Local Supplier of "Survival Food" (Oregon)

[nwwoodsman]

With the U.S. gooberment about to return either $600 or $2000 of the money they've stolen out of my pay check, I plan on using a good portion of that to simultaneously stimulate local businesses and my pantry. I am looking for deals on either canned goods or long term freeze dried food buckets and bags. Can anyone recommend stores in the Washington and Multonmah Couty areas where a person can get the most bang for his buck? I have a family of four to look out for and have about 30 days of food on hand. I'd like to immediatly have 3 months, then 6 months and eventually a years supply of food on hand. Any tips on stocking up? Up until now out stocking up has consisted mostly of hitting sales of canned goods and potato flakes at outlet stores and BiMart.

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[OldTengu]

With the U.S. gooberment about to return either $600 or $2000 of the money they've stolen out of my pay check, I plan on using a good portion of that to simultaneously stimulate local businesses and my pantry. I am looking for deals on either canned goods or long term freeze dried food buckets and bags. Can anyone recommend stores in the Washington and Multonmah Couty areas where a person can get the most bang for his buck? I have a family of four to look out for and have about 30 days of food on hand. I'd like to immediatly have 3 months, then 6 months and eventually a years supply of food on hand. Any tips on stocking up? Up until now out stocking up has consisted mostly of hitting sales of canned goods and potato flakes at outlet stores and BiMart.

I would use it to finance a freeze dryer.

 

[cigars]

LDS has their prep food storage centers. Two in the area. Open to the general public. Much cheaper than the name brands and same quality.

Home Storage Center Locations Map

Find the nearest Home Storage Center by you. Search through the US and Canada.

providentliving.churchofjesuschrist.org

 

[Member 5605]

I would use it to finance a freeze dryer.

Hmm.. this is a great idea along with mylar bags and a vacuum sealer.

 

[Unicykle]

freeze dryed is about the only way to get long term storage food, it may not be gourmet but in a shtf situation its better than nothing. I have a few buckets of freeze dryed meals, mountian house seem to taste the best but are more expensive than alot of others. These are just my shtf food so i didnt care to much about taste but i got readywise 5 gal buckets with decent variety of meals and whey milk and orange drink mix for $68 a bucket with 125 servings ea and a 25 year shelf life. Pretty easy to buy a few and have a good stock of food for pretty cheap.

 

[The Heretic]

Your best bang for the buck is not to buy freeze dried foods, but canned food, shelf stable food and dried foods (e.g., lentils, rice, etc.).

Such foods, chosen and stored properly can last 5-10 years. If you rotate them you can easily store a year's worth of food.

Freeze dried foods will store for longer, but are also much more expensive per calorie. I have several months worth, but they were bought when I still had a job and significant income.

Be careful with buying from an open bulk bin; pests can get into those bins - I bought dried corn and nuts from those bins and got an infestation in several containers. Even in packages it is best to put them in a freezer for some time to kill any eggs that are in there from before packaging.

Also, store any foods that are not in metal or thick hard plastic, inside a plastic bucket or drum. Mice and other pests will eat thru the paper/cardboard or thin plastic - even mylar (yes, I have had mice get into mylar packaged foods).

 

[nwwoodsman]

Great advice from everyone. I will be making a trip to the LDS store and eventually be doing more DIY food storage. At this point I think it is wise to focus more on my family's more immediate needs should the shtf, and start prepping to prep for the long term after that.

 

[The Heretic]

If you do decide to get FD food, I strongly recommend Mountain House. Made here in Oregon and better than any other FD food.

 

[jbett98]

Keep an eye out on Craigslist, or you could run ad and see what pops up.
A couple of years ago, I paid $250 for a years supply of Mountain House freeze dried food with enough for one person or eight months for two if you supplement your diet.
The guy selling it was moving into an apartment and didn't have room for it all.
He paid over $4,800 from a survival store and it filled my work van with all the boxes.
Other then a couple of cans that had some rust on the bottom, the rest were in perfect shape.
It's got another 8 years before the expiration date, but for that amount I paid, I'm not going to complain.

 

[gmerkt]

With the U.S. gooberment about to return either $600 or $2000 of the money they've stolen out of my pay check,

That money was spent as soon as they got it. The relief money coming up will come out of your great, great, great grandchildren's paychecks.

 

[The Heretic]

That money was spent as soon as they got it. The relief money coming up will come out of your great, great, great grandchildren's paychecks.

Probably my children's paychecks and/or their SS benefits, etc.

OTOH, it mostly was and is the government that is shutting down the businesses and causing people to be out of work.

 

[Hueco]

That money was spent as soon as they got it. The relief money coming up will come out of your great, great, great grandchildren's paychecks.

Doubt it. We've no intention of paying back the loans we take out as a country and, should we need it...war is a fantastic economic stimulus.

