My Shopping List for a Year's Supply of Food

We have 93 pints less of home-canned food than when this picture was taken about 2 months ago (not all of the 350+ pints of food show up n the picture).  Yikes! At this rate, we'll be about out by the time new food is available in the garden in the late spring!  I guess that works out, but still!  Guess we need to be eating more out of the freezer (or canning the stuff in the freezer), since, even though we won't go hungry either way, frozen food isn't being counted for food storage purposes.

A couple weeks ago, I posted a list of what it would take for my family to have a year's supply of food.  Today, I went through everything (shelf stable) I had on hand to see how I was sitting with regard to hitting that goal.  Boy, was I disappointed!  We could go maybe a month with what I have here if we couldn't use anything from the fridge or freezer!  Ugh!  On the plus side, I do have a lot of stuff frozen as well, so I probably could can up a bunch of that, either as single ingredients or as soups, rather than buying a lot of stuff.  I also probably could collect more nuts and things this summer rather than buying most of those, although I know I will want to buy some too, since a lot of the nuts I enjoy are not ones that can be randomly found in Michigan (pecans and Brazil nuts come to mind: my two favorites).  I also will be keeping this list in mind as I plan the garden for the year,  In other positives, I discovered that I have a good supply of a few things, like yeast, and have nearly as much as I need for a number of other items.  The remaining numbers are huge though!  Here is my current "shopping list" of what I still need to acquire, although, obviously, unless I won the lottery or something (but first I'd have to play!), I won't be getting this all at once!  Quantities listed are minimums, especially those things involving chocolate.

Wheat, grains, grains flour & beans = 1680 lbs            

            ? barley

22 lbs cornmeal

            60 lbs whole wheat flour

            113 lbs rice

            86 lbs pasta

            118 lbs granola & oatmeal

            60 lbs cold cereal

            193 lbs dried beans

Powdered milk, dairy products, & eggs=512 lbs

            257 lb milk, non-instant powdered

            51 lbs butter, dehydrated

            64 lbs minimum

            16 cans evaporated milk

            Yogurt starter

            Cheese cultures

Sweeteners: honey, sugar, and syrup=240 lbs

            180 lbs honey

            33 lbs maple syrup

            1 lb molasses

            21 lbs white sugar

Cooking catalysts: salt, oil, leavening

            11 lbs salt

            10 lbs baking soda

            26 gal vegetable oil

            13 gallons olive oil

Canned/dried fruits, Veggies, & Soups=6479 servings

            2744 servings canned fruits

500 lbs potatoes

-          65 lbs dried potatoes

-          Canned potatoes, white or sweet

-          247 lbs fresh white potatoes

-          60 lbs sweet potatoes

2505 servings canned veggies

-          Green beans

-          Kidney beans

-          Beets

-          Carrots

-          Corn, cut

-          Corn, creamed

-          Spinach

-          Peas

-          Tomato paste

641 servings soup

257 servings conveniences (Spaghetti-Os, box mac & cheese, etc)

Kitchen stables: condiments & seasonings

            Olives

            2-5 jars mayonnaise/salad dressing

            11 lb chocolate chips (minimum)

            3 lbs cocoa powder

            1 lb cornstarch

            10 lbs dry gelatin

            33 jars peanut butter

            50 lbs nuts & seeds

            16 boxes saltines

            2 bottles soy sauce

            1 bottle steak sauce

            1 bottle Worchestershire sauce

            3 gallons apple cider vinegar

            10 gallons white vinegar

            Herbs/spices (1 each):

-          Garlic powder, Dry mustard, Onion powder, Parsley, Black pepper, White pepper, Cayenne pepper, Rosemary, Cumin, Nutmeg, Chili powder, Thyme, Bay leaves, Oregano, Cinnamon, Cloves, Majoram, Ginger, Turmeric, Basil, Allspice, Sage,Paprika

Almond extract

Vanilla beans

Meat & seafood=1788 servings

            Canned venison

            Jerky

            Canned poultry

            Luncheon meats(?)

