Do Not Underestimate The Value Of Food And Water

30-day-food-storage-pails

This morning while reading an article/interview between Jim Sinclair and Greg Hunter regarding the ‘pressure cooker’ financial/economic time bomb of our current system and how it’s going to blow one day, they were talking about the value of having some gold and silver as a ‘savings account’ for one’s extra wealth (no counter-party risk compared to ‘fiat’ paper money).

I read a subsequent comment saying “Those of us who do not have the means to buy gold we had better be ready with our basics of food water and shelter for when it blows.”

Greg responded by saying “Don’t underestimate the value of food and water”.

While most might say that the statement sounds like a ‘no-brainer’, and of course food and water is important, the thing is is this… It really is so very true to the core!

Here’s what I mean:


 
While gold and silver are truly a store of wealth (they’ve been considered ‘money’ for thousands of years around the globe), and while that statement is indeed true, the concept got me to thinking about how preppers also consider their material ‘preps’ to be stores of wealth too (and how they may be underestimating the value of food and water).

Lists are a plenty for what to have for ‘this’ or what to have for ‘that’ for preparedness…and include a seemingly endless array of ‘things’ to help get through an emergency, disaster, or collapse.

While many of these ‘things’ hold their own practical value (depending on the circumstances), survival itself always comes back to the basics. Food and Water! I tend to think that even preppers may be unprepared (more unprepared than they think) in this regard. There may be plenty of “bullets and bandaids”, but is there really an adequate food and water plan?

 
1. 90% of people BELIEVE that food and water will ALWAYS be available. And not only do they assume this to be true, they also believe that food and water will always be plentifully available.

2. 90% of people have just 3 days of food in their home. Why? Because they believe that food will always be plentifully available. The percentage is debatable, but it’s certainly the vast, vast majority. Even our own government (FEMA) says we only need 3 days of food in the house.

3. 84% of preppers will run out food before year 1 of collapse. Most will not make it much beyond their first garden harvest. Those who do – will probably not make it much longer due to insufficient caloric production from their gardens.

37% of ‘preppers’ have up to 3 months food storage.
47% of ‘preppers’ have 3 to 12 months food storage.
10% of ‘preppers’ have 1 to 2 years food storage.
8% of ‘preppers’ have more than 2 years food storage.

source: How Much Food Storage Do You Have?

While the prepper food storage statistics above are certainly fantastic compared with most of the 90%, NONE of the other preps that have been accumulated will matter if one is starving to death or thirsting to death… The value of food and water will become enormous.

 
If there is NOT a sudden financial/economic collapse, but instead another ‘great depression’ or ‘greater depression’, the value of food will still become enormous.

Look at what has been going on, and is going on, in Venezuela right now. This is a tiny microcosm of what will happen if and when our current debt-burdened system finally blows up. When it does, we along with the rest of the ‘modern’ world will all go down together. And it will be orders of magnitude greater than what we’re seeing now in Venezuela.

Food and Water will be the commodity that matters.
You might re-check your storage…

 
Note: Even if it doesn’t ‘blow up’ (although I cannot imagine how it will not eventually), you can eat your excess food. It is still a good investment (a much better return than money in the bank – which essentially has no return).

Note: While in the mindset of acquiring other so called ‘preps’, take a hard look at your food and water plan. Break the ‘normalcy bias’ mindset of readily available food and water. Figure out what you might do if and when you run out of your current food storage.

Augason Farms 30-Day Emergency Food Storage Supply Pail

77 Comments

  1. I wonder how many of us think we are in the 8% and how many of us actually are?

    1. I think few are actually in this category. I know I have a year’s supply of food under normal conditions, but SHTF is certainly not normal. Particularly if family members come asking for food. In that kind of survival situation calorie requirements would increase because work would be constant. We can probably assume the period of “supply” to be reduced by half.

      1. Family that doesn’t prepare worries me some. I would never turn them away, but I have also told them to bring a spoon. ’cause a spoonful is all their gonna get.

        joking aside–it is a bothersome worry.

