Food, what would you store if you had nothing, starting from scratch
 

Lots of us know people who have NOTHING who are waking up everyday...

Telling them to buy 25 year storage food is, IMO a waste of money because they will be breaking into that 25 year buck on day 3 of the crash.

What you recommend they buy for 2-5 year storage and how much per person?

This is what I tell people who are just starting and don't want to break the bank.

Rice, lots of it, buy it by the 25# bag and store it in empty two liters.
Sugar, lots of it same as above
Salt, lots of it and store it in 2 liters.
Pasta, lots of it, keeps for 2 years in the store box, no 'cheap way' to really pack it to push that out, maybe rubbermaid containers?
Dry beans, 2 liter bottles again can work
Canned good on sale, like when they are 25 cents a can -might never see that again at this pint, but up until 3 months ago it would happen at meijer.
Vitamins, bulk generic 'multi' vitamins.

So lets hear your ideas!

ps I should add to that canned meats, particularly when stores have the sales on canned tuna. costco canned chicken and beef is also excellent but a bit pricey.

Re: Food, what would you store if you had nothing, starting from scratch
 

I depends on what your budget is.
Buy a whole Grocery store and shut it down with armed guards at
the first sign of trouble if you're a multi- millionaire....

Of course, most of us have to be more frugal.
Sauces, spices and recipes, are often overlooked.
I can make rice taste 10 different ways, same with pasta.
You don't want to get burned out in a crisis situation.

I usually just buy more of whatever is on sale, if I think it will last.
Maybe that is over simplistic... but that's what I do.

How are you going to prepare it and cook it once electricity is gone,
is something else to think about.

Re: Food, what would you store if you had nothing, starting from scratch
 

id add the following.

aspirin / tylenol
toilet paper / fem products
canned meats / stews/ chile / tuna
canned and dried fruits
canned veggies, esp tomato products
spag / pasta sauces both dry and jars
25# bags of flour
peanut butter / jams / jelly / honey
mayo
liter size cooking oils
cream of ___ soups to use with pasta and rice
cocoa powder or hot chocolate mixes
at least 3 gallons of bleach
cases of bottled water and also a few gallon jugs per person
comfort items for family members

Re: Food, what would you store if you had nothing, starting from scratch
 

Go to Walmart and stock up on #10 cans of stuff. It consumes a lot of space, but it's relatively cheap and you can rotate it as needed. This is what I do for my emergency food needs. Something is better than nothing.

Re: Food, what would you store if you had nothing, starting from scratch
 

First order of business if you have nothing:

Buy a 30 day supply of MRE's. Not too cheap, but for newbies, it has enough to survive for that first 30 days.

Re: Food, what would you store if you had nothing, starting from scratch
 

10 lb. cans of what stuff? A question I have is regarding big bulk items like a big can of fruit, vegetables, whatever. Sure it's cheaper, but in a shtf situation, how do you preserve it after you open it? Unless you're planning on feeding 10 people at once I guess.

Re: Food, what would you store if you had nothing, starting from scratch
 

Why not buy a 30 day supply of...let see,,,maybe, what you already eat?

Re: Food, what would you store if you had nothing, starting from scratch
 

For one thing, it has a 5+ year shelf life.

Second, if this is for someone who cannot already manage to keep basic supply of food, then telling them to buy what they already eat will be a meaningless gesture. They will have 30 days of food until they are short of their regular food and then suddenly they figure out they dont have to go to the store today, or tomorrow,

Now, if you buy 30 days of mre's you MAY crack open one to see what it tastes like, but after that I guarantee it will be left alone until truly needed.

Re: Food, what would you store if you had nothing, starting from scratch
 

Dude, just go shopping.
Exchange Federal Reserve Notes for groceries. stay out of restaurants for one whole week, whatever you do to survive that week, do THAT times ten.
There ya go, ten weeks reserve, right?

For myself, my family eats rice frequently, so I like to have a bit of extra rice on hand.
SOme extra Tuna ( albacore in oil), and veg beef soups set aside also give me a warm safe feeling
And you really cant go wrong with a few 25 pound bags of flour, salt, sugar, gallons of vegetable oil,instant mashed potatoes, dried onions, garlic, yeast, crackers, peanut butter, small sized jars of jam and mayo, spam, devilled ham, spagetti sauce, beef stew, canned peaches, rice a roni,Bisquik, pancake syrup, powdered milk, coffee,tea,D batteries, candles...... you know GROCERIES.

Re: Food, what would you store if you had nothing, starting from scratch
 

Rice, canned meats (Chicken Breast, Tuna, Salmon), canned vegetables, canned beans.

My recent tuna and salmon purchases (6oz cans) don't expire to latter 2011. I love the stuff, also like rice and black beans. I usually eat that 2-3 times a week, enough to keep eating the older stuff and replenishing with new.

Pick up 2 5lb bags of rice, 6-10 cans of beans or vegtables, and 10-15 cans of meat/fish when you do your normal grocery shopping and before you know it you will have a months worth of survival food.

Re: Food, what would you store if you had nothing, starting from scratch
 

I personally like the canned chili. It's a bit pricey, but I found some cans in the grocery store with BB dates in 2012 on them.

I think you want something you'd like to eat anyway, so if you're 3 years down the road and you're approaching your BB dates and the world hasn't ended, you can just microwave up whatever you bough and enjoy it. You might want to leave the price tag on, just so you can cut open a can and remember the good ole days when food prices were in the single digits.

Re: Food, what would you store if you had nothing, starting from scratch
 

i have found that when talking with someone who has questions about how to prep and what to prep, the first thing they need is a PLAN.

how many people in the household, ages, and a good starting point like--3 months of supplies. if thats too hard financially, start with the goal of 1 month of supplies.

otherwise it gets too overwhelming and they often buy things whilly-nilly. while its true that SOMETHING is better than NOTHING in the home, if they can put in writing what they need for their first goal, then they have something to work with and can hit the sales and not end up with 50 cans of tuna and jars of BP and mayo but nothing or not enough of what they need to survive decently.

i think #10 cans are great if you have a large family---or if cost wise the price is so good, and you know how to can foods yourself, you can break it down into smaller jars.

i used to teach a preparedness course and the first thing i made everyone do is get a notebook. that is prep item number 1. in that book they had to set goals for themselves, keep a ledger of items necessary and financial ways to achieve it, among other notes. then i made them decide on 3 goals--immediate, midlevel and long term--say 3 month, 6 months and 1 year of supplies and jot down what they needed to get to fulfill the first goal and how to financially make it happen.

each person who made their first goal (and all of them finished it a bit earlier than they expected) were so damn proud of themselves and saw that it IS possible and were raring to go for their next goal.

i think for some people they kinda know they need to do something but they dont know where to start or how to start and are intimidated and maybe are even kinda embarrassed about starting, so they put it off and put it off.

and its not too late for a newbie to start prepping now---and one great thing about learning to 'prep' or keep a full pantry is that you learn real fast what you need to make decent meals, what items are important to stock up on and how to save some bucks while doing it.

once they start a garden and learn to can and dry some of their own food, they are well on their way.

my .02