 totals.

And probably throw about 25% away. I watched a BBC show where they went through people's garbage and found all the unopened packages of food and the leftovers that they refused to eat. Those people with the $400-500 carts probably throw away about $100 per week of food.

I was shopping for compostable garbage bags and my daughter recommended that I buy those scented bags because garbage stinks. I told my daughter that no food goes in my garbage, so it doesn't stink or leak.

I eat, or freeze everything. Every couple of days, I go through the fridge to make sure nothing gets lost. The food scraps go into the freezer to make veggie broth, and the broth scraps are put into a compostable bag, and taken over to the city composting site. When I use my juicer, I juice the veggies separate from the apples because the veggie pulp makes really good veggie broth.

I remember seeing the adverts for the scented bags. A woman was scraping food off the plates and bowls into the garbage. I was horrified.

 

[Graeme M]

For sure food prices here have increased, though if you aren't buying lots of meat, I believe prices are still quite manageable. A couple of changes to how people source food seem to be food delivery services and eating out. I am surprised at how many young people do not cook at all and depend upon food delivery services, which must surely be expensive? Then there's eating out. I usually spend some time in cafes through the day having a coffee and reading (I'm retired) but it's astounding how much people spend to eat. Sometimes a family or group of three or four people will come by for breakfast and they think nothing of spending about $30-50AU each. That's a lot if you are doing it regularly, which I think many are.

It's odd that people would rather spend for food delivery, or for lots of meat, when they can make healthy and nutritious meals from plants for a lot less. A decent daal can last one person for several days and it costs very little to make.

 

[LoreD]

For sure food prices here have increased, though if you aren't buying lots of meat, I believe prices are still quite manageable. A couple of changes to how people source food seem to be food delivery services and eating out. I am surprised at how many young people do not cook at all and depend upon food delivery services, which must surely be expensive? Then there's eating out. I usually spend some time in cafes through the day having a coffee and reading (I'm retired) but it's astounding how much people spend to eat. Sometimes a family or group of three or four people will come by for breakfast and they think nothing of spending about $30-50AU each. That's a lot if you are doing it regularly, which I think many are.

It's odd that people would rather spend for food delivery, or for lots of meat, when they can make healthy and nutritious meals from plants for a lot less. A decent daal can last one person for several days and it costs very little to make.

A lot of people don't realize the markup on restaurant food. I was watching a restaurant rescue show on Food Network. They were making these Grab and Go meals for people to take home to heat up after work. This was about 15 years ago, so the prices were a lot cheaper. He said that the individual cost was $3 and the price was $13. I remember thinking that for a family of 4 that would be $52 for a meal that cost $12. It wasn't even a complicated meal.

Before Covid, 50% of meals were restaurant or takeout. Many people discovered that one parent was working just to pay for eating out.

Many young people spend $100s every month just on coffee at Starbucks.

 

[Raven]

I watched some videos of a woman who recreated those expensive meal prep kits by buying the exact same items from the meal kits. If the veggies were organic, then she bought organic. The cost of the meal prep kits was $11-15 per person. The copycat was $1.79-2.29 per person. Essentially, you pay $10 for a laminated recipe card.

Have you got the link for the video? That sounds interesting

I have thought about buying the (vegan) meal kits before, but never tried them as I thought the same. They seem like meals that could be easily prepared for much less money if you just bought all the ingredients.

I do have several health conditions that makes it hard for me to prepare meals sometimes. My fingers have been particularly bad this winter. I suppose they are handy for people that lead very busy lives or have a disability.

 

[KLS52]

nevermind

lol... started to type something and then changed my mind.
For some reason, once I start typing in the box I can't just erase it because it will stay there every time I come back to the thread. So I decided to just give this explanation instead of posting what I was going to say and then deleting it.

Sometimes I will erase what I've written and just type in Xx... so if you ever see that you will know that it's just me changing my mind on what I was going to say.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Nuclear war is an ever present threat although personally I thing superintelligent AI and engineered pandemics are more dangerous, although maybe it's easier for me to say that sat here in Chile, which is not a nuclear target I don't think.

