6 months worth of food

[alpacamom]

I've been reading that a lot of you have stores of food in your basements/cellars/elsewhere. Why is that? I'm a city slicker, so I'm still learning the ways of the homesteader. When we were looking at homes before we bought ours, we went through a house that looked like they could open a grocery store in their basement with all the supplies they had. Should everyone be stocking up?

[Wolf mom]

If you've ever been unemployed, you may be grateful you had 6 months worth of food...
If you can food from your garden, you'll have many months worth of food to store.
If you live in the boonies, you learn you can't "run to the store" for a single item as it may take an hour or more - not to say the amount of gas these days, so you have a backup or two or three.
If you're a SHTF type person, 6 months worth of food would be minimum.
If you're of the Mormon faith, you'll have a years worth of food.
If you like to save money, buying in bulk or in quanity when on sale, you'd probably have 6 months worth of food stored.
If you dislike shopping, you'd probably buy in large quantity so you wouldn't have to go shopping so frequently.

'Nuf said. I hope I've answered your question

[Madame]

People stock up in case of emergency situations. It could be relatively minor, such as a storm that knocks out your electricity for a few days, moderate, in case you lose your job, or extreme, such as the total collapse of the government.
The Mormon church suggests (requires?) that its members store a year's worth of food. They have a food calculator http://www.thefoodguys.com/foodcalc.html which is helpful. Even if nothing happens and you live happily ever after, it is handy to have stuff on hand. You DO rotate the food so it won't rot or spoil. Hope this helps.

[Fire-Man]

Originally Posted by alpacamom

I've been reading that a lot of you have stores of food in your basements/cellars/elsewhere. Why is that? I'm a city slicker, so I'm still learning the ways of the homesteader. When we were looking at homes before we bought ours, we went through a house that looked like they could open a grocery store in their basement with all the supplies they had. Should everyone be stocking up?

Food in your pantry/basement is better than money in your pocket. Lets say Something Bad Happened---Worse than 9-11 ever thought about being----everyone runs to the grocery store to stock up---You get there late with a pocket full of money---but no food--all sold out--trucks can't bring more for --Who Knows how long--------How Long do you feel you can live---eating that money------I feel alot better with food on my shelf than I do with a pocket full of money. I just like to invest in my food storage, but not to "Sit On"---to eat now and rotate it out with new food. I have no where as much as I would like, but I could probably live for 6 months without going to the grocery store, but I sure would miss out on some things----Expecially them Pepsi's---LOL---I do have over 20 12 packs---that would last me a few days(4 a day---Thats 2 months worth of pepsi)---LOL. I just now vacuum sealed 5 more quart jars of sugar to add to my shelf with the other sugar I have. I am sure we all hope that nothing Bad happens-----But if it ever does---I would like to have enough food on hand to live for a while. Most people would never leave home without a spare in the trunk----I never like to go to bed without some spare food on the shelf. Store A Little Food!!! Randy

[PineRidge]

Oh NO! Now I know why the couple who came to look at my house were giggling in the basement! :baby04: They didn't know what to think of all the food down there. I still have a good 6-9 months on the shelves and we have been trying to eat it up so we don' have to move it.

I wonder what they thought of all my candles and sterno cans and dh's gas mask, lol. I packed all the "hard core" survivalist stuff up before they came too.

We started to store extra food for Y2k. I might not have needed it then, but the idea stuck because it made good sense. I have been greatfull for a well stock pantry several times when dh has been out of work. Plus with gardening I try to can more than a years worth of things in case the next crop isn't so good. This year I can go easy on the greenbeans, peas and peach jelly because I have enough for the winter even if they crop fails.

[halfpint]

We've always kept a well stocked (as in at least 3-6 months) food pantry as that is the way my DH and I were brought up. My DH's family stocked up since his father was union, and was on strike occasionally. My family did since my father worked on commision, and you just never knew when times would be good/bad.

