Enrich's Guide to Self Sufficiency

Everybody needs support at some point in their lives, whether that be physical, emotional, mental, financial etc. and it is great to be surrounded by people who can offer you help from time to time. On the other side, it is very easy to become dependent on everyone around you for help in all aspects of your life and that’s why it is important to learn the art of self-sufficiency. Developing self-sufficiency attributes to our overall wellness in so many ways and taking charge of our own lives can help to build the confidence needed to stand on our own two feet. Here at Enrich this month, we have a guide to show you how to develop these skills for life, take care of ourselves and feel more empowered.

Becoming self-sufficient isn’t one of those things that happens overnight. People associate the term ‘self-sufficiency’ with growing every piece of your produce, keeping livestock, making your own clothes and complete isolation from society. This is not the case. It entails the self being enough to fulfil individual needs. Today, we are going to be exploring self-sufficiency through cooking.

Here are some tips we recommend when beginning:

• Visit Farmers' Markets: If growing your own is adaunting task, why not begin with visiting some local markets yourself to discover fresh produce. It’s also a great way to potentially chat with the producers directly and learn about what you are purchasing.
• Recipes: Finding and cooking recipes that emphasise on using a small and simple amount of ingredients is the perfect way to begin. The more whole ingredients the better as you are guaranteed ease and nutrition all in the one meal!
• Own produce: Once you are comfortable, growing your own fruits/vegetables or even some herbs yourself can produce some great results! Even a small garden or a few pots on a balcony!
• Preservation: Why not investigate using preserving techniques? Canning, freezing and pickling are all easy and great ways that you can preserve high quality food all year round and be less reliant on supermarkets for seasonal products.

There are a range of benefits to beginning a self-sufficient cooking journey.

1. It reduces the environmental impact – when growing your own produce, you don’t rely on supermarkets for these products, and in turn, reducing the amount of energy/carbon emissions and packaging needed. Sure, it might just be one less packet of carrots being bought in the shop but every little bit matters.
2. Local/Homegrown produce tastes better than shop bought. You can control the input and ripening time etc of your produce, hence, creating better flavoured ingredients.
3. Overtime, you will see how becoming self-sufficient in the kitchen will save you money. You become less reliant on the shops for ingredients and turn to your own garden instead. At the start, it might be more costly, but it works out cheaper in the end!

The key with starting this journey is to start small. If you begin too big and optimistic, this journey won’t be made to last long, and you will be left feeling deflated. Working your way into this self-sufficient journey will take time but it will be worth it in the end.

Trying to be more self-sufficient can be an extremely daunting task, one that is all about progress, not perfection. Yes, it is great to lean on others in times of need but taking small steps and learning new skills is what it’s all about. Gradually shifting your dependence from others to yourself and being confident in yourself and what you do is the goal. You must release the need to be perfect to become the best version of yourself. It is all about finding out what works best for you and finding your inner strength to achieve your goals!