WATCH – Inflation Drives Tennessee Man to Start Fish Farm: Report

A Tennesse man has begun farming his own fish as inflation has sent grocery store costs through the roof, according to a report.

In April, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food at grocery stores and supermarkets had risen ten percent from March 2021 to March 2022.

“The price of food has gone to the point where you can’t afford to buy it,” Harvey Tallman of McMinn County, Tennessee, told WBIR. “It’s either put gas in the car or eat.” 

Making inflation at the grocery stores all the more impactful on consumers are soaring gas and diesel prices that broke national records on Tuesday, Breitbart News reported. 

To combat the sky-high prices at supermarkets, Tallman set up a 1,000-gallon tank for fish in his yard and stocked it with 100 bluegill. He used rainwater to fill the tank and expects the fish to reach three pounds each by September, so he can harvest and eat them, WBIR noted. 

“When you go to the store, check on the price of fish,” Tallman told WBIR. “It’s almost $9 a pound. It’s ridiculous.”

Of the hundred fish Tallman stocked, he says five have died.

The Tennessean is fighting inflation on multiple other fronts. He keeps a garden where he grows asparagus, broccoli, tomatoes, and potatoes while also maintaining four chickens, WBIR reported.

“I have been harvesting asparagus now for almost a month,” he told the outlet. “When you’re really low on groceries, you’ve got fresh asparagus.” 

Tallman, a self-described survivalist, has also built his own beehive, from which he harvests honey and wax.

Late last month, the USDA announced “that its index of prices received by U.S. farmers increased 6.3 percent from February and 31 percent from March 2021,” Breitbart News’s John Carney reported.

“The index tracks prices paid by initial buyers from U.S. farms, the first step of the food production chain in the U.S.,” Carney noted.

In March, poultry and eggs jumped 16 percent compared to February and 76 percent from March 2021, according to the report. Dairy climbed 4.9 percent from February into March and 50 percent year-over-year. The costs of vegetables and melons soared a staggering 34 percent in March compared to February and 76 percent from March 2021.