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Stockpiling food

Stockpiling food
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  • Are you stockpiling?
    Yes.
    2%
    1
    Yes, but I always do.
    35%
    18
    No.
    55%
    28
    Not yet, but I'm considering it.
    8%
    4
    Total votes : 51
  • Stockpiling food

    Post #1 - April 29th, 2008, 7:36 am
    Post #1 - April 29th, 2008, 7:36 am Post #1 - April 29th, 2008, 7:36 am
    Image

    Family Food Stockpile for Survival, 1977 (pdf)

    Ready.gov PSA on food storage for emergency preparedness, 2006

    A variety of commentators are seriously recommending that consumers stockpile food.

    Brett Arends, Wall Street Journal wrote:Load Up the Pantry

    I don't want to alarm anybody, but maybe it's time for Americans to start stockpiling food.

    No, this is not a drill.

    You've seen the TV footage of food riots in parts of the developing world. Yes, they're a long way away from the U.S. But most foodstuffs operate in a global market. When the cost of wheat soars in Asia, it will do the same here.

    Reality: Food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund. And there are very good reasons to believe prices on the shelves are about to start rising a lot faster.

    "Load up the pantry," says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street's top investors and the manager of the Quaker Strategic Growth mutual fund. "I think prices are going higher. People are too complacent. They think it isn't going to happen here. But I don't know how the food companies can absorb higher costs." (Full disclosure: I am an investor in Quaker Strategic)

    Stocking up on food may not replace your long-term investments, but it may make a sensible home for some of your shorter-term cash....


    Scott Mayerowitz, ABC wrote:Time to Stockpile Food?
    A Guide to Preparing for Rising Food Costs or That Next Big Emergency

    Worried about the dramatically rising cost of food? Afraid of a shortage?

    Well, then maybe it's time to clean out that old Cold War-era bunker and stockpile your favorite treats. Just move those gas masks to the side and start stacking up the canned string beans.

    OK, so maybe that is a bit extreme. But some families have been talking about stockpiling to hedge against further increases and possible shortages....

    The Department of Homeland Security recommends that all families store at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food. The government suggest selecting foods that require no refrigeration, preparation or cooking and little or no water. Also, remember to pack a manual can opener and eating utensils.

    Here are some other suggestions from the government on what to store:

    Avoid salty foods, as they will make you thirsty.
    Choose foods your family will eat.
    Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits and vegetables
    Protein or fruit bars
    Dry cereal or granola
    Peanut butter
    Dried fruit
    Nuts
    Crackers
    Canned juices
    Non-perishable pasteurized milk
    High energy foods
    Vitamins
    Food for infants
    Comfort/stress foods....


    Edited to fix broken PSA link.
    Last edited by LAZ on April 29th, 2008, 5:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.
  • Post #2 - April 29th, 2008, 7:48 am
    Post #2 - April 29th, 2008, 7:48 am Post #2 - April 29th, 2008, 7:48 am
    Not really a stockpile, we always have a few gallons of extra water, as well as some dry and canned goods in the basement. We have been doing this since the uncertainty after 9/11, and rotate the food to gurantee freshness. We will probably increase the levels we stock, especially the bottled water. Better to be safe than sorry.

    I dont forsee food riots, but perhaps I will prepare a half acre of my property I dont really use, and plant some crops. :wink:
  • Post #3 - April 29th, 2008, 7:52 am
    Post #3 - April 29th, 2008, 7:52 am Post #3 - April 29th, 2008, 7:52 am
    jimswside wrote:I dont forsee food riots, but perhaps I will prepare a half acre of my property I dont really use, and plant some crops. :wink:


    That's an excellent idea! :D
    "Don't you ever underestimate the power of a female." Bootsy Collins
  • Post #4 - April 29th, 2008, 8:02 am
    Post #4 - April 29th, 2008, 8:02 am Post #4 - April 29th, 2008, 8:02 am
    I always have a pretty good stock of dry goods in my pantry. Crackers, peanut butter, rice, noodles, canned vegetables and fruit. Plus we usually buy a case of V8 and Gatorade from Sam's Club and there's always some type of juice on hand as well.

