Anyone else feeling the need to set aside food and water?

[starwarsmomma]

Hubby thinks I'm going crazy.

AM I?

 

For two years, I have felt this extreme NEED (overwhelming nagging?) to set aside extra food and water, fuel to cook, etc..

 

Im not a doomsdayer, not waiting for the end of the world-- this is not normally ME. I rarely watch the news anymore, as it's too stressful.

 

I dont have alot set aside-- maybe 30 days worth for me and my extended family. But some things I felt the urgency to buy have been bizarre-- like wheat. Seeds. What the heck am I going to do with those? I can barely cut and slice premade cookie dough. What the heck am I going to do with unground wheat?

 

So, anyone else feel this bizarre need?

 

What the heck is going on? Why does nobody I know feel this way?

[Once Again]

As long as the things you buy are getting eaten before they go bad, then there is no harm in it. You can even save money in the long run by buying bulk. And the seeds? They keep for a while and you could try your hand at a garden next year.

[FaithManor]

Actually, Dh is stepping up our homesteading efforts because of the gulf oil spill. Though we live in Michigan, it would be foolish to think that an ecological disaster of this magnitude won't affect next year's food supply. There will be a lot of southern crops completely destroyed and it doesn't bare thinking about the tainted water or how far north the winds will carry pollution that will drop all over farm land. UGH!

 

So, in addition to my current harvest plans for our own garden, we will be putting up additional produce from an organic farmer's market and instead of only one deer in the freezer, there will be two plus an extra side of pig. I'm supposed to go to the Amish farm auction tomorrow and see what price unwanted steers are going for. Dh thinks we could tie it up at my folks to graze (they've got land but it isn't cleared well so I don't personally think the grazing will be that good as cows aren't good brush eaters) so that it can be butchered in the fall. I am not convinced that I want to deal with that. I'd just be happy if he found the time to get my chicken run and nesting house done so I could get my laying hens.

 

I think that we will see crop contamination as far inland as the Ohio River Valley. Maybe it won't happen, but it doesn't hurt to have extra on hand because regardless of supply and demand, big Ag companies will use this as an excuse to raise prices.

 

Faith

[kewb]

Yes, I have been feeling this as well. I think it is because of all the negative news influences in my life.

[gpsings]

Me too. My husband says I'm turning into a food hoarder, but I have this interest now in finding ways to store grain in bulk, buy livestock, plant more so I can can more, etc. Maybe it is because of the economy/ negative news, I don't know, but it does feel urgent. :(

[sparrow]

My parents felt the need to do this in the late 1970's and threw away loads of unused 5 gallon buckets full of beans, rice, and other assorted dried goods in the 1980's.

 

BTDT.

[nmoira]

I never felt the need until relatively recently. An article in our alt-weekly a few months ago about what a big earthquake (and we're due) would look like left me feeling woefully unprepared.

[Xuzi]

My family is big on preparedness. Nearly every one in my family has a 3 or 6 or 12 month supply of emergency food and water (DH and I currently have 6 months squeezed into our house).

 

The key thing to remember when doing this is *make sure you'll use it and know HOW to use it*. There's no point having cans of wheat kernals and beans if you have no clue how to use them. I have a wheat grinder I use regularly to make cracked wheat for cereals and flour for breads (and know how to make my own bread). I know how to soften dried beans to make them edible. We have some freeze-dried fruits and veggies that are the type of fruits and veggies we eat reguarly (apples, carrots, onions) and I use them on a semi-regular basis so that I'm used to using them in recipes. We also have powdered milk, and other shorter shelf-life items like jarred salsa, pasta sauce, canned chicken and tuna, boxes of pasta, cake mixes, and cereal.

 

If you rotate it (i.e. use it before it expires) and only buy things that your family will actually USE in an emergency, then it can be a great thing.

 

Also, don't forget 72 hour kits that can literally be a life-saver in the event of an emergency evacuation! Each member of my family has a backpack with emergency food, water, clothes, and other necessities in the event of a natural disaster that requires us to leave our home in a hurry.

 

I personally find great peace of mind in our emergency food storage. Not only because of what natural diasters might come our way, but with the economy the way it is, what a huge stress-relief it would be to be able to stretch our savings by eating our food storage instead of spending more money at the grocery store!

 

My two cents. ;)

[Jean in Newcastle]

My dh is a nurse. He hoards bandages, splints, iodine tablets, hydrogen peroxide and medicines for common ailments. If there is an apocalypse, we might be hungry but will be healthy.

