Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

I have been trying to plan our food supply and found a couple pages in an emergency preparedness book about what is a sample on year's food supply for a family of three. I was somewhat floored when I started reading 300 lbs hard wheat, 50 lbs dry corn, 50 lbs white rice, 50 lbs ....

It goes on for two pages.

I found the list on the web as well. It's in the gray box towards the bottom of:

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/clay55.html

Is this reasonable? It sounds like a huge amount of food.

Can you imagine how the checkout clerk (not to mention the other shoppers) will look at me if I try to complete even a line or two off this list??? 50 pounds of oatmeal? 52 pints of peaches?

:thumb.aspx:

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

I highly recommend this book.....
http://standeyo.com/Our_Books/DTP.html

unless of course, you think the internets will be up forever. :15_1_70v:

EDIT:
oh, and btw.....

......who the hell cares what other people will think?
If you have the financial where-with-all to prepare so quickly, there will be a lot of jealous and admiring GIMers around here.
Most of us methodically add to our meager preps bit by bit over months and even years.

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

Look at the labels on the foods sold at the grocery store. Note first the "sell by" or use by date, then look at the number of servings and multiply by the calories per serving.
Imagine how many shopping trips you will need to bring home 1.5 million calories.
That would be a practical minimum to keep a party of three alive and healthy for one year. More is better. If hard physical labor is anticipated, or you have growing teenagers, increase by at least 50 %.

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

Thank you for the recommendation--I will check it out. Is it available on Amazon Kindle? :biggrin: Snort. Just kidding about the last. I will check it out.

And if things DO go downhill, I certainly don't think the internet will stay up, and maybe not even the electricity. Will mourn but quickly get over the former. The latter--doing without refrigeration, electric stove, lights, and other appliances would be very hard.

[The comment about other people was for the humor of the mental image. Can you imagine their faces? Of course I don't care what stupid people think.

Regarding preparing quickly, we have no choice. I didn't get alarmed about the situation until the banking system started to unravel. Now I am hearing about food reserves being at a 50-year low. I have family in the area that will not prepare--I would like to prepare to feed them as well if needed.

At least we have a small homestead with acres of pasture and forest, wood heat, a well, and a small tractor. I hope we can afford to buy food to stock up because we keep our cars 15-20 years, mostly shun buying new clothes, don't vacation, and try our best to be frugal.

I wonder how much all that is going to cost. That would be an interesting spreadsheet to post here. :elefant:

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

Most of these food recommendations are based of the LDS Church foods storage recommendations. Broken down into daily meals your getting survival rations only and if you eat that food like you normally eat not only will it not be enough food you will run out very fast. Those recommendations are based on one cup of wheat a day etc. So no it is not too much food. You can get a one year supply of dood for 5 people for about $2000 BTW.

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

Are you talking a pre-packaged plan? Where?

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

If you are physically active you need about three pounds a day, 1,100 pounds for a year. If you are not so active you can get by with a little less. Of course that refers to reconstituted, not dehydrated. But don't buy different foods for storage. Buy what you eat, then eat what you buy. That way you have no change of diet and your food stays within its shelf life. It also guarantees that you know how to cook everything and you have all the ingredients for whatever you know how to cook.

Do you eat wheat? Do you know how to sprout the seeds and what to do with them next? Do you have a flour grinder? Do you actually make bread by hand? If you don't, it will wear you out. Preppers talk a lot about "beans and rice" but if you have to actually live on beans and rice for a few days you are going to have a problem with your end product. Like not being able to get it out. Do you know what to do about that? No? Ok, so store what you eat and eat what you store so you don't ever have that problem.

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

I believe a very important thing to consider is the addition of a fiber product. Get a few bottles of physillium husk to use in case you are in need of fiber. With a change in diet comes many problems (as Saul just mentioned) and a good fiber product will make life alot more pleasant. I use fiber daily and have found that I am a far healthier and happier person for it. You will cut way down on toilet paper too.

