5 minute food grab
 

got the thread title from another forum

HYPOTHETICALLY

TSHTF, and you make a beeline to the closest food store for last minute food supplies
but you arrive and find a madhouse, you decide to go in and grab what you can for 5 minutes

you load up and on the way out, you throw $300 at the cash register

5 minutes, what would you grab ?

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

Fresh veggies. That's all I need

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Beans, rice, frozen veggies and spices. I'd take frozen over fresh just because of the storage life so I could put a lot more in my freezer and have them stay fresher longer.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

Thats a Depends question. Long or short emergency/with or with electricity.

Short/with - Fruits/Vegetables/Hamburger etc - typical fare

Short/without - batteries, convenience foods

Long/with - Meats, Cheeses, eggs frozen fruits and veggies

Long/without - I'd arm sweep all the canned tuna, chicken and beef into my cart then roll over to the rice, beans, pasta and grab a few bags of each. Then round the corner for the dried milk, nuts, dried fruits and various spice packs.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

The situation you reference calls for the opposite action, If the Shit has actually "hit the fan" you get as far away as possible from normal commerce centers.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

Cigarettes.


Maybe Heineken if Lootie hasn't hit the store yet

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

1 Lace up boots.
2 grab rifle,water jug,shovel.
3 head for high ground.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

butter
white sugar
brown sugar
eggs
vanilla extract
all-purpose flour
baking soda
salt
oats
raisins or nuts


Make cookies!! :biggrin:

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I'd just grab that Zombiland training video and head for the safety of our local munitions supply depot.

Actually, SHTF is not the time to go into the fray, seriously.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

i think if it was me i would just avoid supermarkets and probably if i was making one final last minute buy head to the feed store and spend 300 dollars on grains and other things.

if the supermarket was all there was and i was comited to one last buy
cooking oil,lard,potatoes,wheat if available,popcorn,flour,sugar,rice,beans and dry dogfood as product of last resort.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

I think the gist of this thread isn't to get us to imagine actually going out and trying to find things when TSHTF, but to get us to look at what we think we might get and then evaluate whether what we're stocking up on is what would be best for us to have in a crisis.

How many of us stock up on the wrong stuff because we think it's what we'll need WTSHTF, but when we're in a crisis and go to get the things we'll need the most then we find that they're gone? How many people hear that everyone else is buying bags or cases of wheat, so they go out and buy it themselves only to realize that they never eat bread? Then they're left with stuff they won't use even though everyone else has bought it. In a SHTF situation, I'd keep stocking up on what I'm already stocking up on and using anyway because I've already figured out what I typically use and will keep on buying, so WTSHTF I'll just get more of the same if I've already been preparing and know what I need (or need more of), or not buy anything at all because I didn't need it or use it to begin with.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

I would add vitamins to the items mentioned above. Normally, of course, it's much better to get your vitamins from your diet - but in this situation, having lots of vitamins available would really help fill in the gaps of a survival diet.

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we already have end 'o the world supply of rice\beans\lentils. as much as possible canned chile and tunafish (most important as it can be pleasantly eaten out of the can, cold). also more water and vitamins. nothing fresh if i thought it would be a long term problem. believe it or not, spices and condiments would come in at a premium to make a limited menu more pleasant. pepper, salt, mustard, soy sauce, cummin, tumeric, cilantro and onion flakes, onion and garlic powder. more honey always. coffee to keep my girl sane

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

I doubt that the store will be open...I watched the Tsunami preparations this morning, and people flooded and stripped the stores so fast they closed, including, Sams and Costco, not to mention the rush at the gas stations..At least the wife has seen the wisdom of having preps..
Aloha Turtleguy

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

I would not be anywhere near a store. If I had to "run" I'd grab several pails from the pantry and be gone so fast it'd be funny. Several pails should get into months worth quickly I would think.

I suppose if I had one second to grab something I'd reach for my big container of whey isolate... I'm guessing that pound for pound it would sustain life rather efficiently? Hmmmm, thoughts on that?

Store??? No, WAY past that.

Oh, and if running wasn't an issue I'd fill the water tanks and batten down the hatches. Not many worries for quite some time, 'cept hungry neighbors.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

My wife's step-brother is vacationing in Hawaii right now. (Not sure which island)

When they got word of the earthquake/tsunami event he and his wife rented a car to drive to higher ground. He dropped his wife off and drove back down to get some groceries. The shelves were empty and the place full of angry people.