    I'm also putting out a larger than usual vegetable garden this year to sort of supplement my produce buying, but mainly, I just like having a vegetable patch.
    One Mint Julep was the cause of it all.
  • Post #5 - April 29th, 2008, 8:59 am
    Post #5 - April 29th, 2008, 8:59 am Post #5 - April 29th, 2008, 8:59 am
    Drat, I thought this was an eat local thread.

    We stockpiled from November until a few weeks ago--apples, potatoes, root veg, etc. Actually, we still have some stuff left, especially onions and garlic. And that's not counting the meat and things in the freezers.
    Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.
  • Post #6 - April 29th, 2008, 8:59 am
    Post #6 - April 29th, 2008, 8:59 am Post #6 - April 29th, 2008, 8:59 am
    Not a stockpiler myself (it's how I was raised; nothing irked my parents more than going into a grocery store the night before a predicted snowstorm or even the occasional hurricane and seeing the bread aisle empty due to the stockpilers).

    However, I did increase my usual summer CSA to a 20-week share (from a 12-week) figuring that it's kind of like hedging on the price of produce. It probably means I'll have a lot of cucumbers in the beginning of the summer. But I can eat them all day when they're sliced thin on the grater, salted, then squeezed out and tossed with red wine vinegar and a pinch of sugar.
  • Post #7 - April 29th, 2008, 11:50 am
    Post #7 - April 29th, 2008, 11:50 am Post #7 - April 29th, 2008, 11:50 am
    aschie30 wrote:However, I did increase my usual summer CSA to a 20-week share (from a 12-week) figuring that it's kind of like hedging on the price of produce.


    That is a good thought. If you can lock the price early (as one can do with some CSAs, like Genesis Farms), you can protect yourself from future price increases. Contracts also help the CSA with cost planning/projections, so that's a good thing, too.
    "Don't you ever underestimate the power of a female." Bootsy Collins
  • Post #8 - April 29th, 2008, 1:02 pm
    Post #8 - April 29th, 2008, 1:02 pm Post #8 - April 29th, 2008, 1:02 pm
    I have always stockpiled basic food items, but not because I think it is a good investment. I just think it is a prudent thing to do. If I look at all the possible calamities that are beyond my control, there is very little that I can do about any of them. Moreover, nuclear or chemical war, terrorist attack, natural disaster, etc., are to me all very remote possibilities, at least for someone living in the midwestern suburbs not in a flood plane. I think that the likeliest possibility is an epidemic. Whether bird flu, or smallpox, or something we have never heard of, some sort of contagious disease is the only thing that really worries me. Though the chances are still remote, if something like this started spreading, the safest thing to do would be to lock your family in your home until it passes or a vaccine is made. I try to keep 30-60 days of "emergency rations" in my house, mostly rice and beans and canned goods. I rotate it annually and donate it to food banks. While I am fairly confident that I will never need to use this stockpile, it is fairly easy to do, and it could make a big difference in what I think is the least unlikely of all the possible scenarios.

    -Will
  • Post #9 - April 29th, 2008, 3:23 pm
    Post #9 - April 29th, 2008, 3:23 pm Post #9 - April 29th, 2008, 3:23 pm
    This will show where my priorities are. While others in this thread are stockpiling vegetables, in the last two months or so, I've been stockpiling Australian red licorice. :oops:

    It started in the last few months with strawberry Darryl Lee licorice selling out at I think all of Trader Joe's Chicago-area stores. At first, I thought it was just my TJ, but then I started hearing from different people that their TJs were no longer stocking it. I didn't believe these reports, so I started checking for myself. The red licorice had disappeared! I started worrying about my access to Australian licorice.

    The prices for Kookaburra licorice in Chicago area stores I knew were on the high side--namely Fox & Obel--so I started to comparison shop.

