Managing your disaster pantry as a Win-Win-Win

vanity | December 29, 2010 | the_Watchman

[the_Watchman]

Many of us believe that we should have a supply of food on hand in case the "bottom" drops out. Unless we eat this emergency food and carefully rotate stock we wind up with foodstuffs which eventually need to be thrown out. If we don't manage it carefully, then we can waste a lot of food.

In this post I propose a strategy which will keep our pantries current. At the end of the year we are always confronted with charities which need food for their pantries. I suggest that at the beginning of the year you purchase cases of your desired foods; e.g., tuna, canned beans. Keep the receipts with the stored food.

At the end of the year, donate this food to your favorite charity. Use the receipts to claim a deduction on your taxes. Refresh your pantry with fresh food next January so the receipts will always be in the correct tax year.

You keep a fresh pantry. Your favorite charity will get a supply of food. You will get a tax deduction for keeping your pantry fresh. Win, Win, Win!

Merry Christmas!

[Jeffrey_D.]

good thinking !

[Mr. K]

get a sharpie and mark the date you purchased it on each can

I find thats the only way I can keep things straight

Does any one here have a list of fundamental basics you should have for 6 months? a year/

i have a generator and am worried about storing gas- i may bury a metal tank

I am thinking I should get a loader backhoe and some diesel too- nothing huge, just a used one in good shape for less than $5K or so.

it would be great not to have to dig my garden with shovels by hand

I figure if I can run my electricity for a few hours each day the freezers and fridge should be OK

[Lazlo in PA]

Interesting

[MsLady]

That’s a good idea. The other thing to think about is, only buy food you eat regularly. That way it stays fresh.

[PUGACHEV]

I recently found a jar of pasta sauce on a shelf that was probably two years old. While it didn’t poison me, it sure tasted horrible.

[Waryone]

I work at a food pantry. We have to use a marker to clearly mark the last sale date on every package of food we distribute. We are not allowed to distribute food past its date.

If the food you purchase has a sale date on it, use that date. If it does not have a sale date, mark it with the date you purchased it.

[SIDENET]

“Buy what you eat. Eat what you buy.”

[NewHampshireDuo]

Made some corn muffins from a mix. Didn’t rise much and tasted like cardboard. Looking at box - “best if used before Jan 2007.”

[TexasRepublic]

If you could find pure gasoline instead of gasohol, it would keep longer. There are gas additives that claim to preserve gas for two years.

[andyk]

get a sharpie and mark the date you purchased it on each can

That's a good idea. I do make sure that everything I put in my emergency supplies has an expiration date, but I have not yet had emergency supplies long enough to worry about rotation. Better late than never!

[SIDENET]

Looking at box - “best if used before Jan 2007.

Guess they weren't kidding.

[BookaT]

That is good idea about the receipts.

[Nailbiter]

read later

[TexasRepublic]

Many kinds of gasoline sold here: ttp://www.vpracingfuels.com/

[TexasRepublic]

http://pure-gas.org/

[1_Rain_Drop]

Well, the dudes came and took away my old refrigerator to be recycled. They asked where is the replacement refrigerator. I told them I'll be buying a new one in April. I figure that I could save $$ on the electric bill while keeping perishables outdoors, on the shed roof ha ha ha. It's fun living in the country!

So I'm standing in the kitchen and wondering what's for dinner. It appears that it's time to get the can opener out and start on the cans which I bought about two years ago.

It's going to be an interesting experiment. Will have to keep an eye on the temperature when it goes above 32F. I may learn how to can food also.

[TomGuy]

get a sharpie and mark the date you purchased it on each can

The 'best by' date on cans is only suggestive. Many cans are still good well beyond that date. However, they should be consumed before they get too old, espcially acidic foods, such as tomato products.

I started using a marker to put the last two digits of the 'best by' year on the can label. That makes it easy to see which cans should be use by 2010, 2011, etc.

Depending on the product, some cans and packages are marked for the year 2014.

[TomGuy]

Made some corn muffins from a mix. Didn’t rise much and tasted like cardboard. Looking at box - “best if used before Jan 2007.”

That is the baking powder that loses its rising capability after awhile. Similar 'flat' results can occur with dry items that contain yeast.

One solution is to add a teaspoon of fresh baking powder to the mix when you are fixing it.

[kiltie65]

I have a Mormon girlfriend. She bought a date stamp and she date stamps every can...on top of that, she rotates stock, of course, using oldest stuff first. She also has annoying round small tables everywhere...underneath the ruffly table cloths are bins holding flour, rice and stuff like that. She is now in her 70’s and has been doing this all her life. She’ll be somewhat disappointed if Armageddon never happens in her lifetime. (that’s a joke she uses.)