View Full Version : Disaster Preparedness Pantry
Woke up this morning with this on my mind. DSIL was talking about Peak Oil and a possible pandemic/quarantine where one may need their own food supply for 6 months. She's a very sane environmental writer. They bought a kit from costco for an amount that flabbergasts me. I'm thinking that I could do one myself and store it in used popcorn tubs or something like that. Has anybody done this and are willing to share their lists? We're lucky enough to have land and can get wood for cooking. We also have a well that overflows enough for us to have safe water for cooking. Thanks!!
BTW am trying to convince DH to build a freeze-proof storage closet for veggies.
Although people make a big deal out of this and spend tons of money, I think just stocking up on ordinary canned goods, beans, rice, and grains should do it. If you have a storage freezer, you could freeze things. But in case there is a power disruption, you also need canned goods. Be sure to add a few favorite things to sweeten life up a bit in such an event. You can build your emergency supply over time by buying a little extra each time you shop. There are plans out there for doing it. Do not buy things you don't like. Now here's the deal about your emergency supply: you need a plan for rotating it. I don't generally eat out of cans. If you do, then you can just plan to date items as you buy them, and develop a plan for eating the oldest and replacing with new over time. If you do not want to eat them, can you donate to a food pantry periodically and then replace in your supply? Other things I can think of, since you have water handled, is a stockpile of medications (your doctor can help with that, if you tell her what you are trying to do), pet food, sanitary items, and a good first aid kit. Again with the first aid kid I'd put one together myself. The already-created ones you buy tend to be more expensive and have items in there that you probably won't need.
I just finished reading Independence Days by Sharon Astyk. She addresses this very issue in the book, and has some very good ideas. One thing she stressed was storing foods you would eat anyway, and eating from your stores regularly, replenishing them as needed. Her point was that if someone's not used to eating, say rice and beans, on a regular basis, during a crisis is the wrong time to be trying to learn to cook and eat new foods. That made a lot of sense to me.
She also advocates for building up community food security, not just food security for your own household.
I scared DH with my preparation but now I have a stockpile of basic supplies, food in the freezer, some dehydrated and some canned, material for making clothes and knitting yarn for tops/socks. We can survive for some time with our well water, septic system/compost for waste and local woodlot for heating supply.
Seconded on Sharon Astyk's suggestions for dealing with this. Buying a kit and sticking it in the closet is not the way to go, IMO. Sharon has a blog with lots of great stuff - there's a good intro here:
http://sharonastyk.com/2009/10/13/how-food-secure-are-you/
Another aspect is building resilience in your community, as well as your own household resilience. The Transition Towns movement is one way of approaching that. A list of initiatives is here:
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/initiatives
One thing she stressed was storing foods you would eat anyway, and eating from your stores regularly, replenishing them as needed.
'Store what you eat, eat what you store'. While it's a good concept and works for many people, the problem with that is I don't much eat foods that store for long periods of time. I eat mostly fresh proteins, fruits and veggies. I like rice and beans and canned goods, but that's just not what I want to eat day in, day out.
I don't consider my self a 'doomer', don't think some asteroid is going to hit or that the NKoreans are going to start a nuclear war tomorrow, nor that 2012 is going to end it all (or whatever that prediction is). But significant natural disasters do happen - Katrina, the tsunami, massive earthquakes - and help is not always timely.
L.A. weatherman Fritz Coleman years ago dubbed Southern California The Acts of God Themepark because of all the disasters we are prone to: earthquake, fire, flood, mudslides, potential tsunamis, even drought. Becuase of the real potential for bad things happening here, and because my location could be easily cut off, I keep a fair amount of extras (more than a full larder) just in case.
I also have a solar oven, alternate lighting, and now a water filter that is supposed to filter out everything bad.
I feel more comfortable having extras, and think of it as an inexpensive insurance policy. :) Like keeping extra money in the bank for emergencies, keeping extra food in the house seems wise to me.
