I live in a rural area and we only go food shopping two or three times a month. As a result, we normally have much more food available than the typical city dweller.
In addition, I found that the Mormon church runs canning centers to support their members self-reliance goals. Here is a link to their web page.
https://www.lds.org/topics/food-storage?lang=eng
If you are interested, I would locate a local center and verify what is available. My wife and I did spend several hours packing some of our food and some for other purchasers.
The price list shows the shelf life for the various products. Many are good for 30 years.
Prepping is a multi-faceted endeavor. Some people are interested in surviving a storm that might knock out power for several days. Others are attempting to be ready to live off-grid for months or years.
Despite the many things I have done, I estimate that my wife and I are prepared for about four months, though that would entail a lot of beans and rice. Getting from there to a year is not just triple the effort. The longer you expect to go, the more important variety, vitamins, and fats become along with scores of non food items. We probably won’t get there and hope never to pay the price for having neglected to do so.
I hope there aren’t too many of us hoping to barter ammo for other necessities. I think I should buy some booze for barter.
Thank you sooo much. I suppose I’m only worried for a time period such as what you say...a few months. Eventually, we go serious Daniel Boone...hunt and so on...but that might take time. I do have some good stuff in my favor...semi rural, tons of wood for heat (we’re in Ohio); a creek, well(out of use, but my hubby, aka MacGuyver - could get it going. I agree with what everyone says on here. So much great advice and I wish I could write a thank you to everyone individually.