[Guest CarolineUK]

Strangely, yes, I have felt this way. I gaze in a satisfied way at the numerous rabbits and pheasants that my mil says will destroy our garden (they don't), wondering whether we'll be able to teach the boys to shoot them when disaster strikes.

 

Yes, I do try stuff the cupboards fuller than necessary in preparation for that day.

 

When thinking more rationally, I imagine that this obsession is simply a result of motherhood, the need to nurture and all that.

[abbeyej]

If you're feeling anxieties and compulsions that you feel are outside the realm of rational, it might be worth a few sessions with a counselor. I'm not saying that having some food and water set aside is irrational -- in fact, I think a small emergency stash makes a lot of sense -- but it sounds in your case like you feel this is well outside of what makes *sense* to you and your family. It sounds like maybe you're developing a bit of an anxiety disorder / OCD. It happens. And maybe a few visits with someone who works with anxiety and OCD could help you develop some strategies for calming those fears and compulsions...

[Amy Jo]

We are doing the same thing. My strategy is to buy extra of all non-perishables. So we will be buying the stuff we eat, and rotate it, hopefully preventing spoilage. I think this will help the grocery bill too. If canned vegis are on sale, but spaghetti sauce isn't, I can just buy the sale item and use the sauce in my pantry. (Which is really a shelf, shhh.)

 

As to wheat, do consider what your goal is. Unless you would grow it for an animal, you should learn to cook with it. Its not hard, you don't have to start with bread, biscuits and pancakes are pretty easy.

 

My vote is to trust your instincts, but be smart about it.

 

Edit to add: I do store water, especially every fall. At some point every winter, the water in this old house is almost guarenteed to freeze. Melting snow to water animals and do dishes is not fun or efficient. Water is more important than food.

 

HTH!

Amy

Edited June 27, 2010 by mtcougar832

[duckens]

My family is big on preparedness. Nearly every one in my family has a 3 or 6 or 12 month supply of emergency food and water (DH and I currently have 6 months squeezed into our house).

 

The key thing to remember when doing this is *make sure you'll use it and know HOW to use it*. There's no point having cans of wheat kernals and beans if you have no clue how to use them. I have a wheat grinder I use regularly to make cracked wheat for cereals and flour for breads (and know how to make my own bread). I know how to soften dried beans to make them edible. We have some freeze-dried fruits and veggies that are the type of fruits and veggies we eat reguarly (apples, carrots, onions) and I use them on a semi-regular basis so that I'm used to using them in recipes. We also have powdered milk, and other shorter shelf-life items like jarred salsa, pasta sauce, canned chicken and tuna, boxes of pasta, cake mixes, and cereal.

 

If you rotate it (i.e. use it before it expires) and only buy things that your family will actually USE in an emergency, then it can be a great thing.

 

Also, don't forget 72 hour kits that can literally be a life-saver in the event of an emergency evacuation! Each member of my family has a backpack with emergency food, water, clothes, and other necessities in the event of a natural disaster that requires us to leave our home in a hurry.

 

I personally find great peace of mind in our emergency food storage. Not only because of what natural diasters might come our way, but with the economy the way it is, what a huge stress-relief it would be to be able to stretch our savings by eating our food storage instead of spending more money at the grocery store!

 

My two cents. ;)

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

I didn't grow up on a farm, but both my folks did (when it wasn't convenient to run to town for any little thing or when you may be snowed in for a week or more). It is not unusual to have extra in the pantry for a rainy day.

 

You don't need to go crazy; just buy a few things at a time. Canned goods. A giant bag of flour or sugar and food-grade buckets to go with them. Label everything with a date and rotate, rotate, rotate.

 

You could also just plan for 72-hours.

 

Start with water. Water is the cheapest thing that you can do for your family in a 72-hour disaster, but it is also the most necessary.

 

Put 3 gallons of water per day per person into the back of your closet or basement. Use old milk jugs. So for my family of 3 people, we have 27 gallons in the back of our closet. (Crazy, huh?) This is not just for drinking. It is for cooking and washing. Clean them out and replace them every six months.

 

Put a box or backpack in your basement with miscellaneous snacks: granola bars, fruit cups, tuna and crackers. If you ever needed to grab 'n go during an emergency relocation, you would have a good start. Also extra diapers if your children need them.