I'm living in an apartment for a year before I go back home, so I don't have anywhere near 6 months where I am. At home I keep large quantities of white flour, sugar and white rice (which store a really long time - longer than whole wheat which has a tendency to go rancid). I store them in air tight plastic containers with a good seal and freeze each container for a week or so to kill any bugs. Smaller quantities of dried chickpeas and lentils, salt, baking soda, white vinegar, tea, peanut butter, canned tomatoes, salsa, cumin and chili powder, and an extra bottle of canola oil. Then anything else is really just whatever I happen to have in my pantry or freezer at any time which is normally pretty full and has a large variety. I do rotate through what I store, the peanut butter and canola oil gets rotated pretty quickly because the oil will go rancid if stored too long (so don't store more than you will use within 6-12 months), everything else takes longer but stores longer too.
It wouldn't be a perfectly balanced diet, but those ingredients would allow me to stretch whatever pantry and freezer stuff I have out for some time, and it is all stuff I cook with regularly. It has helped me in times of job insecurity and means I never have to worry about whether I can get to the store... having some extra food around is a pretty low cost insurance. I also keep a case of bottled water and also have refilled some (cleaned) plastic drink containers with water which I keep in the cupboard and rotate from time to time by using them to water plants or clean with. Those have also come in handy, not a "disaster" per se, but when there was a plumbing problem that required me to shut off the water for a night, it was good to have water available for drinking / cooking / cleaning.
I like www.preparednesspro.com for preparedness planning. Some of it is controversial, but if you want to go down this road, there's a lot of good info here.
Gingerella72
1-5-11, 4:42pm
This site has a lot of practical advice on disaster preparedness, created by a guy writing about the lessons he learned after Katrina (he's from New Orleans).
http://www.theplacewithnoname.com/blogs/klessons/p/0001.html
flowerseverywhere
1-5-11, 10:43pm
Gingerella, thanks for the link. His steps are the most logical I have ever seen for a normal family that may need to evacuate in case of a fire, earthquake, tornado, flood or fire, which are disasters most of us could face. Excellent.
I do think having several weeks worth of food, a means to cook and water are sensible and most are able to do that. Long term survival is something most of us could not do, though.
I believe it's Dear Sister in Law. :)
while he has practical and good advice his is for bugging out. In other words: Evacuate. Not really about a disaster preparedness pantry. I've kind of given up on it though. I can't really get a 6 month supply of pantry food that I can rotate. I just don't eat that much canned or processed food. So, I have a few gallons of water, a few cans of bean and soup and that's about it. Even dried beans and stuff sit too long and get dried out and won't cook for me to try it. I've ended up throwing away lots of stuff I never touched in the last 3 years that I bought 'to be prepared' I'd probably starve if the 6 month event came about, but really, I just wasn't able to pull it off. Pasta and canned tomatoes and sugar and salt and oil are about all I can really keep around and rotate through regularly.
I believe it's Dear Sister in Law. :)
LOL. I thought it was a Web Site.
Woke up this morning with this on my mind. DSIL was talking about Peak Oil and a possible pandemic/quarantine where one may need their own food supply for 6 months. She's a very sane environmental writer. They bought a kit from costco for an amount that flabbergasts me. I'm thinking that I could do one myself and store it in used popcorn tubs or something like that. Has anybody done this and are willing to share their lists? We're lucky enough to have land and can get wood for cooking. We also have a well that overflows enough for us to have safe water for cooking. Thanks!!
BTW am trying to convince DH to build a freeze-proof storage closet for veggies.
I think a good place to start would be to ask yourself what your goal is: What do you want to accomplish? Food for how many? For how long? That can get you on the road to getting started. How are you going to prepare your food and water. 6 months is a long time. I know that personally, I am not sure I have the space for that much food storage, nor that I could rotate it all out in the same amount of time. It's an investment to be sure. If I had 6 months worth of food that would sustain us for that amount of time, is that the same as what I consume now? It isn't. I use a LOT less canned food than I would in that kind of situation. I also don't really bake too much, so having large cache's of flour really is probably going to go to waste. I have had some luck with using popcorn tubs though, for things like legumes and flour so it's not a bad idea. But for me, again, 6 months of beans in an emergency no food situation is far more than I would consume normally. So, I haven't really come up with a realistic answer to this idea.
Thank you all for your input. I think we will just start putting aside long storage items with the exp. date clearly marked on it. A friend said that if we were going to do this we'd also have to have a gun to fight off anyone who wanted our food. I'm not buying into that idea. If things got that bad we wouldn't want to live....
