Living in a high risk area for debilitating weather (ice storms, tornadoes, flooding) it's been a proven fact that keeping a food storage in our home is a good idea. Sure we still eat fresh, visit the local markets, buy from local vendors, and grow our own... but there is still that need to have food on hand for when there isn't any, or it's too dangerous to go out. Click through the jump for suggestions on how to store food without needing an entire outbuilding to do so.
Food storage is something that is typically only thought about in a time of need. You are then stuck in a panic at the grocery store with every other person in your town, grasping at straws for meal plans, while fighting off people to gather the ingredients you need to make it happen.
Having endured many a time without power, access to fresh food or grocery stores, our household always has enough food and water on hand for our family of two (plus 2 dogs) for 3 days. Typically, this will last us until power has been restored, a water boil ordinance has been lifted, or the roads are clear enough to drive on.
In addition to this, we also keep enough food for our family to live on for a longer period of time. This consists of bulk foods, freeze dried items, canned goods (items from our garden that have been canned) and snacks just in case the need arises. We're probably a little more boyscout-y (always prepared) than most, but it is something we believe strongly in.
Even if your food storage isn't taken to the same lengths, here's some of ideas for big and small spaces alike, to help keep things you have on hand for emergencies organized and under control.
If you happen to have a closet to space, metal racking or shelving is a perfect and custom fit for most people. If you don't require an entire pantry full of food, this space can also double as dishware and small appliance storage.
Even small apartments or studios would have the possibility of this storage method. Under furniture is an excellent spot assuming you have a graceful way to cover it. In this case, the homeowners bedspread would cover it nicely and no one would ever know.
This plastic tub method would work out well to keep many items away from humidity and light. It would give a nice overall appearance in a garage, without the neighbors thinking you were preparing for World War 3 when you had your garage doors open.
This DIY food storage system is a fantastic way to utilize a small space to hold as many items as possible. The slant of the shelving allows cans to roll out with ease for rotation or restocking.
A more expensive alternative is to use an industrial racking that is made specifically for the dispensing of cans. They allow you to stock your product with ease and are able to be moved if needs be. (Say into the back of a truck if a hurricane is on it's way.)
If you don't want the hassle of tracking down canned goods on sale at your local grocers, you can purchase your bulk canned items in all sorts (meats, grains, basics, veggies, fruits, exc) from online sources.
Do you have a home food storage? Have you ever had a time where one might come in handy? Did you wish you had something on hand that you didn't? Share your story to help others learn from your emergency.
Photos by Linda and Clark via Flickr.
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I would think you'd need two weeks of food, max, for anything short of the apocalypse - and most well-stocked pantries will get you that much. Add a couple cans of evaporated milk, and some canned fruits and veggies, and you're set.
The stuff pictured here, though? It looks like products marketed to those who are planning for the rapture. Since I'm not LDS, I'm thinking my tiny pantry is adequate!
The thing you've missed is WATER - lots of natural disasters compromise the water system, and make the stuff coming out of your tap (if there is any) unsafe to drink. You should ALWAYS have at least ten gallons of water on hand. You can go a few weeks living on canned beans and otherwise scrounging out of the pantry, but you won't get very far without clean water.
Being a good Red Crosser, I have my disaster kit in the closet. But aside from the rations and water it comes with, I got nothing. I do, however, have some built in shelving in the basement where I've been thinking I"ll move the kit, two dozen shelf-stable protein shakes and some other goodies.
My co-worker has said that she's keeping a bottle of champagne and some canned cheese (Cougar Gold -- supposedly tastes like sharp white cheddar) so at least there's something to look forward to in a disaster.
BTW, we're going to blog this over at www.redcrosspdx.blogspot.com!
Building on what brenjay wrote, here's a good calculator to figure out how much water you need to store:
http://www.redcross.org/flash/brr/Emergency%20Preparedness%20Shopping%20List.xls
P.S. Don't forget to have a manual can opener close by!
oh my, where ever do you live?
Ever since the NYC blackouts a few years ago, I keep a big jug of poland spring around. Other than that, my normal pantry items are all I have. Thank goodness I live on the third floor and am surrounded by little markets. In the blackout, we even had half-price ice cream since the shop down the block had to get rid of it before it melted.
NY is a tough town, but food shortage? nah.
My dumb question about water storage: Does bottled water have a "shelf life"? Would it be a problem if I bought a massive jug of water, put it in my pantry, and left it there for 5 years? 10 years?
Plastic, depending on the type and the storage location, could develop leaks. You definitely don't want to find that you need the water only to find that it leaked out and evaporated 2 years ago. The best solution I've found is to pick a month every year (maybe you do it around your birthday) and cycle through the water I have on hand. I use what I've been storing and buy a new supply. I also check the first aid kit, flashlight batteries and food supplies.
It's my feeling that tinned food will last a really, really long time. I've even read about people who fairly recently ate food that have been in the tins since the days of WWII. Expiration dates for tinned foods are not government mandated, but are self-imposed by the industry. I would mainly worry about tossing swelled or deformed cans and foods with a lot of acid that might wind up making the food taste "tinny" or leach metals into the food.
folks we need to store food now, it isnot that we will not beable to get them it will be just very $$$$$ so store things that willnot go bad. .... Maj
I keep a hurricane pantry in all the high, hard-to-get-to shelves in my kitchen, which I wouldn't otherwise be able to use very well. Like brenjay said, you don't need more than two weeks for anything short of the apocalypse, so I wouldn't need a system that big. I do keep a box of the necessities in an easier-to-reach place should we need to evacuate in a hurry, but the nice thing about hurricanes is you usually have time to pack.
I have some shorter-shelf-life foods (crackers, dried fruit, protein bars) that I rotate out at the end of the season and pack into lunches, and once in a while we sneak out a Chunky Soup for such 'emergencies' as a long day at work.
Incidentally, Dolly missed us and hit my folks on the border. I still haven't called them to see how much rain they've gotten or if it was any worse than that. My family has been getting in the way of the weather lately... the rest of my relatives are in the Midwest.
Cougar Gold is indeed a white cheddar, and oh so good. It's made at the Creamery at Washington State University. My understanding is that it can be stored indefinitely in the can, but it needs to be in a cool location (or refrigerated).
I keep meaning to create an emergency kit. It's just me and two cats, so a week's worth of food wouldn't be hard to have on hand (does anyone know how long dry cat food would last if I vaccume sealed it?). I plan to use one of my giant tupperwares and keep a big container of water in my fridge. Added bonus of keeping it there is that it'll help keep things cold in the event of a long power outage.
Of course, none of this helps me if my apartment building comes down around my ears or floats away. Since earthquakes and the possibility of rising sea levels are my main concerns...
I was spoiled by my hippy parents with our gravity fed spring water, fire places, gas stove and generator. It wasn't until my teens that I realized most people ran out of water if the power was off for more than a day.
In out first tiny studio apartment, we had barely any room at all - so I just kept some water and cans under the kitchen sink! I also found it wasn't a bad place to stash some extra ginger ale, for those times when someone is sick or has an upset stomach.
If you live up north and an winter storm kills your power, and the weather stays freezing, you can save your frozen foods by sticking them outside, preferably in a cooler to keep them safe from animals and any temperature fluctuations. Works better than keeping them in the freezer and hoping the power comes back on before they defrost!
This is insane, with all due respect. I live in LA, and we have an earthquake kit and water, but I'm sure as hell not stocking up on enormous cans of Dinty Moore. I know it's Friday afternoon, but what does this have to do with design or indeed, anything?
Hey Palmetto, I don't know if you've heard, but the internet? It's available *outside* of LA, where people wonder where they might store their stuff. The stuff in their *houses*. Which they like to *look nice*. Where hurricane season is a real issue. Dig?
Plus, thanks to climate change, you too, there in the center of the universe where nothing ever goes wrong, may find yourself in danger of extended power outages one day. Just something to think about, man. If the power goes out, the gas pumps don't work. If the gas pumps don't work, the trucks with the food don't come.
I grew up in New Orleans and always wondered why we religiously filled the tubs and sinks with water before a hurricane hit. Almost three years ago, Hurricane Katrina went right over my head here, 90 miles inland in Mississippi, and I didn't have running water for four days. Now I know: you want all that water for toilet flushing, hand washing, teeth brushing, etc. That's *in addition* to 3 gallons of water per person per day. So, fill your dang bathtubs, y'all.