I'll bet it was more of a small bodega type grocery store, not the giant food-tropolis' we are used to here, but the lesson is just the same.

When TSHTF is not the time to be trying to make last minute runs to the grocery store.

I have to admit that if I was on vacation, I would probably be screwed also. I doubt that I would have thought to have emergency plans in place if I was in "paradise". Im glad he learned the lesson for me.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

Bread, water, beans, rice, vegetables, eggs, & any pre-dried foods (dried fruits, vegetables, & meats).

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

Lots of carbs, lots of carbs, lots of carbs.

Pound for pound, carbs win. Veggies/Protien, not so much. But for raw shelf live/energy density I'd go with:

1) Rice, Rice, and more rice
2) Beans, Yay Beans!
3) Flour
4) Cooking oils/fats
5) Salt
6) Honey

All these things don't require refrigeration.

All those things that tend to make western cultures "Fat" due to over consumption will be stellar keepers when food becomes scarce.

Half the world lives on just cooked rice. Shouldn't be much different once your local Hardee's doesn't have curly fries anymore.

You can't beat the energy density/storage life of grains. It's kept most of the world going on for the last 5000 years.

The logistics of keeping meat/vegetables long term after a lights out situation is too complicated. So go for the grains.

That's just my opinion. And no I'm not a nutritionist.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

I have provisions for the immediate family in the area. I do not have stored food for the pets (kibbles will spoil if kept for an extended period). I would buy several hundred pounds of kibbles for the pets. Then up my supply of rice and beans to have a little extra along with 20-50 lbs of pancake mix for the grandkids.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

5 minutes is a long time to be shopping. That's twice as long as I spend in the stores now.

If I had to give an answer though...I'd say booze...all $300 on it.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

Nobody has said personal hygiene products yet, or first aide. Thats where I would head.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

So, That being said.
I think we can all agree that we should have all these things already.

I do. (thanks to GIM)

I hate shopping as it is....I wouldn't wanna shop at a time like that.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

if you dont have what you need be this time your all ready to late

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

Science Diet (cat food anyway) seems to have good-for dates for about 1.5 years out and I figure I can fudge it out another 6 months. I bought double for 2 years and now just keep it rotated. My kitties haven't complained yet.

I've thought about super-pailing them and trying for even longer periods but not sure how well it would work.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

Problem is you die without protien and fat. You can live without carbs. Good thing you have beans listed and most other stuff has some protien to keep you alive. I will grab all my salmon in those foil pouches and as many canned chili's as I can get. Honey too just so I don't go nuts :-)

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

Pizza rolls, lots and lots of pizza rolls!... already got lots of MRE's and Mountain House. Something pleasant to munch on would be the order of the day.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

I agree that the spirit of this thread isn't to find out what we would do, so much as to analyze what we don't have enough of. On that assumption I would seek goods for trade:

Plantable seed products (beans etc)
Grains
Bandages
Pain medicine
Hygene products
Alcohol

in that order, and I'm going for volume. I expect the bold items will be in very high demand, but I put them after food, as I'm uncertain this is a full service outlet.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

The checkout girl.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

on second thought...
for bartering I'd load up on baby formula

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

TOILET PAPER...

just saying after all you folks eat all that grain and run out, you WILL eventually get tired of using your left hand for... well, you know. EWW....

I'll sell you a few squares. But it will cost ya.

Probably some grain... LOL!!:sarc:

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

Female hygene items and lighters.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

I'd have to agree with Ishkabibble. Now would not be the time to grab stuff. Now would be the time to be driving out of town before the SreallyHTF.

But CDUBS has a good point as well. A little liqueur always helps. And it'll make for some great bartering!

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

As much canned protein as I could load up.

(No, not Spam).

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

Any the stuff that is too expensive for regular preps now, but would be high value luxury food come SHTF. Also things that have a relative short expiration and as a result I normally have on hand a limited supply. Finally things for trade/barter

Off the top of my head:

Country Ham- This is a salty cured ham that doesn't require refrigeration(I'm in the south and this is a fairly common item) This really goes far to flavor beans.
Can't have too much peanut butter-unless you're allergic.

vegetable oil, shortening, nuts,shelf stable juices,cheese whiz,hard cheeses, Beef Sticks, pepperoni.summer sausages,canned meats, shelf stable bacon,chocolate,cookies, crackers of all types, a greater variety of canned vegetables that I don't normally stock.