    $5.99 for a bag of red Kookaburra at Fox & Obel
    $4.99 " " at World Market in Evanston
    $2.99 " " at Valli Produce in Arlington Heights

    Between Valli's location--it's not the easiest place for me to get to--and how much lower their price is compared to the other stores I've checked, I started stocking up, buying a bag on every trip. My real stockpiling, however, began yesterday. I went with the intention of buying a single bag of licorice, but then I noticed that Valli's display of Kookaburra had been largely taken over by Brach's candies! I was horrified! There was no more black Kookaburra and only three pegs of red. I thought of buying all of the remaining bags, then decided three was more rational. Standing at the display, holding the three bags, I started to become aware of how this craziness had developed and so finally settled on two bags. I've never been a stockpiler, but I can see how this could be a slippery slope... :)
  • Post #10 - April 29th, 2008, 4:42 pm
    Post #10 - April 29th, 2008, 4:42 pm Post #10 - April 29th, 2008, 4:42 pm
    happy_stomach wrote:This will show where my priorities are. While others in this thread are stockpiling vegetables, in the last two months or so, I've been stockpiling Australian red licorice.

    HS, this made me laugh out loud. :)

    I recently stockpiled gallons of water. We had a pipe burst in our basement and had to shut off the water at which point I realized we had but three toilet flushes and a few 1/2-liter bottles of water on hand. I am now the proud owner of 20 + gallons of water.

    I tend to stockpile lump charcoal, but that's more due to making sure I have it on hand for the emergency 4am spare rib smoke than fear of the balloon going up.

    Enjoy,
    Gary
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #11 - April 29th, 2008, 6:16 pm
    Post #11 - April 29th, 2008, 6:16 pm Post #11 - April 29th, 2008, 6:16 pm
    I did read somewhere (cold comfort to GWiv, I know) that if there's an emergency, your hot-water heater holds more water than you probably want to stockpile in gallons, and it's probably a good idea to drain it once in a while anyway. (also depends where the pipe bursts) For drinking, you might want to run it through a Brita or somesuch as it may contain mineral deposits, but this probably isn't crucial if your plumbing is relatively new.

    As for stockpiling, I think I've told this story before, but I started to do it during 9/11, and realized it was silly, as I have weeks worth of food in my pantry at any given time.
  • Post #12 - April 29th, 2008, 6:39 pm
    Post #12 - April 29th, 2008, 6:39 pm Post #12 - April 29th, 2008, 6:39 pm
    happy_stomach wrote:
    It started in the last few months with strawberry Darryl Lee licorice selling out at I think all of Trader Joe's Chicago-area stores. At first, I thought it was just my TJ, but then I started hearing from different people that their TJs were no longer stocking it. I didn't believe these reports, so I started checking for myself. The red licorice had disappeared! I started worrying about my access to Australian licorice.


    World Market usually stocks Darrell Lea licorice in a few flavors -- at least they have had it every time I've gone. I fancy the mango, myself.

    If it vanishes from World Market, a quick Google search for Australian licorice, Darrell Lea, turned up a wide range of sites that sell it -- plus a few sites that sell other Aussie licorice (including Kookaburra). You may not find bargains, like at Valli, but you may at least find a steady supply.
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #13 - April 29th, 2008, 7:07 pm
    Post #13 - April 29th, 2008, 7:07 pm Post #13 - April 29th, 2008, 7:07 pm
    Cynthia wrote:
    happy_stomach wrote:
    It started in the last few months with strawberry Darryl Lee licorice selling out at I think all of Trader Joe's Chicago-area stores. At first, I thought it was just my TJ, but then I started hearing from different people that their TJs were no longer stocking it. I didn't believe these reports, so I started checking for myself. The red licorice had disappeared! I started worrying about my access to Australian licorice.


    World Market usually stocks Darrell Lea licorice in a few flavors -- at least they have had it every time I've gone. I fancy the mango, myself.

    If it vanishes from World Market, a quick Google search for Australian licorice, Darrell Lea, turned up a wide range of sites that sell it -- plus a few sites that sell other Aussie licorice (including Kookaburra). You may not find bargains, like at Valli, but you may at least find a steady supply.