    2. I recently thought of the same thing so checked and measured the calorie amount of the food I have. I am at about 2500 a day for 4 people not counting what I have in the normal fridge,freezer and cupboards in the kitchen. Water is a different story. I store a total of about 600 gal and have the stock to purify water till rapture with 10 pounds of pool shock but would like to have a closer source that the mile or so I would need to go at a minimum to resupply.

    3. I know for sure I’m NOT!
      Maybe something goes down that we need more than a year of stored food, maybe not, IMHO, some stuff isn’t worth sticking around for.

  2. I remember reading about an author that was doing research for a book in which he interviewed people who lived through wars, crop failures, and invasions by other countries. Some of these people thought they were prepared, yet everyone he interviewed said the same thing. They wish they had stored more food.

    So we just keep adding to our stores as we can. I don’t know if I will ever feel like we have enough.

  3. Since Veneuela is being set as an example for what could happen to us, it would be hard to hide years worth of food storage if homes were searched for hoarding food like what I read in Venezuela. I can only cache some freeze dried cans and beans without hiring a backhoe with years worth of food. I made some brush plies over leaf piles to hide my cache without digging up the forest. Those in suburbia and towns would have trouble unless they make a false wall in their homes that cannot be detected. Those with gardens may have them taken over by thieves or gov’t thieves. This is why I am doing camouflage gardening with potatoes. I have a hidden spring down the trail from me and another artesian well a few miles away so I don’t worry about fresh clean water.

    Having years worth of food and water is not important enough, Keeping it, however, is.

    1. Having years worth of food and water is not important enough, Keeping it, however, is.

      Amen to that.

    2. Eventually everything in my yard will be either edible or medicinal. No more ornamentals. Potatoes, beets and carrots are simple to hide in a border, although less easy to dig without being noticed. Alliums as well. Brassicas can be pretty darn ornamental. Fruiting bushes. Edible hedges. If some idiot decides to take my food supply they’ll probably walk right past the ornamental gardens.

      It’s a work in progress.

  4. Gosh, articles like this always open my eyes to how late to the “game” I am. I do what I can on what I make, but knowing it will not be enough is evident. I hope for the best and prep for the worst. I worry about the person I will become to ensure my family’s survival.

    1. Just keep plugging away and you will get there. Contrary to what some folks think I doubt that the world will end tomorrow. If you are looking at stocking up food I would start with the basics like beans, rice, pasta, oatmeal, wheat. You can get these things in large amounts for low money. 20 lb bags of rice will feed you for about 3 weeks for 20.00

    2. @ Tex N

      As I try to get some to understand. The simple method is to “Use one, Buy two”, “First in, First out”, “Store what you eat, Eat what you store”. If you have a can of beans, use that can and buy 2 to replace it……. Guess what? “Stuff” builds up very fast, in a year you could have 2 years stored….

      Rome was not build in a day, nor did if Fall in a day. For those that are just beginning, you have made a HUGE step, well beyond those in the (2) 90% brackets above.

      A LOT of the people here have been doing this for a very long time, it takes time to figure it out, but a little at a time you’ll be surprised how fast things build up.

      Think of it this way, if you have 3 months of food, and you eat that food continuously and replace two for one, you will in 3 months have 6 months….. That my friend is a lot of growth in a short period of time.

      As far as money, it’s tight for everyone, and thinking you need to get ALL of your supplies at one time, well it’s probably not going to happen, pace yourself and do NOT go into debt trying to do it all at once.

      I will agree with poorman, the world is “probably” not going to go to hell tomorrow and maybe not Wednesday. First of all, relax, think of a plan, keep an inventory and do what you can, as Ken mentioned, food can always be eaten.

      A lot of people look at food storage as Insurance, Think on how much you spend on Insurance a month, can you spend even ¼ on preparing? Personally I see the chances of a SHTF are about even with having a wreck on the way to lunch today, and I spend a HELL of a lot on Auto Insurance.

      JMHO
      NRP

      PS; watch for sales, the nice thing about having a deep pantry is you don’t “have to” buy something right-now, it can wait for a cheaper price, than buy 5 or 10 at a discounted price.

      1. NRP- spot on for the insurance…also food stocking can also be an investment. I bought canned pears on sale for 89 cents 2 years ago that were at it’s best-by date this month…Now because of inflation, the cost of those same type pears are $1.25. I can eat those pears now and not have to pay the 36 cents extra.

