One guy started growing grape and making wine because he figured it was a good barter item when currency failed.
The one thing that really surprised me were the complaints of not having power, yet not one talked about alternative energy. No solar, no wind, no hydro....
We have distant family-by-marriage relatives that are Doomsday Preppers. They don't call themselves that of course, but their "dooms-day" is tied to some religious event where Jesus comes again and saves all the people with 3 years worth of cake mix in their cellar
They too, also taught themselves to make wine. Most of it is shitty tho and I can't even cook with it when they send me bottles. I've also seen their set-up (they're quite proud, but not openly loud about their prepping). Their entire cellar is dedicated to an overstock of random dry goods like cake mixes, flour, canned foods, snack bars, etc. She goes thru and rotates expiring stuff but I was definitely given some long-past expired goods once. They don't seem to have much of a freezer stock like you'd imagine but then again, they also don't seem to have any alternative energy plans - I guess living off of bread, cake, and almonds will be enough
The other half of their cellar was built into a bunker-type room: a one room with cots, kitchenette, and a small stock of toiletries and MREs - oh and an entire wall rack for their guns with enough ammunition for several years. they stay in there once a month to ensure everything is "up to code". They've cultivated themselves a lovely garden with plenty of fruits and veggies but haven't really gotten into canning besides making strawberry jam so a lot of it is given away or goes bad and she ends up buying plenty of produce at the store
you'd also think they'd be better at recycling and garbage removal - they live in the middle of nowhere with a few neighbors but buffered by plenty of acres - we always wondered why they don't burn their own garbage or start beomcing those people that find multiple uses for older items that we'd normally toss - like if you're gonna go as far as to build a bunker, why not fully commit and truly start living off the land
Idk. It's wild. Fascinating and crazy.