 

[gmerkt]

Doubt it. We've no intention of paying back the loans we take out as a country

Indeed there is doubt. The Big Depression some people keep thinking is coming, I'm beginning to think that will never happen. Because the government and the Federal Reserve will never allow it to occur. It would be disruptive. Instead, they will keep papering it over with more and more new money. Which over time will turn into something like the Zimbabwean Dollar. So if any repayment is ever made, it won't be with money that has any value.

 

[The Heretic]

Depression? No.

Repeated recessions? Definitely.

Vulnerability to disruptions due to inability to respond because we already used up our emergency funds/tactics? Absolutely. Seeing that now.

If people and the government prepared better instead of living paycheck to paycheck and going deep into debt (gov included), then these emergencies wouldn't be so disruptive. The thing that kept me from being in trouble this year was all the preps I have made over the decades, especially financially the last 15 years. A lot of sacrifices, but it was worth it.

 

[GrayGoose]

The WinCo in my town has a good supply of freeze dried food, bulk food, mylar bags, oxygen absorbers, food storage buckets, etc. Good source for the survivalist.
Now, if they only stocked ammo and primers, ...

 

[The Heretic]

Sometimes Costco has 10-25# sacks of flour or rice that are essentially vacuum packed. They appear to be hard instead of soft bags. I don't think this is intentional because I have seen these same bags be soft and loosely packaged on the same pallet. I believe this is a side effect of where the bags have been packed or when in the sense that the packaging happened where/when the atmospheric pressure was lower than where it is sold?

Either way, there is an advantage to this as the bags seem to be airtight and have less air inside them - hence less oxygen. I have bought and stored several of these bags of rice and flour and they are still airtight and "hard" now months later.

 

[MaxwellEdison]

Go to your local Dollar Tree or other dollar store. You can often find cans of tuna and other such items, with expiration dates 3+ years out, for...$1.

And if you store those cans correctly (in a dry room with a steady temperature between 50 degrees and 70 degrees F), they will last much longer than the expiration date suggests. Hell, properly-stored canned food can last for decades.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

With the U.S. gooberment about to return either $600 or $2000 of the money they've stolen out of my pay check, I plan on using a good portion of that to simultaneously stimulate local businesses and my pantry. I am looking for deals on either canned goods or long term freeze dried food buckets and bags. Can anyone recommend stores in the Washington and Multonmah Couty areas where a person can get the most bang for his buck? I have a family of four to look out for and have about 30 days of food on hand. I'd like to immediatly have 3 months, then 6 months and eventually a years supply of food on hand. Any tips on stocking up? Up until now out stocking up has consisted mostly of hitting sales of canned goods and potato flakes at outlet stores and BiMart.

Consider spending that windfall on a home freeze dryer.

Harvest Right Home Freeze Dryers - The best way to preserve food

Freeze drying at home with a Harvest Right freeze dryer is the best way to preserve food for your family.

harvestright.com

Then you can do your own freeze drying of whatever you like. Then you are set for the next few decades. My wife has one of these and we have everything from chili to herbs and spices to eggs freeze dried and on the shelf for the next power outage.

 

[The Heretic]

Go to your local Dollar Tree or other dollar store. You can often find cans of tuna and other such items, with expiration dates 3+ years out, for...$1.

I shop Dollar Tree often for food - but only certain things (e.g., breakfast sausage biscuits and cookies)

I also shop Winco (I shop there first - then stop at Dollar Tree on my way home). Winco has better prices on cans of tuna (often well below $1/can) and some other things.

Dollar Tree foods are often smaller quantities/sizes too. Their problem is they never have anything under $1, even when somewhere else has it for much less. Also, some Dollar Trees do not have a good selection of food, and some have no frozen food section.

Know your prices per quantity. I buy the same stuff most of the time so I know the prices down to the penny, so I now a good deal, including whether something is actually on sale. It adds up over time.

This week I bought a bunch of apple cider at Winco because it was a dollar off for each jar and I love cider. I put it in my freezer and it will last for years - except that I drink it all the time.

 

[Camelfilter]

Before investing in any long term storage foods at all, try it. Have the family try it.

Then store what you all will eat.

For mid term storage foodstuffs (months to several years best by dating), same applies, AND rotate it through your daily meals. Stock up on such when seasonal sales come up, as in around now.

Skip anything by Wise, or any of there multiple names. Super heavy on bulk empty carbs & such, which can be purchased far less expensively & stored in a more useful way (unflavored / doctored).

Done well, a midterm food storage plan will save you money. That money can then be put towards long term foods storage (Mylar bags, buckets, O2 removal packs, sealer), as well as prepackaged long term foodstuffs.

Mountain House, Auguson Farms, and LDS are our primary LTS prepackaged stuff. Various products from them.

Auguson can be found at some Walmart's. Mountain House at most decent sporting goods stores in sizes portioned to try before going #10 cans etc.

Note LDS is mostly canned or enveloped bulk goods. Beans, pasta, milk etc. Which you would use to plan meals with.