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Anyone starting to stock up in case of closings?


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Who needs the media for a frenzy? All you need to do is read all 30+ swine flu threads HERE. And I made the mistake of finally reading one. Gaaah. I'm outta here.

 

and just to repeat-- as many have already-- the perception of the swine flu is not the biggest reason for considering food storage.

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Those pictures turn me on.

I go in our basement and see our rather long but thin shelves and their organized cans, boxes, jars.....it makes me feel good.

 

I wouldn't be able to have as many boxes of food as other people. We live in 659 sq ft and the mice and moths *will* get to that (yes, we get mice in the winter, good thing we have a cat :D). But, some kind of way, I've made everything else fit. And was so glad I did. I need a way to keep flour, though, cuz this winter, I was baking a lot more bread...

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I need a way to keep flour, though, cuz this winter, I was baking a lot more bread...

 

 

I have aquired a few buckets from the bakery in our commissary, to store bulk grains in. They were free, so the price was right. I just asked the person in the baker when I was there if they had any empty icing buckets, and they gave me two at a time.

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With proper storage, mice don't get into things.

 

I would like to store more food. I would like to grow a garden, or at least beat back the weeds far enough for DD to play. I would like to avoid any trips to the food bank this summer when our electric bill triples. Unless the Food Fairy drops a $500 gift card in my lap, I don't see it happening.

 

We do have enough food in the house that if stores closed (which would put me out of a job since I work at Wal-Mart), we SHOULD be able to live off of what's here for a few months. Once I finish buying DD's curricula (just need math), most of my teensy amount of expendable income will probably go to stocking up food. I've got us good on clothes and shoes at least until fall, so improving our food stores (and other things, like toilet paper, laundry detergent, etc.) should probably be a priority.

 

If Swine Flu starts closing stores, I'll have bigger problems, like not having a job. Of course, then I'd qualify for more food stamps, even if I couldn't afford to pay my rent and utilities. :tongue_smilie: Presumably restaurants would also close, so DH would lose work furlough and be in full lockup in Tent City, which would save a lot of gas $$ because we wouldn't have to get him back and forth from there six days a week...we'd probably have to break our lease, BIL might end up homeless, Wife #2 and I would have to go move in with our respective mothers...

 

Fortunately, I really don't think it'll come to that.

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I have aquired a few buckets from the bakery in our commissary, to store bulk grains in. They were free, so the price was right. I just asked the person in the baker when I was there if they had any empty icing buckets, and they gave me two at a time.

 

I'll look into that.

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See? you even have a food supply for your cat! Way to plan ahead! :D

 

LOL! I was feeling bad cuz someone else in this thread said they had pet food, and I'm thinking, gosh I didn't think of them. But, yes, the cat probably would be fine catching mice (we actually don't let her eat them for fear of disease, but never know in the future...), but if need be, our two dogs and cat will eat what we eat, I guess. Probably be cheaper to just get pet food, but where the heck would I put it???

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Couldn't you just stock up on the huge huge bags of pet food, and store them in 40 gal. totes in the garage? If it gets humid where you live, pack some dessicant around them and/or seal them in plastic bags before putting them in the totes (anything that will suck the moisture out of the air).

 

For our part, all we have are two gerbils. One bag of gerbil food lasts months, especially if I supplement with vegetable scraps (raw carrots looking slightly ooshy but probably edible, bendy celery, peels from jicama, outer leaves from a head of cabbage, etc.).

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Couldn't you just stock up on the huge huge bags of pet food, and store them in 40 gal. totes in the garage? If it gets humid where you live, pack some dessicant around them and/or seal them in plastic bags before putting them in the totes (anything that will suck the moisture out of the air).

 

For our part, all we have are two gerbils. One bag of gerbil food lasts months, especially if I supplement with vegetable scraps (raw carrots looking slightly ooshy but probably edible, bendy celery, peels from jicama, outer leaves from a head of cabbage, etc.).

 

We don't have a garage. We live in the end unit of a triplex, with 659 sq. ft. of living space. But, hey... where there's a will there's a way, right? We'll figure out something. Thankfully, they're small dogs :D.

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With proper storage, mice don't get into things.

 

Call me ignorant (really, not being snarky). But, I keep thinking that anything close to the floor here would bound to be prime for mice. They haven't got into anything yet though, probably cuz it's not on the floor. I'll need to research more, because I really would like to store more flour and sugar, and all that's left is floor space.

 

..we'd probably have to break our lease, BIL might end up homeless, Wife #2 and I would have to go move in with our respective mothers...