        If food was money, I made 40% interest on each 89 cent can of pears in 2 years! Thing is food storage does connect with money, and it is better than any savings account.

        1. Yes, yes, Stardust! You are so right. The only difference in my plan from yours is that I store only long shelf life foods. Right now I am freeze drying about twenty pounds of meat a week. It is hard on the food budget. Two dinners a week are now eggs, and beans and wieners. But, as many people have commented, there is sense of urgency. Also, as inflation increases and should the stock market take a dive, I know our retirement savings will run out. Trading two meals a week for food security in the future is the art of the deal.

        2. Pieface, your analysis is spot-on! That’s how we look at preparedness. We eat like paupers sometimes, but we have a filled food storage room. And to the bank, we look like paupers who can barely keep up with the monthly bills. LOL….we laugh all the way FROM the bank! Our money is invested in our lifestyle of being better prepared for tomorrow, not sitting in the bank getting 0.01% interest so they can enrich themselves.

          Just this morning, I put in another order for FD/DH food and saw how much those prices have increased since 2009 when we began buying commercially-made FD #10 cans. We have ‘made money’ by investing in long-term food storage!

          Keep it up — I envy your ability to FD your own food.

    3. Just keeping working at it a little at a time. Not everyone has the means to acquire substantial quantity all at once. You’re ahead because at least you’ve started whereas most have not…

      1. Where I am now compared to 2 1/2 years ago just adds another positive note to this short string. I can’t second enough NRPs statement of put a plan together, then you execute it over time. There are many pre-made plan lists (food, cleaning, medical, etc..) that can be found. Also, I tend to over analyze (a massive understatement) and have to kick myself into action to execute the plan. I have done quite a bit of reading on different opinions for the “master preparing plan” content; then tailored it to what my situation is and what needed to be done.

        Getting organized with a plan, having the discipline to execute to plan is probably the second step after deciding “I gotta do something”. And the plan will change over time due to learning and refinement.

        Sometimes one can get mentally overwhelmed by it all and go into a “modified stationary panic” (where on stands on one leg hopping up and down, kicks the other one out 90 degrees repeatedly, while turning in a circle, twirling a plucked chicken over your head), which is safer than a full blown panic which may result in running into a tree, or wall. This subsides after a bit, you can then refocus on the critical items for your situation, like water and food.

        1. @ poorman
          @ NPR
          @ Ken
          @ Grey Lensman

          Thank you all for you words of encouragement! I have a lot going on, and forget slow and steady wins the race! Use one buy two sounds like a great strategy for supplies.
          Once again, thank you!

        2. Hi Tex N,

          That formula works for me… along with the motto “Eat what you store and store what you eat”.

          I buy extra canned & dry goods we will use when they are on sale so I have a mix of different foods on hand. Some weeks I end up with canned fruit or chicken, sometimes it’s staples like salt or rice or pasta. By watching the sales closely I make my shopping dollars go as far as they can. And, by choosing only items we will actually eat (no canned spinach for me for example – yuck!) I know I am not wasting my money on items that I simply won’t use on a regular basis.

        3. @ So Cal Gal

          Thank you so much for the suggestion! Looks like I need to watch the sales more often!
          You are very kind!

        4. Another thing I do… buy things that we eat, that are especially good buys…in lots of 8.(about 15 meals for us) I buy pastas at Dollar Tree. they are 24 oz for 1$.I buy a variety, and when I have used 2 packs I buy again, same number and pack all the newest ones away with everything they need to make that into a meal… an example of a pasta bucket might include 4 packs of spaghetti, and 6 packs of rotini, and 4 of elbows.. I also include pasta sauce mix, cheese powder, salt, pepper, onion powder and diced, garlic, dehydrated, Bell pepper, chives,mushrooms.. and anythng else I would use for an alternate sauce…(I add gravy mix when I have it)
          To make a spaghetti w/ meat all i have to have in addition, is tomatoes and meat. It might take me a week or two to get it all rotated thru and put together, but once together more convienient,…
          The cheese sauce, I save from mac and cheese.. and use jar cheese sauces to make those. Gravy and spaghetti sauce packs can be found on sale for 2 or 3 for 1$. Small seasonings… buy what you use in multiples..Generally it takes as many seasonings $$’s, as pasta.
          I rotate all of my grains and mixes thru the freezer for 10 days(may be over kill)pack in vacume pack, and even add bay leaves.