It seems to me that most people will NOT be prepared. How do you plan to protect your person and your property when they get hungry/thirsty/cold ... ?
I'm thinking it would be more productive to learn how to "forage" than to try to stockpile and then defend that stockpile. Again, my mind is on a grade-B movie style disaster. On a more realistic level, I think we would do okay as long as the "disaster" did not reduce or eliminate clean, drinkable water. Most everything in my pantry would need to be rehydrated and/or boiled!
A friend said that if we were going to do this we'd also have to have a gun to fight off anyone who wanted our food. I'm not buying into that idea.
How would anyone know you had extra food,etc if you don't tell them. I would think telling people you have 'food for a year' wouldn't be very smart and would put a target on your back. If you didn't say anything, perhaps they would know if you started gaining weight while others starved, but if htings really got 'that bad' it would seem smart to eat less/ration what you have for you and your family, and lose some weight on purpose.
As to foraging, easier said than done. Most people don't know plants well enough for one thing, and 'harvesting' tends to be a seaonal thing. There's hunting/fishing of course, but you have to know what you are doing and live in an area where there are enough animals ... and if there are lots of people doing it after some sort of calamity, game/fish would become scarce in no time. If foraging was an easy thing that gave adequate returns for 100% subsistence, more people would be doing it now.
I agree that most people are not prepared for any emergency, much less something major. Here in California we have been waiting for the 'big one' for years (earthquake). People are often told to have something like 2 weeks of food/water on hand 'just in case'. If I recall correctly, some survey said something like only 6% of our population has that. Of course smart 'preppers' might not answer such a question correctly.
A case of :spam: under the bed saves. ;)
Dear Sister-In-Law.
We also don't eat a lot of store bought canned foods, but do have a good store of home canned. If our disaster occurred in April, before the garden is producing again and at the tail end of our pantry, we might be in trouble. Fortunately (in terms of being stocked up) that is the time of year when we do have more mass market canned goods in the house.
I like all the ideas here. I have my method for using up the storage food which is not food we eat on a regular basis either (good food but we eat more fresh than emergency storage can handle). We go camping 1-2 times a summer and I use up the food then. In Colorado our emergencies are more likely during the winter with snow so planning on eating all the food during the safer season works well.
And don't forget to have some variety of all food groups! We never eat canned fruit so I have to really consciously think about putting fruit and even vegies into the plan
What is DSIL?Dear son-in-law (?)
I used DSIL for dear sister in law....
I like all the ideas here. I have my method for using up the storage food which is not food we eat on a regular basis either (good food but we eat more fresh than emergency storage can handle). We go camping 1-2 times a summer and I use up the food then. In Colorado our emergencies are more likely during the winter with snow so planning on eating all the food during the safer season works well.
And don't forget to have some variety of all food groups! We never eat canned fruit so I have to really consciously think about putting fruit and even vegies into the plan
No,that's exactly the problem I have. I just don't eat canned fruits or veggies. But I think if I buy cases of what I do tend to use -canned beans, broth, spag sauce, chiles- enough to last a year, at least I would have that. I usually make my own stock but I like to have it on hand.
We have a basic level of emergency preparedness due to living in earthquake and wildfire country. We also live in a small space, so keeping a lot of extra food and water around is a challenge.
We've decided to deal with this by carrying some water and food in each car (granola bars, peanut butter, fruit leather, 2 gallons of water) in case we're out and about when the emergency strikes and can't get home right away, and Mountain House freeze-dried backpacking meals with water at home.
The Mountain House isn't cheap, but it is light and small. All it needs is hot water to be edible, and we have a camping stove and fuel canisters to last a week or so, as well as mad fire-starting skills. We also have some canned goods to help round the Mountain House out.
We keep some water stored at home, but it's minimal, and we don't have space for more. This worries me, so I think the solution I'm going to use is to get a good hiking water filter (in addition to bleach and iodine tablets) so that we can use available local water in an emergency.
Regardless of your level of preparedness, do something, even if it's just have an extra can of beef stew on hand.
