As an American it wasn't something I really gave much thought to. In our home, as a child, the refrigerator and the cabinets were regularly filled, and if we were away from home at meal time we'd find something to eat wherever we were. It was the same for everyone I knew- friends and families, neighbors and classmates.

Sometimes I ate communally, in school and then the military, sometimes alone, but food itself, throughout that span of time was ubiquitous and affordable. I was unaware, except for a few exceptions like fishing and gardening done by my family, where all that food came from beyond the shelves of the grocery store. It wasn't until we bought the farm when our children were young that we came to understand everything that went into the production and effort required to fill them up. The skills that were needed daily took years for us to learn, and the outputs depended upon far more than our efforts alone.

It is my opinion that what we have been doing these past years is something that is going to become far more common in the years ahead, like it or not. As the purchasing power of fiat currencies fall and the cost of fuel continues to rise, the realization will slowly begin to dawn those counted on the good times to continue forever, that perhaps they were mistaken. We are by the standards of the modern American Agricultural Industry, a non-entity. We raise poultry, sheep, hogs and cattle.