  5. Best thing to do is plant varieties of edible plants throughout your property. Ones that may not be readily identifiable by the average proletariat or .gov taker.

    Think calorie & nutrient dense root vegetables like carrots, beets, sweet potato, potato. On the surface a lot of these root vegetables look like weeds especially if they are scatted throughout the backyard in your landscaping beds in a random disorganized pattern. I like to plant different veg together so you have some carrots mixed in with beats and potatoes.

    As a decoy in your regular garden just plant the normal tomatoes, peppers and herbs. Don’t worry too much if they are looted. You wouldn’t be able to survive just on those alone anyway.

    1. Edible landscapes can be beautiful if they are tended to and receive the proper watering and soil nutrients to grow well. I happen to like growing colorful pepper plants and swiss chard in and around perinnial flowers and bushes. Herbs are also easy to plant in a flower bed, whether they’re growing in pots or in the soil.

      Be sure to check out Rosalind Creasy who has written extensively about her edible landscapes. Her website is rosalindcreasy dot com — Filled with info and beautiful photos of how she gardens in a suburban lot. She incorporates many containers with mixed plantings and collects rainwater to offset drought conditions.

      1. Thanks for the website reference-this is a very helpful (and inspiring!) site.

  6. Sadly, we don’t have that much food stockpiled–in the event of a collapse, we would have to improvise…

    1. In times of war and desperation poeple eat things not normally eaten, even those things like tree bark, wild edible greens,other wild foods will be gone in a short time. You need to know what is safe to eat… that is in the yard, on the ditch bank. They can either help you survive or kill you. Your knowledge gained will make you more valuable as part of a group.
      Meinwhile start stockpiling “stretcher foods” ie.foods you can bulk up normal canned goods to make a complete meal out of…like pasta’s ,rice and stews or chunky soups to serve over them…
      We ALL started somewhere.It’s not too late!

  7. If you survive two years and there is no community, agriculture, medical services, manufacturing, fuel, electricity, law and order, ….. you will be in the 10% that live. But, then the pre-historic hardships are just beginning. Two years supply is a reasonable limit for me so now I plan to freeze dry garden produce for any family members that see the light or others in the community that need help with supplies – anonymously if possible.

  8. A lot of good ideas here ! I like the idea of planting edibles instead of ornamentals. Not much use where I live ( south Florida ) , but some. I have an orange tree that bears inedible fruit in my back yard. Once had small banana plants growing. Once had an illegal walk up and ask if he could pick the oranges since I was not. I’ve heard people down here who routinely have their mango trees picked clean while they are away.

    1. I’m in central and grow sweet and red potatoes every year!! In 6 months get about 30lbs of each.

    2. I Live in south Florida too… Think about sweet potato grows all year produces high calorie food also Taro (elephants ear) in Shady locations You can google how to cook taro great edible root vegetable similar to potato.
      You can find Taro root (they call it something different) in your local publix and then pot it up and keep watered. In 1 month you will have a plant.
      Same with potting up the baby sweet potato bulbs sold in packages. They are very good starter seed sweettatoes.

      Also seed for carrots and beets now in the winter.

      1. I live in sw Florida. There are a lot of wild edibles here.
        One you see everyday, cattail or palm hearts.
        And a food forest is easy to hide, I have several going on vacant lots.
        Most of it gets canned. So for just the expense of the seed, real cheap!

      2. This winter I am going to try growing sweet potato vines, inside-southern window, for stir fry.

        Had no idea you could eat the vines. Hopefully, they won’t get out of control because they are soooooo delish we’re eating them all the time.

        The good: This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Niacin and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Magnesium, Potassium and Manganese.

        The bad: This food is very high in Sodium, and a large portion of the calories in this food come from sugars.