Good quality oils are very important too. Get alot and rotate use. It lasts longer than most people think.

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

stop posting in the natter-net and JUST GO SHOPPING.
T'aint rocket science.
Take a bunch of DOLLARS and go down to the store where the nice clerk will exchange them for a cart full of food.
repeat as necessary.
so far it works every time.

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

Thanks, all. I actually have a few huge 24 oz bottles of psyllium husk, and have plans to acquire more. Whether your digestive tract is going too fast or too slow, psyllium cures what ails ya'! And if you're hungry, it helps to make you feel full.

Goin' shopping again tomorrow. Lots of rice (I cook a lot of Japanese cuisine), and some beans 'cause I make a mean spicy black bean soup. I also heartily recommend hot mango relish (an Indian fare), 'cause if you like spicy, then it makes almost anything taste good. Might be important should food choices become scarce.

Thanks to you all.

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

I think that every situation is unique, so your needs will vary. For instance, I know that I can grow much more fruits & vegetables than I need, so I focus on storing grains and meats. I also keep chickens for eggs, and if things went south, I would add rabbits quickly for breeding and meat. So that takes some of the pressure of my protein needs. Personally, I have no use for MRE's; I may live to regret this, but I find them too expensive and would rather focus preps on starches. But then again, I can grow food and raise chickens, so other people may need to make different choices.

+1 Excellent advice. But I would add that beyond buying what you eat, it would be good to learn to cook and eat just a few of the oft-quoted staples. The rice & beans started as kind of a safety blanket with me; I just sleep better knowing they're there. But I love refried pinto beans, and they are very easy to prepare and now I often cook them and build Mexican meals around them.

It's become something of a game with me to see how cheaply I can live, and it turns out that I can live pretty dang cheap and still eat very well. I shop at Smart & Final's a lot because I like their product line much better than Costco. I think that they target small restaurants, and that works for my lifestyle. Big sacks of beans (all sorts: black, kidney, navy, pinto, garbanzos, etc...), BIG box of oil (~4-5 gallons = $30+/-), and a few 25lb sacks of flour & sugar. Mainly though, I am just a bargain-shopper. When the canned food or pasta I like is on sell, I buy a bunch, and stash it. I spend a bit of time organizing and rotating it, but I'm not fanatic about it. Prepping and eating this way should be more economical than the way most people eat, IMO. Just buy bulk.

Basically, the more meals you learn to make from basic ingredients, preferably dry goods, the better off you'll be. Even if you don't bake bread, etc... routinely, it's good to know how. Then you can add some wheat berries & a manual grinder to your deep-storage preps if you're still nervous, and you'll know what to do with them if the time comes. Those are still on my "to do" list. I plan to get 50-100lbs of wheat berries and just sit on it and hope I never need it. The rest of my preps get used though. My hubby even eats the :spam4:, even though I tell him not too. Can't stand the stuff myself.

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

Not sure of the point in adding any fiber when eating beans. Beans are full of fiber. If your eating a lot of beans I think you'll have more trouble keeping them in rather then getting them out. Try eating beans everyday for a week and you'll see. Expect a lot of um, compost. :smile:

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

It's not that there's too much food on the list. It's that a lot of the stuff we don't eat regularly. I don't eat canned corn; I eat frozen. I usually don't eat canned green beans (other than what I can myself, which isn't a lot); I like fresh. So if I had hundreds of cans of veggies in the pantry that I rarely ate and hardly ever rotated, wouldn't it just grow old and go to waste?

On the other hand, our household eats Campbells condensed chicken noodle, vegetable beef or tomato soup nearly every day of the week. So, it should surprise no one that I have nearly two hundred cans in the basement. I want more because I see them as a way to liven up the dreary beans and rice. Imagine tomato rice soup or spanish rice. Or vegetable beef soup with beans (don't they call that minestrone?).