 

I have a friend who even started her own non-profit to help people in our community prepare for a 3-day disaster. I'm looking for her website, but it may have gone by the wayside this year with homeschooling. If I find it, I'll try to post it.

[Forget-Me-Not]

What Xuzi said. We have some food storage and rotate it frequently. I buy more of what I find we use. It takes some time, but you get a system going. I bought a wheat grinder and learned how to use it and can I just say that homemade bread made from home ground wheat is SO delicious! Way better than even using store bought whole wheat flour.

 

If you want to get serious about food storage, the LDS website http://www.providentliving.org is a good place to start. They have calculators for how much food/person you need, storage guidelines, recipes, etc.

 

Put 3 gallons of water per day per person into the back of your closet or basement. Use old milk jugs.

 

I wanted to address this. First off FEMA recommends one gallon (drinkable)/person/day Old milk jugs are NOT NOT NOT good containers to use for water storage. The plastic used in milk jugs is not made to hold up in the long term (I've seen it first hand). In fact you might want to check your closet and make sure you don't have any leaks. It breaks down relatively quickly. Water should be stored in PETE plastic containers and if you bottle it yourself it needs to be rotated pretty frequently.

 

Water Storage Guidelines

FEMA Guidelines

EPA Guidelines

 

I buy flats of water bottles at Costco. One flat is just over 3 gallons, so I keep one hand for each member of our family. We use them and recycle the bottles.

 

HTH

[Melissa in Australia]

I have always had one month's supply of food at hand. It is just the way I grew up. It is so much cheaper to buy flour and things in 25 kg sacks, plus the nearest big town with decent shops is 100 km away, and I only get there once a month. As for water, we collect the water off our roof, and store it in huge concrete tanks, we always have 6 months of water at hand.

[Heidi]

If you're feeling anxieties and compulsions that you feel are outside the realm of rational, it might be worth a few sessions with a counselor. I'm not saying that having some food and water set aside is irrational -- in fact, I think a small emergency stash makes a lot of sense -- but it sounds in your case like you feel this is well outside of what makes *sense* to you and your family. It sounds like maybe you're developing a bit of an anxiety disorder / OCD. It happens. And maybe a few visits with someone who works with anxiety and OCD could help you develop some strategies for calming those fears and compulsions...

 

:lol: I don't know why that is so funny to me.

 

We set aside food and have been having a nagging feeling as well to get really serious about it. We set aside a certain amount each month to add to food storage. You're not alone :D

[Peela]

We have it at the back of our minds, too. Not so much storing food, but dh knows how to hunt and we have done wilderness survival courses. We have weapons (not guns) and we have a motorhome.

Considering the environmental catastophe happening over there,I suspect you may be following your instincts- but as others are saying, it might be a good idea to get practical about it and store food you will eat, or learn what to do with all that grain.

[Annabel Lee]

Actually, Dh is stepping up our homesteading efforts because of the gulf oil spill. Though we live in Michigan, it would be foolish to think that an ecological disaster of this magnitude won't affect next year's food supply. There will be a lot of southern crops completely destroyed and it doesn't bare thinking about the tainted water or how far north the winds will carry pollution that will drop all over farm land. UGH!

I think that we will see crop contamination as far inland as the Ohio River Valley. Maybe it won't happen, but it doesn't hurt to have extra on hand because regardless of supply and demand, big Ag companies will use this as an excuse to raise prices.

 

Holey Moley! I hadn't thought of that! I know oil prices will get crazy-high again and maybe even higher, and that will affect the price of food, but I hadn't considered it polluting crops.

 

I'm with Xuxi on this - I grew up with it being normal to have large 50-gal. barrels filled with various dried beans, topped w/ a tablecloth, as our end tables in the living room. I have relatives who have a whole year of freeze-dried food ready. I'm not LDS, but I've been in a friend's home who is. I was impressed w/ the entire large room in their house devoted entirely to food storage. She keeps close track of everything so it doesn't spoil.

 

I'm w/ you, OP. You're not going crazy.

[chiguirre]

:iagree: with Abbey. If this is a new, strong compulsion, I'd really explore the possibility of anxiety or OCD. OTOH, it's getting on to hurricane season, so I'll be stocking up on bottled water, pasta, tuna, breakfast bars, peanut butter, juice boxes, trail mix, etc. It's completely reasonable to have an emergency stash (more than reasonable, it's necessary) but there's a difference between an emergency stash and preparing for the collapse of civilization.