  9. To paraphrase the old saying “every battle plan is perfect, until the first shot is fired”.

    There are just so many imponderables complicating how much is enough – how much for how many, for how long, how to keep it secure, after a while it becomes depressing.

    When you consider the security necessary to keep your goods safe, and the probability that those who you’ll recruit won’t bring much, it begins to feel like you’re trying to supply an army. We’ve decided to just keep storing more, even though it seems like we’ve already put aside plenty.

    Another way of looking at the title of this article is if you’ve stored more than necessary, the value of food for barter is tremendous.

    1. You know Tom, mike Tyson said about the same thing. Everyone has a plan till they get punched in the face.

    2. An easy example to use to explain “sharing” with friends is this: if a person has eight months worth of food and seven people arrive, you now have eight people and one month of food. Eight people is the number you will need if you find yourself in a position of having to defend your stores.

  10. This quote really made me think…

    “If there is NOT a sudden financial/economic collapse, but instead another ‘great depression’ or ‘greater depression’, the value of food will still become enormous”

    The “great depression” lasted somewhere around 10 years…. 80% of the population lived on farms-ish, I would bet that 90% of those hade a HUGE-deep-pantry, and already had Gardens and Livestock.

    In 1935 there were around 127 million in the US, now 320-ish million, IF the “greater” depression hits and 80% are in the cities…..

    Just something to think about.

    NRP

    1. Yes. Quite different now – but the greatest loss is the knowledge of survival. In the “great depression” many survived by riding the rails to areas that needed farm labor – try that with most urban dwellers today. Not only are they not physically able but are totally ignorant about agriculture, nature, and most of all, being able to cooperate in a rural society.

    2. IT could also be a world war that causes food rationing like during WW2 to feed our troops and brings our economy to a standstill. Lets hope not, but if it does come, you will see our throw away wasteful culture come to a roaring stop.

    3. my grandma also said because they lived on a farm, with dairy, they did better than most and didn’t suffer in the food catagory.

      as an aside. Mom was born in ’33. Grandma wanted to name her Depressa Anne. Yuck!
      They named her Barbara instead :)

  11. MSN Money has a headline today entitled “A pensions time bomb spells disaster for the US economy”. There is going to be a 1.3 trillion dollar deficit in funds for federal pensions and no place for the money to come from and it is starting now. First thing the author expects to see is cuts in services, less cops, less firemen, less ambulances. I’ve already retired and most of my preps are about as complete as I can make them. For those of you counting on a pension at retirement please prep as hard as you can now. Those funds don’t look like they are going to be there, at least not in the numbers you were expecting. I’ve always figured my social security and VA pension would go away before I died and have tried to prepare accordingly. Personally I’d love to have more in PMs but my local dealer can’t get any. I’m watching the price of gold and silver continue to fall and it would be a great time to buy. I’ve got all the food I can store without getting divorced. As NRP reminded us Rome wasn’t built in a day and it didn’t fall in a day. Unfortunately though societies don’t gently decline, they tend to collapse as we are seeing in Venezuela. Please read the article on MSN.

    1. The latest that I read is that Dallas (?)is a prime contender for going broke due to a pension fund problem.

      Never have to much food or water!
      OK- well almost never!

      1. Aka,

        I heard the same about Dallas. Also heard they aren’t the only ones with those issues. It’s pretty much going on throughout the U.S. Illinois was just in the news earlier this year with the same issues. Don’t hear to much about them anymore. Maybe they got bailed out or the MSM isn’t discussing it.

        Adapt and Overcome

        1. yeah, can’t remember the name but I think that involved maybe 5 different locals/unions? The Dallas mayor has asked to not let anymore lump sum withdrawals as it looks like the people are catching on and taking the money while they can.

          So to be on topic : )- wouldn’t it be reassuring if you lost your job etc. to have food on hand so at least you won’t be hungry and maybe then you might have enough money to keep the lights on!

    2. If you don’t have a problem with it maybe being tracked J.M.Bullion is a good place to buy PM’s. I know a lot of folks here have used them including myself. I buy silver at about .70 over spot with free shipping.

