Emergency food supplies: points to ponder

 

As I mentioned earlier this morning, I've been conducting an inventory of our emergency supplies, discarding those that are out-of-date or nearly so, and replacing them with fresh.  It's something I do every year.  In particular, high-acid foods such as canned tomatoes and pineapple can eat their way through a can from the inside out.  They're not safe to keep much beyond the sell-by date.  I try to pass them on to a food bank before that date, so others can use them safely.

Another very important aspect of the annual inventory check is to determine whether the balance of supplies is where it should be.  One doesn't want to have too much vegetables, but not enough meat, or vice versa.  There's also the question of what an emergency might mean.  Storm damage (e.g. a hurricane or tornado coming through) might mean several days of very hard physical labor clearing trees and debris, making our homes habitable again, and so on.  That sort of hard work will need foods focused more on energy than nutrition.  One can always pop a few multi-vitamin pills with one's food to get nutritional balance back, but if one's body can't get the fuel (i.e. energy) it needs to do the work, you'll run down your physical reserves very quickly.

For that reason, I check each year to make sure I have supplies like rice, oatmeal, grits, cornmeal and so on in our pantry.  We might get bored with oatmeal every day, but it'll stick to our ribs, make us feel full, and give us the raw energy we need to get a lot of work done.  It's high-bulk, high-energy food.  Low-energy foods like vegetables are very good as part of an overall balanced diet, but they're less necessary in the immediate post-emergency situation, when we're trying to keep our heads above water until help arrives.

Condiments and flavorings are vital, too.  Plain ol' rice and beans may be a nutritionally complete food, but they're bland.  Adding some Cajun seasoning, or a tasty canned or powdered soup, or powdered gravy, makes them much more palatable.  However, note that condiments tend to lose their flavor fairly quickly.  After two to three years, Cajun seasoning or gravy won't have a strong flavor, and might even taste stale.  Rotate them with fresh supplies as well.  Because flavoring is such an important taste consideration, I strongly suggest that you list a dozen or more condiments you like and use regularly, and stock up on them.  Figure out how much of each of them you use every year, then stock up on twice or three times that.  I'd include variations like:

• Sauces:  Heinz 57, A1, Worcestershire, HP, ketchup, sriracha, hot sauce of your choice.
• Gravies:  Cajun, brown, chicken and country gravy powders.
• Seasonings:  Cajun/Creole, ethnic (enchilada/taco/etc.).
• Other:  Salt, pepper, salsa, pasta sauces, etc.

I keep a big storage tote filled with a collection of those seasonings, and add things like malt vinegar and pickling vinegar and salt.

I also suggest thinking about what hot drinks to keep in reserve.  Tea is a given, and easily available;  but coffee (beans, ground, etc.) doesn't keep very long, even if sealed in mylar bags.  Instant coffee, on the other hand, keeps for decades if sealed in its glass jars.  I make sure we have plenty of teabags and instant coffee on hand.

On another note:  the blogger at Come And Make It, writing from the Philippines, has been trying to eat better, and working through his reserve supplies so he can replace the old stuff with new.  He's learned a couple of interesting lessons along the way.  Try these articles, in the order listed.

• Another new project. Meals from the long term storage pantry.
• Apocalypse food, and this new diet regimen.
• Experiments in weight loss and the survival pantry day 10
• If you planning for a SHTF no food thing, then you need calories.
• Euro goodies gonna become scarce here

Useful lessons learned from the other side of the world.

Peter