Meet the emergency prepper who grows 900lbs of fruit and vegetables with enough in the cupboard to last a year - and even has earthquake survival kits.<br /><br />Kerrina Sanchez, 37, lives on a quarter acre of land with her husband, Jason, 34, and their three children - and they grow 80 per cent of the food they consume. <br /><br />She began prepping during lockdown after it "opened her eyes" to becoming less reliant on supermarkets.<br /><br />Kerrina spends her days harvesting and prepping the fruit and vegetables they grow for long-term storage as well as cleaning and preparing meals. <br /><br />They grow all of their fruit and vegetables, recording over 900lbs of produce last year - including 400lbs of tomatoes, 300 avocados, squash, pumpkin, onions, garlic, cauliflowers and Brussels sprouts.<br /><br />They have a $200 shop-bought budget for items like milk, cheese, meats, rice, apples<br />bananas and cereal - down significantly from their monthly $600 budget before prepping and home-growing.<br /><br />Kerrina uses methods such as water-bath canning - a process using boiling water to heat sealed jars of acidic foods - as well as pressure canning, dehydrating, freeze-drying and vacuum sealing to "amplify" food preservation.<br /><br />She estimates that their current produce could last them between eight and 12 months.<br /><br />The mum-of-three packages half their food for short-term storage - around four months - whilst the other half is split equally between mid and long-term storage - which are four to six months and 12 to 18 months.<br /><br />Kerrina, a homesteader and prepper, from Long Beach, California, US, said: "We've always had to make a little extra food as kids don't stop eating. <br /><br />"But when covid happened it was an eye opener for the whole world, and we wanted to prep on a larger scale so we're not reliant on a grocery store.<br /><br />"At end of the day, inflation is rising, and food is available but at what cost?<br /><br />"We now grow 80 per cent of the produce that we utilise.<br /><br />"I store produce in jars for short-term storage, mylar bags for mid-term and mylar bags with an oxygen absorber in a food grade bucket for long term.<br /><br />"We also have earthquake kits which include everything we need to be prepared in case of an emergency.<br /><br />"Prepping is the most liberating and satisfying thing as it allows me to teach my children to be self-reliant and have the experiences of growing their own food.<br /><br />"There's something satisfying about growing something and eating it six to 18 months later."<br /><br />Kerrina quit her job in the corporate world to focus full-time on homesteading and prepping as well as home-schooling her children, whilst her husband Jason still works remotely.<br /><br />She said: "At least 25 per cent of every single day is spent prepping - at least 2 hours a day.<br /><br />"Two days a week are dedicated almost entirely to prepping. <br /><br />"Then there's harvesting food, cleaning, pressure canning, water-bath canning.