            Canned seafood

Pleasure foods, etc=5084 servings

            Tasty beverages=1877 servings

-          Juice

-          Herbal tea

-          Soft drinks

-          Hot chocolate

-          Coffee

Snackies=1923 servings

-          Candy

-          Tortilla chips

-          Potato chips

-          Pretzels

-          Snack crackers

-          Pudding, shelf stable

Feeding My Family Makes me a Terrorist?

According to Senator Rand Paul (and rampant internet rumor), "someone who has more than seven days of food in their house can be considered a potential terrorist."  Because of this, a lot of people have expressed concern that I might be considered a possible terrorist because I am (quite publicly) trying to get a year's supply of food stored for my family's use.  Am I worried?  No.

First off, I don't think someone that was amassing a supply of food for nefarious purposes would be so open and public about it.  Secondly, all one has to do is look at my background to see why I might be doing a little stockplin'.  And, no, I'm not talking about my white, middle-class, good girl, nice college educated background, although that probably wouldn't hurt.  I'm talking about my adult life where things haven't gone so well, despite that quality, yet strangely worthless, college education.  The adult life where there have been times that I've had $5 or less to feed my family for a month and relied heavily on foraging, since I didn't know how to garden yet and didn't have a good place to do it in our apartment.  Or the aspect of the adult life where we had to live with my husband's mom for seven years before we could get a place of our own.  The adult life where my husband was injured on the job and couldn't work for nearly a year, then let go from that job about a year and a half later.  In other words, we've struggled.  A lot.  Money is constantly uncertain and, for many of these times, food was very uncertain as well.  These are the reasons I learned to forage, to garden, and to cook so darn well.  No, I'm not sitting around feeling sorry for me or my family, I'm just explaining why, other than terrorism, someone might gather an extensive supply of food while they have the means to do so.

While stories like that of my family may not be that uncommon (or maybe it is, since I think a lot of people would have just given up by now instead of keep getting back up for more), there are bunches of other reasons I can think of that someone may amass enough food to last months or even years:

• Gardeners: while many may see us as a sick bunch with our dedication to making green things grow, we like our homegrown goodies and try to make them last, so we preserve them, if we can, to last through the off season
• Canners: also a twisted group of souls (which of course, I wouldn't say unless I was part of this group), we love the sound of the pop when a jar seals and the corresponding pop when it is opened.  Because of this goofy obsession (if you don't think it is goofy, just look at the expression on a canner's face when either pop sounds), we want to make the fun last throughout the year.
• Hunters: without this group, there would be a lot more starving beasties and more car/deer collisions throughout the year, but I don't know of any family that can eat an entire deer in a week or less.
• Extreme couponers:   a group considered by many to be at least slightly crazy, but not dangerous (unless maybe you get in their way of a deal), they get stuff when the stars, or at least the sales and coupons, align right.  Since that doesn't happen for every item every week, they get the mass quantities when they can.
• Mormons: it's a religious imperative to have a year's supply of food.  I'm not sure why, because I've never really looked into their beliefs, just the great lists of what one should have for such a supply, but I'm fairly certain Mormons are not known for terrorist activities.
• Elderly people: anyone that lived through the Great Depression or WWII is likely to have tendencies to get the goods when they can (I remember seeing my grandma's pantry after she moved on, with its approximate bagillion cans, especially kidney beans.  She had about a googolplex cans of kidney beans for some reason).  Even as this generation dies off, their influence continues on with younger people that learned from them.
• People who live in the country: Gas is expensive.  When the nearest store is in a neighborhood far, far away, it doesn't make sense to get groceries every few days or even every week.  Limiting the trips to the store can save a lot of money.
• People who only get paid every couple weeks or even less often:  if you get paid less often than once a week, but are living paycheck to paycheck, sometimes that money can seem to evaporate pretty quickly!  Many, many people will buy their groceries for the entire payperiod, at least the bulk of them, in one trip, so they don't end up short on food at the same time as they are short on funds.
• People who live in disaster prone areas: I don't know how many stories I've heard in my life, usually from people in hurricane prone areas, of the stores being closed for at least a week, sometimes as long as a month, after a storm.  If you only have a week of food at a time, you'd have to wait until the last minute before the storm hits in order to have enough food to possibly be okay until the supply chain reopens.
• Anyone that listens to the CDC: the CDC recommends a minimum two week supply of food be maintained in the home.  From their website: "Even though it is unlikely that an emergency would cut off your food supplies for two weeks, consider maintaining a supply that will last that long."  FEMA and the American Red Cross concur, strangely enough using the exact same language in this document on emergency preparedness.  While I'm sure there are some people that would disagree, I'm pretty sure the US government wouldn't consider the CDC, FEMA, or the Red Cross to be organizations engaged in or encouraging terrorist activity.

