Posted on 09/02/2011 12:36:52 PM PDT by Kartographer
When someone says survival food preps or stockpiling survival food, what do you think of? Do you think of tons of dried rice and beans stored in mylar bags? How about a basement full of #10 cans, does that come to mind? Or is it a combination of several things?
When I was thinking of writing an article about survival food preps, the first thing that popped into my head was MREs, canned goods and garden seeds. But where does perishable goods fit into that narrow picture? For the first week or so people are going to be eating stuff out of their freezer. For the sake of discussion, lets move past that first week post SHTF. Something bad has happened, the food in the grocery stores has dried up, people have gone through their immediate perishable food items,,,, now what?
A book about the Roman military I just finished reading contained a quote from an ancient historian nothing caused as much stress within the troops as the lack of supplies. Just like it says, when the supplies started to run low, the stress level went up. 2,000 years later, and nothing has changed.
(Excerpt) Read more at survivalboards.com ...
Sportsmansguide.com has a case of 12 for about$70 (+shipping).
MREdepot. Has higher calorie with a heater pack case for $96 (+shipping $18)
I use MRE’s for travel emergencies (car boat) and rotate my stock by using during hunting & fishing trips. Other more cost effective food for other situations. I’m thinking of life boat type rations for the car just for more compact storage. Don’t forget the water.
Figure $6-$8 per emergency meal. I paid $8.40 for a Happy Meal plus a burger W/coffe the other day. More calories in the MRE. Just for reference.
Thanks.
Thanks to all. I think it is time to start storing. At least there are only two of us.
We have 12 mos but are still picking up stuff. Costco has a 4 pack of cans of roast beef on sale today for $10.99. We bought some as the best price in the grocery was $3.19 per can.
ping
My father was in the Air Force and was told to have a store of food and we always did. As an adult I have always kept a lot of food on hand and in the first 6 months of 2009 when we were on the edge of bankruptcy, I only spent about 50 bucks a month on food.
What’s your fave barter stuff, de jour? Liquors, wines? Expensive, cheap? Just curious what y’all think ;)
I don’t think anyone can give an exact answer but here’s a little story that might give you some idea:
I once worked on a construction project where a number of abandoned homes had been bought up and then destroyed to make room for a shopping center. At one point I saw a mason jar sticking out of a pile of sand. I picked it up and found it full of home-canned spiced pears. After some deliberation, I opened the jar and smelled the contents. Everything seemed fine so I took a small bit of the juice on the tip of my tongue. Still no problem. Fiinally, throwing caution to the wind, I had a real taste and was rewarded with a wonderful dessert for my dry sandwich lunch.
Those pears had been canned at least five or six years before and were still good. Now, my wife and I can, dry or freeze everything from apples to zuchini. With a modicum of care, I would have no qualms about eating any of it ten years down the road.
I’ve worked in commercial cannerys and - while they’re messy - they’re also pretty careful about cleanliness where it counts. They may not give a rat’s backside about each of us but they still don’t want to be sued.
Barter?
Simple things that are elevated in value by circumstance and not subject to rapid devaluation by time decay:
matches, pints and 1/2 pints of hard liquor, ammo (although supplying potential adversaries with ammo is ill-advised), nails and screws, toiletries particularly the king of trading items toilet paper, water purification tablets and chlorine bleach, cheapo tools you buy at yard sales, candles and lamp oil, wire and barbed wire, firewood, protein sources: eggs if you have chickens, meat if you have chickens or hogs, veggies you grow in your garden, seeds, skilled labor like engine repair, carpentry,gunsmithing, or masonry, medicinal herbs, spices, security expertise and protection, knowledge, inspiration, and real leadership. Get ready Jane...the hour is short.
How many weeks or months worth of food should we store?—
I store for different events.
Say, a small event like ice storm in my area, 3-5 day event. For my area. If it’s really bad, say even 2 weeks of no power. I won’t be waiting on anyone to ‘come rescue me’ and be thirsty or starving in the dark, as I wait...
And it’s about more than water and food, it’s about how to have clean water, a warm meal, stay warm when it’s cold outside or at night or temperatures are below freezing...
Last winter a snow plow came down my road, once. All year. Snow events for me are a different thing. I use a 4 wheeler with a snow plow to clear the roads to the main road, in case an emergency vehicle is needed. Not just for me, but my neighbors as well. That means I have to have gasoline, even though I might not be able to get to a gas station.
If they can get an emergency vehicle to the neighbors, when it’s needed, I don’t have to worry about leaving my own home during a storm or disaster etc. It sounds to them like I do it for them, but maybe it’s for me and mine?
We also have a road nearby that floods. Not my home, but it hampers being able to get in and out. Most neighbors aren’t prepared, So I have to be stocked in case of that for practically any short term event, well I don’t ‘have’ to be, I could watch others suffer or die.
I plan for events that happen in my area. And for the events that don’t. Like the 500 year events..