      1. Also look at SD Bullion. Identical quality and service as JM, but prices are a bit lower.

  12. The 1st seed catalogue arrived last week. The only seed I need for next spring planting is parsnips & corn. How ever I want to make a bigger order so that I have at least 3-4 years seeds for everything especially things that are hard to produce my own seeds like cabbage. If our whole family were to come home that would make 20 of us but actually I think if I had seeds for 10 for 3 years it would give us a good start. Therefore my goal is to have my order sent this week just in case something happens before spring. I have started learning to produce seeds for some biannuals like carrots & parsnips & have instructions for most vegetables but in our climate some may not be possible or may be too time consuming especially with all the organizing that would be needed in the 1st year of a calamity. I have been at this a long time & now I realize I need to store a lot more seeds. It is a process every one not a one time prep & done.

  13. Great post today Ken J. and great comments everyone…

    So, another thing to consider (in case I didn’t read every comment yet)
    is sustainability. It is empowering to have a source of food (whether animal or plant) that you can grow/raise/eat yourself. :)

    That is why I am reading and watching and learning everything I can from two local and somewhat local friends on how to raise rabbits for meat.
    Also Youtube videos, where else would learn to do anything? LOL

    We definitely believe in having long term storage in buckets, 10# cans, regular cans, freezer and other forms of food storage. Not to mention water of course…

    Also we raise chickens and sheep, we breed them. Though sometimes we buy chicken pullets or chicks from a local source.
    Sheep we get processed off our homestead.
    Chickens can be done here yet most of the time with friends as we have a 4 family co-op and share some large equipment to make it easier.

    Anyway, with rabbits, that is something I want to be able to do, the whole process even by myself eventually.

    Rabbits seem relatively easy to maintain and are small enough for me to handle.

    Also as I have been reading, the cost of maintenance is much less than other forms of animal husbandry. We do raise everything organically and with much care. Processing or “dispatching” as it is called with rabbits will be done humanely.

    Did you know that meat rabbits are not considered a “farm animal” and can be raised in suburbs and likely other places?

    Perhaps my new adventure will also inspire you…

    Blessings all!

  14. A high-quality, lower cost alternative is your local Latter-Day Saint Store House/Dry Pack Cannery. Church membership is NOT required or even expected. Get online and do a search.

  15. Question for the wiser than me: I have run out of room inside the house storing food. Yes I have put it under the beds, all closets and have even made false walls. I mean there is NO. MORE. ROOM. Can I store hard white wheat and rice (all in mylar and stored in sealed buckets in the second floor of our barn? It would be stored with the hay so would be out of the weather but may get warm. No basements here in FL unfortunately. We don’t have rodents – barn cats take care of any even thinking of coming our way so that would not be an issue.

    1. You can store long term sealed buckets of rice, corn, grain in steel food grade barrels (sold cheap on Craigslist) They have various sizes. These can be kept in barn.
      Rodents can chew through anything plastic (but like you said you have cats) and also heat on the second floor can cause grain to deteriorate much faster. So suggest ground level perhaps on pallets so to prevent moisture on bottom.

      Best to you Parker~

    2. Inside your box springs, particularly light stuff like freezedried. Place boards across the existing boards. False bottoms under the ornamental tables, they usually have a lip that people can’t see below without getting down on the floor. Inside the couch, above the boards. There was an article here some time back and a lot of good suggestions were made.

      1. Lauren,
        I have already used every available space under the beds, those were remade years ago to store food. I flipped a box springs upside down and made a frame for the mattress, put plywood over the top and then covered everything with fabric. Looks store bought. I am talking about storing mega quantities of wheat and rice, not 5lbs. Like 2000lbs. I also already have pistols in drop down hiding places under our end tables. Couch is not an option as they are all fold out couches.

    3. I don’t see how white rice would be seriously impacted if stored in a barn — if you can control the moisture and the seals are 100% sealed. Maybe someone here knows more.
      Wheat is another issue. I assume you are talking about wheat berries and they are whole grains. There is oil in the germ which could be adversely affected with heat. Personally, I would not store wheat anywhere but a cool place in a somewhat ‘climate controlled’ zone, like a lower level of a house.