[jazzyfizzle]

It does not sound crazy at all, it sounds like you your instinct is tellling you something is up with the world and you are looking to prepare. That is just being smart. Basics are good- water (and a way to get clean drinking water is really good), canned food, lighters, good outdoor clothing, ect.

[Moxie]

Are you getting a gun or some other security system? Because if there is some huge disaster that disturbs the food supply and you have a big stock pile, don't you think you'll need to protect it in some way?

 

I'm not stockpiling anything more then I usually do. Bad things happen and life goes on.

 

:chillpill::chillpill::chillpill:

[starwarsmomma]

IT's a 30 day supply of food. I don't think I need to see any therapist over a month's supply of emergency food. I'm not OCD about it, but do feel a strong NEED to get it complete. Food, water and a mehtod to cook it.

 

No apocolyptic scenarios going through my head.

 

Just a thought that I remember Katrina, and people that were waiting for food and water to be delivered often died waiting. In the event of a true disaster, the truth is we can't count on outside help. We have to be able to help ourselves. ANd since I'm not willing to kill my neighbors for their pantry goods, I'd better have a little bit extra set aside, for emergencies. That's all.

:D

 

I just wanted a little reassurance that I'm not some crazy food hoarder, like hubby seems to hint. LOL

[Julie in AZ]

:D

 

I just wanted a little reassurance that I'm not some crazy food hoarder, like hubby seems to hint. LOL

 

You're definitely not a food hoarder. Think about cellars of the past. People canned fruits and veggies and had a large stock on hand. It's only recently that American society considered people "crazy" to have a month's worth of food on hand.

 

Early on in our marriage, we only bought enough food for the two of us for a week. Now, we have a pantry that will feed our family for a month. I feel much more comfortable with that. Plus, I get almost everything on sale saving our family money and rarely have to run to the store for that last minute item.

[jazzyfizzle]

Are you getting a gun or some other security system? Because if there is some huge disaster that disturbs the food supply and you have a big stock pile, don't you think you'll need to protect it in some way?

 

 

You betcha. In some way. ;)

[abbeyej]

IT's a 30 day supply of food. I don't think I need to see any therapist over a month's supply of emergency food.

 

I really wasn't suggesting you did. Except that *you* seemed, in your original post, to feel a greater "need" to do this than a conviction that it was necessary. I wanted you to know that *if* you were feeling a compulsion more than a conviction, that it was okay to explore that.

 

Certainly some level of emergency preparedness is important. I don't think any of us questioned that.

[mcconnellboys]

I believe there are other people who have been feeling similarly for the past few years. I think you have to do what you can. Not everyone has the place to store a lot of food nor can they rotate it quickly enough to make it feasible to stock up on large amounts. I think, ideally, that you'd need a pretty large family in order to be able to really do that well. So you do what you can. If you have 30 days stored, that seems to me like a decent amount. If you feel the need to buy seeds, which will keep well for quite a period of time, then why not? Seeds are not tremendously expensive, nor do they need to take up a lot of room in your home. I don't know that I'd buy a lot of wheat unless you plan to start making your own bread. Water needs to be changed out regularly, too, if you're storing it.

[starwarsmomma]

Oh, I wish I could convey tone of voice in messages!

 

I"m not offended, at all!

 

I was just trying to convey (in my original message) that this was more than a panic of the news, it was almost like intuition or something. I didn't mean to sound obsessive about it.

 

My bad for wording things like that. :D

[Wyndie]

I think it's wise to be prepared and don't think you're crazy or anything. ;) I wish I could store long term, unfortunately all the typical easy to keep foods, my children are allergic to so we're up a creek if we ever need a large amount of reserves!

[m0mmaBuck]

We have set aside food, water, gas, and some other items we consider essential. You just never know when a small or large emergency might occur.

[Laurie4b]

Hubby thinks I'm going crazy.

AM I?

 

For two years, I have felt this extreme NEED (overwhelming nagging?) to set aside extra food and water, fuel to cook, etc..

 

Im not a doomsdayer, not waiting for the end of the world-- this is not normally ME. I rarely watch the news anymore, as it's too stressful.

 

I dont have alot set aside-- maybe 30 days worth for me and my extended family. But some things I felt the urgency to buy have been bizarre-- like wheat. Seeds. What the heck am I going to do with those? I can barely cut and slice premade cookie dough. What the heck am I going to do with unground wheat?

