[Food] Storage - General

TheSupplyGuy · Posted: Sat May 15, 2004 12:47 pm Post subject: [Food] Storage - General

This is a general thread about how to keep food - either home-processed or store-bought.

Pops

-------------- Original Post -------------

If you were going to store foods, what would you guys recommend. I mean you could use vitamin pills to help overcome any foods you couldn't store but isn't it true that canned foods don't go bad for decades? Just wondering, thanks.

Pops · Posted: Sat May 15, 2004 1:23 pm Post subject:

Hi Guy.

Glad to see someone interested in more than talk.

There are several ways to go. You can by the nitro packed freeze-dried bulk packs and kind of forget about them until you need them. Unfortunately you may find they are so different from your regular diet that people especially kids will actually not eat enough.

Then there is the Mormon plan of the basic 4; hard red wheat, powdered milk, sugar & salt. Sort of like an Ex-Lax diet

Personally we store what we eat, rotating old stuff with new. The benefit is that when times are hard you don’t want to have to learn how to cook something new, the benefit of little change in diet, and instead of spending a bunch of money on something you hope you’ll never use you actually save money. Since you don’t need to buy everything you need every 2 weeks you can buy what’s on sale or buy in bulk for a huge savings.

There are lots of resources out there with more experience than me, but I would be happy to help with specific questions. I see if I can find where I filed my shelf life list and post it.

The Mormons have a $5, $10 a week plan and lots of information:
http://lds.about.com/od/preparednessfoodstorage/

This is great:
http://athagan.members.atlantic.net/PFSFAQ/PFSFAQ-1.html

Also Frugal’s has a huge amount of info (strong political opinions however), http://www.frugalsquirrels.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=6&submit=Go
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Pops · Posted: Sat May 15, 2004 1:31 pm Post subject:

Although I should be working on the kitchen remodel (I hate drywall) I found a bunch of stuff I put together, including an Excel spreadsheet with amounts to store shelf life etc.

PM me your email and I’ll shoot it to ya.
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Pops · Posted: Sat May 15, 2004 3:13 pm Post subject:

I uploaded the files with help from our illustrious Admin to the downloads section.

The text file is over 90 pages for your reading pleasure and was compiled by AZGrammy from Frugals. It includes shelf life of foods, preservation methods, water storage & purification, 50 uses for vinegar and more.

Holy D Deyo made the food storage spreadsheet - I’m sorry Holly if you are out there, I can’t remember your link. It includes about 500 items, food and other, with suggested amounts to store, target amount, on hand amount, amt to purchase, when to rotate, min. shelf life, etc

They are here:
http://www.peakoil.com/downcat2.html
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smiley · Fission Joined: Apr 16, 2004 Posts: 2126 Location: Europe

Hi there,

It seems to me that you're preparing for the Apocalypse. While I think that Peakoil will have some very nasty consequences I don't really understand that.

What I'm wondering about; what is it that you are preparing for? A collapse of society or a war maybe? I would like to hear what you think that will happen and in which timescale.

Pops · Posted: Sat May 15, 2004 6:04 pm Post subject:

Smiley, apocalypse comes in all flavors.

When I was a kid my folks were low wage working people who had grown up during the great depression, we didn’t have fancy cars or house but there was always food in the pantry – lots of food. My mom only shopped when there was a sale and would bring home cases of green beans or whatever at a time.

When I was a young father, I was a carpenter and could always rely on flush times as well as lean times, so I stocked up when I could because I had three kids and a wife to feed.

Now I have grown kids and just don’t feel comfortable without a big pantry. In fact there has been more than once that my kids have come “shopping” at Poppy’s during tough times at their house.

Aside from the fact that I save what I believe to be a large amount of money by buying in bulk, I save on gas and wear and tear on my Hummer, since I only go shopping once or twice a month.

Considering the supermarkets only keep 3 days worth of food on hand and many people don’t have much more at home, I am pretty sure even a slight infrastructure interruption would cause considerable problems.

Peak oil isn’t really a matter of stocking up on expendables (except maybe the kind that go bang) although stocking up on tools and skills, IMO, certainly is in order.
As far as the infamous crystal ball, it could hold anything from a big bang to lots of little whimpers to the Energy Fairy elected to president of the world. For us, we try to be prepared for as many things to happen as possible - including nothing.

Timeline: the current spike in gasoline, nat. gas and oil prices in the US (BTW, much of which is underreported by our friends in DC) could result in some nasty repercussions in our various economic bubbles. Beyond that, if the ASPO’s forecast is correct and the peak of all sources is ‘07,
look for big economic trouble within 5 years.