      1. No I am talking about Hard White Wheat — not ground but not berries either.

  16. There are several things we buy now, to last a year. We buy beef and pork locally once a year, and that gets us through till the next year’s slaughter. Rice, split peas, and pasta are also purchased once a year. We have a nice store of freeze dried if needed, and raise rabbits and chickens.

    When we moved to our current homestead, because of the way the property is laid out, I had to “garden” in small sections here and there. It was (is) kind of a pain. But ironically I think it has worked out for the better because not all of our food growth is in one place. It is actually scattered in small spots over a couple hundred yards. Hopefully any looters wouldn’t realize it takes a map and compass to find all the food! :)

    1. JaiLee,

      What kind of rabbits do you raise?
      I am just in the studying and learning phase.
      Will be tasting rabbit in Jan when our friend processes again.
      Do you dispatch the rabbits yourself?

      Best to you :)

      1. We have silver fox and a trio of Am. Chin x New Zealand Xs. I do dispatch them myself. Not a pleasant thing, but necessary. I also tan the hides. Have not had time to do anything with them. The Xs surprised me by throwing blacks, greys, dusty whites and albinos. So I have a variety of colors! The Xs by the way were an ‘ooopps’ from the breeder. So when I picked up my SF I took the opportunity to grab those as well since she basically gave them away.

  17. The future needs, no one knows for certain! The worse case senerio, most would consider is two years per person, however what if where you are is contaminated with a nuclear blast or nuclear power plant failure! If this is possible, you should be prepared to be mobile with the majority of your edibles and veg seeds. After your first garden harvest after the collapse Also be prepared with enough canning supplies to preserve edibles to survive through the winter into spring till the first harvest. After winter You will need the strength to prepare the soil and plant. If you are living the life style already, your’re ahead of the game, but most are not. Practice equals less chance of mistakes equals better chance of survival.
    Having the books with knowledge of How To is not the same as actual physical experience.

    Hind sight is 20/20!! For those milineals, just as having the seeds w/o the hand tools to work the garden means starving, not having the cookware of knowledge or experience of cooking equals the same result.

    Also excess to water w/o water filtration could result in sicknesses.

    Food, water and seeds w/o experience and knowledge equals a gun w/o bullets!!

    1. Well said Being Watched,

      And may we be thankful for another day to do just that, practice.

      Peace~

  18. Living very close to the Ocean is a big plus. Walking distance.
    An abundance of sealife in local waters.

  19. Unfortunately I live in a big city in north Idaho,but I have made the most of the lot I own.I have fruit trees,berry bushes,edible oranemtals.and a large nice garden.I can and freeze most of what I grow,and still have plenty to give away.I also have a small store of Augason farms stuff.I don’t worry to much about food.My largest worry is WATER.Water IS life.I’m afraid it will be hard to have enough water if the local goes down.I do have a 350 gal cement pond in my yard surrounded by a rock garden.I can use my water filter for drinking water,but I don’t know if it will be enough to keep my garden watered.Guess I’d better get some more water containers.

  20. Last year, Most of my ornamental flowers were…squash plants. Very pretty flowers and we had more than I could eat. Turning the garden into an edible landscape was a lot of fun in addition to the pure practicality of putting your land to work for you.

    A side benefit was the deer came out of the hills to eat the piles of squash we set aside for them. I still work in town and I do not want to think about pulling the trigger on them yet. Times are not that bad here. I hope for all of us that things do not get that bad in the near future. One can always hope but in the meantime, I store cans of soup and other foods like most on this blog.

    I have stored water and some ideas about treating water to have a continuous supply of potable water. It is less of a problem here in the Pacific Northwest. Good luck to Shepherdess with the rabbit project. I could not raise animals knowing I am going to put them down one day. They all become pets to me.

  21. We have a pet chicken. Just one single chicken we raise as a pet and very spoiled. We have had many chickens in the past during raising the kids in the country but now we enjoy just the one in our rural backyard. The advantage of this is sustainable food supply for the life of the chicken. (And of course one large meal at the end). We get one egg a day and we feed her chicken feed but she can transform bugs and scraps into a single protein egg if need be with no feed. We do plan on throwing her in our bug out bag if needed. Meanwhile she serves her purpose in our back yard awaiting the day when called upon to pack up and serve her masters.