    I was eating the Darrell Lea because it seemed easier to find and cheaper than Kookaburra, but I actually prefer the latter. The fruit taste in Kookaburra seems more pure. Do you know if the Australian licorice they stock in the glass jars and sell by weight at the candy counter at Fox & Obel is made by Kookaburra or is that Darrell Lea? From there, I've purchased strawberry, raspberry (I think), mango and black currant. While I liked the mango a lot initially, I reached my limit with the flavor pretty quickly. I continue to love the black currant however.

    I have thought of ordering my licorice online, but I think my licorice stockpiling craziness has become a crutch. I may eventually get desperate enough and just have some shipped to me. :)
  • Post #14 - April 29th, 2008, 7:40 pm
    Post #14 - April 29th, 2008, 7:40 pm Post #14 - April 29th, 2008, 7:40 pm
    happy_stomach wrote:This will show where my priorities are. While others in this thread are stockpiling vegetables, in the last two months or so, I've been stockpiling Australian red licorice.


    I've been stockpiling canned brisket and duck leg confit. Now I wish I had a chest freezer.
  • Post #15 - April 29th, 2008, 8:40 pm
    Post #15 - April 29th, 2008, 8:40 pm Post #15 - April 29th, 2008, 8:40 pm
    Not so much because of food prices, but because of a back-burner low-boil worry I have about some regional crisis (very back-burner and low-boil because I've lived in the Chicago area my whole life and no such crisis has ever occurred), I do remind myself occasionally that I should stock up on emergency supplies.

    Then I think of all my brothers and sisters, most of whom live in the Chicago area, and Sweet Baboo's kids who live with their mother, and I wonder how am I going to orchestrate an adequate emergency response for six households all at the same time, and I feel overwhelmed and opt to think about it later.

    But crises aside, I do always have a stock of canned goods --a lot of beans -- too many beans, if you ask Sweet Baboo; he is always trying to sneak them into the food pantry donation bag. But then, if it were up to him we'd stockpile Baker's Square French Silk pies.

    And I'm always well stocked with dried pastas, frozen meat, and frozen vegetables.

    And wine. Not that it's a lifesaver, though I don't doubt that after 48 hours in a bomb shelter I'd start thinking of it that way.
  • Post #16 - April 30th, 2008, 8:59 am
    Post #16 - April 30th, 2008, 8:59 am Post #16 - April 30th, 2008, 8:59 am
    My mother has been stockpiling food as far back as I can remember. She has an always-full freezer full of meats and at least two closets worth of shelf-stable products. When my brother from Boston comes to town, he and his wife will often amuse themselves while my mother is out foraging for more sale items by looking at the expiration dates of the food my mother has been hoarding for years and tossing some of it out. I'm not sure what she is saving it for -- it's only her and my dad now in the house, and frankly, they don't eat that much. She recently sent over a half can of McCormick spices that may be older than me, as she is not using it any more and can't bear to throw it away.

    As for me, I stopped stockpiling several years ago. We used to keep lots of shelf stable products in the basement because we belonged to a natural food coop and I was buying a lot of items by the case. That was fine, until the winter we had the rodent infestation. By the time the mice moved upstairs in search of additional food, they had eaten through anything not in a can and left a horrible mess in my basement pantry area. I lost a case of cereal, lots of dried rice, beans and barley and there was mouse poop everywhere. The little buggers had gorged themselves silly.

    Suzy
    " There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life."
    - Frank Zappa
  • Post #17 - May 1st, 2008, 11:43 am
    Post #17 - May 1st, 2008, 11:43 am Post #17 - May 1st, 2008, 11:43 am
    As Food Prices Rise, Shoppers Stock Up

    Another Wall Street Journal piece on stockpiling, with a chart on price hikes and projected price hikes.
  • Post #18 - May 16th, 2008, 1:21 pm
    Post #18 - May 16th, 2008, 1:21 pm Post #18 - May 16th, 2008, 1:21 pm
    happy_stomach wrote:It started in the last few months with strawberry Darryl Lee licorice selling out at I think all of Trader Joe's Chicago-area stores. At first, I thought it was just my TJ, but then I started hearing from different people that their TJs were no longer stocking it. I didn't believe these reports, so I started checking for myself. The red licorice had disappeared! I started worrying about my access to Australian licorice.