Since about 2 years before Y2K, we upped our stores to cover a year's worth of food. It's nice to not have to run to the grocery store except when they are having a great sale on something we use, or for fresh fruit and veggies. Because of that our grocery bill is much lower than other friends with smaller families. The big issue is ROTATION! If you don't rotate it you will lose it. I tend to go through my stocks twice a year and send to the homeless shelter things that we haven't used that may be nearing their expiration dates or that we no longer use. I've found with my kids that there will be things they really like, and will eat a lot of so I stock up, then all the sudden they don't like it anymore, so our homeless shelter benefits from this. I also buy all my milk from a local organic farm, so I like to keep some powdered milk and cans of milk on hand. These get donated also since we don't use them on a regular basis - although they've come in handy when there are problems (so far it's always been equipment) at the organic farm and they cannot sell milk.

Dawn

[alpacamom]

Thanks everyone. Makes good sense to me. I wonder if my hubby would think I was off my rocker if I suggested we stock up on some things. We talked about putting water aside after the ice storm a few weeks ago that took out power in our area for 4 days (we were lucky...ours only flickered once or twice) since we're on well water and want to make sure we'll still have some to drink, give the critters and flush the toilet with, etc, but haven't discussed food stores. Sounds like good planning if you ask me!

[madness]

Are there other sites like the mormon one for how much you should store for 6 months/a year? I'm thinking more along the lines of how much you should grow and can, rather than how much veg oil and sugar to keep on hand. By the way, what are "flavored apples"...I don't think I eat 40 lbs of those in a year!

[Tracy Rimmer]

Originally Posted by madness

Are there other sites like the mormon one for how much you should store for 6 months/a year? I'm thinking more along the lines of how much you should grow and can, rather than how much veg oil and sugar to keep on hand. By the way, what are "flavored apples"...I don't think I eat 40 lbs of those in a year!

There is a wonderful book on the topic -- not really a "reading" type book, but more of a "planner" type book -- it's called "Making the Best of Basics" by James Talmage Stevens. Excellent planning resource.

The John Jeavons books are good resources for "how much to grow for how much harvest" type information.

[Arkander]

Meh.

If you are living out of your garden/pasture, and live
an hour or more from the nearest store, you should
have at least 2 years of inventory laid in for your
entire household.

That gives you one full growing season as a margin
of error, and another full growing season to make a
decision with regards to "other arrangements".

Not hoarding. Not paranoid. Not foolish.

Prudent.

With luck, we should be there by this fall.

And, you should be VERY quiet about it....

Knowledge of your supplies by others can lead to
unwanted "guests" or confiscations by Gummint
for the "greater good".

Just my humble opinion.

[Micahn]

You know I have not seen this said in a while.
You should tell no one that you have the food in storage that you do not plan on sharing it with. If the shtf and others know you have it they will be coming for it. Think about it a min, Something happens and you have no food and no way of getting any. You remember Tom down the street said that he keeps a years worth of food in his home. After a week or so and your family starts to really starve you will be knocking on Tom's door. If he does not share you will come back and try to take it any way you can. If Tom is smart he will have fire arms to help protect himself and his family and their supply of food for the future. If not then he just paid the price of having a big mouth and telling others about his stored food.

[madness]

Originally Posted by Tracy Rimmer

"Making the Best of Basics" by James Talmage Stevens.

Ah yes, that is on my "to be checked-out" list. I might have to bump it up to the top so I can look at it before I finish planting! Thanks Tracy!

[Arkander]

Originally Posted by Micahn

You know I have not seen this said in a while.
You should tell no one that you have the food in storage that you do not plan on sharing it with.

90% Agreed.

But, you should tell NO ONE. Not even one who you plan
to share with. Why? Because they might tell others.

I read on here a while back about the fellow that took in
a good friend during the Katrina evac. That friend told
and/or invited several others to come along with him.

The resulting crowd wiped out the generous fellow's supplies
as well as his patience, from what I read.

Tell NO ONE.

Invite the friend(s) you are planning to share with to come
to your place when the time is right and let the extent of
your preps be a surprise to them when they arrive.

Once again, JMHO.

