June 9, 2020

To the Editor,

Okay, so we have survived, for the most part, COVID-19. Things are beginning to return to a version of normal. Have you given any thought to the following: if we were to undergo a similar situation again in the future, what would you do differently? What of your personal conditions, would you like to see changed? How about food security?
We all know that our grandparents scoffed at the idea of staying home for weeks or months on end. They usually had half a year's worth of ready food in canning jars and in the freezer. Most of us are able, with a 100 foot by 100 foot patch of open ground to recreate the inexpensive independence that our parents/grandparents enjoyed. If you had $200 to spare (one half of that would buy you an excellent pressure-canner), and some elbow grease, you could set yourself up permanently on the road to self-sufficiency.
If you are serious about becoming a food producer, reach out to either the Leslies who work through Loyalist College in our community. Both are agriculturalists who can quickly show you step-by-step how to reduce the produce part of your grocery bill by 50 per cent.

Les Hunt
Combermere