    happy_stomach,

    I have some very happy news for you which you may not have known - TJs has started restocking the red Australian licorice! It is currently in stock at the TJs on Ontario. The clerk saw my package and remarked that she was so glad they had restocked it and that it was no longer discontinued.
  • Post #19 - May 18th, 2008, 7:58 pm
    Post #19 - May 18th, 2008, 7:58 pm Post #19 - May 18th, 2008, 7:58 pm
    aschie30 wrote:happy_stomach,

    I have some very happy news for you which you may not have known - TJs has started restocking the red Australian licorice!.


    Thanks! I discovered the new stock of red licorice at the Arlington Heights TJ last week and bought two containers. :oops: :D
  • Post #20 - May 18th, 2008, 8:53 pm
    Post #20 - May 18th, 2008, 8:53 pm Post #20 - May 18th, 2008, 8:53 pm
    I'm surprised at all the people who consider catastrophe at least likely enough to prepare for--not because I don't consider it likely enough, but because I thought I was the only one. (Except I'm not doing anything to prepare, just worrying.)
  • Post #21 - May 19th, 2008, 8:47 am
    Post #21 - May 19th, 2008, 8:47 am Post #21 - May 19th, 2008, 8:47 am
    riddlemay wrote:I'm surprised at all the people who consider catastrophe at least likely enough to prepare for--not because I don't consider it likely enough, but because I thought I was the only one. (Except I'm not doing anything to prepare, just worrying.)


    When Y2K was the pending catastrophe du jour, I had a friend who lived in the country. She offered her home to flee to as long as we brought our own food and toilet paper.

    Due to canning and a freezer, we have a lot of food in our household. One of my neighbors remarked she knew where she was heading in a disaster. She has moved, thus the moral moment of sharing in a moment of disaster disapeared.

    I have a friend who shops once a week. If she fails to shop, she has no food. I think she cuts it a bit too close to edge. When we had the new year's day snowstorm some years ago. I called her the day before insisting she get extra milk and food, because she was likely to be holed up for a few days. Thankfully she took my advice, because it was a few days before she was dug out of her home.

    Regards,
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #22 - May 25th, 2008, 4:22 am
    Post #22 - May 25th, 2008, 4:22 am Post #22 - May 25th, 2008, 4:22 am
    Something we all probably knew -- the "use-by" dates on most food products are highly conservative. Food that's properly stored can usually last longer, in some cases much longer than the manufacturers say it can, particularly dry foods that aren't particularly perishable in the first place.

    Science Daily wrote:Some low-moisture foods such as dried apples can be safe to eat even years after their expiration date, if properly stored, food chemists say. They verified this in a tasting experiment of 28-year-old rolled oats. Heat, moisture and light can degrade food's nutritional value....

    But be careful of whole grains. Rancid brown rice might sustain life, but not pleasantly.
  • Post #23 - May 25th, 2008, 10:30 pm
    Post #23 - May 25th, 2008, 10:30 pm Post #23 - May 25th, 2008, 10:30 pm
    Both sets of my grandparents were serious stockpilers- growing up in the Depression will do that to a person, I think. They just had more respect for food than my brother and I, and even our parents. I learned a lot about it from one grandma in particular, who could also stretch a food dollar like nobody's business (though, on that angle, I sure wish I'd been paying closer attention :( )

    We're moving from condo to house soon, and every house we look at, we say, "Ok, the extra fridge can go here, and were will the Costco shelves go?" Personally I'll be relieved to have enough room to stockpile- like some others, not necessarily because I believe we'll be beset by serious calamity, but because of factors like bad weather and hectic lives that will be easier with some stockpiling. And if we ARE beset by serious calamity, well, better to be safe than sorry.
  • Post #24 - September 2nd, 2008, 7:37 pm
    Post #24 - September 2nd, 2008, 7:37 pm Post #24 - September 2nd, 2008, 7:37 pm
    And gathering sweet corn while we may?