 

Fortunately, I really don't think it'll come to that.

 

I hope not. It pretty much happened here. People were being kicked out of their apartments for lack of payment, but there were NO JOBS. Some places got smart though, and figured they weren't filling vacancies because there were NO JOBS. One mobile home park even lowered their fees for a couple of months instead of giving eviction notices. I've been homeless before, but I was single (pregnant due to assault), and really can't imagine being homeless with children.

Edited by Renai
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I was inspired a few months ago to begin building our food storage. We already had a nice shelf in the basement. I've been adding a little here and there, plus a few bags of grain and such. Yesterday I admit that I was a little apprehensive going to the grocery store. I see how nutty people around here get when there is a storm or snow coming, so I was wondering how the crowd would be. Honestly, it was a lovely experience. The store is huge, and all around there were thoughtful displays of things that I felt would be nice to have...Lysol wipes, hand cleaner, canned veggies, dry pasta, vitamins...all on sale. I just thought the management was being considerate. I bought a few extra of each thing, and it made me feel so thankful. Now *if* the need arises, I can go down to the shelf and know that we will have meals and cleaning things already. There won't be a need for an 'emergency trip' to the grocery store, fighting the crowd.

Ginger

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I wouldn't be able to have as many boxes of food as other people. We live in 659 sq ft and the mice and moths *will* get to that (yes, we get mice in the winter, good thing we have a cat :D). But, some kind of way, I've made everything else fit. And was so glad I did. I need a way to keep flour, though, cuz this winter, I was baking a lot more bread...

 

we started out in an 850sf house. definitely tight on space!!

your best bet for floor space would be those 5-gallon buckets.

 

a friend of mine had several in her livingroom: she stacked them in several creative ways and draped quilts over them. If you have an end table or coffeetable, replace them w/ those buckets: put a piece of plywood over 4 next to each other [in a square shape] and drape something over them [tablecloth/sheet/etc.]. Or if you have even less space for end tables, just 2 nest to each other. If you have space along a wall, stack them 2 high along the available length, drape something over them, and use them as a wall table for pictures.

 

you can do something similar in bedrooms for bedside tables.

If the lid is fitted well, you should even be able to keep it outside.....

 

 

good luck tho. I know that acquisition costs for even cheap stuff can be tough sometimes. You might want to consider selling loaves of freshly baked bread: add a simple, "fancy" twist or two and people will buy it. ;)

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She said "all mothers." ALL. THREE MONTHS' WORTH.

 

 

I think this might have been directed at me . . . except that I said parents who didn't have a week's supplies on hand were irresponsible. Not three months.

 

(I shoot for 3 months of "normal stuff" and 9 months of "emergency stuff," but I realize that not everyone has the money, space or inclination for that.)

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I've got a good amount of food on hand atm. Lots of pasta, rice, beans, and wheat to grind for bread. I typically keep a very well stocked house for staples, then I just have to buy what's missing and fresh stuff when I shop. It wouldn't be fancy food if we had to eat off of it for a month, but we wouldn't starve.

I might pick up more tuna, and maybe some canned chicken next time I go shopping, but for the most part the beans plus the meat in the freezer would last.

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Mine too. The people that actually store food for 7 people for a year don't advise storing THAT kind of food-- a 3 month supply of oatmeal or flour/ingredients for pancakes/ muffins is much easier to store. ;)

 

Once you get into discussing REAL food storage, you explore dietary/ cooking changes. If you are seriously asking "where would I store...." then they've got your answer, lol......

 

:lol: .... just sayen'---

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I have always had at least 1 month's food at hand. but mostly 2 month's worth. it is just the way I grew up. my mother did it, so I have always done it.

The nearest big shopping center is 100 km away , so I only go shopping once a month. There is a little shop about 20 km away.

I put the sacks of flour in the hallway. after a few years of always keeping the flour there you don't even notice it.

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Wow, I just have to laugh. I just looked in our cupboards to figure out something for dinner. We've got a few cans of beans, a few cans of tomatoes and couple cans of olives and bunch of broth! Not sure what's going to happen with all that!:lol:

 

Here I only food shop for about 4 dinners or so at a time. That usually lasts us about a week as it's just about cheaper to eat out. We did have a small box of typooh stuff, but our lines are buried, so you almost never lose power over here.

