I think I am in the minority.

[JHuff8181]

Hi,

Over the past few months I have been trying to prepare for the possibility of hyperinflation and its specific impact on food items. I have been doing a lot of research and planning. My "To Do" list includes a larger vegetable garden, raising chickens, managing our 4 acre wood lot, possibly purchasing goats and pigs and of course food storage.

We are a family of 10 that spent nearly $20K on food last year (I have always tracked our spending with a budget). Obviously if food prices increase by 10 to 50 percent our costs could go way up. I have created a storage area in our finished basement (shelves and all) and have budgeted $2000.00 in cash to get started (my first goal is three months of meals).

Here's the problem, my wife does the food shopping and she doesn't see the need to store food. I explained that all she needs to do is make a list of our meals, including ingredients, and create a shopping list for 91 breakfasts, lunches and dinners. She seems to have no interest saying she will just purchase a little extra each week.

I see a lot of women on this site who seem to get it (more women than men). Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get her to understand why it is important to prepare? I don't want to sound too doom and gloom (my older kids already think I'm going a little crazy with this "Prep Stuff").

Thanks for your help.

John

[topside1]

Forget about Doom and Gloom and explain to her about the possibilities of ice storms, hurricanes, tital waves, contaiminated foods, fires, earthquakes, bird flu, fuel shortages, and of course many many more....You failed to post your location, but I'm sure some of the above may apply.

[seedspreader]

New Hampshire = snow storms, ice storms, power out... I take it you all haven't been hit with a good storm recently?

[topside1]

John, my wife really doesn't want to hear about my views or predictions either, but she does understand natural disasters and alike....so that helps.

[JHuff8181]

We recently went through five days with no power (ice storm). Since we always have a full pantry this actually strengthened her point. She saw this situation as the worst-case scenario. The biggest problem was no running water for shower or toilets. I am solving that with a small solar generator and a composting toilet.

John

PS:
Seedspreader – I’ve enjoyed your blog.

[seedspreader]

Thanks John... I have so much to write and post, this slow internet just demotivates me.

But back to your dilemma. 20K for a family of 10 for food is very high. Is she interested in any aspect of homesteading? Gardening or anything?

Also, is she OPPOSED to extra storage... I mean, it can't be a money issue (at least I wouldn't think so with your budget). If she is not opposed, and it's not a money issue, it's just a "her" issue. She may not want to be considered a nut, etc.

What if you just did the prep shopping yourself?

[AngieM2]

Can you interest her in the financial savings of buying during lost leader sales?

[Nevada]

Originally Posted by JHuff8181

Here's the problem, my wife does the food shopping and she doesn't see the need to store food.

We're headed for tough times for the long term. The Great Depression lasted about 12 years, if you define it as being roughly from the 1929 stock market crash until the beginning of WWII. I see no reason to believe that this depression will last any less than ten years.

During that time, we may suffer short term food shortages from time to time. It won't just be price, it may also be from disruptions in transportation and even the food supply itself. During those times you can expect short supermarket hours with armed security. There will always be some food available, but not necessarily what you want, in the quantities you want, and certainly not at the price you want. That's when you'll need an emergency food stash.

So what to keep? You need something that you can afford to stockpile, yet will keep for up to 10 years. You don't want canned goods, because they will eventually swell-up and go bad. Besides, canned goods are expensive. Probably the best hedge against a food shortage is dried beans and long grain rice. The are both inexpensive and keep at room temperature for many years.

You'll need some kind of fat to prepare your beans, and many people prefer fat with rice. Dietary fat also adds food value to your meal. However, I'm betting that you can find fat in even the most lean times. Anything will do; margarine, lard, bacon or sausage fat, butter, you name it. I believe you'll always be able to source margarine.

Buy your beans and rice in quantity. It doesn't take a huge investment. At Walmart you can get 20 pound bags of pinto beans for about $14, and 20 pound bags of long grain rice (it stores better than other varieties) for about $13. At those prices, an investment of under $150 will get you 100# of pinto beans and 100# of rice, which is a pretty good stash of emergency provisions. If it turns out that you don't need them then you're only out $150, and you can still feed it to your livestock ten years from now.

