Food Cache

So I was bored this weekend and decided to inventory my food cache/reserves. Yes, I was that bored.

Now, for anyone reading or posting in a survival forum, I like to take the liberty to assume you know what a food reserve is. The whole store what you eat, eat what you store type of a thing. Have enough on hand for x number of people for x number of days, etc...

For those who don’t stockpile foodstuffs, open your fridge and cupboards and figure out how long that will actually feed you and your family in an emergency, i.e. no grocery stores, restaurants, etc... People who stockpile food, not to be confused with people who hoard, are not lunatics or fanatics, just people who don’t really feel like starving should a disaster hit, food lines are cut, depression, etc...

I have included a list of items in American lbs that I currently have set aside, and ask others to do the same. Also questions and answers about storage techniques, web links to good food storage companies, etc... are also welcomed.

Please Note: There are some people who prefer MRE's, 10 lb cans of Mountain House, or whatever, and this works for them. That’s fine, I don’t want to get into an argument about what the very best way to stockpile is. We all live in different areas, have different incomes, and # of people to think about. This thread is to share ideas, plans and what, as a survivalist community, we have set aside for some unforeseen day.

Dry Goods
Flour 500lbs
Salt 200lbs
Sugar 200lbs
Baking Soda 30lbs
Baking Powder 25lbs
Beans (asst) 250lbs
Rice (white and long) 150lbs
MRES 10 packages
Ramen 5 cases
Mainstay Bars 30
Granola 25lbs
Oats 70lbs
Yellow Popcorn 25lbs
Dehydrated Eggs 15lbs
Dehydrated Milk 100lbs
Spices (various) 15lbs
Coffee 50lbs
Tea 15lbs
Dry Potatoes 30lbs
Water enhancer’s 40lbs
Peanut Butter 35lbs

Home-Canned Goods (items I have canned or purchased locally)
Meats 75 quarts
Fish 100 quarts
Jams/Jellies 250 pints
Honey Roughly 55lbs
Veggies (carrots, beets, tomatoes, beans, peas, etc…) Roughly 400 pints

Purchased Canned goods
Meats (spam, etc…) Roughly 30lbs
Soups/Stews 35cans
Asst. Veggies 25cans

Other items
Fruit Leathers
Nuts in the shell
Yeast
Various dry goods, i.e. mushrooms, noodles, etc…
Heirloom seeds (minimum of two types of veg. as one may hybridize)
Root Vegetables, rutabaga, turnip, onions, sugar beets

This is what I dug up this weekend, if I think to add or simply missed something will add later. All of this is in storage, which I do use, and or give away as I am able to add fresh meats, fish, and vegetables to what I currently have listed. If you actually read all of this, wow, thank you.

Wow, it looks like you are planning to hunker down for a long long time.
Unless you are feeding a lot of mouths, I would say you have a fairly
good list. I don't have anywhere near the amounts you are referring to,
but I have mostly canned goods such as vegetables, cooking oil, etc. I tend
to pile up on canned goods because they have the longest shelf life. If you look at the average can of corn or beans, they can last for up to three
years or even longer. Just be sure to store them in a cool part of the house where the sun doesn't shine directly on them.

I would also suggest various types of canned fruit because there will
be days when your sweet tooth kicks in. Store things like flour, corn meal,
sugar,etc. in sealed packages and then in metal sealable cans. And don't
open them until absolutely necessary. The less time food is exposed to the air and humidity, the longer they will last.

Pancake mix is another item you can safely store in large quantites that
will last for a long time on the shelf. Nothing like a good ol' Aunt Jamima
flapjack on a cool morning. Actually any morning. And syrup will last for
a couple of years with no problem. Spices will last for quite awhile also.

I know I have left out a lot of things, but everyone would come up with a
different list anyway. Just being prepared for any length of time is the
smartest way to be. If you have a pet, you might want to make sure that
they have lots of bags of dry food. That will last a long time too. I come up
with ideas quite often as to what I think would be necessary for the
long haul. When I am at the grocery store, I usually see something that
I would like to have in an emergency and buy a quantity of it. Hope my
ideas help you with your planning.

[edit on 22-3-2010 by endtimer]

reply to post by endtimer



Cooking oil was the one thing I found to be lacking. I tend to grease with lard and butter (I have a farmer a mile down the road, also get eggs there)

I tap birch trees in the spring for syrup, no maple trees here, and I dont create enough to trade or stockpile so its not high on my list.

The pancake mix is good, however, I keep a sourdough starter active. I make my pancakes, biscuits, and most bread from that. I do have yeast in reserve in case my starter would fail or freeze, but Ive had it for 3 years now, and it works.

One thing I did fail to type out was water. Granted, I do have a well, but I keep around 50 gallons on hand at any one time. Treated lightly with bleach of course.

Overall, its not really about what you keep on hand, just be aware of what you use, and stockpile that I guess. As long as you keep it dry, sealed, and away from mice, and ROTATE your stock, anyone should be fine. I always plan for the worst, hence the huge numbers. Growing wheat for flour or growing salt for that matter in my area isnt a simple thing, thats why you see the big numbers there. Whereas, fish and game are everywhere, hence the lower stocks.

It would be cool to have a farmer close by that could supply things
like fresh milk, eggs and cream to make butter, etc.
And yes, I do rotate my stores on a constant basis. When I get low
on a certain item, I resupply it, although I do have enough on hand of
each item to last quite awhile if events go bad overnight and I couldn't get to the store for a long time. The only concern I would have for you is if you weren't able to actually go outside for a long time because of
a nuclear blast. I guess the fresh cream and cheese and eggs will have
to be forgotten about. In that case you would indeed be hunkered down
and hope that the radiation doesn't kill you and everything else. Water
is one item that we have been stocking up on lately. That definitely is
needed long before that can of vegetables.

Food Dehydrators are relatively inexpensive, maybe 50 bucks or so for mine. They're great for banana chips and jerky and such and stay good for a long time in a regular old ziploc bag. Spraying whatever fruit you're dehydrating with a little lime or lemon juice will make it last even longer.

Flour rapidly degrades nutritionally. It would be better to keep grain whole and mill as needed.

www.healthbanquet.com...

I keep a similar food cache... heavy on rice and lentils. I'm probably good for 6 months if everything shuts down.

I purchase bulk items through a UNFI buyer's club like 5 gallon containers of oil, gallon cans of ketchup, 3 gallon jugs of soy sauce, 15 lbs of fruit preserves... all certified organic.

I recently discovered I have celiac's disease... so no more wheat or barley in the cache.

Sri Oracle

reply to post by salchanra



I didnt know you could tap birch trees for syrup, is it as good as maple tree syrup? We have lots of birch trees around here, I would like to try and tap some if I thought it was worth while.