 

So, anyone else feel this bizarre need?

 

What the heck is going on? Why does nobody I know feel this way?

 

There are two issues: everyone ought to be prepared for an extended emergency, like a couple months. On the other hand, suddenly feeling a "need" or intuition to do this sounds like an unconscious anxiety reaction. I recall MANY posts like this on the internet as Y2K approached. People felt like they were sensing or intuiting something or sometimes felt like God was telling them to prepare. I think it was anxiety about the future if the lights went out as well as a helpless little gesture of control (because if what was predicted by doom and gloomers had happened, all the people who had stored up guns would have ended up with all the stored up food.) There has been enough in the news in the past few years to raise this kind of unconscious anxiety. Again, if you are saying you're making a logical decision to store up food, etc. because you want to have an emergency supply on hand, that's different from storing things that you would need in an apocalyptic situation, like wheat seeds. I think if it comes to an apocalypse, unless you live in a very isolated area or you are morally comfortable saving up and using weapons, then it's a self-preservation fantasy that both feeds anxiety (the implications of the fact that you are storing wheat seeds, or whatever does provoke anxiety about disasters) and helps you to feel less anxious and in control over the anxiety you just fed and it becomes a vicious cycle. Then you start to chat with others who feel the same "intuition" and not to chat with those who don't, and it can snowball.

Edited June 28, 2010 by Laurie4b

[Barry Goldwater]

Not crazy, just smart...preparing for potential disaster is wise counsel (30 days seems right to me). BTW disaster could be sudden job loss or injury/illness, too. Otherwise you will need to rely on govt. relief?:glare: (is there a "not too confident" smiley?)

 

Working in industry last 20 yrs has exposed me to the "Just in time" philosophy a lot, the notion of just having your parts show up and immediately go onto the finished product without having to store or catalog...great idea, saves lots of $$, till there's a snow storm or power outage near one of your "source" factories..then, CHAOS!!

 

I say, re-calibrate buying habits in order to have an appropriate amt of laid-up stores (what you can use B4 expiration), then just buy like usual, moving through your inventory. Then, forget about it and sleep well...you are NOT crazy...BTW, it's the way Grandma always did it!

[lisamarie]

My parents felt the need to do this in the late 1970's and threw away loads of unused 5 gallon buckets full of beans, rice, and other assorted dried goods in the 1980's.

 

BTDT.

 

My MIL was just telling me recently how they finally finished up their huge bag of rice they had sitting around from the 1970's scare--it was super outdated, but that it tasted fine. I remember my mom canned water and stored it hidden in a false paneled crawl space in our basement and we would have to pull it out every few years and recan some more.

 

Strangely, yes, I have felt this way. I gaze in a satisfied way at the numerous rabbits and pheasants that my mil says will destroy our garden (they don't), wondering whether we'll be able to teach the boys to shoot them when disaster strikes.

 

LOL! And here I was cursing the rabbits who ate my flowers and my green bean plants rather than looking at them as one of my survival foods.:tongue_smilie::lol:

 

And no, I don't think you are crazy. I felt this way before the market tanked and tried to talk DH into selling stock and paying off the house. I tried to convince my dad that we should (he manages some of our investments). They didn't listen to me and were they ever wrong. I still am kicking myself that I didn't make them listen.

 

I also started a pantry up 2 years ago. I admit that when I started it, it was out of fear because I was listening to too much talk radio. But once I tuned out of the media, the fear has left and I do it now because I think it's smart to have reserves. It saves you money to only buy when there is a sale, and I've known several families where the DH lost his job and they were able to live off their pantry for months which helped tide them over. Also, it can supply you with foods that you love that are too expensive to buy in the off season. I LOVE red peppers and they were crazy expensive this spring. I had bought a bunch last fall at cheap prices and froze them, but we finished them off quickly. Now that they are cheap again I am stocking up and freezing tons so I will have them all winter long. Same with berries.

[spradlin02]

I'd say unless you live in a desert, get a good water purifier. No need to store water.

 

It's pretty common for people to do this sort of thing when they feel out of control.

[Chris in VA]

We just went to the Spy Museum in DC--one of my favorites. Lots of intrigue, lots of history--really great.