That said, YES, please prepare for what's coming.

[Terri]

I grew up in a family of 8.

My Mom always benefited from a pantry. There were times when she was too busy to get to the store, but, she could take something out and fix it.

Why don't you fix up a pantry for her? Rice, cake mix, tuna, spagetti, biscuit mix, etc. Ask her to replace anything that she uses. And, with so many mouths to feed, make it a GENEROUS amount of shelves! Don't worry about recipies yet, just get some good food on the shelves.

I realize that she is the guru of grocery shopping, but, you DO have a good idea! I suspect thatt she will ENJOY the pantry! And, once she sees the value of it, I think that she will be more cooperative.

A good cook can make many excellent things if she has the basic tools. For now, to get things started so that she sees the convenience of it, why don't you start her a pantry? Once my Mother had one, she decided to never be without one again.

THEN, perhaps that conversation about menus, then more canned goods, more spagetti, more of everything?

[sgl42]

Originally Posted by JHuff8181

We are a family of 10 that spent nearly $20K on food last year (I have always tracked our spending with a budget). [....] have budgeted $2000.00 in cash to get started (my first goal is three months of meals).

Seems if you eat the same things as now, then 3 months would cost $5k.

underlines mine:

Originally Posted by JHuff8181

Here's the problem, my wife does the food shopping and she doesn't see the need to store food. I explained that all she needs to do is make a list of our meals, including ingredients, and create a shopping list for 91 breakfasts, lunches and dinners. She seems to have no interest saying she will just purchase a little extra each week.

Is she really opposed to the idea, or just opposed to doing it exactly your way? sounds like perhaps you telling her exactly how to do it, instead of letting her deal with things in her own way, which creates extra work for her.

Your way seems to be create the menu list (bacon & eggs, oatmeal, etc) then create the shopping list, the purchase. Many people don't do it this way. They get up each morning, decide what sounds good and is available, then make it. When something starts to run low, they buy more. BOTH ways work. Its possible to have a storage program using both methods too, except instead of "buy more", it's "get from storage and buy more".

I'd suggest you sign yourself up for a little more of the work, eg, estimating how many times each quarter you have oatmeal for breakfast, and therefore how much oatmeal you'd like to have on hand, then suggesting she buy that amount of oatmeal. (Or, just suggest a 25 lb sack of oatmeal, and you can track how fast it gets eaten down.) And let her buy a little extra of other things each week as they're on sale or whatever her system is, and then you can track how fast it gets consumed.

I bought 25 lb bags of rice, various beans, wheat, etc. I know I have months worth, but can't tell you exactly how many months. But I am tracking when I replace it. So far, I eat about 25 lbs of rice per year, and about 25 lbs of wheat per quarter. Beans go farther so far (ie, 25 lbs of beans lasts longer than 1 year). I currently eat a fair amount of fresh veggies from the farmers market, and if that was unavailable, they beans and rice would be consumed faster.

--sgl

[Callieslamb]

Is your wife okay with spending the money on it? If so, then just go and buy it yourself. It is a LOT of work to make the list, go to the store, fetch it all, bag it all, put it in the car, take it out of the car, put it on shelves.....

Once you have the food on the shelves, she will have a great feeling about it being there. She then might start to have a better vision of why you want to do this. Some people have vision and move others need to be in the middle to get the whole picture first.

[unregistered29228]

Originally Posted by JHuff8181

Hi,

Over the past few months I have been trying to prepare for the possibility of hyperinflation and its specific impact on food items. I have been doing a lot of research and planning. My "To Do" list includes a larger vegetable garden, raising chickens, managing our 4 acre wood lot, possibly purchasing goats and pigs and of course food storage.

We are a family of 10 that spent nearly $20K on food last year (I have always tracked our spending with a budget). Obviously if food prices increase by 10 to 50 percent our costs could go way up. I have created a storage area in our finished basement (shelves and all) and have budgeted $2000.00 in cash to get started (my first goal is three months of meals).

