Right on target OP. We got an early start beginning with Y2K... so have been doing this for years. Three of our adult children are out of work, laid off, disabled and the youngest works for minimum wage at Safeway. I send food boxes to our disable son along with pre-paid cards to get food from across the street where he lives.

Most people don't want to live off their stored food because they have no clue how to make it taste good. That in itself is an art. I don't even like our dehydrated food Alpine meals.

Fresh is best. So last November we invested in a Tower Garden with a monthly payment plant so we could afford to pay for it. It is loaded with fresh veggies including cucumbers, lettuce, kale, herbs, basil, dill, bell peppers, Swiss chard, etc. And we have a stock pile of non-GMO seeds.

Since winter lasts about 6 months here with nights generally below freezing our growing cycle is short. The deer go after food outside all year round the the grasshopper in summer. The berries are planted down by the creek so do better with it's little fence protecting it. However, the morale mushrooms will be popping up soon as the snow line recedes. Looking forward to that.

Meanwhile, we'll continue to help our off-spring.