The last room, however, is all about impending cyber attack. And it's pretty darned scary. We are so dependent on a working computer network (or whatever you call it--"grid?") for security, food and water supply lines, etc. It's quite amazing what damage could be easily done.

 

With that in mind, I don't think it's crazy to store up some good supplies.

[elegantlion]

We store food and water, not huge amounts, but we do. We have enough for about two weeks worth. It's not out of fear. We've been through two hurricanes, broken water lines, one shelter-in-place, and several storms that have left us without electricity for a period of time.

 

It's nice not to have to rush to the store before a hurricane and fight the crowds. We've had our water off for over a day before because of broken water lines. We didn't have to rush to the store and buy bottled water because we have gallons of water stashed in the house.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I'd say unless you live in a desert, get a good water purifier. No need to store water.

 

It's pretty common for people to do this sort of thing when they feel out of control.

 

Yes, you can get good ones at an outdoor outfitter like REI. We got one when we went to the Philippines because there was tons of water but it was impure.

[DianeW88]

LMHO.....we're LDS, so it's part of our religion. We have as close to a year's supply of food and water stored as possible. It isn't hard to do and we rotate our food regularly, so it doesn't rot and it isn't wasted.

 

So, no...*I* don't think you're weird at all. Just prepared. :D

 

Diane W.

married for 22 years

homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

[Jody]

You are just being prepared! I think their is comfort in being prepared, although I am not all the way their on it. Good thread!

[Blueridge]

So...what to do with all that wheat! Properly stored in nice food-grade buckets with airtight lids, any grain will store almost forever. If you don't have a mill, you should consider getting one. Then you can have fresh flour when you need it. You can use it to make cookies, pancakes, breads, you name it. So find a few nice whole-grain recipes and practice with a bag of ww flour before committing to a 50 lb sack of wheat. I use and love Prairie Gold hard white wheat. It's sweeter and milder than the standard red wheat. If you want to get fancy, you can get a roller to use whole oat groats and roll them into fresh oatmeal. Brown rice should be kept in the freezer. You might also consider getting a chest freezer for extra sacks of veggies and fruits, loaves of bread, sacks of chips when on sale, etc. I love using my dehydrator for drying herbs, extra tomatoes, making fruit roll-ups and things than will keep quite a while. I also believe it's a wise thing to have a stock of foods, TP, water, batteries, medicines, things that would be quickly depleted from store shelves. Just consider it a large pantry! Thank you for the reminder...I should go shopping!

[Rebecca77]

Well I know this is going to sound really crazy, but I woke up a few weeks ago hearing a voice in my head telling me to learn how to garden. I then had the most surreal moment in my life picking out a homesteading book on Amazon. I've now shared and talked with several other woman who've had the same impression and are taking action.

[momzilla333]

If you're feeling anxieties and compulsions that you feel are outside the realm of rational, it might be worth a few sessions with a counselor. I'm not saying that having some food and water set aside is irrational -- in fact, I think a small emergency stash makes a lot of sense -- but it sounds in your case like you feel this is well outside of what makes *sense* to you and your family. It sounds like maybe you're developing a bit of an anxiety disorder / OCD. It happens. And maybe a few visits with someone who works with anxiety and OCD could help you develop some strategies for calming those fears and compulsions...

 

:iagree:

Being frugal and saving is one thing. But anxiety, OCD and hoarding is another. Remember Y2K and all those other false alarms? How many tons of food got squirreled away and later tossed? That eclipse does not mean the end is nigh. Nor has the sky begun to fall.

All together now....Deeeeep cleansing breaths..........:lol:

Edited June 28, 2010 by skai

[Jean in Newcastle]

:iagree:

Being frugal and saving is one thing. But hoarding is another. Remember Y2K and all those other false alarms? How many tons of food got squirreled away and later tossed? That eclipse does not mean the end is nigh. Nor has the sky begun to fall.

All together now....Deeeeep cleansing breaths..........:lol:

 

If food had been stored properly, it would have been very foolish indeed if it had just been tossed. Most people reaped the benefit of having lower grocery bills while they used it up. Wise people have been preparing for tough times for centuries. Wasn't it the grasshopper that laughed and then regretted it?

[Xuzi]

www.everydayfoodstorage.net is an *awesome* blog with great recipes for using your food storage, as well as tips and tricks on how to build an appropriate food storage for your family.

 

She has a recipe for whole wheat pancakes that *only needs a blender* (no wheat grinder!) and is super yummy!