So whether your reasons be religious like the Mormons, following the government's own recommendations, practical like the people who buy groceries when they get paid, or common-sensical, like elderly people or people in hurricane or winter weather zones,  or other one of the other crazy reasons I listed, I really think, if the only "suspicious" activity one is engaged in is having a larger than average supply of food on hand, you probably don't have anything to worry about.  Come to think of it, I bet when you consider all these different groups, having more than a week of food in your house is probably downright normal!

How long could you go without buying food, if you needed to?  Do you fall into one or more of the categories I mentioned if you do have more than a week's worth, or do you have reasons I may not have thought of?

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This post is part of Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways #10.

Food Storage in a Small Space

When I announced a couple days ago that I was planning on gathering a year's supply of food for my family, the number one question I was asked (right ahead of "aren't you worried about being branded a potential terrorist?", which I plan on covering in another post) was where the heck are you going to put all of that food?

My short answer is:  anywhere I can!

That isn't a flippant answer either.  I don't have a basement, spare room, or even a pantry where I can stack mountains of #10 cans and large food-grade buckets.  With 6 of us (even when he isn't here, my 12 year old has enough stuff here that he still counts!) in a single wide trailer, space is definitely at a premium!

To make the best possible use of my house to free up space for food storage, the first thing I'm doing is a massive decluttering effort.  Anything that we don't need or want will be gone!  I've never been one to hang on to things longer than needed, but we'll be taking it to the next level: getting the family involved.  Over the next week or two, I want to go through all of our stuff and figure out what actually belongs in our home.  If it is something we will want later, we might stick it out in the garage, but the house will be reserved for active duty stuff.

Of the things we don't want, some will be sold, some will be given away, and some will be traded.  Trading is my favorite way to get rid of stuff, since I can then replace it with things we actually need (or maybe want).  Some of my favorite websites are Paperbackswap.com for trading books (not just paperbacks), SwapaDVD.com for swapping DVDs (or BluRays, but I don't have any of those), and my husband just found this great site called Listia, which is a free, bid-based (using points instead of money) site for trading anything you want!  We'll probably be making a lot of use of that one as we declutter over the next few weeks!  Some of the stuff we give away will be going to St. Vincent de Paul's, since they give clothes for free to people that can't afford their thrift store prices and the one closest to us just had a fire last month so needs to be restocked (we actually found about the fire when we were going to go there to see about getting some clothes that our family needed!  So much for that idea!).  Other stuff will be given away on Freecycle, since that is where I usually come up with anything we need.

Once we get rid of the stuff we don't need, I should have lots of places to stash things around the house.  Some places that someone in a tight living space like ours might stick food storage are:

under beds (in boxes to slide out easily)
in bedroom closets
in areas above cabinets
behind books on bookshelves
in unused dresser drawers
in covered crates that serve as end tables, a coffee table, or night stands
on shelving installed in any free wall space
boxes or crates stacked in out of the way places
in pest-proof totes or other containers in the garage (for foods that temperature changes won't hurt)

I don't really know if there is enough room here for a whole year's worth of food, but I'm still going to try.  The beautiful thing about a project like this is that it doesn't have to be all done a the time.  I can get the supplies I can and make room as I go.  If I run out of space, maybe I'll come up with another plan, like stashing some at someone else's house or something, or maybe we'll move by then and be in a place with more storage.  I'm not going to let the uncertainties stop me from starting.  As long as I get what I can, and we use it in some sort of rotation, it doesn't really matter how or where we store it!  I'll burn that bridge when we get to it, I guess.

