In a world increasingly reliant on supermarkets, exploring ways to live with greater self-sufficiency can be both empowering and rewarding. By reconnecting with traditional methods and local resources, we can build a lifestyle that honors both our needs and our faith.

In today’s world, many of us have become accustomed to a lifestyle that relies heavily on external systems for our basic needs. Modern society, with its dependence on grocery stores and global supply chains, often feels like a delicate balancing act. The advent of modern supermarkets in America, which began in earnest around 1916, marked a significant shift in how we access our food. Now, the food industry is a colossal $1.5 trillion business, deeply intertwined with globalization.
Yet, recent events have starkly highlighted the fragility of these globalized systems. A single disruption can leave grocery store shelves bare, showing us just how precarious our food supply has become. This has led many to question whether the convenience of modern grocery stores is worth the vulnerabilities they bring.
As we’ve embarked on a journey toward a more self-sufficient lifestyle, I’ve come to realize that our dependence on grocery stores—rooted in a system that is often unsustainable—is not the only path. This realization, gained through experience and reflection, has encouraged us to seek ways to live with greater autonomy, drawing inspiration from our ancestors who thrived without the conveniences we now take for granted.
In exploring how to become less reliant on modern supermarkets, we uncover valuable lessons from the past and discover practical ways to build a more resilient and self-sufficient life. Here are twenty-five ideas to help you navigate a world where grocery stores might no longer be a staple of your life:
1. Join a Local CSA
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) offers a direct connection to local farms. By paying a fee, you receive regular deliveries or pickups of fresh, often organic, produce. This model not only supports local farmers but also reduces your dependence on large grocery chains. Visit Local Harvest to find a CSA near you.
2. Visit Your Local Farmer’s Market

Farmer’s markets provide another excellent opportunity to support local agriculture. Engaging with local producers can offer insights into growing conditions and techniques. You might find seasonal produce, meats, dairy, and even opportunities to barter or learn new skills.
3. Grow Your Own Food

Starting a garden can be a profoundly rewarding experience. Even if you have limited space, growing herbs, vegetables, or fruits can reduce your grocery store dependency. Start small and expand as you gain confidence.
4. Learn How to Preserve Food
Preserving food through canning, freezing, dehydrating, or fermenting helps extend the life of your harvest and reduce waste. It’s a valuable skill that connects you more deeply with your food.
5. Locally Source Milk
If you can’t produce your own dairy, look for local sources like farmer’s markets or small dairies. Raw or non-homogenized dairy can be a healthier choice and supports local economies.
6. Make Your Own Dairy Products

Once you have access to quality milk, consider making your own cheese, yogurt, butter, and other dairy products. It’s a fulfilling way to ensure your food is fresh and free of additives.
7. Grind Your Own Grains
If you consume grains, consider purchasing whole wheat berries or other grains and grinding them yourself. This method retains nutrients and avoids additives found in commercial flours.
8. Make Your Own Cleaning Supplies
Many conventional cleaning products contain harmful chemicals. Homemade cleaners using ingredients like vinegar, baking soda, and lemon can be safer for your family and the environment.
9. Take Charge of Your Laundry

Homemade laundry detergent and natural fabric softeners like vinegar can save money and reduce environmental impact. Consider air-drying your clothes to conserve energy and extend the life of your garments.
10. Raise Backyard Chickens
Chickens provide fresh eggs and can be a source of meat. They also help with pest control in your garden. Raising chickens can be a fulfilling and practical way to localize your food chain.
11. Menu Plan Seasonally
Planning meals around seasonal produce helps you make the most of what’s available and supports local agriculture. It also reduces the need for off-season grocery shopping.
12. Make Your Food From Scratch

Cooking from scratch not only enhances the quality of your meals but also connects you with the ingredients. Start with simple recipes and gradually build your skills.
13. Ditch Paper Products
Switching to reusable cloths and dishes reduces waste and reliance on disposable items. Consider alternatives like cloth diapers and family cloth for a more sustainable lifestyle.
14. Raise Meat Rabbits
If space is limited, meat rabbits can be a great option. They’re quiet, require minimal space, and produce lean, healthy meat.
15. Learn How to Forage
Foraging for wild edibles like berries, mushrooms, and herbs connects you with nature and can supplement your diet. Invest in books or local classes to learn more about safe and sustainable foraging practices.
16. Go Fishing
Fishing is a relaxing and practical skill that can provide fresh, healthy food. Even if you’re not near water, finding local fishing spots can be a rewarding activity for the whole family.
17. Go Hunting
Hunting offers a way to provide fresh meat while connecting with nature. It’s a skill that, when done responsibly, can be both rewarding and practical.
18. Become a Beekeeper
Beekeeping supports pollination for your garden and provides honey and beeswax. It’s a fulfilling way to contribute to local ecosystems and produce your own sweeteners.
19. Learn More About Herbal Remedies

