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I went nuts last year. 140lbs of rice, 100lbs if beans, 60lbs pasta, 150lbs pancake mix, months worth of mountain house, canned foods, bags and bags of cous cous, etc.

As I keep downsizing my stuff, I'm wondering what is a reasonable amount of food to keep on hand?

Like 3 months worth? Which is what, 50lbs rice, 50 lbs beans, etc?

Food is for one person currently.
 
I would think a start would be to figure out how much you consume per day/week. I imagine you've probably already done that. Then it's a matter of how much room you want to take up or not take up. You proclaimed yourself a minimalist a while back so storing significant amounts of food and goods seems a bit off track. :)
 
One thing to remember when banking up for for the future. Shelf live and stock rotation. The vacuum sealed cans of freeze dried and dehydrated foods have a fairly long shelf life. Ordinary groceries, much shorter. So as you go along in time, you monitor the shelf life and as it ages out, you use that up in daily consumption, then replace with fresh stock. Cooking oils are something that require fairly regular turn-over, for example. Storing foods for possible emergency use isn't a one time deal.

That is the one project that Mrs. Merkt engages in with prepping. She's the shelf life monitor.

Once in a while, I get a gold star when she runs out of something upstairs for everyday cooking. Then she will ask me if I have it in the stash of emergency supplies. Sometimes it's there.
 
I'm a one to two months guy, 2k cal per day per person. If we woke up to the big dome how much would we need to keep going for up to 60 days.

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In a situation of no resupply at all IMO the most pertinent question is not really how much, but how many. Planning for an extended period of no/sporadic official authority, limited transportation and no electricity or running water should first and foremost be a plan of who will be in your tribe.

For a single person IMO that length of time is still good. I can't think of a modern disaster that's lasted that long where zip was available. If it is TEOTWAWKI then you'll spend a lot of that time figuring out how you'll navigate the new normal, which will probably involve moving and finding your place in it. If it's The Road, fugedaboutit.
 
Large quantities if it is split up among multiple family households. Multiple very secret stashes if possible. Not too many eggs in one basket. A rule of thumb is that only the stuff on your back is secure ... the rest may be lost in fire, flood, earthquake, tsunami, volcano, raiders, etc..
 
For me, I can't quite figure out what to store if I even wanted to.....

I don't eat beans, rice, pasta and RARELY eat anything pre-packaged. I do eat a lot of chicken, veggies, eggs, cheese and tortillas. I suppose I could store some of that if it were canned, freeze dried, or at least vacuum sealed. I know, in SHTF you gotta survive but I really don't want to sit on pounds and pounds of food items that under normal circumstances I wouldn't consume. Awful wasteful when it's time to cycle. Hmmm.
 
For me, I can't quite figure out what to store if I even wanted to.....

I don't eat beans, rice, pasta and RARELY eat anything pre-packaged. I do eat a lot of chicken, veggies, eggs, cheese and tortillas. I suppose I could store some of that if it were canned, freeze dried, or at least vacuum sealed. I know, in SHTF you gotta survive but I really don't want to sit on pounds and pounds of food items that under normal circumstances I wouldn't consume. Awful wasteful when it's time to cycle. Hmmm.
Yup.

Eat what you store, store what you eat. - A reasonable way to both save money, as well as continue to enjoy & eat healthy.

So, if one doesn't enjoy whatever, it honestly doesn't make much sense to stock up on whatever.

So folks should look at what they eat, and stock up on such. Or similar / alternates, or ways to MAKE what they enjoy.

As for the OP: its unreasonable to ask what is a "reasonable amount of food to keep on hand?" Because everyone is different. Could be 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months or several years.

In my opinion.
 
Food is for one person currently.
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Rice and beans are relatively inexpensive and they have a long shelf life. If you get to the point where you are no longer comfortable with the food, just donate it. Crop insurance paid out $622.6 million to rice growers this year because of the drought, so I would hold on to that rice a bit. 50 lbs bag of rice sitting in storage is two years of prep peace of mind that only costs you $40. Nevertheless, my concern with rice and beans is that it takes a lot of water and fuel to prepare them. If you won't have access to water and a ton fuel in your 30-60 days SHTF scenario, you might want to look at a different starch. Dried mashed potatoes is a great option for a whole lot of reasons.
 
I know, in SHTF you gotta survive but I really don't want to sit on pounds and pounds of food items that under normal circumstances I wouldn't consume.
Amen. Just when you need the will to live the most earnestly, you are faced with, "Beans for breakfast, beans for lunch, beans for dinner." That kind of diet might also increase your need for more TP, reducing its supply prematurely.

I don't have much in the way of beans in my e-supplies. Years ago, I bought some bagged beans in the gro. store, then packed them away in Tupperware. They lingered for years, but Mrs. M eventually used them all in various soup receipes. If you're into beans, rather than the ordinary gro. store bagged version, I'd suggest sealed in cans for longer storage. Or if you're really into them, those plastic 5 gallon sealed buckets that they sell at the LDS stores. It's not impossible for weevils and other little insect critturs to get into beans in plastic bags.

Next idea. Spam, people either like it or hate it. It seems to be a staple in many e-supply larders, though. In doing the shelf life review a few months ago, I discovered a can of Teriyaki Spam. Man was that stuff good. Not good for you, but flavorful. Now I'm disappointed that I can't find it on store shelves. The can has an interesting picture of Spam Musubi with a little piece of kelp wrapped around the middle.
 
For me, I can't quite figure out what to store if I even wanted to.....