A Year's Supply of Food

One of my goals for this year is to accumulate at least a year's supply of food for my family.  This is something I've been wanting to do for quite a while, but I'm the kind of person that tends to wait until the last minute, right before the deadline, before completing a task and self imposed deadlines don't usually cut it.  This year, there is a date embedded in popular culture and historical references that works quite well as a deadline for my purposes:

December 21, 2012

What do I think will happen on December 21 of this year?  Probably nothing.  People will go to school or work in the morning and the malls and shopping centers will fill up in the evening, as the last weekend before Christmas kicks off.  I'll admit, a fanciful part of my imagination wonders if the galactic alignment really does mean anything and if there will be some sort of huge solar flares or coronal mass ejection or polar shift, but it is the same part of my imagination that worries about zombies reaching through the gap in the curtains at night, so it isn't a part of my brain that is given much credence.

Regardless, the date gives me a deadline and the huge increase in our food stamps from my husband being out of work gives me the means.  It might be possible to feed my family well on $161 a month (plus WIC), but it doesn't leave much for stockpiling extra anythings.

Now that I know I have this money coming, I put together a list of what I should have to feed my family for the year.  I used Making the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook as my guide, with an extremely important adjustment.  As I started to look at the numbers listed, I noticed that they looked really high as per person numbers, so I started to look into what the problem was and discovered an Amazon review that said the author had used the USDA recommendations for a family of 2.3 as the quantities for one individual (Note: my copy is the 10th edition.  More recent editions may have already corrected this error)!  Oops!  Easy enough fix though: I just divided the quantities by 2.3 before multiplying by the number of people in my household.  I used his guidelines to figure out how many "people" are in my house as well, since, obviously a 3 year old doesn't eat the same amount as I would or my almost teen son does.  Here is the method for determining what the author calls the "family factor": each family member gets an assigned number of points.  A male adult is 100 points, female adult is 85 points, a male teen is 140 points, a female teen or male child over 3 is 95 points, a female child over 3 is 75 points, and a child under 3 is 50 points.  Since my oldest will be a teen by the "deadline" and my youngest will be 3 soon, I leaned toward the higher numbers and considered my oldest a teen and the youngest a male child.  Once you total your family members' points, divide by 100 to get your "family factor", which is essentially the number of people to plan on feeding.

For my family, this number is 5.9, so the numbers on my list reflect that family size.  If you wish to use my list for your family, you'd need to divide the numbers show by 5.9, then multiply by your own family factor.  I do recommend getting your own copy of this book (and please use one of my links to do so, so I'll earn a small percentage of the sale), since the book has a lot of other useful info like shelf lives of the different things, food items our family doesn't use but yours might, recipes, and how much of non-food items you'd need for a year.

Here's my family's list of how much of each kind of food we should have for a year's supply, roughly based on this book; your mileage may vary:

Wheat, other whole grains, flours, & beans = 1796 pounds, to include the following:
popcorn
barley
cornmeal (26 pounds minimum)
flour (90 pounds minimum)
rice, white and brown (116 pounds minimum)
pasta, various types (90 pounds minimum)
granola & oatmeal (128 pounds minimum)
cold cereal (65 pounds minimum)
dried beans, assorted (193 pounds minimum)

Powdered milk, dairy products, and eggs = 513 pounds, to include the following:
milk, non-instant powdered (257 pound minimum)
butter, dehydrated (51 pound minimum)
cheese, dehydrated (64 pound minimum)
evaporated milk (16 cans minimum)
sweetened condensed milk
yogurt starter
cheese cultures

Sweeteners: honey, sugar, and syrup = 257 pounds, to include the following:
honey (180 pounds minimum)
maple syrup
molasses
white sugar (26 pounds minimum)
brown sugar
confectioners sugar

Cooking catalysts: salt, oil, and leavening agents=193 lbs, to include the following:
salt (13 pounds minimum)
yeast (2 pounds minimum)
baking soda
vegetable oil (26 gallons minimum)
olive oil (13 gallons minimum)