Dream up the worst thing that can happen, even though it doesn’t normally in your area, and prepare for it.
I do not have to worry about my home flooding, from the bottom. But what if a storm or tornado blows my roof off or part of my roof off and inches of rain fall inside? That’s considered ‘flooding’ these days by the insurance companies.
I do not live within 150 miles of a nuclear plant. But that has to be considered. Most ignore this as ‘it couldn’t happen here’ but it definitely can happen, anywhere.
I do have to consider fire as in forest fire. I have a bug out bag with 3 days worth of food and supplies for me and every member of my family, to get me to another location and sustain myself and my family members til we get to a safe location til a fire event would be over. I have a plan too. Where to go. Either family in another state, or a place about an hours drive away. In this instance, I would probably go out of state because if it is a forest fire, it could potentially travel...
What if a terrorist attack happens and everyone tries to leave the city at once?
Gas stations are full and out of gas, people have no money and they are hungry...
I don’t have to worry to much about earthquakes. But I’m prepared as I can be.
I don’t just store for ‘events’. I also store because of inflation. I have not had to pay the current price for beef. I’m using beef I had stored years ago. yes, Years ago. Vegetables and fruit too.
I pressure can, beef, pork, chicken, turkey, bacon, ham, soups, stews etc. Yes those can be canned.
I dehydrate too, vacuum seal it, it’s good for decades. I’ts worth the cost of a $1 rubber sealed bucket with lid and the cost of a mylar bag.
I’m using rice that I paid .15 cents a pound for that I had stored. Imagine a 5 pound bag of rice for .75 cents. Sure beats the current price.
For me, the best part is, I don’t have to pay the current price of food stuffs, and won’t have to in the future when it really gets bad. And it will get way worse.
I don’t just store for myself. I store for neighbors too, for short term events. I have elderly and handicap neighbors, who wouldn’t be able to sustain themselves more than 2-3 days, if that!
I have back up ways of cooking and heating for these events.
So, there are different reasons to store. Preparedness, disasters, terrorist attacks, contamination, pandemics, flood, fires . wealth preservation, etc.
I, personally, consider long term storage as wealth protection.
Imagine events where there is no electric to your area. Or no gas. Events that could affect your area. No electric for 10 days could mean no stores, no gas, no ATM’s.
So, to start, just having a few days supplies, could mean saving your life. Especially clean water.
You can go days and days and days without food. But you can’t without water. Water is almost more important, by that I mean urgent, than food.
Start small,a gallon of water for each person in your family for a minimum of 3 days. Build from there. It’s easy to do.
Then maybe consider 3 breakfasts, 3 light lunches, 3 dinners and snacks for all family members for 3 days. Then build from there. And many need to realize meeting caloric intake doesn’t necessarily mean having 3 meals a day...it can be done with ‘survival type biscuits’ etc for a few days...It’s o.k. for most Americans to skip a meal, and still meet caloric and nutritional intake needs. Might want to store vitamins.
The amount to store varies, depending on how many in your family, and what the event is...
Personally, If you have the space, I don’t think a person can store too much.
The government says to store 3 days, 10 days 3 months etc. That’s how long it might take til they can come and ‘rescue’ you. I ain’t waitin on the government to ‘rescue me’...
And for me, ‘storing’ doesn’t just mean for water and food.
What if a major catastrophe happens and there’s no doctor, or roads are blocked and can’t get to a hospital? Or martial law is declared? or there is no law...
Depends on what event you are preparing for.
In long term events, my short term plans are discarded, the plan changes.
There will be deaths, sicknesses etc. Then it’s me and mine, and them and theirs...
I guess the point is, I have a plan. Maybe that’s really where to start.
Didn’t mean to write a book. But I thought you were asking seriously, and there is a lot to think about. Which is more than having a few days worth of water and food.
Research, read, plan. Fulfill the plan.
I got my vacuum Food Saver thingie. I can’t wait to try it out.
I got it at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and used the 20% off coupon on it.
Oops...the link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/7182202/Horse-meat-faces-ban-in-Italy.html
food prep
Don’t sweat it! As long as the cans aren’t bulging... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2603220/posts
It’s interesting to see so many people suddenly interested in food storage. Some of us have grown and prepared our own food and stored it for the purpose of saving money.
Read my link from the above post. The Bertrand, when it was discovered, and even today, remains the single largest collection of Civil War era items on the planet. tens of thousands 0 if not hundreds of thousands - of items.
Bump
If you are not used to eating MRE’s you won’t be able to take a dump for a week.
MREs are about the most expensive source of storage food. ‘Real’ MREs or govt issued are not allowed to be sold commercially. There are several companies which take the same stuff (pretty much) and sell them without the military packaging.
I won’t buy them on ebay or similiar place because you don’t know how old they are. There are many sources of decent product such as nitro-pak.com. This is a case where you get what you pay for. If you buy cheap ones they won’t have the calorie counts. Shop around and compare.
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