I don't eat beans, rice, pasta and RARELY eat anything pre-packaged. I do eat a lot of chicken, veggies, eggs, cheese and tortillas. I suppose I could store some of that if it were canned, freeze dried, or at least vacuum sealed. I know, in SHTF you gotta survive but I really don't want to sit on pounds and pounds of food items that under normal circumstances I wouldn't consume. Awful wasteful when it's time to cycle. Hmmm.
That's what likely would be categorized as an unreasonable amount of food to store.
 
I would think a start would be to figure out how much you consume per day/week. I imagine you've probably already done that. Then it's a matter of how much room you want to take up or not take up. You proclaimed yourself a minimalist a while back so storing significant amounts of food and goods seems a bit off track. :)


Look at ol' Kruel J takin' notes on everybody!!

;):s0112:
 
I am not taking NOTES but I do remember the OP being more of a Minimalist or turning into one.

Since he mentioned the MINIMALIST word - I remember him from several of his threads and posts.

It reminded me of myself to a degree since I do CONSIDER myself a MINIMALIST more and more especially within the LAST 20 PLUS YEARS even before my late husband's cancer and death. But BIG TIME after he died and more as years went by.

With that said, the OP does own a lot of properties or maybe (?) he ALREADY sold them. He has mentioned this in the past (Selling his RE.) and he has discussed moving away from this area to a BRAND NEW STATE or to another part of the state (?). I CRS on all of that now. LOL

I do not own properties ALL over the place.

I own one paid in full house when I built this one.

It is the second house that I built in my life too.

Regarding what FOOD TO BUY and KEEP on hand, buy what YOU like to eat and will eat.

Figure out what you average a day in MEALS that you like and eat and MULTIPLY that for how much FOOD that you really, really and really want to KEEP in your pantry, refrigerator and IF you own a freezer.

My calculations for FOOD ON HAND (Pantry and freezer.) for 2 older people here who do not eat as much as they did when they were younger would be enough for 3 to 6 months. ADDED more here.

When our EXTRA MEAT and some frozen veggies get eaten up from the big deep freezer, we may (?) NO LONGER use that big freezer for the 2 of us.

The pantry closet has many types of canned goods from tomato sauce, soups, veggies, Costco Kirkland canned chicken, Bushes old fashioned baked beans, some other canned beans that my husband eats that I do not eat, some pasta - various types, some rice, some dried beans - various types, coffee, tea, some canned fruit, non frozen - fruit juices, some condiments, some jam/jelly, corn bread mix, pancake mix, Quaker original oatmeal, Original Cream of Wheat, peanut butter, etc.

Plus toilet paper, napkins, paper towels, and tissues.

Extra BAR SOAP - several types UPDATED - see another thread on SOAP here that CG or someone else (?) put up not too long ago, toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, dental floss, etc.

I do NOT HAVE tons of or many, many POUNDS of rice, dried beans, pasta, etc. in my pantry closet. I have EXTRA on hand but not TONS of it.

We have some donations for the food bank. Good items that we could not eat fast enough. They are being delivered by Friday.

We took some NICE towels and wash cloths down to the mission/shelter yesterday.

Cate
 
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Look at what you use on a weekly basis and set inventory pars that you restock every month. Anything that lingers without getting used after a set amount of time gets knocked off the list.
 
I think even FEMA now recommends a minimum of three weeks but now promotes 3 months preferred for any emergency. This is because in most emergency's it could take that long to get things up and running again like power, water, stores and gas stations.

I agree with many folks here, store what you will eat and eat what you store just remember you may not have power to run a fridge for eggs and fresh vegies and a generator will only last so long before they run out of fuel and if gas stations are not up and running or everybody is fueling up then you may not be able to get fuel.

Beans and rice are only good if you have a way to cook them so if you have no power and run out of propane for the BBQ and live in an apartment its hard to start a fire on the little patio that they give you to cook them without inviting the neighbors. So ya better have extra, just saying.

I store more than I should but we do not do it so much for my wife and I but my family, as someone said on another topic you could have all the stores in the world and it could all be one gone in one fire, flood or a plane crash into your storage location so we store extra and so does my two boys in case something happens to one location we have something to fall back on. It has come in handy because of a lost job in the family and we have also donated some of it to some folks that ran into hard times not of their own making and as long as I can do it I will.

So, to the original OP, I say 3 months of can goods, beans or rice if you have the means to cook them without fuels and power or some type of MREs. For the rice buy seasoning mixes like toco, or gravy to mix with the rice as it sucks by itself especially after the 3rd or 4th day, so seasoning gives it flavor and makes it eatable.

Also remember the water in can goods like green beans and corn is drinkable (not taste good but drinkable) so it helps with hydration and food digestion. (Water storage)

Now if you truly believe in the TEOTWAWKI then you need an underground bunker with nuke survival capabilities and 20 years of food, water, guns and ammo to start with. LOL
 
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It's just me and my dog to worry about so I can stretch out my stock for at least 6months. Maybe more if I really ration. Beyond that I have the skills to get my own food and water if need be.
 
I went nuts last year. 140lbs of rice, 100lbs if beans, 60lbs pasta, 150lbs pancake mix, months worth of mountain house, canned foods, bags and bags of cous cous, etc.

As I keep downsizing my stuff, I'm wondering what is a reasonable amount of food to keep on hand?

Like 3 months worth? Which is what, 50lbs rice, 50 lbs beans, etc?

Food is for one person currently.
Curious what you came up with as your reasonable, and more so the why.
 
To me, the word......

REASONABLE

Cannot be defined enough to satisfy me. Yeah....think about, how many gun control laws are sold to the public as being "reasonable" controls?


Awwwww.....Come On Man.
It's right there in the US Constitution.
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, unless I say it's reasonable and makes common sense to me.




Is that you Joe?



Aloha, Mark
 

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