[Annabel Lee]

I tend to agree w/ the grasshopper/ant analogy on this. I don't think it needs to be a source of panic, and I don't think any food needs to go to waste. Learning to store it properly and rotate it out before expiring is as easy is reading a book.

 

To put a different spin on it, all of that food my parents stored up (we had large game & berries in the freezer as well) saved us when I was little. My dad was laid off due to budget cuts and w/o a regular job for just over a year. He was building our house completely out-of-pocket, a little at a time; no mortgage/debt involved. As a kid, during that time I was oblivious to the fact that we'd be considered "broke" or "poor" by some. There was always plenty of good food & the house was warm b/c he made a woodstove out of an old 50-gal. metal drum & knew how to harvest wood for it. We'd have lost the house, land, and everything if he weren't so self-sufficient. Of course, we could have always just gone on the welfare system, but my parents always tried their absolute hardest and considered that the last resort. IMO, the "system" is breaking and I don't consider it something sturdy to fall back on anymore. This has nothing to do with any moral view on welfare; that's another thread (and it has been). My point is that though it's there for help now doesn't mean our country will always be able to afford it, therefore I take no comfort in its' existence.

 

Well that's enough rambling for now. :)

[hillfarm]

Let's see...you live in a country facing massive job layoffs, the economy is struggling, a major environmental catastrophe is afoot, a severe hurricane season is predicted, experts say we are statistically over due for a significant earthquake, many states are going bankrupt and cutting back on services... What's there to be anxious about?:tongue_smilie:

 

I have almost always lived in remote rural locations where travel was often restricted by weather or in an area prone to hurricanes. So I have always had some stock on hand. The convience factor of having all the ingredients for the things we like to eat on hand all the time, the safety factor of not being tempted to try to travel dangerous roads, and the sustenance factor of knowing that we will definitely have something to eat have all put my mind at rest, not been evidence of anxiety.

 

Regarding a feeling of premonition, who knows? But IMO you have to look at the consequences. What will happen if you stock up on foods that your family will eat, use them before they expire, go to the store less frequently, and nothing happens? Basically, you will have saved some gas money. What will happen if you don't stock up and find out that you did have a valid premonition but only after it is too late to do anything about it? I don't know about you, but it would destroy me to know that I could have prevented my family's pain and suffering but didn't have the courage to listen to my own drummer and do so. And what will happen if your premonition comes true and you do have the needed supplies? Peace of mind, improved health and safety. All good things.

 

But I think most Americans are counting on the fourth possible scenario--that they didn't stock up and nothing happened. So far, that choice has proven viable. But for how long? I personally am not wired so that I can feel comfortable risking it, not when the comfort, health, and safety of my family are at stake.

 

So sure, if this is a major behavioral departure for you, keep an eye on whether any other unusual things crop up. But if the only abberation you experience is the urge to prudently stock up in response to a vague sense of unease, I wouldn't worry about it overly much.

 

Danger signs are buying things your family hates to eat, letting things go bad before using them, putting yourself in financial danger to stock up, hiding what you are doing from your spouse, refusing to let your family use your stock (this does not apply when you have to hide the cocktail peanuts from your dh until this year's hurricane season is over), or becoming obsessive over protecting your stores from thieves. Use caution about reading the survival type sites. There is some great information there, but some of those folks are wrapped just a little too tight and will soon have you convinced that you need a machine gun installation to protect your 30 year supply of MRE's and toilet paper.

[Annabel Lee]

That's so funny. I was about to say, "Don't forget the toilet paper". :P

[Parrothead]

We just went to the Spy Museum in DC--one of my favorites. Lots of intrigue, lots of history--really great.

The last room, however, is all about impending cyber attack. And it's pretty darned scary. We are so dependent on a working computer network (or whatever you call it--"grid?") for security, food and water supply lines, etc. It's quite amazing what damage could be easily done.

 

With that in mind, I don't think it's crazy to store up some good supplies.

One good EMP burst and chaos will reign. It is amazing to think of what can't be done today if the computer is down.

[hornblower]

some of those folks are wrapped just a little too tight and will soon have you convinced that you need a machine gun installation to protect your 30 year supply of MRE's and toilet paper.

 

 

hillfarm - LOL, you're so right! I have to step away from the computer every once in a while & shake off the craziness. I mean MRE's are gross!

The toilet paper though.... I think that could be a good barter item.

 

:lol: