Stocking an Emergency Food Pantry
Stocking a pantry is a lost art these days. When the "shit-hit's-the-fan" (or SHTF) it's good to be ready with a stockpile of what you'll need to get through whatever happens. With our economy tanking, rioting in Europe, natural disasters everywhere and our money in freefall you can't be too prepared. In previous generations, every home had a stockpile and year's worth of food after the harvest season. That was to hold the family over until the next years' crop. Nowadays, we tend to keep items short term assuming the grocery store will always be stocked for us. I don't know about your stores, but ours have been awfully bare lately. Go on a Monday after the weekend rush and the shelves are practically empty - and they don't refill them that fast anymore either. Common knowledge is that there is just 3 DAYS of food on the typical grocery store shelves. Have an emergency and that can disappear in a couple of hours. So it's important to have enough food stored for everyone in your household.
Fill your pantry with basic foods and ingredients that you already use. Equipping a pantry is best done in steps, all at once and buying thousands of dollars worth of "emergency" food is not efficient because it will all become 'expired' at the same time.. If you don't yet can your own foods, learn. I pick up cans of vegetables and fruits as they come on sale at the local market. You can dehydrate frozen bags of vegetables and store them in mason jars for a long time (and no worries if the power goes out). . If you need one can of corn, buy six. If you can't afford six, at least buy one more than you need today. If covid did anything it taught us that some items could be limited in a shtf situation...so when you can but several. Don't wait until you are out before restocking.
Put away basic dry cooking ingredients such as flour, cornmeal, rice, noodles, rolled oats, beans,sugar, brown sugar, split peas, macaroni, baking powder, powdered sugar, instant dry milk, baking soda, salt, spices, corn starch, yeast, etc. With the basics, little extra is needed to create simple dinners. I always buy on sale, and having a well-stocked pantry lets you wait until an item is on sale before you re-supply. Before you put the flour, oats, and macaroni type items in critter-proof canisters, freeze them for three days. This will kill any microscopic insects that may decide to hatch later. Yes, it's creepy to think of insects in your food...but all food has them and freezing the food first kills the larve so it doesn't hatch into the really creepy insects such as weevils.
Baking ingredients such as chocolate chips, cocoa, coconut, vanilla, raisins, walnuts, etc., are important for morale in a SHTF situation. Shortening and cooking oils are important too. Not only do you fry foods with these, but they are often found in common recipes such as bread, biscuits, etc. Likewise, peanut butter, jams, and jellies can be meals in themselves. PB&J is a well known comfort food for kids!.
Such things as "cream of" soups, such as celery, mushroom, and chicken are handy, not only as soups, but as casserole ingredients and store indefinately. Watch for "truckload" sales in the late summer, featuring canned fruits and vegetables. Sometimes buying by the case offers additional savings. If something is on sale, that's the time to stock up!
Canned tuna, roast beef hash, salmon, and ham, are also handy meat-based foods that can periodically be bought on sale.Canned spaghetti sauces and tomato sauce.are used for plenty of recipes, including Italian chicken breasts, pizza, Spanish rice, bread sticks with marinara sauce, and Swiss steak. Cake and brownie mixes are cheap and provide a quick desserts. They also keep very well on your pantry shelves.
Don't forget cleaning items as well - bleach, laundry and dish detergent, toilet paper, paper towels and pet food are needed too. Although not "food," hygene is just as important to keep away insects, rodents and clean up messes.
Eventually it's time to consider buying a few long-term storage foods such as powdered eggs, cheese, shortening, buttermilk, sour cream, butter, and margarine. These foods come in a #10 can (about the size of a three-pound coffee can), and when unopened, last for years and years. To use them, you either just add the powder to a recipe, slightly increasing the liquid, or add water/vegetable oil. When sources of these items are impossible to get, you will be so glad you have them. They are available through links on this page. . I always keep some of these dehydrated foods in my pantry and find that they come in handy when you forget to go out to the store, even now.
Keeping Pantry food Fresh Tasting & Safe
There are four things that can cause food in your pantry to lose wholesomeness and flavor: extreme heat, moisture, rodents, and insect infestation. Where most stored foods will remain good for 10 years or more (much more for canned goods) if stored in temperatures of 60 degrees or less (but above freezing for canned goods), they can rapidly lose long-term storage ability when exposed to temperatures of 80 degrees and higher. So it's always best to keep your pantry cool, yet above freezing. A basement is the perfect place for long term storage if it's dry and doesn't flood.
As with heat, moisture, either due to condensation, flooding, or a wet basement, can quickly turn your pantry into a nasty pile of molded and inedible food. There are products that can remove moisture from damp basements and get the air flowing. Often that is enough to dry up marginal areas.
Given the smallest crack or hole, mice can and will get into your pantry, drawn by the food. Especially from food stored in their orignal packages. Powdered sugar, flour, cornmeal, and popcorn are huge temptations for rodents. To solve this problem I've begun collecting kitty litter buckets or you can buy food grade food storage buckets. I just put the items still in their original packaging in the kitty litter or large 10# round buckets and have never had a problem. The mice may poop on the lid, but can't get to the food inside. Thinner plastic, such as found in ice cream pails, is easier chewed into than heavy plastic like five-gallon buckets.
One vital addition to my pantry is a set of good old-fashioned mouse traps. Run several baited traps along the floor and any open shelves. Close all small cracks or holes in walls and floors with caulking and spray insulation foam. A good hunting cat also helps.What we use to store various foods
Garbage cans with tight fitting lids can hold bags of flour, sugar, wheat to grind, popcorn, rice, and other bulky dry foods. I leave them in their orignal wrappers, though some people don't. Also five-gallon buckets with gasketed lids, each labeled for such foods as brown rice, chocolate chips, navy beans, black beans, lentils, powdered sugar, brown sugar, kidney beans, etc. work well. Bags of onions can hang from the rear pantry shelves, handy, but out of the way. Boxed foods can also be stored in empty kitty litter buckets (cleaned of course). They have tight fitting lids and stack nicely - be sure to label everything.
Rotating your foods to keep them from growing old
Although most foods in your pantry will keep fine for years, it's a good idea to rotate the food you are using so you use up your older foods first so they don't get so old that they lose flavor and nutrition. Periodically move the back jars/containers to the front, like they do in the grocery stores. It's really best if you jot down the year on the container. If you're really organized, mark the date purchased on the container. Also, there are some really great storage systems that automatically move the cans for you. I love these and plan to put several in our next home! If you write the year on the container or lid with a permanent marker, you'll know exactly how old the food is and know which containers to use up first.