I think the home canned hamburger is a good idea too; it goes on sale periodically and I'll buy 5 pounds and can it. Canned hamburger is accumulating at our house faster than I use it, which is fine because I'd like to have a lot. It's useful in many different things and handy when you need hamburger and don't have any refrigerated.

By the way, I own a grain mill and bake bread and rolls -- like every week or so. You would be surprised how quickly you can go through a 6 gallon pail of wheat berries. And if you weren't even able to buy store-bought bakery goods, several hundred pounds a year would be little enough.

I have a TVP sampler from Walton's in the basement that I've never opened. I think I should at least try the stuff. Maybe I want more and maybe I don't? Anyone have an opinion?

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

tag - Food list

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

The problem is that the qty of wheat assumes you'll be making your own bread, etc. I do make bread and pizza sometimes, but came to the conclusion that 200 lbs was a more reasonable amount to store. I put in more rice and beans, though. Rice and beans could easily be cooked in a pot over a fire if need be, but it would be tough making bread without an oven or flour mill or mixer.

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

EXACTAMUNDO.............

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

I " started" in 2004 after reading on GIM for a year.
I had always had hurricane supplies and such but
never anything substantial as far as riding anything out for a month or so.
Important part is to START.
All the goofy lists and stuff are confusing at the beginning anyways.
Put them aside, believe in yourself and your own ability to survive.
Make a list of what you would need bare minimum for say TWO weeks.
( pick one whatever....who cares...)
Do it TODAY.
Then , as Full Power says,
BUY IT....like TODAY
The first buy will ( hopefully ) give you the motivation to repeat the action.
It will be easier after that.
Regards,
Haystackneedle

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

1. Consider that the typical American today is spending somewhere around $3.20-3.25 per person per meal, day in and day out (including eating out). That's more than $3500 a year per person.

2. You can tell yourself that in a real pinch you'll completely change your eating habits--eating different types of food, a lot less, etc.

Realistically, that's a recipe for adding aggravation to heartache. Plan to store the type of food that you actually eat. Otherwise, you're almost surely throwing your money away. That means, if you are used to grinding your own grains and making your own bread, eating beans and rice all the time, and tend to avoid processed foods, then your obvious path is to purchase and store vast quantities of those staples. You may be able to pull that off for a little less than $2000 per person per year.

3. If you eat like most Americans, you are well-advised to find food that will store for many years, that is easy to prepare, and that resembles what you are used to eating. Yep--you can get great food packaged to last a LONG time at prices that are comparable to the amount of money you probably spend already per meal. Figure $3500 per person per year in your planning today and you'll do well.

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

And comfort yourself with the thought that food will never be cheaper than it is today. OK, never is a long time; but we see food prices going up on an almost daily basis.

By the way, I opened a #2.5 can of sausage flavored TVP this morning to see what it was like. I reconstituted it per directions and used 1/4 cup in my breakfast omelette. IMHO, TVP would not be very good as a standalone food. But, added to other things, it is really quite satisfactory. The sausage TVP was loaded with sodium, however -- 447 mg in 1/4 cup. In a SHTF situation, I'm not sure I'd care about that.

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

If it will all fit in one picture, or even on one pallet, you ain't got NEAR enough.

:biggrin:


http://www.digistash.com/data/026a39...3_p122100.jpeg

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

Cool photo Andy.
!!!!!

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

I imagined him bush-hogging his lawn on the way to store that pallet of food.
i guess, the attached apparatus (looks to be a BH) coupled with the forks struck me as funny.

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

Food costs have risen but $3500 a person is ridiculous unless you buying crap filled MSG freeze dried foods. Last thing you want when the poop hits the fan is to have a heart attack from all the salt and MSG in your survival food. Buy beans rice, wheat, dried fruits and veggies, and canned soups meats, fruits vegie, and you'll be much better off.