Trump said in his long recent interview with the New York Times that he wanted to denuclearize but they didn't follow up much on it and seemed more interested in asking him about other thing, a missed opportunity for me

Tyler Pager

Mr. President, one more on foreign policy. Then we’ll move on to domestic policy. On Greenland, if they —

President Trump

Yeah, before you talk about Greenland, I think it’s a wonderful thing for China, for Russia and for the United States to denuclearize as much as possible. And then if you do that, you probably want to get a couple of other players involved also because there are other players.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/us/politics/trump-interview-transcript.html

 

[LoreD]

Have you got the link for the video? That sounds interesting

I have thought about buying the (vegan) meal kits before, but never tried them as I thought the same. They seem like meals that could be easily prepared for much less money if you just bought all the ingredients.

I do have several health conditions that makes it hard for me to prepare meals sometimes. My fingers have been particularly bad this winter. I suppose they are handy for people that lead very busy lives or have a disabilities.

Martha Stewart posts all of her meal kit recipes on the marleyspoon.com website. You can click on the dietary preferences and sort for vegan. I think she uploads new ones every week.

What's On The Menu This Week?｜Marley Spoon

Our weekly menu features everything from delicious vegetarian recipes to meat & fish, family-friendly and fast options. Save your Martha & Marley Spoon recipe cards to easily repeat your favorite meals.

marleyspoon.com

Martha Stewart:

What's On The Menu This Week?｜Marley Spoon

Cauliflower “Steak” with Almond-Olive Relish

marleyspoon.com

What's On The Menu This Week?｜Marley Spoon

Creamy Vegan Harissa Pasta

marleyspoon.com

What's On The Menu This Week?｜Marley Spoon

Vegan Sheet Pan Fajitas

marleyspoon.com

What's On The Menu This Week?｜Marley Spoon

Sheet Pan Daring Plant Chicken Fajitas

marleyspoon.com

 

[LoreD]

Have you got the link for the video? That sounds interesting

I have thought about buying the (vegan) meal kits before, but never tried them as I thought the same. They seem like meals that could be easily prepared for much less money if you just bought all the ingredients.

I do have several health conditions that makes it hard for me to prepare meals sometimes. My fingers have been particularly bad this winter. I suppose they are handy for people that lead very busy lives or have a disability.

This is someone I really like, and she includes a downloadable PDF of a weeks recipes. The recipes are for 2 people, so it is a little more manageable.

 

[Raven]

Thanks!

 

[LoreD]

Thanks!

Another YouTuber said that they try to make it difficult by specifying a difficult to get Ingredient, like a hot sauce from Portugal. He said any regular hot sauce will do. I noticed that the cauliflower recipe had castrellano olives. You just substitute any green olive.

 

[Andy_T]

Do overnight oats count?

 

[Emma JC]

I think 'prepping' took a turn from the original post here so I will get back to that part. Eating our "Tasty Bites" last night reminded me that they are also a good 'prep' item and just $3 at Walmart. So much less expensive than the camping meals that so many prepper websites try to sell you.

I think if we ever move into a house again (as opposed to the apartment we currently occupy) then I will get a freeze dryer or dehydrator and start my own stash. I watch a lady in BC on youtube who has her own garden and she freeze dries so many things and uses them for the whole year. They have a very large family and in their pantry have enough food for a year. Their freezers are also full and as they are not vegan a large percentage in them are animal products.

I am still watching the Nature's Vault videos and have quite a long list of food that I would grow if I have a garden again. The latest one was about sea buckthorn berries again which is the only plant that has all 4 omegas including 7.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[KLS52]

Thanks to this thread I went crazy at Costco today lol. I bought a huge bag of rice, flour, a case each of green beans and corn.

 

[silva]

Thanks to this thread I went crazy at Costco today lol. I bought a huge bag of rice, flour, a case each of green beans and corn.

I love that store so much!
I stocked up on the organic tomato paste, diced tomatoes, canned organic chickpeas. I still have a 20 lb bag of Jasmine rice in my car. Won't have weevils
Last sale had Jif PB and I got 4 very big jars at the same price as the small ones elsewhere
Wish they'd get dried lentils again

 

[LoreD]

The food price increases are starting to show. I went into Save-A-Lot, and those English cucumbers had gone from $.99 to $2.49 in one week.