But of course that’s only my humble opinion.
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rowante · Posted: Sat May 15, 2004 11:45 pm Post subject:

I was reading somewhere that supermarkets and commerce in general in our first world societies work on fortnightly deliveries.

All it takes is a failure of one of those deliveries to make people start hoarding. Take a look at CJ Campbell's often used example of the UK in 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/the_money_programme/1014236.stm

So we really rely on a very fragile structure of food delivery. It's easy to imagine the chaos that a couple of missed deliveries will make. It's also easy to see why the price of crude oil will effect the price of foodstuff on the shelf. Areas that are never affected by natural disasters will have no crisis plans...

TheSupplyGuy · Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 12:15 pm Post subject: Precisely

Wow. Pops, that's a lot of work. No I'm not exactly stocking up for a disaster unless it appears things will go that way, but merely to avoid exponentionally(sp?) higher food prices once the oil starts getting scarcer. Now however, if it looks like I might have to stock up for a major disaster, I can alway switch over to that. But I wanted foods that don't go bad for awhile, so I can stock up now, and they'll be there if I need them no matter what happens( for instance if I need them for something else down the line other than peak oil, like a snowstorm or something).

JR · Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 1:56 pm Post subject:

Go for SPam. I just bought a can...expiration on the can...2007!

JR

Aaron · Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 2:46 pm Post subject: Food

I think the most sustainable, long lasting kind of food, is the kind that is alive, until you eat it.

Keeps well, maintains freshness, and is simple to store.

The idea that any meaningful hording of perishables is probably a bad one. Most canned goods will last many years, but are bulky, heavy and not to portable.

Stock up on non-perishables as required, but in a severe depression, think harvesting meat & plants, rather than storing them. Hunting, fishing & gardening are time tested solutions to economic troubles.

So the skills and equipment needed to feed yourselves, is ultimately more important than any hording.
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Pops · Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 3:52 pm Post subject:

No, it’s not a lot of work, unless you consider changing your lifestyle work. When it appears that disaster will strike, it is too late – others will see the same and you will simply be a part of the horde. If you don’t want to change your life, why worry about the "peak" or the future in any way?

“Deal with the future, or the future will deal with you.”

But allow me to repeat myself:
“Peak oil isn’t really a matter of stocking up on expendables (except maybe the kind that go bang) although stocking up on tools and skills, in my opinion, certainly is in order."
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Aaron · Posted: Tue May 18, 2004 3:16 pm Post subject: My own preparations

I realized that almost anything is possible and that disaster preparation makes sense on Sept the 12th 2001.

Since I don't have the means to afford a luxury stronghold off the grid, I have been stocking up on things I know I would need in a real disaster situation. Not that I anticipated anything specific, but the Pops, "prepare for the worst & expect the best" thing.

Primary option

I have met with and discussed possible future scenarios with friends who have the capacity to understand these issues, & to explore response options if the need should arise. So the first line of defense in case of disaster is a community of long-time friends who can help one another in a crisis. We hope this amounts to nothing more than financial & business assistance during economic crisis, but also includes plans to relocate to an agreed upon ranch in extreme circumstances.

Secondary options

Being from a tradition which includes hunting, fishing & camping etc. it's not much of a stretch to outfit for a disaster. Dried foods, renewable weapons, medicines (including powerful antibiotics etc...), and professional quality gear seemed a more reasonable approach than a defend-able fortress of solitude. At this point, we could just drive off into the wilderness and drop off the grid completely. I would not want to live that way forever, but it's comforting to know we could simply disappear if needed.

We live on the Texas gulf coast, so I also purchased a small (22') sailboat, which I am currently stocking with the proper supplies for a medium voyage. I reasoned that if for some reason it was unsafe to exit the populated area by car, we could just sail away. This was also a natural choice being a sailer already.

The beauty of these alternatives is we already do them today, so it's really just an extension of something we already enjoy. If peak theory comes to nothing, then fine. But in a worst case scenario, it's nice to know I can put dinner on the table, without the grocery store.

Matter of fact, tonight is red fish night... right from nature... to me.
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TheSupplyGuy · Posted: Wed May 19, 2004 7:16 am Post subject: how true

Excellent point Aaron. Thanks again for the chart, Pops.

JLK · Posted: Mon May 24, 2004 7:12 pm Post subject:

I read somewhere that the only two foods that can last forever are wheat and honey. Apparently, they have found edible samples of both in tombs that are thousands of years old.

I'm not sure how helpful that was, but I thought it was interesting at the time I read it.
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Whitecrab · Posted: Tue May 25, 2004 9:56 pm Post subject:

I thought that honey aged and turned into a sugary, dry form over time? How does one store it to "last forever," and what form does it take?
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