Here's the problem, my wife does the food shopping and she doesn't see the need to store food. I explained that all she needs to do is make a list of our meals, including ingredients, and create a shopping list for 91 breakfasts, lunches and dinners. She seems to have no interest saying she will just purchase a little extra each week.

I see a lot of women on this site who seem to get it (more women than men). Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get her to understand why it is important to prepare? I don't want to sound too doom and gloom (my older kids already think I'm going a little crazy with this "Prep Stuff").

Thanks for your help.

John

Maybe it's the black and white of a menu in front of her...I know I wasn't comfortable planning menus at first. It's very disciplined and unimaginative writing down what you'll fix for dinner next wednesday. I used to prepare meals spur of the moment with whatever I had in the house.

I'd encourage her to buy extra cans of commonly used foods to start with. Compliment her choices and help her store it away, and then help her decide what's next in the stocking up department. Some people are also overwhelmed by the planning and extra steps needed to preserve the food (like rice or flour). Make lists of how many rolls of TP, how much shampoo, how many pounds of hamburger you use every week. It should start shaping up if you work together.

Explain how prices are going up every week, and the case of canned peas she buys this week will be worth more next week. You're lucky that money isn't the biggest issue...you can work through the "how to" issues, but money will help you stock up sensibly.

[Blu3duk]

having a full pantry supports your wife's idea of not storing food? by being able to eat for 5 days? I pretty much call that storing food, but on a short term scale..... what would have happened if that lasted 10 days? or in the case of a few years back like Spokane Washington's Ice storm and 3 weeks before power returned in some heavily populated areas? people had to seek out ways to cook, a way to wash clothes and then keep clean them selves.

People crazy about storage? maybe she has not read what Michael Chertoff had to say today....

Take stock of preparedness for disaster

By Michael Chertoff
With the [arrival of the] new year comes the inevitable urge to make ambitious resolutions for 2009. High on people's lists should be a resolve to become better prepared for emergencies.
Indeed, looking back at 2008, we see the importance of preparedness as we recall the return of an extremely active hurricane season, especially along the Gulf Coast.
While Hurricane Ike wreaked particularly serious devastation, the big bright spot throughout the season was the exemplary degree of preparedness displayed by large organizations.
In the wake of such storms, nonprofits like the American Red Cross and their local affiliates and counterparts pre-positioned food, supplies and volunteers near the affected areas, providing critical help on multiple levels for people and neighborhoods in need. At the governmental level, state and local officials worked well with our Department of Homeland Security in evacuation planning. DHS mobilized equipment, supplies, and people, including military and law enforcement resources, to operate side by side with these officials and their governments in order to protect life and property. And our Federal Emergency Management Agency had ambulances available to help individuals whose medical conditions warranted special intervention.
All too often, people take this assistance for granted. They assume that first responders will routinely ride to the rescue, arriving in time to meet human needs. Unfortunately such a benign outcome cannot be guaranteed. For one thing, disasters are unpredictable. Responders can't always reach the beleaguered in time. A host of obstacles can delay their arrival. News accounts of coordination lapses between fire and police departments in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Mumbai, India, highlight what can go wrong in the aftermath of a disaster.
Thus, preparedness should not be left to organizations alone. Individuals and families must engage in it as well. They must take preparedness measures of their own ahead of time, measures that can enable them to respond safely and faster when an emergency occurs.
That is why DHS, through its Ready Campaign, is now launching a nationwide effort, "Resolve to be Ready," to persuade individuals and families, as well as businesses and communities, to take decisive steps to prepare for emergencies in the coming year.
Americans are being encouraged to do three things - get an emergency supply kit; make a family emergency plan; and inform themselves about the potential emergencies in their area and how to respond to them.
While the Ready Campaign's annual survey this year, conducted by the Ad Council, reveals continued progress on this front, more needs to be done. Although nearly 60 percent of respondents claimed they had done something to prepare for emergencies, only 40 percent said they had created a family emergency plan.
Creating a culture of preparedness is indeed a challenge, but it is one that is well worth engaging.
Myrtle Beach Online The writer is secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Take stock of your pantry yourself, and make your own list, and then if need be take over buying case lots of some of those products on the pantry shelves for rotation..... Spending $7.00 per day per person is not really as bad as it sounds, though it can be cut a wee bit for most folks with a garden though not by much when you count in labor and water, and fertilizers and so forth nor it wont be cut much by raising your own meat, feed still has a cost and so does processing [and yes you can do your own and save more].... what raising your own does promote is better health and a ease of mind knowing where your foods actually came from and the process it went through getting to your table.