 

Right now we are finishing off the little bit we've got. We've got 34 days till we finally fly back to the states to NYC. We are doing a civilian residency program for the next 3 years, so while we're AF, we get to live like regular people for the next 3 years. But the closest base is about 4 hours away. If my FIL didn't live there, we'd be spending probably a month in a hotel till we could get into a house and till even the first bit of our stuff would get to us. And even if we did have a stockpile over here that I was sending home (which could only be canned things obvisously) we wouldn't see those for almost two months!

 

So yeah, definately no stockpiling here!

 

We do however have a big long list of restuarants we plan on hitting! And let me tell you, Chili's, BK and Taco Bell are certainly NOT on that list! After the last two years here, we were there enough that I never need to see those again!:001_smile:

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I looked at those pictures and with the exception of the toilet paper and the paper towels. I buy none of those products. I don't even let my family consume some of those products at relative's houses. So that kind of stock piling doesn't work for me.

 

The idea is to stockpile what you would eat, not what your neighbors eat. I don't understand the point of your post?

Edited by TN Mama
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I looked at those pictures and with the exception of the toilet paper and the paper towels. I buy none of those products. I don't even let my family consume some of those products at relative's houses. So that kind of stock piling doesn't work for me.
What type of stuff do you eat? Some of it at least has to be non-perishable right? You can stock upon that.
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And where, oh where, would I store such a treasure trove of food for 7 people? Cereal? Three months of cereal? In my house, that would be 90 BOXES of cereal. Gimme a break. :glare:

 

I don't think it is crazy at all. I don't have 7 people in my family, but before my ds left home - we had 5 people here. I probably have 3 months of everything I need besides some canned soup. I have one medium pantry and several cabinets full of things. It really doesn't take up all that much room and it saves a ton of money to stock up when things are on sale.

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If I had the chance to choose again, I would have opted for the full size extra freezer.

 

 

 

My dh and I were just talking about this. When we bought our freezer last year, we had never owned one before. We thought the one we got was plenty big. Now we would like either a second one or a larger one. We are thinking about buying a larger one and then selling this one to recoup some of the cost.

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I looked at those pictures and with the exception of the toilet paper and the paper towels. I buy none of those products. I don't even let my family consume some of those products at relative's houses. So that kind of stock piling doesn't work for me.

 

You don't stockpile what you don't eat, only what your family eats. Those pics showed an awful lot of soda; we don't drink soda in our home, so I wouldn't stockpile it. What would be the purpose? We do drink 100% juices, so as those come on sale, I'll pull out my coupons and start stockpiling those.

 

I liked her idea of reusing those plastic PETE bottles to store foods (like beans, etc.).

 

My stock pile certainly won't look like hers, since her pantry is about the same size as our entire apartment :lol:, but having been prepared once for an unexpected (and foreseen only by God) crisis, I can be more purposeful in stockpiling when we can and having for the next low time.

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Today I bought fresh milk, yogurt, and cheese, peas, rhubarb, apples, croissants and some sausages. I have some pasta in the cupboard. We are having mac and cheese with apples for lunch and sausages with onions and apples with peas for veg for dinner. For breakfast tomorrow we'll eat yogurt with rhubarb compote, croissants, and cafe au lait or chocolate chaud. My cupboard will be empty after breakfast. Like Renthead mommie I shop often, every day, and we eat almost exclusively out of the farm markets here. I stop at the fishmonger or butcher on the way home. On the way to school pickup I hit the bakery for fresh whole grain bread every day. None of this I stock pile....nobody does....it's just a very different mindset. My stockpile is some flour, sugar, various condiments, and spices and about a kg in total of some dried beans.

 

Tomorrow is Monday....fresh eggs will be at the market.....spinach is good....and the local strawberries have come on. Since I work that day, we will have spinach omelettes and strawberries with fresh cream for dinner and for breakfast the next day....there will be bread with toasted cheese, yogurt with strawberries and rhubarb and hot milk or coffee. Sooooo I'm not being snipey or superior, but given what's available in my marketing area.....stockpiling groceries seems futile. I wouldn't know what to put aside or have the space for it.

Edited by Anne Rittenhouse
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Today I bought fresh milk, yogurt, and cheese, peas, rhubarb, apples, croissants and some sausages. I have some pasta in the cupboard. We are having mac and cheese with apples for lunch and sausages with onions and apples with peas for veg for dinner. For breakfast tomorrow we'll eat yogurt with rhubarb compote, croissants, and cafe au lait or chocolate chaud. My cupboard will be empty after breakfast. Like Renthead mommie I shop often, every day, and we eat almost exclusively out of the farm markets here. I stop at the fishmonger or butcher on the way home. On the way to school pickup I hit the bakery for fresh whole grain bread every day. Non-of this I stock pile....nobody does....it's just a very different mindset.

So I guess if/when both you and your husband gets sick one of you just sucks it up and goes shopping anyway?

Where do you live out of curiosity? Wherever it is I wish I lived there. The farmers market here is only open once a week, and only about half the year...

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You don't stockpile what you don't eat, only what your family eats. Those pics showed an awful lot of soda; we don't drink soda in our home, so I wouldn't stockpile it. What would be the purpose? We do drink 100% juices, so as those come on sale, I'll pull out my coupons and start stockpiling those.

 

 

 

Exactly. We don't regularly drink juices, so our stockpile is very small in that department.

Of course, now I have to start a new water stockpile. We forgot about our 5-gallon jugs over the winter. They froze and exploded. :glare:

 

And soda is not stockpiled for emergency purposes here, lol. Dh recently kicked his habit, but I'll never kick the Diet Mt. Dew!

 

We also stockpile for donations. While we don't use canned broth very often, I can't pass it up when it's dirt cheap. SOMEBODY is bound to be able to use it. Same with pastas, condiments, and even shampoos.

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I don't know if you guys can view this or not, but these gals on Hot Coupon World go to the extreme. I've heard that Mormons are taught to stockpile a years worth???

 

http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/stockpile-pictures/186939-crabtree122202s-stockpile-pictures.html

 

 

I would love to have about half of that stockpile on hand. I would feel like I didn't have to run out shopping for a year and I love the sound of that! I hate grocery shopping!

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I don't have food under our bed (our bed sits on the floor), but I'll tell you what: I was very glad I had stocked up almost 3 months of food during that case sale.

 

I don't predict things too well, and had no idea dh was losing his job completely after 9 years of steady work (we heard it *might* slow down a little), but be out of work for 4 months? No way. At least we ate. We will always have a good store of food from now on. Another case sale hit as we were running out of stuff last month, I stocked up again, since we had enough to cover rent and could get some cases. We were able to help another family with food. Summer is supposed to be good (he's worked for 1.5 months, but it ends next week), and we'll be storing up again for next winter.

 

I think it's just good planning. It's keeping us out of the food pantries, which were hard hit when construction stopped completely here, and a whole hunk of folks lost their jobs.

 

But to answer the question: we're stocking up, but it less to do with the flu, than it has to do with survival if dh's job situation doesn't improve soon.

 

:iagree:

 

My dh just got laid off a little over a week ago. I literally only need to buy fresh fruit for the next couple months if we have to. I suspected there may be a lay off and started the GG game back in January. I have since switched to Coupon Mom. I am going to continue to stock my pantry because the security is worth it!

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Today I bought fresh milk, yogurt, and cheese, peas, rhubarb, apples, croissants and some sausages. I have some pasta in the cupboard. We are having mac and cheese with apples for lunch and sausages with onions and apples with peas for veg for dinner. For breakfast tomorrow we'll eat yogurt with rhubarb compote, croissants, and cafe au lait or chocolate chaud. My cupboard will be empty after breakfast. Like Renthead mommie I shop often, every day, and we eat almost exclusively out of the farm markets here. I stop at the fishmonger or butcher on the way home. On the way to school pickup I hit the bakery for fresh whole grain bread every day. None of this I stock pile....nobody does....it's just a very different mindset. My stockpile is some flour, sugar, various condiments, and spices and about a kg in total of some dried beans.

 

Tomorrow is Monday....fresh eggs will be at the market.....spinach is good....and the local strawberries have come on. Since I work that day, we will have spinach omelettes and strawberries with fresh cream for dinner and for breakfast the next day....there will be bread with toasted cheese, yogurt with strawberries and rhubarb and hot milk or coffee. Sooooo I'm not being snipey or superior, but given what's available in my marketing area.....stockpiling groceries seems futile. I wouldn't know what to put aside or have the space for it.

 

And daily shopping here would involve driving well over 100 miles/week, unless we wanted to live on gas station food. ;)

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Today I bought fresh milk, yogurt, and cheese, peas, rhubarb, apples, croissants and some sausages. I have some pasta in the cupboard. We are having mac and cheese with apples for lunch and sausages with onions and apples with peas for veg for dinner. For breakfast tomorrow we'll eat yogurt with rhubarb compote, croissants, and cafe au lait or chocolate chaud. My cupboard will be empty after breakfast. Like Renthead mommie I shop often, every day, and we eat almost exclusively out of the farm markets here. I stop at the fishmonger or butcher on the way home. On the way to school pickup I hit the bakery for fresh whole grain bread every day. None of this I stock pile....nobody does....it's just a very different mindset. My stockpile is some flour, sugar, various condiments, and spices and about a kg in total of some dried beans.

 

Tomorrow is Monday....fresh eggs will be at the market.....spinach is good....and the local strawberries have come on. Since I work that day, we will have spinach omelettes and strawberries with fresh cream for dinner and for breakfast the next day....there will be bread with toasted cheese, yogurt with strawberries and rhubarb and hot milk or coffee. Sooooo I'm not being snipey or superior, but given what's available in my marketing area.....stockpiling groceries seems futile. I wouldn't know what to put aside or have the space for it.

 

Oh you're just mean. *drool* :lol:

 

(minus the snozzages cuz I'm a leaf eater)

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So I guess if/when both you and your husband gets sick one of you just sucks it up and goes shopping anyway?

Yep....or we do without.

 

 

Where do you live out of curiosity? Wherever it is I wish I lived there. The farmers market here is only open once a week, and only about half the year...

 

One block from a major highway in the suburb of a major metropolitan city in the most densely populated country in Europe, Belgium. Today is sunday....only the butchers, bakery and traiture(deli)/veg stand is open and only until 30 minutes after mass lets out. On Sunday, youv'e got to get up and move. :tongue_smilie: There is a farmers market in our village or a neighboring village every day except Monday. We can buy direct from the farmers....the local grocery store is the size of a US 7-11 store and the first two isles are wine and liquor. I've never seen rice in anything other than a 500gr sack. (about 3 cups of rice) Nothing comes in large packages....everything is packaged so that you buy and use it up. Milk is in 1L containers. Yogurt can be had in 4oz cups. Everything is custom cut or weighed for you. You buy only what you need. Food is brought to the stores and stands at the peak of ripeness. It is foolhardy to buy summer peaches in July and let them sit on your counter for a few day to ripen. They are eaten the day you buy them. Food is much more "hands on" here.

 

On a bunny trail.....When I still lived in the US and read about the SLO food movement and that new book by B. Kingsolver....can't remember....I felt really discouraged at how difficult is was to return to real, local, unprocessed food. It seemed you had to homestead to get it....I wasn't willing or ready to do it. Here the entire food network is set up to allow local small producers access to the buyers and small farmers thrive. THere are stands at the market that sell only honey, or olives, or nuts, or dairy. Some bring their bread....some fruit.....It suddenly became very easy to not have a pantry and to eat fresh seasonal produce everyday.

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Today I bought fresh milk, yogurt, and cheese, peas, rhubarb, apples, croissants and some sausages. I have some pasta in the cupboard. We are having mac and cheese with apples for lunch and sausages with onions and apples with peas for veg for dinner. For breakfast tomorrow we'll eat yogurt with rhubarb compote, croissants, and cafe au lait or chocolate chaud. My cupboard will be empty after breakfast. Like Renthead mommie I shop often, every day, and we eat almost exclusively out of the farm markets here. I stop at the fishmonger or butcher on the way home. On the way to school pickup I hit the bakery for fresh whole grain bread every day. None of this I stock pile....nobody does....it's just a very different mindset. My stockpile is some flour, sugar, various condiments, and spices and about a kg in total of some dried beans.

 

Tomorrow is Monday....fresh eggs will be at the market.....spinach is good....and the local strawberries have come on. Since I work that day, we will have spinach omelettes and strawberries with fresh cream for dinner and for breakfast the next day....there will be bread with toasted cheese, yogurt with strawberries and rhubarb and hot milk or coffee. Sooooo I'm not being snipey or superior, but given what's available in my marketing area.....stockpiling groceries seems futile. I wouldn't know what to put aside or have the space for it.

 

It IS a different mindset. We compromise a lot. Dh is from a country where his mom would go daily or every other day to purchase fresh goods; I spent two years in Germany and brought some habits with me (not right away, as I was still a teen, but when I got older). Dh and I are used to farmer's markets and buying fresh veggies and fruit every other day, so I do know where you're coming from. But, lately, we haven't been able to.There's a tortilleria around the corner that we go to often to buy fresh tortillas, but I also keep corn flour on hand to make them (dh eats corn tortillas every day).

 

The goods we store are mostly canned -tomato sauce (I seem to use a lot of that), tuna, etc. - as well as dried goods like beans and rice. We eat a lot of beans and rice :D. When paper goods go on sale, it just makes sense for us to buy more than one at a time. I don't always have a car and it's not easy to get around. (And carrying 24ct toliet paper on the bus is a little inconvenient, not a whole lot of room there.)

 

I mentioned before (don't know if you saw the post), that I just happened to take advantage of a case sale a month prior to dh being laid off. We did not see that coming. But, I was glad we had food on hand. We prefer fresh veggies and fruit, but the canned worked well when we couldn't purchase fresh- we were busy counting money daily to make sure we'd have enough to pay the rent and utilities at the end of the month.

 

I don't think stockpiling means we have to forego fresh foods. But, yes, it is a whole different mindset, and when living in a day-to-day culture, it's not something that will even be on your radar screen. :) Thanks for letting us know where you're coming from.

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Our local news said the Red Cross and Health Dept were advising people to have 2 weeks worth of food, medicines, disposables, and clothing on hand in case of closures.

 

This bothers me. That would be a chunk of change right now to spend at the grocery store. They dont know when, or if, the stores will be closed. There are no cases of swine flu in our community so far.

 

So, would you go to the market and stock your freezer??

 

The answer is yes because we already have. We went out last month and stocked up a month ahead just because, in this day and time, you never know when you may have the need. We just decided it's a good idea, generally speaking.

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Yep....or we do without.

 

 

 

 

One block from a major highway in the suburb of a major metropolitan city in the most densely populated country in Europe, Belgium.

 

Food is brought to the stores and stands at the peak of ripeness. It is foolhardy to buy summer peaches in July and let them sit on your counter for a few day to ripen. They are eaten the day you buy them. Food is much more "hands on" here.

 

.

 

I figured as much. Lucky.

If we could easily access fresh food we would as well.

But even if I lived walking distance to the markets - I would have jars and jars of canned veggies and fruit just in case.....

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We have, not because of any flu scare, but because this is the way we shop. I have enough food that our family of 6 could eat for probably several months. We would obviously run of fresh produce and dairy, but we would have food enough. I have oatmeal, flour, grain, etc. enough to last. Beans, lentils, dried peas and plenty of meat in the freezer. I can everything we grow so there would be canned fruit, tomatoes, and vegetables. Variety might be a little slim, but there would be meals on table. I have extra storage in our utility room, under our stairwell, and a couple of bedrooms.

 

Janet

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Sooooo I'm not being snipey or superior, but given what's available in my marketing area.....stockpiling groceries seems futile. I wouldn't know what to put aside or have the space for it.

 

well, if one isn't interested in considering that things can change drastically w/in a week or two, then I absolutely understand how it can seem futile. :)

 

And for those who share your dietary menu, there are plenty of ways of preserving healthy foods for emergency situations.

 

i do want to see our own city ordinances relaxed a bit to allow for more local options. workin' on that the other day, in fact..... ;)

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well, if one isn't interested in considering that things can change drastically w/in a week or two, then I absolutely understand how it can seem futile. :)

 

And for those who share your dietary menu, there are plenty of ways of preserving healthy foods for emergency situations.

 

i do want to see our own city ordinances relaxed a bit to allow for more local options. workin' on that the other day, in fact..... ;)

She had another response further on that explained it a bit more. My understanding was it's futile for her because where she lives (in Belgum) they don't sell much for stockpiling. To quote her "We can buy direct from the farmers....the local grocery store is the size of a US 7-11 store and the first two isles are wine and liquor. I've never seen rice in anything other than a 500gr sack. (about 3 cups of rice) Nothing comes in large packages....everything is packaged so that you buy and use it up. Milk is in 1L containers. Yogurt can be had in 4oz cups. Everything is custom cut or weighed for you. You buy only what you need. Food is brought to the stores and stands at the peak of ripeness."

Also, I'm guessing her residence wouldn't have space for it. Having lived in Germany for a bit, if her place is anything like most of the apartments there it would be really hard to find space for it.

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She had another response further on that explained it a bit more. My understanding was it's futile for her because where she lives (in Belgum) they don't sell much for stockpiling.

 

Also, I'm guessing her residence wouldn't have space for it. Having lived in Germany for a bit, if her place is anything like most of the apartments there it would be really hard to find space for it.

 

I can understand having to buy several smaller containers of food to reach a suitable stockpile level, but I'm guessing that's not what she meant. ;)

 

As for space? yeah, space is certainly an issue. But after seeing what other people have been able to do, it's not much of an obstacle.

 

I do understand simply being opposed to the idea. :)

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Those pics showed an awful lot of soda; we don't drink soda in our home, so I wouldn't stockpile it.

 

I bet it's water stored in soda bottles. Some of it looked like rice or some other grain stored in soda bottles. Maybe some people store soda as such, but more save the old soda bottles (or get them from the neighbors) and store water in them.

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  • 3 weeks later...

We could pretty much live out of the pantry for 2 weeks at any given time. I always stockpile during sales. We just would have powdered milk instead of fresh, canned veggies instead of fresh, that sort of thing.

 

Dawn

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We don't have a garage. We live in the end unit of a triplex, with 659 sq. ft. of living space. But, hey... where there's a will there's a way, right? We'll figure out something. Thankfully, they're small dogs :D.

 

Growing up my DH used to keep the dog food in a (clean) 30 gal trash can. Keep the lid on and mice and other pests won't get into any more than they do your regular garbage. Then setting it outside your house won't look bad to the neighbors or attract theives like a storage unit might.

 

So, from your Tent City reference, can I assume you're in Arizona? If so, humidity won't be a problem...even now with all the rain we've had the last couple of weeks it's not humid enough to worry about food storage. DH grew up in Florida...now there's a humidty problem!

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Great conversation!

 

I got into the habit of stockpiling during the summer back when my husband was a car salesman (not the creepy kind:tongue_smilie:) and he made most of the annual income during the summer.

 

Now that he makes about the same money year-round, I still stockpile during the summer, because you never know what's going to happen. I prefer having that backup and knowing that we can survive without going to the store. In addition to food, I stockpile shampoo, dish soap, toothpaste, toilet paper--basically all toiletries--and cleaning products.

 

We have an ultra-small home, but I find the nooks and crannies and make use of them.

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I don't know if you guys can view this or not, but these gals on Hot Coupon World go to the extreme. I've heard that Mormons are taught to stockpile a years worth???

 

http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/stockpile-pictures/186939-crabtree122202s-stockpile-pictures.html

 

 

Ok, my local mini-mart doesn't have that much on it's shelves.

 

I have never quite understood, nor gotten a really comprehensive answer from the few Mormans I know, about WHY they stockpile a year's worth. I totally understand those who live in extreme weather places having a stockpile for a month or maybe even two, but a year? Being prepared makes sense....but I'm almost 50 and cannot recall a single time that the winter conditions have been so bad that people haven't been able to get out of their house to do shopping (or the stores not getting stock delivered) for more than a couple weeks. Certainly not months on end...and certainly never a year. Those who live far away from cities would of course need more as travel to the store would be more difficult for them, but again, even if you lived where it snowed you in for the entire winter, that's two or three months max isn't it? Once spring hit you could get out.

 

Those in hurricane or tornado or even earthquake country wouldn't you only want to have a couple of weeks stock onhand? Thinking of Katrina, which undoubtedly is the worst disaster of this type in my lifetime.....even if you don't take into consideration that these houses were flooded and therefore any storage would be ruined.....for the houses that weren't flooded, they were all evacuated within a week or two weren't they? And the delivery of goods went to most parts of the states within 2 weeks (I recall this length of time being blasted in the news as our Government failing to act quickly enough....and later the government acknowledging that this was too slow, so obviously their expectation is that they should be able to get delivery flowing again in 2 weeks. So why would need more than a month, maybe two if you live farther away from city?

 

If you live in hurricane/tornado/earthquake area, wouldn't the risk of losing a years worth of stock be rather high? Hurricanes and tornados wipe out everything....earthquakes, I know from experience, can level a house too.

 

I find threads like this very interesting.....but a bit bewildering. Perhaps I just live to much a city life, but even the 4 years we lived 70+ miles to the nearest grocery store and another 10 miles to the nearest library.....my concerns were more having room on our twice a month runs to town for library books than for more food, lol. You do learn to be prepared, and that has thankfully carried over into our city life, so I don't find myself having to make quick trips to the store for something forgotten. Our menus are planned for a month rather loosely....for the coming two weeks rather solidly. I shop for two weeks at once and except for fresh fruits/vegetables and milk, I don't have to shop again for two weeks. We do fresh fruits/vegs and milk every week, first going to the farmers market and then to the grocery if the market didn't have something we wanted. Most times it does though.

 

My pantry is a double wide kitchen cabinet, floor to ceiling, and it's chalk full of stuff, and there is some larger items here and there, but that shopping is based on sales not on thinking I'm going to need it to sustain us for a month. We have a freezer and buy meat in bulk, but again, that's the frugal part of me, not the planner. I would guess that if we locked the doors to the outside world and didn't go out for a month we'd survive. Nicely at first and then with rather bizarre meals as we put together whatever was left. I'd really miss fresh fruits/vegs, but we have some canned and frozen so we'd probably avoid scurvy, lol. Not having milk probably wouldn't phase the kids....they enjoy water just as much, but I like them to have the vitamins that water doesn't provide. We don't eat cereal so no milk required there.