For those of you who are inclined to do more preparedness but don't want to waste food, you can always donate foods to your local food bank before their expiration date. So if you buy a case of canned fruit, or some cans of chili, or :spam:, and don't get around to eating it (or don't plan to eat it unless it's an emergency) but don't want it to go to waste, either -- donate it. You can write the cost of the food off on your taxes and you help out some of your neighbors who need help just with the day-to-day.
I just finished reading Independence Days by Sharon Astyk. She addresses this very issue in the book, and has some very good ideas. One thing she stressed was storing foods you would eat anyway, and eating from your stores regularly, replenishing them as needed. Her point was that if someone's not used to eating, say rice and beans, on a regular basis, during a crisis is the wrong time to be trying to learn to cook and eat new foods. That made a lot of sense to me.
She also advocates for building up community food security, not just food security for your own household.
Sounds like a good book. I will check my library to see if it has it. I agree with Sharon about storing the foods (and growing the foods) you actually like to eat.
I read in a report about world starvation that if the food given to starving people is unlike their normal every day diet, they will not eat it. Unfamiliar food will cause digestive misery and it will not satiate so they will still die. If the normal diet is rice-based, they need rice. Corn will not work.
I like Sharon Astyk's books and second those. We do a little of this because I AM a bit of a doomer and see disruptions in the food supply becoming a reality (not so horrible here, but in the less-developed countries under environmental stress, it could be pretty horrible when the sh** hits the fan)
--We buy bulk and try to keep a few weeks' supply of things we'd eat a lot: Pasta, oats, rice, home-canned tomato sauces and peaches, beans, peanut butter, dried apples, canned/dried milk, etc., with an eye toward getting the essentials: protein, fiber, calcium, etc.
--We have a chest freezer now, but we don't rely on it for long-term stuff. If food can't get to us, power might not be able to either.
--We grow a good garden every year, including lots of potatoes and (now) squashes for the winter
--We are active participants in our community, especially around food security, sharing of resources/tools, etc.
--We know how to forage, and have a rifle and lots of deer around :)
I think where we fall down is with water - I can't seem to get myself to stock up on water, even though we live in an arid climate - and emergency supplies like a hand-cranked radio and all that. Also, pet food. Haven't figured that out either.
We don't think about it overmuch, but it's comforting to have some food, money, etc. stocked up in case of a transportation disruption, environmental disaster, whatever. This is an amusing and educational, albeit pretty shrill, forum for various aspects of preparation: http://www.doomers.biz/forum2/
I have never thought about this before in my life and this is the first place I've read about it. If you live somewhere where natural disasters are commonplace, sure, go for it... but otherwise... eh. I honestly can't imagine what could happen in my country to necessitate having a stock of 'disaster preparedness' supplies.
I honestly can't imagine what could happen in my country to necessitate having a stock of 'disaster preparedness' supplies.
I live in southern California where there are earthquakes. We even had a tsunami warning the other day for our local shores. I don't know what the possible dangers are in the UK, but after watching the news about Japan I'll be checking my supplies to make sure they are up to snuff. I would rather keep a bit extra and not have to go out and find food during an emergency - assuming there wouldn't be long lines and enough to buy.
These days I honestly think it's prudent for everyone to keep at least 2 weeks of food and water tucked away in your home. No one knows what can happen where. In the US in various areas there can be large snow storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, nuclear reactors going bad, volcanos, potential terrorism, roads washing out, and probably more things than I can imagine. ....and that's the point. There's no way to know when you'll need it, and having an emergency supply is cheap insurance. :)
Japan has got me motivated to start stocking again. I kind of let it slip. I never had months worth. My goal is about one month.Bought another gallon of water and a couple of extra canned foods to add to the cupboard. Filled an empty kat litter container with water and marked for non drinking only.
I used to keep a pair of tennis shoes in the car, but any more I pretty much can wlak a while in whatever shoes I'm wearing.
When I last got a flat tire I walked 1/5 miles unexpectedly in those plastic clog things, can't reemember what they are called, and they were VERY comfortable much to my surprise.
I've also decided to work harder on having a 'hard times' pantry for some patch of bad luck, such as illness or unemployment, because it would work for an emergency but might get me through some times also.