Herbal remedies can be a natural alternative to conventional medicine. Start with beginner guides and explore how herbs can benefit your health and wellness.
20. Make Your Own Oils & Fats
Rendering animal fats like tallow or lard can be a cost-effective way to cook without relying on processed oils. These fats have been used traditionally and can add depth to your cooking.
21. Build a Root Cellar
A root cellar is a traditional method for storing vegetables and fruits through the winter. It maintains a cool, stable environment that can keep your produce fresh for months.
22. Cultivate a Herb Garden
Herbs add flavor and nutrition to your meals and can be grown easily in pots or garden beds. Consider growing medicinal herbs alongside culinary ones.
23. Start a Fruit Orchard

If you have space, planting fruit trees can provide a long-term source of fresh fruit. Apples, pears, and berries are great choices that yield delicious rewards.
24. Learn to Make Fermented Foods
Fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha are not only nutritious but also add variety to your diet. They’re easy to make at home with just a few ingredients and some patience.
25. Volunteer or Join Local Food Projects
Getting involved with community food projects or volunteering at local farms can provide valuable learning experiences and help build connections within your community.
Embracing a lifestyle with less reliance on modern supermarkets can be both a practical and spiritually fulfilling choice. It encourages us to reconnect with the land, our food, and each other in meaningful ways. As we seek to live more self-sufficiently, we’re reminded of God’s provision and the wisdom of living in harmony with His creation.
In a world that often emphasizes convenience and consumption, choosing a path toward greater self-reliance can be a way to honor the gifts we’ve been given and make a positive impact on our lives and the environment.
As you start exploring these self-sufficient living tips, I’d love to hear about your journey and any additional ideas you might have. Follow me on Instagram and Facebook for more inspiration, and don’t forget to drop a comment to share your thoughts or ask questions—I’m excited to connect with you!
marie says
Hi Danielle,
I just read the About you section and saw that you are or wanting to move to Montana. Have you yet? We live in western Montana, where are you thinking of moving to?? It is a wonderful place to live.
Danielle McCoy says
Hi Marie,
We actually used to live in Montana. We just desperately want to return. We were in the Gallatin Valley and want to return. Probably closer to Missoula, though. Just trying to find our perfect piece of homesteading land and sell our home here in Indiana ?.
marie watson says
Well then you know it is a wonderful place to be!! I love about 60 miles south of Missoula, on the Bitterroot Valley.If you are not familiar, look into it.
Danielle McCoy says
Yes, I know how wonderful Montana is, we miss it something fierce. Can't wait to get back out that way. We've looked in that area, lots of beautiful, open land to decide upon!
Dee says
Yes, I think you got it all and I agree with you.. most stuff you buy in the store isn't good for you anyway.. I am working on this to.. we did have chickens.. but we had to get rid of them it got to were we couldn't find the organic gmo free feed and what we could get off line was to expensive. I try to be all Organic gmo free.. so I don't want to eat eggs or meat from something being fed chemical foods... so now we get a fishing and hunting license, we can get all the rabbits and quail we want we go way out where there are no cars, fields that get sprayed ect.. and once in a while we get a deer tag.. but haven't got a deer yet.. there are to many people around hunting even an hour or two away. I love gathering.. but you have to go way off the main roads and walk at least 50 ft away from where cars drive through so you can get wild foods without the fumes from the car exhaust.. ( I like going even further out because wind can blow stuff out a ways).. You can grow your own herbs.. Dandelion root or even leaves tea is very good to start , you can find them all over the place...( it will detox your liver and kidneys, water retention, among other things, and it is good for cancer as a curative and prevention).. I love herbs and they are very good for you.. also organic coconut oil is very good for you.. You can by organic coconut flakes at the health food store and make your own coconut milk.. it is easy.. I love homemade everything lol... I have a mill to mill my organic gmo free wheat and make my own bread.. Grow a huge garden every year and do a lot of canning and dehydrating.. I use vinegar of a lot of the cleaning you can even use it in the laundry ( the smell rinses out, you can use lavender, lilac ect. for your rinse water.. same for your hair.. 🙂
Danielle McCoy says
There are tons and tons of ways to be more self-sufficient and avoid the store. We hunt and fish. The last couple of years have been very lean hunting seasons for us as well. It hurts our pocketbook severely because local, grass fed beef is not a cheap way to eat. We don't have room for cattle and we can't legally have chickens. These things are on the list for our move back to Montana.
We are going to be foraging here in a couple of weeks once this weather straightens up. You definitely have to get out and away to forage. Dandelions are one of my favorite, but you have to watch because so many people treat them with weed and feed type solutions and you don't wanna eat that ;).