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

From J. Michael Stevens Group @ http://www.efoodsdirect.com/

LIBERTY UNIT--One year supply for one person--$1575 + shipping

1 adult supply for 1 year-Liberty through stored food
This is the non-TVP option of The Standard Liberty Unit. TVP or textured vegetable protein is made from soy flour that some folks are sensitive to. The Liberty Unit has been the basic standard for dehydrated bulk food supply planning for 27 years. It is a balanced combination of pure foods with no fillers (salt, margarine, baking powder, sugar, flour, etc.).

Cans are No. 10 size which hold a little less than a gallon. All orders are canned fresh and date stamped then shipped within 45 days.

FRUITS
Apple Slices (2 cans)
Bananas (2 cans)
Tropical Fruit Mix (3 cans)
Raisins (1 can)
Apple Drink (2 cans)

VEGETABLES
Soup & Stew Blend (3 cans)
Green Peas (3 cans)
Carrot Dices (2 cans)
Sweet Corn (3 cans)
Potato Granules (3 cans)
Potato Slices (2 cans)
Potato Dices (1 can)
Onion (1 can)
Tomato Powder (1 can)

DAIRY
Protein Power Milk** (6 cans)
Whole Eggs (3 cans)
Cheese Blend (2 cans)
Butter (1 can)

TVP Substitute Items
Rice (4 cans)
Pinto Beans (2 cans)
Sprouting Seeds (1 - 4 gal. Bucket) COOKING SUPPLEMENTS
Hot Chocolate Mix (1 can)
Strawberry Gelatin (1 can)
Pudding Mix (1 can)
Beef/Chicken Soup Base (1 can)

GRAINS & CEREALS
Creamy Wheat Cereal (1 can)
Granola (2 cans)
Oats (2 cans)
Rice (6 cans)
Macaroni (4 cans)
Spaghetti (1 can)
Cornmeal (2 cans)
Popcorn (1 can)

LEGUMES
Pinto Beans (2 cans)
Chili Beans (2 cans)
Navy Beans (2 cans)
Black Beans (1 can)
Refried Beans (1 can)

SPROUTING SEEDS
1-4 Gallon Pail Nutri-Mix Seeds with Sprouter

ACCESSORIES
Cookbook-"Cookin' With Home Storage"
Plastic Lids

** Regular Non-Fat Milk with whey protein added

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

Nope.....tiller. Here it is w/o the tractor to block view:

http://www.digistash.com/data/026a39...71_p87312.jpeg

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

I've now been to the grocery store once last week and once this week, each time filling a grocery cart to the gills with canned and dry goods. Today I loaded up 26 lbs of rolled oats along with the rest of the goodies. I plan to hit the place again tomorrow--I hope they restock their shelves! If they restock tomorrow I'll hit the place again on Friday.

Each time I hand them a piece of plastic and then they just let me leave the place with all the goods! No one calls the police or tries to stop me. Someone even helps me load the loot in in my trunk.

Tonight for the first time I placed a couple sizable orders of stuff that I really never knew existed until recently. Canned dehydrated eggs. Canned freeze-dried peas. Canned milk concentrate. Everything (except the TVP) is stuff that I use anyhow in the fresh form. I'm looking forward to trying some of the dehydrated stuff in my recipes to see how it compares to the fresh.

I'm still waiting for my credit card company to call me up and ask if I've gone stark raving mad. The UPS delivery guy will be giving me dirty looks me next week.

In any case I'm starting to feel more secure.

:5_1_120:

Re: Reasonable amount of food for one year?
 

"Each time I hand them a piece of plastic and then they just let me leave the place with all the goods! No one calls the police or tries to stop me. Someone even helps me load the loot in in my trunk."


ahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa.........I feel the same way every time I go to a coin shop. I hand them little pieces of paper, and they hand me a piece of metal that took thousands of man hours and tons of dirt removal to wrestle from the earth. Seems like I'm robbing someone.