How to Survive High Food Prices Season

The season of high food prices is here with us and I have some bad news and good news. The bad news is that it seems like this season will keep us company for a very long time if we factor in the fact that the October rains confirmed our heartfelt fears by coming in late and exiting early. Equally, the Russia vs Ukraine war that has been blamed for this crisis is still ongoing.

Despite the doom ahead, the good news is that you can creatively survive on a boot string budget and even donate something to a needy neighbor.

Below are a few tips to try.

1. Eliminate food wastage 

We tend to stock a lot of perishables that we end up throwing away. If you are constantly emptying leftover food into your dustbin, maybe it is time you either learnt how to prepare the leftovers or you simply cut down on your food portions. Equally, if your fresh fruits and vegetables are going bad, it is either you are not storing them well, are in excess or you are simply not consuming them at all. This conspicuous consumption is often caused by point number two..

2. Poor budgeting

If sitting down and drafting what you really want to buy is not your thing, then you are exposing yourself to the open-market psychological temptations as you maneuver along stalls in the market place as well as the supermarket. This is because your mind will always dart from one item to another and start to feed you with very convincing tales on why you should buy this and not that. For instance, if you wanted to buy ordinary cooking oil, then you passed by the virgin olive oil shelf and by chance you had read a thread by Amerix on how the latter is healthy, you are more likely to add the quite expensive olive oil to your shopping cart. A budget is like a shepherd’s staff. It guides you on what to buy and where to buy. Focusing on the budget directs your mind and safeguards you against impulsive buying.

3. Shop at the flea market.

In every open air market there is a low key market segment that sells everything at a bargain. This is the trick of mapping out the flea market zone. When you get into the entrance, the goods sold at immediate stalls are way much expensive than the goods sold at the stalls that are located at the far end. The interesting thing is that those stalls are more likely to have organic produce because there are old sellers who just cherry pick their farm produces and then take them to the open market for a small profit. On the other hand, the front line stalls prioritize profits over everything else due to the demand that they enjoy. Consequently, you are more likely to be overcharged at these stalls.

4. Have small value addition projects at home.

Buy cereals, wash and dry them. Buy dried maize and mill it. It will cost you less. Learn sun drying fruits. Learn how to make your own sauce and plant a small garden if you have a small space to spare. And a kitchen garden is not a preserve for the homeowners only. There are beautiful planters that can be hanged or placed on the balcony.

5. Learn how to cook.

There are a million videos on youtube that will teach you how to cook. You might even be surprised at the culinary magic that surrounds you for free. Interestingly, when food prices go up, there are a number of staple foods like maize flour and rice whose prices usually skyrocket. However, there are some indigenous substitute foods like sorghum, millet and cassava and whose prices remain quite stable throughout the year. Those are the foods that will take you through this season.