8 Ways to Shorten Your Supply Chain

Have you ever looked at a product on a store shelf and said, “Ok, there are 20 items here, now times that by the 40,000+ grocery stores across the US.”

That thought right there should get you thinking about the mass production and shipping that happens on a constant basis.

Here’s a typical supply chain for a manufacturer:

• Supplier (which is shipped by trucks, trains, planes, boats)
• Storage
• Manufacturing
• Storage
• Distribution (shipped by trucks, trains, planes, boats)
• Retailer
• Customer

That’s a lot of steps! Any number of those steps could be interrupted at any time, for any reason.

Our supply chain hasn’t been looking great lately. Whether the supply chain has been disrupted because of a natural disaster, increased product demand, lack of materials to make something, lack of truck drivers…

The list goes on. There are numerous reasons why the supply chain could be disrupted.

Let’s talk about 8 ways we can shorten our supply chain to be more independent:

Start a garden

Have you started growing food yet? It’s one of the easiest ways to become less dependent on the grocery store. You can grow enough food to last until the following season (by preserving through canning, dehydrating, root cellar, etc.) in a small plot. I talked about a victory garden before. People grow in small urban yards or even indoors with grow lights. It’s possible.

The only thing is, you need to start NOW! Even experienced gardeners are constantly learning and being struck with pests, disease, bad weather, etc. Things happen and the sooner we learn how to garden, the sooner we can learn how to deal with these problems.

Find local farmers

There are local farmers everywhere and I bet you can strike a deal with them for local produce that maybe you can’t or don’t want to produce. You may even be interested in finding a local farm to get your hay from to supply for your animals. Or a local dairy farm for milk. There may also be a CSA near you. Look on craigslist, Facebook marketplace, head to farmers markets, ask the locals, and do a general search for local farms in your area.

Forage

Foraging for food is a tried and true method of supplemental food sources. Wild food can even be found in the desert. Find a book and learn to forage for wild edibles. You’ll be amazed at what’s in your area and what can be eaten!

Remember to also learn how it can be used. Simply foraging for the food is great, but learn the best ways to use it. For instance, blueberries can be eaten straight, but acorns need to have the toxins removed first before eating or grinding into flour.

Hunt and fish

Along the same line as foraging, there’s also hunting and fishing. This is yet another skill that needs to be learned NOW. Do it now so you know what to expect, learn lessons and become familiar with what you need to do. Because just like with most things, success rates can constantly change for a variety of reasons. Hunting and fishing aren’t guaranteed sources of food, but with practice, you’ll learn and get more proficient.

Raise animals

I bet when you think about raising animals you think about the whole shebang. Horses, pigs, goats, cows, chickens, etc. Which would be great, except not everyone can do that. If you live in a suburb with a small backyard, chickens are a great fit. So are quail. Rabbits can be indoor meat.

If you live in an apartment, you can devote a small indoor space to just rabbits.

If you have an acre, you could still get a goat or cow or even a pig, just depends on where you live and what all you want to do. There are options out there, just need to figure out what you’re willing to do right where you’re at.

Community

It’s wildly important to be apart of your community. Get to know your neighbors. Maybe your neighbor has bees so you can work out some sort of trade for a jar of honey every now and then.

There are always opportunities to work together with your community and neighbors. I can’t stress enough how important a strong community is to self-reliance and shortening your supply chain. I’ve learned a ton about our area just by talking to our neighbors.

Learn to preserve

So let’s say you’re raising animals and butchering for meat, you’re also hunting, fishing, foraging and growing – you’re doing it all! Woohoo! Go you!

But how are you going to preserve those items for longer term?

You can:

• Freeze
• Dehydrate
• Can
• Smoke
• Root cellar

And much more. Here’s a whole list of preservation methods.

Learning to preserve your food will help you sustain your food supply a lot longer.

Think outside the box

I ordered chickens recently and we have no chicken coop. Instead of buying one or running to the hardware store to get everything we need for the “perfect” coop/run, I started thinking of things that we already have around our house to build the chicken coop. Turns out, we had plenty of things to make it laying around our home.

Scavenging your home, neighbors or the community in general (with proper permission, of course, don’t just go running around private property, lol), can lead to creative ways to get things done without having to head to the store.

The more skills we learn, the more we’re able to expand our mind to think outside of the box and get things done in a less ‘traditional’ way. It’ll still be right, but it’ll just be a bit different.

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Breaking free from our dependence on the supply chain has a lot to do with creativity and doing more for ourselves. I love learning new things, figuring out new ways of doing things and generally trying to be more independent, while also realizing our need to look more towards our local community.

What are some other ways we can be less dependent on stores?