Thank you for sharing how you are becoming more self-sufficient with me :).
Linda Rieke says
I currently do 7 of those things including gardening, preserving, chickens, cloth diapering and milking my own cows. Not sure how much more I could physically do but if there were more hours in the day, I certainly would!
Danielle McCoy says
Oh, if only! That's why it is important to have community :). No one can do it all alone, no matter how hard we try or how much we want to.
Denise Jackson says
I love this article, moving into my retirement home and can't wait to implement these suggestions, thanks
Danielle McCoy says
Glad you liked it, I hope it helps you along the way :).
Margaret says
We lice in Eastern MT and our grocery store is 3 hours away so needless to say we try to go a little as possible. We live on a ranch so we have lots of meat resourced and we have chickens. We grind our own whole wheat flour from what's grown on the ranch but have to buy white flour...I just can't do that dense whole wheat bread!! Also have a big garden and can/dehydrate/freeze/root celllar as much as possible. I really try to have to buy as little as possible at the store but it's amazing how much we still walk out with! Thanks for the fun article and good luck!
Danielle McCoy says
It sounds like you are pretty good at avoiding it and you wouldn't have to go if you couldn't! That's a step in the right direction. t've grown accustomed to whole wheat bread, but we definitely use all purpose, white flour for a lot of things as well. Thanks for sharing :).
Tabitha says
Plant apple trees. If you can, plant lemon trees. Without at least apples, you can't make that all important apple cider vinegar.
Mieke says
I would add in learn how to brew as in Gingerbeer, kombucha, Wine, beer. Learn how to distill for both pure alcohols, oils and spirits. Learn how to make stock, ferments, learn to substitute refined products for raw products, and whole products instead of extracts. Learn what is truly edible from your vegetables (i.e pumpkin leaves, beetroot leaves, etc.) Just to name a few others. 🙂
Danielle McCoy says
Thank you, Mieke. Great ideas!
Andrea says
@Mieke, I just want to add caution to your post. Distilling spirits can be very dangerous if you don't do it right. A lovely woman in our community lost her life doing this.
Dianne Burns says
How about the pets in the house? I know that there are lots of pet foods at the supermarket and they are very pricey. I have one cat that is very sensitive to grains and I have 2 others that are not, so they all get grain free food. I'm thinking about mixing it with cooked chicken.
Danielle McCoy says
Hi, Dianne. We don't purchase commercial pet food. We feed our dog a species appropriate, raw diet. The only feed we buy is for livestock :).
Kendra says
This is a fantastic article! So inspiring. I also try to find anyway I can to limit grocery trips and save money, but I've never even questioned if I could go without it! You have a fan in me.
Danielle McCoy says
Thank you, Kendra! I'm so glad you're inspired!
Sam says
Great article, we are trying to reduce our dependency on supermarkets by growing and hunting more. It’s definitely an eye opener to what we waste our money on! Keep up the great work. From Hampshire, UK
Patricia says
Do you still live in Indiana? If so, where? we live in Trafalgar, right near the Johnson County, Brown County line. Would love to meet up with you.
Danielle McCoy says
Hi, Patricia! We do live in Indiana in Wabash County.
Tami Tiller says
@Danielle McCoy, I'm not that far from you, then. I have cousins in LaFountaine and I live in Hartford City (south of Fort Wayne, north of Indy).
Holly Whiteside says
I like your article very much! Two of my interests are avoiding plastics and supporting local agriculture and small businesses, so I'm also trying to stay out of the supermarkets. I've been going to the farmer's market, gardening, and doing a lot of DIY including canning, yogurt, sourdough, some cheese, dehydrating, some personal care, but I'm having difficulty sourcing some items without plastic in my area: dry beans, some grains. What are you and other readers doing for grains and beans?
Sandra Wages says
Hi! Just joined the group. You can grow your own dry beans ie; pinto, navy ect. Or if you only want to buy 1x per yr or ev/other year, we live in Oregon and buy in bulk at either "Winco" mrkt or at the restaurant supply store "Cash and Carry". We can buy 25lb. And 50lb bags there and can be dry canned for storage. The bean bag can be reused as has a zipper.
Kim says
Would love it nobody to ask ?and where the food comes from.
Mrs R D Mouncer says
Some of these ideas translate really well outside the US, but here in the UK you pay a lot and you need a licence to go fishing, and you can't keep them! Except for sea-fishing. Hunting is the preserve of the very wealthy and requires a gun-licence and the landowners permission. There's also seasons for everything. No-one here has the space for chickens or meat-rabbits, anyone with a property big enough doesn't need them! But grow your own? Absolutely!
Danielle McCoy says
Not all of these suggestions will translate to every individual, regardless of location. They are simply suggestions that you can use to decrease your dependency on the store. Do what you can, where you are is my mantra.
Roberta says
Hi Danielle,
I just read your article on living without the grocery store. along with all the great things you mentioned, like bee keeping, did you know that honey is also a great antibiotic for cuts and scrapes?