I also keep 3 or 4 gallon jugs of water in the freezer (a full freezer is more efficient anyway). I buy them at the beginning of hurricane season, and then defrost & use them one at a time after it's officially over. Repeat annually. If something big is coming my way, I buy more. The ones in the freezer will keep food cold for a couple of days.
The only good thing I've taken from my Mormon upbringing was food storage. It's come in handy for me -- my area has weathered several hurricanes, even though we're quite far inland -- and also when I'm ill, such as having ginger ale on hand.
You never know what's coming, Palmetto; don't be so smug.
You can also use the water in your hot water heater (for flushing & washing at least) assuming you haven't gone tankless.
And besides food, people need to consider their prescription medication in case of natural disasters. Not a good time to be out of the blood pressure pills.
We usually have enough food on hand to last us a week or so. Might be eating cat food with ramen noodles, but we'd survive. :)
Not all of us live in LA, Palmetto.
Don't remember how often water should be replaced, but you DO have to replace it. Also, keep it in a secondary container that will contain the water should a container leak - it's not a fun mess to clean up sometimes. jezebella says it right - replace the water at the beginning of hurricane season. Outside of hurricane areas, why not pick tax day or something to check your supplies?
Another thing to remember is to store food and water for your pets, as well as any medication, and a pet first aid kit.
Also, be sure you store food that you actually use. Don't be storing things like wheat if you don't normally use it for example. The last thing you want is a tummy disaster!
And food storage is a great idea for more than just natural disasters. A friend of mine used their very well stocked pantry to live off of when the husband got laid off from work and didn't have a job for a few months. It really helped them make up for the loss of income (he did take a "filler" job, but imagine living on half of what you make now, not having to worry about buying food would be a major stress reliever).
KTG- The cans that are shown above are color coded by type of food. For example: http://shelfreliance.com/shop/listing/2 Meat has it's own color, Veggies another and so on.
They do still contain nutritional information on them, but that's not as pretty to photograph, but I can reassure you that is something that is on the back of the label.
Many people that have a large food storage do purchase things in bulk, as opposed to 500 cans of DelMonte Green Beans, they buy a large quantity of something and can it down into this size can themselves, often times without the label.
So depending on the type of food storage that you might own, cans with this style of labeling would either be fantastic, or a step down.
Interesting thought... thanks for the comment.
Ahh gotcha. Most likely the one's you are referring to were like what I mentioned above.... product was bought in extreme bulk and canned down to the size you see there.
Sometimes it can be difficult to determine what's in each can, but most people that can/store food in this manner have their pantries so organized they could find what they need blindfolded!
Anyone who thinks they are immune from natural disasters and empty store shelves is foolish. I have really gotten into food storage recently and feel so much better knowing I can take care of my family. I have gotten lots of help from the blog: http://blog.totallyready.com. Today she even used some of the comments here in her post. I recognized them immediately and just had to come back here and comment. Check it out. I love your ideas and pictures of storage areas. This is always a problem. Thanks.
To the lady who lives in NYC: Do you live on the island part of NYC? You may want to rethink, if you do. An island is particularly vulnerable to food shortage, especially when the bridges are not available (in the case of no gas or destroyed bridges). Those little markets you speak of? In a true emergency those would be emptied out by looters. And what if you can't leave? Yikes!
I'd prepare MORE if I lived in NYC than in other places, not less.
I grew up in Florida. We lost a house to a hurricane in the 90s. I now live in Maine. We have plenty of storms here that cause us to lose power for days at a time. Plus, now we have hurricanes to deal with here, too.
I don't suggest that anyone go nutso with food storage--I don't, even though I've weathered a few disasters. But it's good to have some common sense--have water on hand and enough food to eat for a couple of weeks. Don't assume that you can just run to the store if something happens. If you think that's true, you're ignorant about where food comes from and how it is produced.
I want the pantry with the slanted shelves just for general purposes. It is a great idea and you can find things. In my husband's Navy career we have been through many disasters, i would much rather have things stocked up than deal with crowds at the last minute. When we were with out power for several weeks after hurricane Georges, people were being murdered over bags of ice. At that point preferred not to leave home.