Crazy to store foods, more like crazy not to if you have the capability in these troubled times facing us in the near future in the economy.

ive got more information if you need it!

William
Idaho

[Terri]

Originally Posted by JHuff8181

We recently went through five days with no power (ice storm). Since we always have a full pantry this actually strengthened her point. She saw this situation as the worst-case scenario. The biggest problem was no running water for shower or toilets. I am solving that with a small solar generator and a composting toilet.

John

PS:
Seedspreader – I’ve enjoyed your blog.

Oh! GOOD!

Buy more food of the kind that she wants in the pantry! During an emergency, she does not NEED to cook as she usually does, she just needs to be able to cook.

During an emergency, it does not MATTER if the family is used to eating waffles once a week, biscuits twice a week, and so forth. She only has to be able to cook something! If she fixes biscuits 3 days a week instead, I expect the kdis will eat it and LIKE it! (Especially if there is jelly in the new, larger pantry!)

[Ernie]

One of the side benefits of storing quite a bit of food is that I don't really have to plan out the week's meals to a large degree. We can take a quick poll and see what everyone's in the mood for and chances are it's either down in the cellar or in one of the freezers.

Tonight was one of those "I don't feel like cooking nights" so we just went out to the freezer and grabbed some frozen turkey and then dropped it into a pot with some wild rice and garlic. While I didn't feel like cooking, I CERTAINLY felt like eating and now I feel like I might pop at any minute.

[ladycat]

Originally Posted by Ernie

One of the side benefits of storing quite a bit of food is that I don't really have to plan out the week's meals to a large degree.

Yep! I usually don't know what I'm going to cook until shortly before. I just think of what I feel like having, then fix it. I have EVERYTHING on hand for just about any meal I can think of.

[CindyLou62]

As a mother, seeing my boys go hungry would be torture only second to them dying.[strongsad[strongsad

[Joyfulspring]

We're also a family of ten, but we spend about $600 monthly on food (ie, $7200 yearly vs $20,000), and that includes extra to build up our pantry. Plus we eat a healthy diet and have some dietary restrictions which make it more expensive for us than the average family. You might want to consider looking at the amount you're spending, and see where it's all going. If you don't have our limitations, you should have no problem easily keeping it at $1000 monthly.

I wouldn't be receptive to my dh if he told me 'all' I had to do was plan 90 something days worth of meals. Do you know how much work that is?!? I don't even think that's the most efficient way to do it. I've never stocked our pantry by planning first; my menu is based on what I have on hand. I buy in bulk what I know we use; we constantly are using our supplies, it's not as if we just have them for emergencies, so I know this system works well over the long term.

In our house, I'm the one interested in prepping, so I do it. I'd suggest if you're the one who's interested, you get busy shopping. Buying the quantities necessary for large families like ours is a big undertaking. Buying, bringing home, emptying all those bulk sacks of food is work! And maintaining it and keeping it organized is an significant ongoing effort. Don't underestimate what's involved and just assume your wife should take it on because she does the cooking.

If your wife can see the wisdom in having a few extra days of food on hand, I doubt she'd be against you going a little further, or even a lot further, if you're taking responsibility for it. There's a lot of security in having your own mini store! But give her time to get on board, and don't talk so much about doing it, just do it.

[Beltane]

Hello John ~

Where are you located? Maybe your wife and I already shop at the same stores....

Laurie

[Bonnie L]

I don't plan meals ahead of time - but I do stock up. Home canned stuff in winter is the easiest. If my dh told me to plan 3 months of meals, I would either go to bed with a splitting headache or suddenly become quite deaf!