Keep Food Reserves Safe In A Crisis

Wichita Observer ^ | 10/14/11 | Peggy Layton

[Kartographer]

If you have food reserves, I caution you to take stock of your current situation and decide where you should keep your emergency food. Some of the food you purchase needs to be rotated, such as canned goods, dried eggs, powdered milk and perishables like winter squash, potatoes and other vegetables. The food with the shortest shelf life needs to be accessible so it can be rotated and used faster. I suggest you keep long-term food storage in a room that has a lock and key. It might be necessary to lock it with a dead bolt. Hide an extra key somewhere that you will be able to get to in a disaster. Tell your family how to access the food. If someone comes to you asking for food, you can give it out as you wish and not have it taken from you by looters.

[Kartographer]

Food for thought

[Kartographer]

Preppers Ping!

[KantianBurke]

[cherry]

I have a big problem with storage...no room.....I don't want it all over the house...I want it in one place but its very difficult to get everything that I want organized.

I'be decided I've got to move away from so many can goods to dry goods...more beans, more pasta, barley etc....rice...they seem to store alot more compactly...

[TribalPrincess2U]

Will dry rice and dry beans in original pkgs. and in freezer bags, be ok stored in a freezer for a long time—like 5-10 years? Anyone?

[davius]

Try haunting your local bakery or grocery deli for 5 gallon plastic buckets with lids. They stack nicely and you can organize beans, grains, flour, and sugar easily. Put a couple of bay leaves in each container (except sugar) to discourage insects. If space is a pressing issue, put a board on top of 6 or 8 filled tubs and call it a table.

Remember, the first rule of Food Club is that nobody talks about Food Club.

[Kartographer]

Stored in a bucket in mylar and oxygen absorbers 20+ years.

[Jane Long]

Don't forget the space under beds. Rolling, under-bed containers are helpful, as well.

FReeper ChocChipCookie (?) also suggests storing (dried goods) rice, beans, etc. in (clean) soda or water jugs with oxygen absorbers. Then place them into cardboard boxes to protect from light (for closets, pantry's, etc.)

[indubitably]

For those of you who buy dried 15-year meals, etc., what company would you recommend from which to purchase?

[TribalPrincess2U]

Too late for that. It's been a long time. Will they still be good, maybe not as nutritious?

[driftdiver]

Freezer bags won’t last 20 yrs, they won’t last but about 6 months. Its also not necessary to store rice and beans in the freezer.

Use Mylar bags, something for bugs, and an O2 absorber. Use an iron to seal the mylar bag and they are good to go.

[driftdiver]

In the freezer they’ll be fine, on the plus size the freezing has killed any bugs.

They don’t lose nutrition for about 25 years if stored properly.

[TribalPrincess2U]

Thanks. We used mylar at the ad agency as overlays back in the 80s.

Is that the same stuff?

[TribalPrincess2U]

Bugs was what I was concerned about when I threw them in the freezer
but I neglected to use and rotate. Got busy with life’s little problems.

[driftdiver]

Not the same stuff, mylar storage bags have multiple layers and need to be food grade. Generally 4-5 mm thick. The mylar provides the oxygen barrier and there is another layer of plastic inside.

Lots of places to but them. pleasanthill grain carries a couple sizes that meet my needs and they are good quality. Read up on how to do it before you pack the food. Its not hard but you need to do it the right way.

[Altariel]

Please add me to the preppers ping list.

[Freedom56v2]

Do you want them in freezer to avoid bugs?

I would think you would want to repackage into something stronger than original package—be that freezer Tupperware- type containers or heavy duty zip lock. The packaging I have seen for rice and beans is a very thin plastic—think that “freezer smell” might permeate thru it. Also could easily tear.

That said, I have rice in a very large glass jar.

[MoochPooch]

This might be naive, but what about storing a certain amount & giving 10% of it to a communal food pantry?

Many Jewish communities, including the one I live in, are semi-autonomous. Usually centered around a synagogue, rabbinic leader, or yeshiva, they have their own funds (e.g. bridal, funeral, loans) which are augmented by congregants’ tithes or donations.

I hate to be the only one on the planet surviving. I would need a community for protection & support.

[TribalPrincess2U]

I have them in Ziplock freezer bags and they are still in original pkgs.

lol I have a large unique looking glass container on the shelf, with an assortment of beans I’ve had for 38 years.

It’s sort of a symbol I made so I’ll feel secure in the fact that I’ll always have food in the house. Just a silly thing. Probably full of bugs. If I’m starving they might taste pretty good though.

[CondorFlight]

“what about storing a certain amount & giving 10% of it to a communal food pantry?”

Excellent idea.

It doesn’t take a village to raise a child; but in an anarchic situation, it might take a village (community) to survive.
(everyone helps everyone else...)