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

We are Mormon and here is what awe use for a calculator for food storage....makes it easy to plan.

http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm

[madness]

Originally Posted by YuccaFlatsRanch

We are Mormon and here is what awe use for a calculator for food storage....makes it easy to plan.

http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm

I hope this isn't too thread-hijack-y, but can you tell me why Mormons in particular stock up? I've actually never heard that before this thread - and you think I would have since my mom's family lives in Salt Lake and most of thier friends are Mormon. Guess it goes along with the "don't tell anybody" rule! I tried doing some internet research, but mostly only read that it's a good idea to store food and not really a better explanation.


ETA: ah, just found a pretty good explanation. It has roots in the Doctrine and the Covenants: "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear” I gather that the reason is simply that it's a good idea. Which is reason enough!

[Callieslamb]

I think I just figured out what SHTF means.

Many basic supplies don't have to be rotated. Think salt - what hurts it? Sugar - same. Beans. Wheat. Other items do need to be rotated.

Not all LDS (Mormons) keep a store of food. Those that do - do so because they were told to by their prophet -many, many years ago. they read the Bible too.

The spirit of homesteading that inspires each in this forum - is all about taking care of ourselves. A supply of food is basic to this idea. Better yet, a supply that we have provided for ourselves. I don't want the Govt to bail me out of trouble. I don't expect their trucks to roll up my drive if it rains, or a tornado comes or I sneeze or whatever. I don't think that is the role of govt. I don't want to rely on them if my electricity goes out for more than a few minutes. I have a responsibility to do what I can for myself. Then, if the worst happens, I will gladly accept help - first from my family, then my church - then the govt.

Storing food is better than a savings acct and if you have seen the rise in prices just these last few months - it might give you a better return on your investment too!

[treesonggal]

Alpacamom -

It's wonderful that you have an inquiring mind.
To answer your question, ask yourself these questions:

If my husband suddenly lost his job and was out of work for 6 months to a year, how would we survive?

If our area was hit by a natural disaster and we were without public utilities for 1-6 months, how would we survive?

If we lost our retirement account, savings or other monetary reserves due to bank failure, corruption, etc., what would we live on?

Everything may be wonderful now and anyone in their right mind would want the good times to continue but, life is full of risks, surprises, tragedies and none of us get through this life without at least one.

I've been up and I've been down, so to speak and going about my daily life unaware and unprepared is foolish. If you ever have to experience welfare, food pantries, soup kitchens and your children's cries because they're hungry, you'll wish yoiu had put aside a supply of food, toiletries, medicines and other emergency essentials.

Keep reading these posts and your eyes will be opened!

[Terri]

I don't stock up, particularly. Not at all!

But, when we had a lot of cukes, I pickled 'em. Hey, after raising them, why should I throw them out???

And, when I had too many home-raised blackberries, I froze them for winter time pies. YUM!

And, when I had a lot of pumpkins, I remembered that my kids love pumpkin bread. So, I baked the ones we didn't carve and I froze it in zip-lock bags. Why not?

And, when we have too many green beans.....but you get the idea!

[Maura]

When you buy in vast quantities with an idea to stock up, be realistic. Some things do not keep well. How much space in your freezer is devoted to food you will eat over the next 6 to 9 months, and how much is devoted to stuff nobody eats? Ditto for canned goods. And think about what your family really needs or wants to eat, not just what is on sale. Personally, I'd rather eat pork and beans than lima beans.

[newfieannie]

we should all be prepared.anything can happen. even if only for a few days is better than nothing. none of my friends bother. they just get a couple days of groceries. some not even that. I've been preparing since y2k. I'm alone so I took 2 bedrooms for my stuff. but as Maura said "be realistic. just buy what the family uses. I just went way overboard and ought to have my head examined. who in their right mind wants 75 cases of tuna especially when they can't stand the stuff! It was only when I put it in print in another thread that I realized it's stupid so as soon as I'm back home for good I have to do a complete overall and get rid of things that are taking up much needed room
Georgia.