I just finished reading Independence Days by Sharon Astyk. She addresses this very issue in the book, and has some very good ideas. One thing she stressed was storing foods you would eat anyway, and eating from your stores regularly, replenishing them as needed. Her point was that if someone's not used to eating, say rice and beans, on a regular basis, during a crisis is the wrong time to be trying to learn to cook and eat new foods. That made a lot of sense to me.
She also advocates for building up community food security, not just food security for your own household.
I haven't read the book, but that seems to be a very sensible approach. Also, being part of a strong community will increase your chances of successfully overcoming almost any crisis, but you can't build that community as all hell is breaking loose.
I am curious as to how the foods will be cooked? Fine to set aside a two week supply for self security, that's if you are home when the lights go out or can get home following loss of power. How do you cook the foods? Camp stoves? I do not have a wood fireplace or even an outdoor home made camp fire. If I have a two week supply of canned soups, I shudder at the thought of eating this cold.
Wood stoves, camp stoves, BBQ grills, campfires, Thermette-like solutions, solar ovens, ...
If I have a two week supply of canned soups, I shudder at the thought of eating this cold.
For light-weight cooking, you can use the heat generated from 2-3 candles grouped together, or a votive or two. This will generate some carbon, so be prepared for your heating container to get some soot on it. If you are eating canned soups in an emergency situation, you can just take the tops off and put the can (paper label removed) directly over whatever heat you are using. And stir occasionally to equalize the heat. You'd have to have some sort of metal holder on which to place your can while heating. Necessity is the mother of invention.
Or you can add some small cans of canned heat such as Sterno to your supplies.
If you want to do 'heavier' cooking (like oatmeal or boiling water for tea), you can buy a small alcohol burner such as Trangia that uses denatured alcohol (ebay), or make your own very effective mini burner from a small catfood can. (separate thread to follow)
Both use denatured alcohol as fuel. You'd have to buy that in a paint store or Homedepot. About $12-14/gallon a couple years ago. Ordinary rubbing alcohol of 70% is not good enough - you need something in the 90% or so range to burn nicely. And isopropyl alcohol (generic rubbing alco.) has an unpleasant smell compared to denatured ethyl alcohol. Alcohol burners are quite clean burning.
Real cooking like beans, see Bae's list. I have solar oven, bbq, and fireplace.
We have some candle lanterns that we use for power failures that also work great for heating up a cup of water or so to make tea, coffee, or whatnot.
http://candlelantern.com/candlelier.html
http://candlelantern.com/images/products/candleliers.jpg
I did a bunch o'research last year and have hit upon Sterno fuel (you know, the little cans that sit under the food at buffets?). I live in an apartment, with no patio or other place easily accessible to cook. I wanted fuel safe to store and easy to use. I got a little folding stove to use with the Sterno and a stainless steel large camping mug and spork to use with it. I tested it - it will heat up a can of Ravioli or soup in about 10 minutes. The mug is big enough to hold one can's worth of soup/ravioli/stew.
I wanted something easy to use, so I could heat up a can of something or make hot water for tea. Don't have to worry about any fumes. I can also easily find it at Walmart, although for some reason, the two-packs in the camping/sporting goods section are cheaper than the singles in the grocery/household area.
This site has a lot of practical advice on disaster preparedness, created by a guy writing about the lessons he learned after Katrina (he's from New Orleans).
http://www.theplacewithnoname.com/blogs/klessons/p/0001.html
Someone else commented that this site is good for those who want to bug out. But I'd like to point out that he's gotten excellent info for making sure you have copies of your important documents, photos, etc., in case something happens. A house fire is the most basic disaster all of us could face.
How you intend to prepare food and transport it if necessary are as important to your overall preparedness planning as what food to store. The different points are intertwined and inseparable. There is nothing wrong with factoring in your likes and dislikes, but it does make more sense to consider nutritional value, ease of preparation (especially considering fuel options) and ease of transport before taste and texture. Soup can be warmed up in the can. It tastes like crap cold, but will keep you going. But do you want to carry a couple cases of canned soup on your back if you have to move on foot? Ramen noodles and dehydrated veggies, for example, would take up about the same amount of room at only a few percent of the weight of cans and both will soften even in cold water and in a real pinch could be consumed raw.
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