Most people dream about being food self-sufficient.
Big gardens. A few animals. A full pantry.
But very few people ever stop and do the food math.
In this video, we walk through the real numbers and realities behind food self-sufficiency — from calorie needs and garden limits to livestock, storage, and why long-term success looks very different than most people expect.
Early on, we break down what food self-sufficiency actually means, why so many people burn out, and why thinking in terms of years instead of seasons changes everything.
From there, we get into the food math almost nobody does — how much food a family really needs, why gardens alone usually aren’t enough, and the difference between growing food for the plate versus growing food for the pantry.
We also talk honestly about the role livestock plays, why storage is the backbone of any working homestead, and what level of self-sufficiency is actually realistic to maintain year after year.
This video isn’t about chasing 100%.
It’s about building sustainable systems, reducing dependence, and making steady progress that lasts.
If you’re interested in:
food self-sufficiency without the hype
realistic homesteading goals
calories, storage, and long-term planning
progress over perfection
you’re in the right place.
Calorie numbers discussed in this video are used as an annual planning estimate to illustrate scale, not as a dietary recommendation.
⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 – The Dream vs Reality of Food Self-Sufficiency
00:37 – What Food Self-Sufficiency REALLY Means
01:21 – Why Most People Burn Out
01:42 – The Food Math Almost No One Does
02:12 – Why Gardens Alone Aren’t Enough
03:04 – Plate Thinking vs Pantry Thinking
03:34 – Why Livestock Changes Everything
04:33 – Storage: The Backbone of It All
05:15 – You Don’t Need 100% Self-Sufficiency
06:12 – Progress, Not Perfection
🎵 MUSIC CREDIT
Music: “Petrole”
Artist: Pierrecarl
Source: YouTube Audio Library
Licensed for use under YouTube Audio Library terms
🌾 ABOUT POSSUM RIDGE FARMS
Possum Ridge Farms is a small, working family farm in rural West Tennessee focused on practical self-reliance, food production, and long-term sustainability.
We share real-world experience from years of gardening, raising livestock, preserving food, and building systems that work in every season — without hype, trends, or shortcuts.
This channel is about:
Honest homesteading
Learning through doing
Building resilience one season at a time
Progress over perfection
38 Comments
Most people never do the food math.
Once you understand the scale — calories, storage, and time — everything else starts to make a lot more sense.
If you’re new here, check the chapters for:
• The food math
• Pantry vs plate thinking
• Why storage matters more than most people realize
Do The Math. Pork shoulder sells for $1.69 per pound. Ham on sale for .99c per pound. You will not raise a pig for less that. It is cheaper to wait for a sale and buy at a discount. You cannot grow vegetables cheaper than you can buy at the market.
Thank you Sir. Great video, cheers from Australia
Also, probably 60% of the food you grow ends up wasted. Storage is THE hardest part. It costs the most. It takes the most time and effort.
We produce around 70% of our own food, and it's A LOT of work growing, butchering, processing, canning, freezing, storing, and caring for all of this. We are very in tune with the weather, and never stray too far from the farm.
What you plant makes a difference too. If you aren't planting high calorie nutrient dense foods then you are wasting your time. Amaranth, sweet potatoes, carrots and cantaloupe are just an example. Sometimes people just need to look at what their diet looks like. Then do some research. You would be surprised at what just a few changes can do.
An honest analysis of what is takes and a guide to planning and thinking about the reasons for doing it. Always worthwhile but one needs to be realistic. Thank you.
Casa. Perro de guarda y gatos. 20 gallinas. 4 cabras. 10 patos. 15 colmenas. Huerto de 1000m2. 3000m2 de frutales. 5000m2 de bosque para cabras. 5000m2 de tierra cultivable. Un tractor con sus aperos. Fuente de agua independiente(pozo). Paneles solares con baterias de 20.000w de acumulacion. Vallas apropriadas para huerto, tierra cultivable, frutales , casa etc. Sitios apropriados para conservar bien la comida mas 2 grandes congeladores horisontales. Estancia apropriadas para cada especie animal que crezcas mas valla por si necesitas tenarlas cerradas algun tiempo. Conocimiento, planificacion y trabajo duro en los momentos de mas necesidad. Esa es la formula mas aproximada que vais a encontrar nunca en internet, no para ganar like, sino para probar la libertad economica en mayor porcion posible sin ser multimillonario. Ah no temais enfermedades cuando viviis en la naturaleza, teniendo buena higiene, comiendo cosas buenas eleminando cuanto es posible las frituras, la enfermedad se olvidara de buscaros
No pigs? Really? They are so efficient
If you want to be totally self sufficient you will have to have a way to grind your own flour and corn meal, and you will still have to buy salt and baking soda, dewormer for your animals etc
I learned something from Art Ludwig years ago, about how much cost is involved in creating an uninterrupted system – food, water, power, whatever. He said that getting from 95% consistent to 97.5% required a DOUBLING of cost. Double again from 97.5% to 99%. Double again from 99% to 99.5%. Double again from 99.5% to 99.9%. In other words, being able to tolerate some system disruption is highly cost-effective! That's just hard to do with food and water… Great video! Many thanks. And Merry Christmas!
Great video!! People have been growing food and raising animals for thousands of of years . None of these people did this alone . They worked with their neighbors , shared, traded etc. the Amish work as a community , not alone. Our ancestors settling this country did it in large groups and still purchased some of their needs . Going it alone is an illusion
We have chickens and a big garden. I was going to scale the garden way back this year but after hearing of food tariffs, I went ahead with the usual. A big garden, even for two, is a lot of work!