 

I have been watching the flu thing, mostly because we have immunity compromised family members, so they are at higher risk. We've had a few schools close down, but I have yet to see the store shelves appear less than full so I don't think my state is stockpiling yet. But even if this flu went to it's worst potential where 1/3 of the population was sick, would that really and truly bring the world to it's knees? I can see where there would be a lot of employees at home instead of working to move our supply across the nation, but I just don't see it stopping indefinitely. My sci-fi mind sees the worst case scenario being the government tells people they have one day to stock up and then they can't leave their home, period. (ok, would be very glad to have a stockpile to avoid that shopping spree!) And sends out military to keep people locked inside (military in haz mat suits for their protection). Ok, so effectively you've stopped the possibility of spreading the disease.....it runs it's course in a week....but to be safe, you'd keep the quarantine for what, 2 weeks, maybe 3 just to be sure everyone in the nation (world?) has recovered (or died I guess in a worst case). Then you can all slowly start opening your doors and squinting at the sunlight. Everyone is recovered so there is no one left to start the spread over again. So even my sci-fi scenario has you needing 2-3 weeks, maybe a whole month of supplies. Certainly not months or a year.

 

Again, those of you who stockpile a year, I'm not bashing you....I'd love to understand your thought process. What disaster are you planning for and how can your time estimates be so large when I can't think of anything, including war here on US soil, would mean that supplies don't get through for a year. Rationing, yes....difficulty getting everything we WANT, yes....but not getting enough to survive, can't see it. I've heard the stories first hand about war rationing, and while it doesn't sound like fun, they weren't starving to death, it was more an inconvenience. Nuclear would mean your supplies aren't safe either, which is about the only scenario where I see supplies being scarce, but more so because nothing would be safe. Of course, I've already said to my family that if the nukes come, I'm going outside to greet them...I don't want to live in an post nuke world.

 

I think if your scenario did come true....I'd also worry more about the potential of violence for others wanting to get my food stockpile. So maybe if I were going to stockpile I'd keep it hidden from view from everyone....you never know when that friendly neighbor might be willing to resort to violence so his family doesn't starve for lack of planning? I can say today that I can't imagine doing that myself....but then again I've never seen my child withering away from starvation either, so I'm not sure how I would react to those desperate times. Would I resort to violence for their survival? Scary to say, but I think I might.

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....

Again, those of you who stockpile a year, I'm not bashing you....I'd love to understand your thought process. What disaster are you planning for and how can your time estimates be so large when I can't think of anything, including war here on US soil, would mean that supplies don't get through for a year. ......

 

I wonder how much of the year's stockpiling is based on the farming cycle? Most of the garden matures in summer and needs to be preserved. Slaughtering used to be strictly a fall affair. And of course, if you have a bad year the following summer, a year's stockpile will feed you till the next harvest season.

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I wonder how much of the year's stockpiling is based on the farming cycle? Most of the garden matures in summer and needs to be preserved. Slaughtering used to be strictly a fall affair. And of course, if you have a bad year the following summer, a year's stockpile will feed you till the next harvest season.

 

Ok, well that makes sense for garden canning (done that myself....beginning of the season you have so much you wonder if you'll ever eat that many tomatoes....then months later you are hoarding the last cans until the harvest comes in)....and even meat as we do buy that in bulk for financial savings....but what about all the paper products, health and beauty products, cleaning supplies, and canned foods? I understand buying a bit extra when it's on a particularly good sale, or you have coupons to go with a sale.....but since those sales are cyclical why would you need to stockpile a year's worth of laundry detergent and deodrant?

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Ok, well that makes sense for garden canning (done that myself....beginning of the season you have so much you wonder if you'll ever eat that many tomatoes....then months later you are hoarding the last cans until the harvest comes in)....and even meat as we do buy that in bulk for financial savings....but what about all the paper products, health and beauty products, cleaning supplies, and canned foods? I understand buying a bit extra when it's on a particularly good sale, or you have coupons to go with a sale.....but since those sales are cyclical why would you need to stockpile a year's worth of laundry detergent and deodrant?

 

I've never known anyone who stockpiled the other stuff. All I can think of is that they're use to thinking in terms of the needs for the upcoming year and buy everything that's not home grown.

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