Spoiled by food storage?

[Backroads]

I'll be the first to admit my family's food storage is nowhere near what it ought to be. Yet, I feel that for a shorter-term disaster, we would be fairly comfortable for a time. If nothing else, those days where grocery shopping has been neglected, it's easy enough to pull out some rice and beans from the pantry and a bit of meat from the deep freezer, maybe top if off with some canned veggies. Some might say we are privileged enough to have such on hand.

And yet, it seems such an odd privilege. 

I'm hearing about people who have their car break down or something and within that day they are desperate for food. I certainly appreciate the perks of buying food fresh and frequently, but these people are asking for stuff like ramen and mac-and-cheese, hardly the pinnacle of nutrition but certainly stays on the shelf for awhile. How hard off are you to have absolutely nothing in the house to eat within a day of an emergency?

So this all leaves me wondering, am I spoiled by having a bit of food storage?  I feel like this should be a common thing: not just the year-or-two food storage goal or your bunker for the apocalypse, but to have some shelf-stable basics in the pantry and a loaf of bread in the freezer. This should not just be something members of our church should do. This should be common sense and a common aim.

This isn't to say I want to just dismiss true food insecurity and poverty. That's part of my thought process here. With all the inconvenient inflation, it's likely more difficult than it was to even get a few cheap basics to have on hand. 

Perhaps it's that time when, food storage speaking, those lamps ought to have been lit.  

 

[NeuroTypical]

  On 12/28/2022 at 8:25 PM, Backroads said:

With all the inconvenient inflation, it's likely more difficult than it was to even get a few cheap basics to have on hand. 

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I've had homemade chili as a regular lunch staple for over a decade now.   I just got back from shopping with almost 30 cans for just under fifty bucks.  Some of that was $0.59 WalMart store brand beans and corn.    Five years ago it would have been rare to have any of those ingredients reach a buck a can, now most of them are over that.  But yeah, pretty much everyone is making more now than they were 5 years ago, so some of the inflation is offset by rising wages.

The less picky you are, the more effort you're willing to spend on it, the cheaper it is to cook and store healthy.  I could get the same result for even cheaper if I used more dried ingredients and less canned.

[Backroads]

  On 12/29/2022 at 4:17 AM, NeuroTypical said:

I've had homemade chili as a regular lunch staple for over a decade now.   I just got back from shopping with almost 30 cans for just under fifty bucks.  Some of that was $0.59 WalMart store brand beans and corn.    Five years ago it would have been rare to have any of those ingredients reach a buck a can, now most of them are over that.  But yeah, pretty much everyone is making more now than they were 5 years ago, so some of the inflation is offset by rising wages.

The less picky you are, the more effort you're willing to spend on it, the cheaper it is to cook and store healthy.  I could get the same result for even cheaper if I used more dried ingredients and less canned.

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I don't actually like canned beans. Oh, they're handy enough in a pinch, but I feel like I can do a lot more adjustment if I cook them myself. 

I feel like beans and rice get a bad rap. "How dare you fail to help me beyond rice and beans?!" But at the end of the day, they're super cheap, filling, and easy to customize. 

[mirkwood]

  On 12/28/2022 at 8:25 PM, Backroads said:

So this all leaves me wondering, am I spoiled by having a bit of food storage?

 

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No, you have sacrificed something else to be self reliant.  

[mirkwood]

  On 12/29/2022 at 3:55 PM, Backroads said:

I don't actually like canned beans. Oh, they're handy enough in a pinch, but I feel like I can do a lot more adjustment if I cook them myself. 

I feel like beans and rice get a bad rap. "How dare you fail to help me beyond rice and beans?!" But at the end of the day, they're super cheap, filling, and easy to customize. 

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Lots of things you can add to them for flavor too.

[Vort]

  On 12/29/2022 at 3:55 PM, Backroads said:

I feel like beans and rice get a bad rap. "How dare you fail to help me beyond rice and beans?!" But at the end of the day, they're super cheap, filling, and easy to customize. 

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One of my sons intentionally makes beans and rice a major part of his diet. Another served a mission in Brazil, and so likes beans and rice fine, even if it's not his preferred meal.

[Carborendum]

  On 12/28/2022 at 8:25 PM, Backroads said:

Some might say we are privileged enough to have such on hand.

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I think the word "privileged" is overused to the point it has no meaning anymore.  Are you privileged to have a job?  Are you privileged to have space in your home for a pantry?  Are you privileged because you have a car where you can go shopping at a grocery store instead of a convenience store (food desert)?

  On 12/28/2022 at 8:25 PM, Backroads said:

This should be common sense and a common aim.

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Common sense has never been common. Today it is a rarity.

  On 12/29/2022 at 3:55 PM, Backroads said:

I don't actually like canned beans. Oh, they're handy enough in a pinch, but I feel like I can do a lot more adjustment if I cook them myself. 