Even among the handful who are raising their food, basically none are producing significant amounts of their *livestock feed*.
Onions and garlic as foods ?? Calories ??? They are not needed and take up time and space in a garden ! Keep it basic !!!!
I love having a big garden and buying bulk grains and legumes for the base calories.
Yup, yup, and yaheepp.
exactly right. i grow 90% of my food but it took decades to achieve it. the infrastructure is absolutely important. root cellar, pantry, canning, fermenting, solar, greenhouse, compost, and geo-thermal all take time or tons of money. sure, if you are rich, you can just pay others to build it all but for most of us mortals, it means diy and the old universal principle takes over. you can do things well, you can do things cheaply, you can do things quickly, choose any two! the key is to purchase only things that increase your productivity or capabilities in the long term while saving you money. you need skills and tools to thrive without the system. it is about constant acquiring of knowledge, skill, and tools for independence. it is a progressive life.
As a Peace Corps volunteer to Liberia Africa I know what it means to be self efficient !!!! Primary is PROTIEN !! Next ….CARB ! You dont concern yourself with onions….garlic .vegies. There are places that you cant get vegies. And Liberia was one of those places !
Often there was no meat to eat during the rainy season because hunters couldnt hunt at night using a flashlight. The hunters would never shoot an animal with out knowing what it was. The rain drops reflected back and hunters didnt know what they were shooting at. A buffalo would kill you if you didnt kill it first !
So… monkey meat would be available with loggers bringing it into town for sale. Peanuts were also available.
As a distance runner Id go through nearly 10,000 calories per day. 10 miles a day.
So with out mechanical means….you burn a lot more calories to provide food !
Here in the USA… people have no clue relating to the waste ……food we dump out ! We eat all day long !
Our way of life is not practical !
Until your partner leaves and you get too old to do everything your self? The trees that were small now are large. Some peach trees die. Finches want to eat your grapes even when covered with netting.
I've been gardening for years, plus fruit trees and hundreds of yards of muscadine vines.i also sell muscadine grapes and okra. It's just simple math, if you burn one million calories and your garden/animals provide 700,000 your dead.you have to learn to garden efficiently, and experiment with varieties that grow great in your area.
Rabbit meat? I don't think so.
I always say, the growing and raising is actually the fun part of selfsufficency. The real work is between harvest and plate! And I would recommend to give up on dairy! Wanting to have own milk means a huge step.
Also theres no need to grow own grain. Just get wheat, spelt, rye, whatever of some trusted farmer straight from the combine harvester, literally a few tons, and take care of the save storage and further processing. Get a small household mill, not a combine harvester!
This is possibly the best info on YT. And if you’re watching YT then you’re not out weeding your garden. I grew up on a small farm, we weren’t self sufficient but we did grow our own veg, we kept dairy cows, some beef cattle, pigs and hens. We made our own turf for cooking and heating. Make no mistake, you’re working from dawn until dusk.
Animal husbandry is such a waste. Check out this video: "FollowUp with Alik Pelman (how to become food self sufficient on just 750m²)"
You can throw out all the doom and gloom you want not enough land storage sickness but at the end of the day what ever you grow is still better than nothing
……or….you can save yourself a ton of work, and time…..and just eat meat, eggs, maybe some fish.
My question is what happens as you age and become less able to do the things you used to? If your kids aren't interested in farm life what do you do? Looking around YT homesteaders and preppers and you see modern day conveniences everywhere. Self sufficiency is just a fake label to gather some YT income. If modern society collapses for whatever reason, where are you getting gas/oil, animal feed, animal care, fencing, protection for the animals, seeds, fertilizer, etc etc. These are all manufactured items of the modern world. Forget being able to repair a solar array if you don't know much about it. Without gas how are you dealing with medical emergencies (assuming a hospital is even still there)? Are you just going to watch your kid die of simple appendicitis? Are you going to let your teeth rot and fall out with no dentistry? 99.9% of people are not prepared for any of that which makes YT homesteading channels largely a fantasy like watching the latest Marvel movie.
To make it short, you need a LOT of food over a year. A LOT! 😱
Ah yes, I KNEW math would come in handy one day!😝 My aim has been to “supplement” with just a few bits …..eggs, rabbits, figs, berries and root crops. The learning curve is sometimes harsh. Growing crops? Easy! Ooops….when to harvest? how to preserve/can? deer, insects? Yup. Your video is a terrific Public Service, thank you! Keep posting!
It's only difficult without wheat/rye/etc., rice, or corn. You left out the essential self-sufficient foods.
If you are going attempt that much self efficiency I would add a pond as well.
Maybe the problem is the goal of food self-sufficiency? If everyone in a township had a large garden, a small orchard and some livestock, they could all trade with one another, or just act neighborly and build a community. A large group of people could become much more self-sufficient than a single family.
Appreciate your honesty sir.
Keep a few honey bees, greenhouse, berry bushes to supplement what we need. Still using the local market regardless for sundries etc. However, more of the food we eat each year is "homegrown". Not all, but more by the year. 😊 and it's better food.
@1:21 false
I do a little gardening I have gotten pretty good at but I do it for pleasure what I find is when things grow well in the yard they are cheap in the store and it’s not that cost effective I find it’s better to let other people make money how they know how to while I’m out making money how I know how to
Humans have NEVER been able to live independently. When I visited Pompeii, I realized I don't NEED to bake my own bread. It's been a thing to buy bread for thousands of years
Excellent video!