Frugal emergency preparedness - Page 2

lucille · 07-29-2008, 02:47 PM

I'm not sure what kind of foods people were looking at storing in plastic buckets. We use old glass gallon pickle jars for dry goods like flour, rice etc. I also save these big plastic jars that we get almonds in from Target and use them for the same dried food storage.

We stockpile as part of keeping house. We initially made one of those emergency kits but realized rotating things out of that was a pain and the things we put in it were not things we wanted to eat. So instead we try to keep a good stockpile of stable food. We also purify our own water (distilled) and we use glass milk jugs to store it in so we always have enough on hand for daily use. That doubles as emergency water if we need it as long as we have not slacked off on running the distiller.

If we needed to evacuate, we have empty coolers and a stack of empty rubbermaid storage tubs in the garage that we could dump food water and medicine into in a hurry.

I am also planning on stocking up on produce at the end of the growing season that we will can or freeze. That way if we have bad weather, or some other unforseen catastrophe we have plenty of food on hand. I'm a bit concerned about something happening over the winter like a huge spike in gas or food prices and being unable to do anything about it, or lack of access. We had a blizzard knock out food delivery to the city for 4 days, things ran out at the stores really fast.

mcnerd · 07-29-2008, 05:52 PM

It's a BIG concern for brining and similar acidic processes, but it also applies to regular food items like grains that come into long-term contact with the plastic. That's why they call it "food grade". But I guess everyone will do what they want to do despite the logic of it.

gmckone · 07-29-2008, 06:58 PM

Some members of my family used to insist on having a huge supply of canned goods on hand. Of course those canned goods would be used, and others would replace them on the shelf so the entire stock was always (slowly) being rotated meaning most items were only a year or so old.

One side benefit was that when a can of tuna or some other item came off the shelf for use, it had a price tag from the previous year... By slowly building up the canned goods in the pantry / cold storage area, much of what we ate was at last year's prices. I think some of my friends keep large stores of food for religious reasons (expecting some kind of disaster) and they effectively experience this same effect.

I think in the past when we had an agricultrual society, if there was ever a problem, we could just go get some eggs from the hen house, or butcher a cow, or walk back to the garden... Now with our urban densification (unsustainable?) we are very dependent on a delicate supply chain and we are effectively at the mercy of everyone along that chain. We have gone backwards and become more reliant on strangers and anonymizing systems who care nothing for our well-being. it used to be the neighbours we depended on in disaster, now it is FEMA or the UN etc ;-)

mcnerd · 07-29-2008, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmckone

Some members of my family used to insist on having a huge supply of canned goods on hand.

Sounds like that is not being done now, despite the obvious food shortage/famine situation developing worldwide and the higher prices. Was there a reason to quit doing it?

I find it is even more important today since, as you say, many of us are not of an agricultural society and must rely on being "fed" from external sources on a regular basis to survive. The problem is in a crisis, those sources disappear immediately and may not return for days, weeks or months. Most of our population could not cope without some form of stockpile of food and supplies. Quick frankly, FEMA ain't going to be there for everyone when we need it.

Myscha Theriault · 07-30-2008, 03:30 AM

Lucille, stocking up as a regular part of keeping house is something we do as well. When we're not in total transition after a flood, that is. We found as well that keeping up with a special set of supplies was more tedious. Yes, we do try to keep a few things that don't require power (snack cracker packs, homemade trail mix), but overall get by with having lots of regular supplies on hand that all store well. One thing we haven't done a great deal of, but would like to explore, is the dehydrated vegetables option. At least for things like soups and casseroles. Not everything comes in cans, so it would be nice to have a bit of diversity. Walton Feeds used to have great deals, but I'm not sure what their shipping rates are now . . .

07-29-2008, 02:47 PM	#11
lucille Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 511 Reputation: (33)	I'm not sure what kind of foods people were looking at storing in plastic buckets. We use old glass gallon pickle jars for dry goods like flour, rice etc. I also save these big plastic jars that we get almonds in from Target and use them for the same dried food storage. We stockpile as part of keeping house. We initially made one of those emergency kits but realized rotating things out of that was a pain and the things we put in it were not things we wanted to eat. So instead we try to keep a good stockpile of stable food. We also purify our own water (distilled) and we use glass milk jugs to store it in so we always have enough on hand for daily use. That doubles as emergency water if we need it as long as we have not slacked off on running the distiller. If we needed to evacuate, we have empty coolers and a stack of empty rubbermaid storage tubs in the garage that we could dump food water and medicine into in a hurry. I am also planning on stocking up on produce at the end of the growing season that we will can or freeze. That way if we have bad weather, or some other unforseen catastrophe we have plenty of food on hand. I'm a bit concerned about something happening over the winter like a huge spike in gas or food prices and being unable to do anything about it, or lack of access. We had a blizzard knock out food delivery to the city for 4 days, things ran out at the stores really fast. __________________ Dark Style Blog http://darkstyleblog.blogspot.com/

07-29-2008, 06:58 PM	#13
gmckone Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1 Reputation: (10)	Emergency Preparedness and living at last year's prices Some members of my family used to insist on having a huge supply of canned goods on hand. Of course those canned goods would be used, and others would replace them on the shelf so the entire stock was always (slowly) being rotated meaning most items were only a year or so old. One side benefit was that when a can of tuna or some other item came off the shelf for use, it had a price tag from the previous year... By slowly building up the canned goods in the pantry / cold storage area, much of what we ate was at last year's prices. I think some of my friends keep large stores of food for religious reasons (expecting some kind of disaster) and they effectively experience this same effect. I think in the past when we had an agricultrual society, if there was ever a problem, we could just go get some eggs from the hen house, or butcher a cow, or walk back to the garden... Now with our urban densification (unsustainable?) we are very dependent on a delicate supply chain and we are effectively at the mercy of everyone along that chain. We have gone backwards and become more reliant on strangers and anonymizing systems who care nothing for our well-being. it used to be the neighbours we depended on in disaster, now it is FEMA or the UN etc ;-)

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07-29-2008, 05:52 PM	#12
mcnerd Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Southern California Posts: 74 Reputation: (12)	It's a BIG concern for brining and similar acidic processes, but it also applies to regular food items like grains that come into long-term contact with the plastic. That's why they call it "food grade". But I guess everyone will do what they want to do despite the logic of it.

07-30-2008, 03:30 AM	#15
Myscha Theriault Wise Bread Blogger Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 63 Reputation: (15)	Lucille, stocking up as a regular part of keeping house is something we do as well. When we're not in total transition after a flood, that is. We found as well that keeping up with a special set of supplies was more tedious. Yes, we do try to keep a few things that don't require power (snack cracker packs, homemade trail mix), but overall get by with having lots of regular supplies on hand that all store well. One thing we haven't done a great deal of, but would like to explore, is the dehydrated vegetables option. At least for things like soups and casseroles. Not everything comes in cans, so it would be nice to have a bit of diversity. Walton Feeds used to have great deals, but I'm not sure what their shipping rates are now . . .