    1. Serve her masters! Made me laugh and laughter is what makes life liveable. Thanks.

  22. A little late with this comment but it needs to be said. So much effort is devoted to storing water for an emergency. What do you do when your pond, lake, creek, barrels, …. are frozen? Hitting single digit temps in northern ID now. Hard to suck that ice cube through your life straw.

  23. In my chicken coop, I do put a heat lamp on the water container.
    My 55 gallon rain catch drum won’t freeze up in Kentucky but if it did I would drop a 35 watt 12 DC halogen bulb in the water as an extension to my existing low voltage landscape lighting. That way it turns on/off automatically or if in extreme cold, I would leave it on all the time. Home Depot 12.00 and wire it to a battery if necessary. The lake or a pound, I would build a fire on it as needed.

  24. I am definitely in the 3 months + range for two (not including what is in the kitchen pantry for every day use, which is another couple of weeks). Trying to build it up, slowly and without going into debt for it. The rule of “use one buy two” definitely helps, at least in terms of the deep pantry. I can’t just double my grocery bill for everyday or short term use. So if I pull anything from long term storage, I replace it with 2. Also, every time I go to the store, I try to add one more thing to long term storage. It’s building, but slowly. I will just keep on keeping on.

  25. Welcome Lebowski,

    You have a lot of good questions.
    If you go to the top of the page here you will see “categories”.
    Click that and you will see topics listed.
    Under each of those are numerous articles to read on a particular topic.

    Re: water and some of the other topics you mentioned is variety.
    Yes, a Lifestraw family unit is great, go for it. But also people have water stored for other emergencies when one cannot go out or does not feel comfortable going out to a particular water source
    for whatever reason including severe weather/disasters: flooding/blizzard/earthquake just to name a few, a blackout/grid down and/or safety issues, or God forbid, nuke fallout or other chemical or biological hazard. Lots of good reasons to have a least a week or two stored for you and your household indoors. Even if a person or family has to evacuate…just grab that water you stored and your bug-out-bags (BOBs)
    and go. Think Gatlinburg, TN the other week, those folks had to evacuate fast. Having accessible stored water can make an emergency or survival situation much more do-able than otherwise.

    Also with the food topic, a lot of folks here do a variety for food storage…MREs can be more costly, but if that works for you go for it.
    Everyone has different likes/needs. Also some things like dry beans and white rice have 30+ year shelf life if stored properly….talk about quality insurance. I think that would outlast MREs. Variety is key for a lot of situations and scenarios.

    Best to you Lebowski~

  26. Hi everyone, I have a question about storing white rice I was hoping some one could answer for me. I bought a couple 50 lb bags of white rice last winter and they have been stored inside in a cool dry closet. I recently bought food grade 5 gal buckets, mylar and oxygen absorbers to store the rice as well as some beans I have. When I got the rice out of the closet I realized they are six months past the “best by” date, should I still store them in the buckets or has the rice deteriorated nutritionaly to the point where I’d be better off buying a couple new bags? Any info would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

  27. To Hill Kid:

    I am 3rd generation Asian guy who grew up eating rice purchased 1x/year in large quantities. White rice can be kept stored in clean dry containers for up to a year with relative safety. Your biggest enemies are moisture, sunlight, temperature extremes and rodent infestation. For some reason, we never had problems with grain moths or weevils. This was stored in a pantry inside the house where temperature was pretty constant and airflow was good. Had a cat patrolling the kitchen so we never had rodents.

    A family averaging 6 people under one roof went through 6-8 80 lb sacks of Kokuho Rose Rice (short grain-high gluten content) in the course of that year.

    Somewhere between 2nd and 3rd generation, we got sick of eating rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now that I am older and on my own, I like a wide variety of foods to include casseroles, pasta, potatoes, yams etc. (still have trouble trying to be creative with quinoa though)

    Pantry was cleaned out once per year and thoroughly checked for integrity prior to receiving the shipment of rice from the local market. Those of us that were young men had to go to the houses of our older community members and clean their storage areas and deliver their rice to them each year. For those that were in economic trouble, it was not uncommon for us to give them a plastic bin full of rice, tinned meats and cooking oil to tide them over.

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