Canned & Dried Fruits, Vegetables & Soups=7054 servings, to include the following:
canned fruits, jams, jellies, and preserves (to equal 3207 servings)
potatoes=513 pounds, to include the following:

dried potatoes (65 pounds minimum)
canned potatoes, white and/or sweet
fresh potatoes, white (257 pounds minimum)
fresh sweet potatoes

canned vegetables=2565 servings, to include the following:

green beans
kidney beans
beets
carrots
corn, cut
corn, creamed
greens
peas
tomato paste
tomato sauce
canned tomatoes

canned soups (641 servings minimum)
shelf stable conveniences, such as boxed mac & cheese, Spaghettios, etc (257 servings, minimum)


Kitchen staples: condiments & seasonings=to preference, to include the following:
relish
pickles
olives
mayonnaise/salad dressing
salsa
chocolate chips (11 pounds minimum)
cocoa powder (3 pounds minimum)
cornstarch (2 pounds minimum)
gelatin, dry (11 pounds minimum)
nut butter (37 pounds minimum)
nuts & seeds, fresh or roasted (90 pounds minimum)
crackers (16 pounds minimum)
tapioca
catsup
soy sauce
steak sauce
Worcestershire sauce
assorted stocks/broths
apple cider vinegar
white vinegar
herbs/spices:

dill
garlic powder
dry mustard
onion flakes or powder
parsley flakes or powder
black pepper
white pepper
cayenne pepper
rosemary
cumin
nutmeg
chili powder
thyme
bay leaves
oregano
cinnamon
cloves
majoram
ginger
turmeric
basil
allspice
sage
paprika
vanilla beans/extract
almond extract

Meat and seafood=1796 servings, to include the following:
canned venison
jerky
canned poultry
luncheon meats, shelf stable
canned seafood

Pleasure foods: beverages, snacks, sweets, & treats=5131 servings, to include the following:
1924 servings minimum of the following:

juice
herbal stea
soft drinks
hot chocolate
coffee

1923 servings minimum of the following:

candy
tortilla chips
potato chips
snack crackers
pudding, shelf stable

Survivialism: Not just for nutjobs anymore

 If you are reading this, I think it is safe to assume the world didn’t end on 10/21 as Harold Camping predicted. Not too many people were surprised by this, especially since this isn’t the first time that he or countless other “prophets” have been wrong throughout history. But just because no one has successfully predicted the end of the world yet, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared for it to end at any given time. (click here to read the rest of the article on ViewsHound)

Life Without Electricity--emergency or inconvenience?

Do you ever see a headline and think to yourself, "what would I do if it was me and my family in that situation?"  I do.  I saw one such headline last night:

Restoring Power Could Take Weeks

Apparently, for millions of people affected by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene, there will be no electricity coming into their home for weeks.
 

What do you do when the power goes out?

That. Would. Suck.
 
If it was me, my first worry would be about the several month supply of food in my freezer.  I generally keep the freezer full enough that a few days without power should be okay as long as we didn't open it.  If I had reason to believe the power would be out for much longer and knew so ahead of time, I might have invested in some dry ice to stick in there to keep it frozen longer, but probably not, since crises have more of a tendency to pop up when I don't have extra funds to deal with it, in my experiences.  More than likely, I'd be dealing with a full small chest freezer, full refrigerator freezer, and whatever is in the fridge.  

There basically would be two groups of things in my freezer:  things that could be canned and things that would have to be eaten right away.  I might organize a series of parties with my neighbors where were in the same boat and open each freezer at a separate time and have everyone eat up whatever was in there so everyone was fed and nothing went bad.  That could keep the whole neighborhood fed a few days if done right!  Before organizing such a thing, I would try to remember what exactly was in my freezer to decide if it was worth while.  Playing like this was happening right now, I wouldn't--the eat-it-up category of my freezer at this very moment (by memory, since if I open it, I'd be letting out valuable cold air) consist of a little bit of ice cream, an individual size frozen pizza, some raw cookie dough, and some breaded fish patties (just checked: there is also a package of hot dogs).  Not really worth having a pig-out party for.  We definitely could eat that up right away.    

