Prepping is not new...

Prepping has in main stream media become a "New" fad...   If you think about it though it is a very old way of life... When man was hunter/gatherer they had to store food to last over the winter.  As we evolved we got better at it.  Just 100 years ago "prepping" was the norm and living the life of convenience was for the city dweller.

Lets talk some about the 1800's here in America.  There were cities, they were scattered across the nation, those people had access to a mercantile to buy what they needed.  Most of our country was at that time rural though.  A trip into the nearest town could mean a couple days by horse back.  Those families did not go to town every day to buy their meal.  They bartered with their neighbors (some neighbors were still a couple hours by horseback).  They raised their own livestock, made thieir own butter, had nice gardens and preserved their food.  They always had at least a years worth of food stored in the cellar, the barn, the silo, under the bed, in the smokehouse, etc.  More than that most of the time since they never knew if their harvest would be good from year to year.  Grain was stored in a silo or big bins, they ground their own flour for bread and biscuts.  They smoked their own hams and made soup.  The women knew how to cook and the men knew how to hunt and trap.  It was the normal way of life for centuries...

Now we enter the age of convenience.  There is a store within driving distance of most people.  We tend to just run to the store to get something for dinner.  No plans are made for the coming winter.  A good portion of the citizens now are lucky to have 3 days worth of food in their house.  Hunting is no longer a neccessity of survival, instead it is a sport.  And only practiced by a small percentage of the population.  Home canning is considered an "art" instead of a normal day to day happening. A lot of people think you will die if you eat home canned food.  But Gee we are alive, because it did not kill our grand parents nor theirs. Smoking is done at the butcher shop and only a few still know how.  Butter is bought wrapped in foil blocks instead of being made in a churn. Oh yes and the states seem to think that unpasteurized milk is deadly to the point of outlawing it to be sold for human consumption. Only we humans depend on a store.  All the other creations on this earth prepare.  Maybe we should take notice of the rest of God's creations and compare that to the way our forefathers took care of things and we might learn something.

Instead of calling it "Prepping" I like to call it just a simpler way of life.  A more normal way of life.  A way of life that if Wal-Mart closed tomorrow my family would still eat.  Granted I sure will miss things like Avocodo's and Frito's and I really do like old fashioned red licorice, but I know I can live without them if I had to. 

Now I have about 50 lbs of Zuchinni to can and about 30 lbs of cucumbers to turn into pickles and relish sitting in my kitchen.  There are 47 tomato plants in my garden that are just chock full of green tomato's that I hope will ripen soon for catsup, salsa and stewed tomato's.  So I guess I better get busy.