Vices- wine and smokes for trade.

toilet paper, bleach,charcoal, meds, vasoline, hand lotion,chap stick,maybe even some KY jelly

if they let me pay by credit card, I just might load up half the store. But you had to put that pesky five minute rule.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

I have fasted many times before for 2 weeks and even longer. The average person can easily go a month without food, and many people in this country have enough fat stores they could probably go 3 months without food easily. Of course if your fat stores are too excessive, you have a very good chance of dying from something else during TSHTF. Like others have said, I would probably just GTFO ASAP without any food- there's hardly anything in the grocery store these days that I consider to be "food" anyways.

However, in spirit of this discussion...
Think small, lightweight, long shelf life, portable items.
SPICES ( nothing i can think of comes close to spices imo )
honey, molasses, other sweeteners.
Bic lighters
chocolate bars
liquor
cigarettes
yeast/baking soda/ baking powder

Plenty of great stuff has already been mentioned, but if we don't already have it packed away, 5 minutes at the grocery store in a panic isn't going to help that much...

I would not be thinking at all about (psuedo)grains / legumes / etc... I already have hundreds of pounds of these stashed in 3 different states... I will probably be able to get to some of them at some point...

For those who have 100s of pounds of rice stored up- I would definitely recommend looking into some pseudograins like quinoa, millet, barley, wild rice, spelt, amaranth, etc - many of these items are great sources of protein and other nutrients, as well as carbs of course. These are calorie dense foods just like grains, but they are much more nutrient dense than grains on average.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

If you follow that guys Pizza rolls suggestion, you can forgo the toilet paper Wallew. Just lots of Pizza rolls. HEH.

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

You can survive on this only -- Lex Rooker's Pemmican Manual

You can, as an adult male: Survive for a week on 5 pounds of pemmican when physical activity is limited. with 7 pounds if you are exerting yourself and with 10 pounds if you are a lumberjack.

You need .75 pounds a day for normal activity. a pound for hiking and a 1.5 lbs for heavy exertion.

do that with your flour and sugar


(Edit. I just noticed my post count. Lol. I like the number. I think I will stop posting for a while to keep it like that. Rofl)

Re: 5 minute food grab
 

It's very easy to get protein if you have raw fruits + veggies available, but I would say the hands down absolute best protein that you can store for a long time is Chlorella powder ( which I have eaten every single day for the past 2+ years). I have experienced amazing results, but I can't say for sure its' from eating this powder of course.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with Chlorella, I think a brief introduction is in order. There are many entire books written on just chlorella, many of which are well worth reading.

IF TSHTF and I could only have a few pounds of food, there is absolutely no other food in the entire world I would pick over this stuff.

Chlorella is the fastest growing plant on the earth that we have discovered so far. It is capable of reproducing itself 4 times every 24 hours. GIMers have a much better conceptualization of exponential growth than sheeple, so just let that sink in for a second. It also contains more nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) than any other known plant. It's no surprise that chlorella is the number one food supplement in land scarce japan, where it is used regularly by well over 10 million people. ( and you wonder why they live longer than us? )

Chlorella is sixty five percent protein, making it by far the most environmentally efficient method of protein production

chlorella contains the elusive vitamin b12. chlorella possesses 19 amino acids, among them are the 10 essential ones ( those that must be obtained through diet; the body cannot manufacture them). These amino acids are , in conjunction with naturally occurring enzymes, the most easily absorbed and utilized form of protein.

Since chlorella has the highest level of chlorophyll of ANY organism, the protein remains alkaline, thus speeding recovery from daily wear and tear and after exercise.

I think I could easily live off of and do regular activities with 2 pounds of chlorella and infinite water for 6 months and likely much much longer. TRY DOING THAT WITH ANY ANIMAL PRODUCT! There is absolutely no comparison.

Of course, you're not going to find chlorella in a grocery store... Just like you're not going to find toothpaste without fluoride... if you go ask 1000 random people in the US what chlorella is, odds are not one of them will have any idea at all, and for good reason.

There is just nothing at all in a grocery store that has anywhere near the nutritional value of the food I already have stored. 5 pounds of food that I have stored is much much much more valuable to me than 50 pounds of pretty much any "food" you can find in a grocery store ( with the one exception possibly being raw fruits + veggies)