The correct answer to this open question is the following.
Most Americans in the early 1800s produced everything they needed themselves because it was very difficult for them to travel and get foods from other places.
To understand this we need to have a clear picture of how things were at the beginning of the 1880s. No roads and the ones that existed did not have the best conditions. No railroads. Indeed, it was difficult for people to transport goods or animals from one place to the other. That is why people worked very hard in their farms to grow crops, milk their cows, and produce food on their own.