Executing my "food strategy"

In an earlier post I explained my food strategy. Eat what you store, store what you eat, FIFO, "layering" my off the shelf and canned then freeze dried.  How my emergency food strategy works. But sometimes a picture can speak a thousand words, so let me give you a tour...

This is my pantry in my basement. I picked this room because it has no heat vent and is on an exterior basement wall, the room stays in the low 60s year round. I keep all my everyday foods here using the bins to organize them by type. Pasta, potatoes, muffin mix, lipton rice and noodle side dishes. I try to keep the heavy items on the bottom. I use grease markers to put purchase dates on bulk items from Sam's and Costco.

A tip, when storing food, don't forget spices, the ability to "punch up" the flavor on bland food can have a big impact on moral, and can help make some less then appetizing wild game palatable. And remember its my "food strategy" and I have developed it specifically to tie into my other prepps.  This is not a one size fits all solution and may not fit your needs.   I have a lot of "breads" because I have a camp oven, so I can bake even after an evac. These items work for me but would be almost useless if my plan were only for campfire cooking. Unless i had a well seasoned dutch oven.

Now for the longer term items, and what would be the first stuff loaded in an evacuation I use milk crates and 5 gallon buckets with Gamma lids.  They both are sturdy, and the limited size keeps them from getting overloaded and too heavy to be moved easily, and they stack very neat for transport.

A few cases of canned meats.  Tuna, chicken, to name a few, and of course SPAM, food of the gods... I also have a few cases of Keystone canned ground beef and cases of turkey and chicken gravy.  I have tested recipes using these and shelf stable mixes that can be used to make a hearty meal in camp with minimal fuel usage.


For example, bring 5 to 6 cups of water to boil in a thermal cooker interior pot (you can do this very quick with a rocket stove and a few sticks).  Pour in to a box of Zatarain's Gumbo mix with rice, then add a can of cut up vienna sausages and a can of shredded chicken, seal the pot in the thermal cooker and go do whatever else you need.  An hour or so later you have a hearty and tasty camp meal for 4 with a low smoke/heat/smell signature.   Maybe i'll do some complete field tested recipes posts later.


Anyway, these crates are all complete "meals in a can", such as hearty soups, ravioli, chili, beef stew.   They heat up in a field mess kit and feed 1 or 2 depending on if you have some sort bread to go along with it and stretch your supplies.  My kids love this stuff, so I rotate all of these to the pantry and then upstairs to the kitchen cabinets as they eat it and I buy new.



I have these canned ready to eat sauces to go over pasta thats sealed in mylar in a bin in the pantry. The pasta is the main source of energy being heavy carbs, but a tasty sauce on top makes it a much better meal. This isn't my favorite brand, I prefer Ragu and use that at home, but glass bottles do not "travel well under stress".

I also have some freeze dried products, mostly Auguson Farms because I like their quality.  The products I have are specifically chosen to fill nutrition wholes in my food plan by the lack of fresh fruit, vegetables, and dairy, that would be caused by the interim period during a protracted crisis.  In combination with my rice, and other dry grains I still have complete nutrition for my family.

Eventually all these food sources would be filled by fresh grown produce directly from a garden or farm after crops could be established, and from either wild (preferably trapped) game, or domesticated animals, if the crisis lasted that long and it came to that.  But then we are basically talking about a reset of society.