Food storage? Do you keep extra around? Why should we?!?!

Yes there might be a political bend to this. There is also practical reasons for bringing this up As some of you know, I am one of those food hording, enemy's of the state (LDS/Mormon)... Recently federal agents DID in fact, attempt to seize records of all those that purchased bulk foods from our (church) warehousing/food storage store. Why you ask?  There are many ways to control a populace... Food shortages can be a very effective tool. Seizure of food stores could be used to take from those that are prepared. If people have food storage against bad times. you can't control them. Just like we all buy guns/ammo, Should you think towards food as an Item of concern? We lived in Santa Cruz during the Loma Prieta quake. The stores cleared out fast! massive hording took place. We were able to share with our neighbors and all do very well without FEMA or other Government intervention As my friends and fellow NCKA brothers/sisters. I can suggest/help you to attain basic food staples. Not on a grand scale, but enough that you and your families could wait out trouble in the economy/job/transport/government sectors. I'm not a doom and gloom kind of person. I do like to be prepared and NEVER want to have my children come to me hungry and not be able to fill them with love and food... So many ways to get started cheaply, free stuff all over to store food in against spoilage. Preparedness gives you confidence and options should things go wrong. Living off the land might sound like a great thing, but with everyone doing it. Even mother nature won't have enough for everyone to forage. Ants,birds,squirrels, and I... store food. When you find a great sale on ??? Get two.

Glad you posted this. I'm slowly making survival kits for when the big one hits. I have one backpack right next to the front door that is ready to go. I plan to make one for every member of my family. My little truck is also getting some mods to be ready to be an emergency shelter. My family have already agreed to a designated safe place to meet when the shit hits the fan.

Somethings you can't be ready for but I could suggest http://beprepared.com/

Being in an apartment (for now) I only keep a minimal amount of emergency rations around. I totally agree that we all should have enough to live off of for a while for when, not if shit hits the fan. Having worked for the government both federal and local, I can tell you that when it hits the fan, your gonna be on your own for quite a while.

"Recently federal agents DID in fact, attempt to seize records of all those that purchased bulk foods from our (church) warehousing/food storage store."

 That scares the cr$% out of me!

Funny timing...I've been putting off building a true earthquake/emergency kit for a while now. My wife finally got tired of me saying "I really need to get a kit started" every time we saw some big natural disaster on the news, so for Christmas she got me a very nicely stocked emergency duffle off Amazon. Came with too much to mention here, but it was a nice addition to the amply supply of camping gear I always planned on using when the Big One hits. (You know It's coming) 

So now to top it off I need to stock food supplies, but I haven't looked into the best options yet. (Like I said, funny timing)  Other than stocking MRE's and backpacking meals, I'm not even sure how people do it. Canned goods, and rotate them out as the expiration dates roll around? Dry goods like beans & rice? (We generally have a lot of rice in the house, being that half the family is Japanese.) Curious as to how you guys do it...I know I can get good info here. 

If you go to a bakery. Some give away, some sell the buckets, that corn syrup comes in (2.5 gal size are great for an in car emergency bucket) After washing the super sticky stuff off.... You have an air tight, food grade bucket... (let them know on a wend, go back on fri for free) easy to stack in the back of a closet.... 5 gal buckets are also common. We store bulk foods in these. Sugar/beans/oats/flour.... I can get freeze dried refried beans (beans,salt) that fix up with hot water and taste great. Same with buttered mashed potatoes. 50# bags cheap.... Rice also... Beans and rice are a complete protein that you CAN live on. Another hint is at a store with a bulk food section you can buy an unopened bulk food item (20# noodles in sealed bagged box) and get a price break! I can access the LDS Canneries for Oats and soooo much more. Let me know if I can help

      I agree with you Ron.    Everytime there's a disaster ,we watch the news and see the people lined up for water and food hand-outs.      Rice and Beans store well... mixed with canned goods it'll seem like great table fare when you're hungry.
       I keep a huge supply in watertight bulk size containers, along with water, gasoline to keep the generator going  which keeps the freezer stores safe and the beer cold.   Porter is liquid grains ya know !
    Every year we have at least on episode where the power goes out , the road is blocked .  We all get to know the neighbors at these times , as there's nothing else to do.   

    Hate to sound like gloom and doom,   it's not a question of IF, but  WHEN.     If you're not ready yet,,, when ?

Clean Water is the big one for me. I had a couple of nasty bugs from bad water over the years...so the PUR filter and iodine tabs are on top.
Wekeep about a weeks worth of food...maybe two if rstioned reasonably.


Have a meeting place with your family all set. In 89 my roommate and I became the meeting g place at our house cause no one could get across the bridge.  Then wa6flh talked t o dad to relay messafes

Picked up this little handy wind-up lcd flash light / radio. Made by eGear.

How do you properly store water in one of these jugs?

Do you have to add a certain amount of bleach to keep algae or whatever from growing? I'm asking regarding long term storage of these type of jugs.
So how long does rice and beans keep for?

http://usacanbag.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1

So how long does rice and beans keep for?

Found this today:  https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/information_center/storage_life_of_foods.htm

My family have already agreed to a designated safe place to meet when the shit hits the fan.

Hokaido?



Survivalist stockpiles aside, anyone who doesn't have a fair supply of various types of beans and rices around is missing out.  Add a ham hock, (or pillager hock, after the End Times) and you're eating like a king.

I do believe in being prepared for devastating events such as earthquakes, floods, etc. At most right now I only have around 5-6 days of food on hand and don't believe it to be even close to enough.  We do have a creek for a water supply, and with some ingenuity could build a charcoal and sand filter to make it drinkable.  I'd like to get up to at least a two week supply of food for emergency usage.

On another note, i've been wondering how long someone could sustain themselves independently.  Thought about this several times since moving up to the mountains to live.  I've tried to envision scenarios where if society crashed, how would we survive?  Quick answer i've come up with is; not for very long any way you slice it.  I just don't have the resources to be able to stock pile enough of everything to be able to become self sustaining, by myself at least.