In addition to the "definitely eat it up right away" category, there is some frozen shredded zucchini, a bunch of sweetened strawberries, and a fairly large quantity of goat milk frozen in the chest freezer that I might want to use up, but maybe I can come up with some way to save them.  Without looking at anything, I'm thinking I probably could use the zucchini in a stew, make something jam-like out of the strawberries or perhaps dry them to make some fruit leather.  I should be able to make the goat's milk into yogurt or possibly cheese, if I have the right things on hand.  That would extend it's life quite a bit, especially if I waited until it thawed on its own, or let one or two quarts thaw at a time to make yogurt from and keep use the rest as ice packs in a cooler to keep everything that needs to be eaten up from the refrigerator fresh a bit longer.  A cooler would be easier to keep cold since it is a smaller area.  My kids can put away a lot of yogurt if I let them, especially if we mixed it with some of those strawberries, so that might use up the goat milk before the crisis was even resolved. Any remaining veggies or meats left in there could be used up as we needed them, or I could finally break open my pressure canner box and see how that's done.  I'm sure I need heat and water to do it though.  I'm not sure what the situation for gas, since I have a gas stove, and water would be in this scenario, but if I had neither being supplied to my home and the aide that I'm sure will be going to the area didn't allow for that much water being distributed, I should be able to use either our grill, camp stove, or a fire for the heat source, possibly making a nice little fire pit in the yard with some of those bricks that I've been using for landscaping and to hide my compost bin.  There is a small forest surrounding the trailer park that I'm sure I could find some wood in to fuel the fire, not to mention the pallets in my garage that I could burn if needed.   

If I'm on my own for water, that's a little trickier, but not impossible.  I have several sheets of plastic and tarps in the garage that I primarily use for yard sales and to cover the garden beds on frosty nights, but those and a few sticks and bricks could easily be turned into an evaporation/condensation based water filter to get particulates out of the water I'd be using.  There are a couple ponds within easy walking distance that water could be collected from and brought back either in containers in my wheelbarrow or the kids' wagon or both.  It might take a couple days, I really don't know, to get enough water to use for canning, but I've got a couple days until I need to start worrying about the stuff in the still closed freezers anyway.  Maybe I'll get lucky and it will rain so I can just collect rainwater.  Or maybe I'd raid the water heater and the some of the water I stored in my bathtubs ahead of time, counting on being able to replenish it through rainwater or my makeshift filter later.  No matter how I do it, the water doesn't need to be 100% pure at this point, just not toxic or filled with particles.  Bacteria will be killed in the canning process, so I don't have to worry about that part.  Then I can away, saving everything I can can.    

Good thing I have plenty of jars and lids on hand, huh?  If I run out, we'll just have to go back to plan A of eating everything, right?  Maybe not.  Some things probably could be dried, either in an improvised solar dehydrator with the plastic sheets (maybe even under them as they are used to condense water?  Interesting idea!) or our vehicles also could be used as solar dehydrators.  If the gas is on, maybe they could be dehydrated in the oven as well.  If the choices are try or just let it go to waste, I'm definitely going to give it a shot!
 
Once the food is saved, the major issue will be laundry.  We won't be changing clothes every day in this scenario, but for things that do have to be changed and washed more frequently, like undies or cloth diapers, they'll have to be washed by hand.  Not really that big of deal.  I've done it before when the washer was broken and I didn't have enough money for a Laundromat.  Just throw them in a large container with some laundry detergent, maybe agitate it a bit by swirling things around, scrub a bit to get the extra icky bits off (not looking forward to that with the poopy diapers, but now would be a really good time to work really hard on potty-training I think!), rinse and find someplace to hang to dry.   

Beyond the food, laundry, and the hot showers that I'd just have to live without, I don't think it would be that big of deal.  Sure, there would be no television, my writing would have to be on paper to share later rather than facing its usual instant audience, bedtime would be a lot earlier and morning would come with the dawn, but other than that, I think it would actually be pretty nice.  I should still be able to communicate with the outside world via my cell phone (car chargers sure can be handy, eh?) and, if not, I have my family here and my neighbors, who'd probably be a lot more social without the non-stop media to distract them from community life.  Entertainment would come in the form of books and games with other humans, not a machine.  After those first few days of intense canning and improvising to get things normalized, I don't think it would be much of an emergency or inconvenience.  It would actually be pretty nice.