    On a recent early-morning walk with Fuzzball, I listened to an NPR Food podcast on the subject of current and near-future meat prices. For reasons I cannot clearly remember (see: early morning), the warning was that prices for beef, and presumably other types of meat, are bound to surge upwards, starting in September.

    My own set-points lately have been $8/pound for the finer cuts, $4/pound for the tough/lean/round cuts, and, I used to think for years, $1/pound for ground beef, but apparently that's unrealistic now, and $3/pound is a good price. Below those thresholds it seems to me to be a sale. What do you think? Now, I'm talking supermarket choice grade here, not prime grade from a specialty butcher.

    Separately, I saw an article in the Chicago Tribune about the effect of recent drought conditions in the Midwest, and its possible effect on corn prices. Whether sweet corn or feed corn was the main topic of concern, again, I can't remember. (Perhaps I should start drinking a cup of coffee or tea before the early-morning walks).

    So I'm wondering, should those of us with freezer space be stocking up on cuts of beef now, whenever we see them at good prices?

    And I'm also wondering, well, maybe sweet corn can be cut off the hull and frozen, but perhaps not worth stockpiling, considering the cost compared to frozen corn. But right now I'm seeing it at about the best prices typical of summer: 4/$1, unknown origin, at Target; 3/88 cents for very local Didier Farms corn at Sunset. The best height-of-summer price I think you'll ever see for good sweet corn is 5/$1, and I haven't seen that yet. Maybe, what with the drought, we won't see it this year.

    Anyway, fresh sweet corn is great, but corn is relatively cheap, and always available frozen and fairly cheap. What about beef right now? Buy and hold?
    "Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"
  • Post #25 - September 2nd, 2008, 9:10 pm
    Post #25 - September 2nd, 2008, 9:10 pm Post #25 - September 2nd, 2008, 9:10 pm
    Katie wrote:What about beef right now? Buy and hold?


    No. Buy and eat... preferably same day.
  • Post #26 - September 2nd, 2008, 9:15 pm
    Post #26 - September 2nd, 2008, 9:15 pm Post #26 - September 2nd, 2008, 9:15 pm
    Jay K wrote:
    Katie wrote:What about beef right now? Buy and hold?


    No. Buy and eat... preferably same day.


    unless "hold" means "dry age"
    ...defended from strong temptations to social ambition by a still stronger taste for tripe and onions." Screwtape in The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis

    Fuckerberg on Food
  • Post #27 - September 2nd, 2008, 11:34 pm
    Post #27 - September 2nd, 2008, 11:34 pm Post #27 - September 2nd, 2008, 11:34 pm
    I'd have to say no as well. I always buy a little extra meat when it is a good price and freeze it but I use it within a few weeks, and that is really only chicken and ground beef and ground turkey. How much would you be able to stockpile and keep frozen more than a few months? Especially since most grocery store meat has been frozen already, you don't really want to refreeze. And I don't like the idea of keeping good cuts of meat in the freezer for too long.

    But lets hope meat prices don't go up anymore.
    Heather

    "As for butter versus margarine, I trust cows more than chemists." Joan Gussow
  • Post #28 - September 12th, 2018, 10:19 pm
    Post #28 - September 12th, 2018, 10:19 pm Post #28 - September 12th, 2018, 10:19 pm
    Hurricane Florence: Do these in your refrigerator and freezer now, before power goes out

    Lots of great tips for anyone who endures power outtages, my favorite canary:

    Put a bowl or ziplock bag of ice cubes in your freezer if you’re not going to be home while the power is off. If you get home and find they melted and refroze into a solid block, you know the freezer was out long enough that the food inside will need to be thrown out.
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #29 - September 12th, 2018, 10:26 pm
    Post #29 - September 12th, 2018, 10:26 pm Post #29 - September 12th, 2018, 10:26 pm
    I've seen a variation on that of freezing a small paper cup full of water and leaving it in the freezer with a penny on top
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang

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