If you go to the stores and there is nothing on the shelves, you've waited too long.

Even if there is a temporary supply problem, it is better to be prepared than to be hungry.

It's not hard to buy a little extra every time you go to the store.

I work at a restaurant and a week ago I ordered a 50 pound bag of rice...just in case

yikes, im scared. i will be going to the store tomorrow and buying lots of canned fruits

Stocking up is good, but it would also help to learn what plants and animals are edible in your particular location. Anybody got some useful links for that info?

Originally posted by psycospyder
I work at a restaurant and a week ago I ordered a 50 pound bag of rice...just in case

Get a 50# of flour, too, while the prices are cheap. Learn to make bread if you don't already know how. You'll be glad to have that knowledge.

I've been stocking food supplies away for several weeks now. I'd say I'm up to four months of survival, and two months of eating well. I'm relying on the news and my gut to say how much more I will hoard.

I am taking this situation very seriously.

I heard this before when the truckers across America went on strike.
There is money in trade, in shipping, in everything involved, and where there is money to be made...someone is going to make it. Where are the gas lines we were suppose to have? The $10 gallon gas?
Life goes on with its hills of prosperity and valleys of adjustments.

I personally welcome some adversity because it is during these times that we finally realize that we are a community and need each other. (remember the first couple of days after 9/11?)

When we don't have problems to solve we go our seperate selfish ways,
we weren't created to live like that, but we haven't learned that yet have we?
To those of you that ask the question; "why is it that if your God is all loving that he allows such tragedy to happen in the world"? There is your answer. It brings us together.
But I guess you could be right, we could certainly choose to be nothing more than scavengers willing to go all survival of the strong, and create a self fullfilling prophecy. Run to the stores and greedily buy up everything "you" need. Hey, if we got a couple hundred people together we could make a run on a grocery store and leave nothing behind but a couple of Cosmopolitan magazines. Then people would spread the word and soon grocery stores everywhere would have people buying them out.

....Its not good enough to use the excuse that you need enough food to last "x" amount of days until this "phantom" shipping crisis is over. You want to horde to the exclusion of others. Your survival is more important than anyone elses. I have no moral issue with that because it is up to the individual how they want to "evolve" or "de-evolve" I just have no interest in living like a cave man with the rest of you, so I have no interest in gearing up for "survivor".

You may share my MRE's if you are hungry.

I have over 50 cases of water and about 200 cans of green giant corn stockpiled in my basement. My fishing rod and rifle will also be on hand if need be.

People think I'm crazy when I tell them to start a canned food collection, but I don't really care.

Thanks for the heads up. I just took some notes on the flour and dried beans. I think everyone should contribute something to this thread. We need to give each other tips on what we need to stock up on. Make sure every one knows what they need. I just ordered a lot of vitamins. I have 2 bottles here already, but if push came to shove and we ran out of food vitamins would come in handy BIG TIME. Starred and Flagged

Yes, well stocked and have been for a while.

A couple of suggestions:

1) Mark the purchase date on your goods with a permanent marker. Always try to move the new purchases to the back and use the older stuff first. Rotation.

2) If you live in a relatively warm climate, grains, flour, dried pasta will develop flour wevils. They don't "find" your goods, their eggs are shipped with the goods. It's a by-product of manufacture and milling. Worry not, the eggs -- and the adult bugs, for that matter -- are just miniscule protein. However, wevils running rampant throughout your flour can foul it. To stop this process, freeze these goods for at least 24-hours, then seal them in a ziplock or other positive seal container. It'll never be a problem after that.

3) We rarely think of herbs and spices as survival goods, but ask anyone who has eaten the same dish over and over again, and they will tell you that spices matter. Plus they keep for a long time.

4) Unless you live by the sea or in northern Utah and have mastered the art of salt manufacture, salt is going to make a significant difference. Places of high humidity will cause the salt to clump, and the paper container to degrade. Ziplock.

5) Please don't forget water considerations, especially with dried goods. If you are -- for some reason -- unable to count on a water source, you might be better purchasing canned goods. Include water filtration, steralization, and storage into your scheme of things. You can live for weeks without food, mere days without water.

6) Sun-dried tomatoes, as well as other dried fruits (and nuts) are an excellent pound-for-pound source of nutrition, as well as being a good additive to your dried rice/beans.

7) Learn to can (actually bottle..... why is it called canning?) You can preserve meats, butter, cheese.... nearly everything, and once the jars, lids, rings, equipment are purchased, you'll be able to customize your favorite meals. Bottled MREs that actually have flavor.

8) Make or buy a tortilla press. Tortillas -- corn, wheat, coconut flour, almond flour -- keep longer than bread, and are very efficient at filling your belly, as well as being an on-the-go grain source, and a handy container to put your other goodies into for a one-pot dinner.

9) In an absence of regular supplies, vitamin C becomes critical. There's a myriad of ways to supply this. There is a product that we keep on hand, even though we have two lime trees and one orange tree: It's called True Lime, and has several tiny little packets of lime powder.

Good thread..... there's really no reason in my view to NOT stock up. Do it gradually and it doesn't hurt the pocketbook so much. Prices are probably not going to go down, so the worst case is you save some money.

Originally posted by argentus
2) If you live in a relatively warm climate, grains, flour, dried pasta will develop flour wevils. They don't "find" your goods, their eggs are shipped with the goods. It's a by-product of manufacture and milling. Worry not, the eggs -- and the adult bugs, for that matter -- are just miniscule protein. However, wevils running rampant throughout your flour can foul it. To stop this process, freeze these goods for at least 24-hours, then seal them in a ziplock or other positive seal container. It'll never be a problem after that.

Simply adding a couple of bay (laurel) leaves to it will keep the wevils away too

3) We rarely think of herbs and spices as survival goods, but ask anyone who has eaten the same dish over and over again, and they will tell you that spices matter. Plus they keep for a long time.

Not just taste, but herb and spices are essential to health. "Old time" remedies almost always include herbs and spices. Keep a good stock of these essential items.

Originally posted by argentus
4) Unless you live by the sea or in northern Utah and have mastered the art of salt manufacture, salt is going to make a significant difference. Places of high humidity will cause the salt to clump, and the paper container to degrade. Ziplock.

7) Learn to can (actually bottle..... why is it called canning?) You can preserve meats, butter, cheese.... nearly everything, and once the jars, lids, rings, equipment are purchased, you'll be able to customize your favorite meals. Bottled MREs that actually have flavor.

Throw a few kernels of unpopped popcorn in with your stored salt. It will help "agitate" the salt anytime the bag is moved around, preventing or lessening clumpage.

Canning is an excellent piece of advice. I just made and put up 5 quarts of apple butter Monday/Tuesday.