I feel like beans and rice get a bad rap. "How dare you fail to help me beyond rice and beans?!" But at the end of the day, they're super cheap, filling, and easy to customize. 

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I remember a long time ago when an acquaintance told me that one reason the US military couldn't do well in Vietnam is that the natives were perfectly content eating rice three meals a day.  I wondered why Americans could not.  But he told me "we just can't.  We'd go crazy eating the same food every day."

Sure enough, I survived for about a year on just a single 50lb bag of rice (with various seasonings, vitamins, and other supplements) while I was in college.  Everyone else wondered how I lived on so little.  Well, I didn't gain any weight back then.  That's for sure.  But I made it.

[Backroads]

  On 12/29/2022 at 5:12 PM, Vort said:

One of my sons intentionally makes beans and rice a major part of his diet. Another served a mission in Brazil, and so likes beans and rice fine, even if it's not his preferred meal.

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One day I made it just because I didn't know what else to make for dinner. Got out some chips and tortillas, the kids loved it. It's the new cheap meal at our house. 

[Backroads]

  On 12/29/2022 at 4:17 AM, NeuroTypical said:

I've had homemade chili as a regular lunch staple for over a decade now.

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This actually reminds me of a story that was related to me. Some woman brought to the office for her lunch a can of pork and beans as she was feeling super lazy that day. So lazy she didn't even bother to heat them up, just opened the can and dug in. A coworker was apparently deeply offended by this. It amused this lady so much a cold can of pork and beans is now her daily work lunch, just to be an office pest.

[Carborendum]

  On 12/29/2022 at 8:44 PM, Backroads said:

This actually reminds me of a story that was related to me. Some woman brought to the office for her lunch a can of pork and beans as she was feeling super lazy that day. So lazy she didn't even bother to heat them up, just opened the can and dug in. A coworker was apparently deeply offended by this. It amused this lady so much a cold can of pork and beans is now her daily work lunch, just to be an office pest.

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Yeah.  You know I don't really understand this.  I've done it a few times myself.  And each time, my wife looks like she's going to hurl.  And she politely asks if I could put that in a bowl or something.  Somehow just seeing someone eat directly from a can does not sit well with her.

[Backroads]

  On 12/29/2022 at 4:59 PM, mirkwood said:

No, you have sacrificed something else to be self reliant.  

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'Cept I can't quite figure out just what I have sacrificed. To go back to the rice and beans, we would see the ginormous bags of rice and beans for a good price and buy them. Our kids attend a Title 1 school that has some program that donates canned food, so that's always around (my toddler thrives on canned green beans). My kids have weird bread phases, so I try to keep a spare bag of bread. I'm not sure I'm going that far out of the way to have spare shelf-stable food around the house. So when I hear people say that one or two days of not getting to the grocery store means starvation for them, I'm kind of befuddled. 

[Suzie]

  On 12/29/2022 at 8:44 PM, Backroads said:

This actually reminds me of a story that was related to me. Some woman brought to the office for her lunch a can of pork and beans as she was feeling super lazy that day. So lazy she didn't even bother to heat them up, just opened the can and dug in. A coworker was apparently deeply offended by this. It amused this lady so much a cold can of pork and beans is now her daily work lunch, just to be an office pest.

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Many years ago, when I just graduated from college and I had my first job, I was quietly eating a few kumquats and this co-worker became enraged over it and said that she found it very disrespectful to eat this without asking first because some people don't like the aroma of citrus fruits. 🤨 Take a guess who brought oranges the following week?

[Vort]

  On 12/29/2022 at 9:06 PM, Suzie said:

Many years ago, when I just graduated from college and I had my first job, I was quietly eating a few kumquats and this co-worker became enraged over it and said that she found it very disrespectful to eat this without asking first because some people don't like the aroma of citrus fruits. 🤨 Take a guess who brought oranges the following week?

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You should have made a peace offering of some kumquat peels and seeds. I'm sure the bitter parts would have been the most appealing to her.

[Suzie]

  On 12/29/2022 at 9:10 PM, Vort said:

You should have made a peace offering of some kumquat peels and seeds. I'm sure the bitter parts would have been the most appealing to her.

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But...but...the skin is the BEST part!

[Vort]

  On 12/29/2022 at 9:18 PM, Suzie said:

But...but...the skin is the BEST part!

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It certainly has most of the flavor. The truth is that I've always thought kumquats were cool in the abstract, but I've never been a huge kumquat lover in actual reality.

[Carborendum]

  On 12/29/2022 at 9:18 PM, Suzie said:

But...but...the skin is the BEST part!

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I don't know if you're joking, but I agree.

I can't get my family to understand that you're SUPPOSED to eat the skins of kumquats.  Their logic is that we don't eat citrus skins - period.  Then they complained that it was too difficult to peel.  Too bad my trees died in the frost.

[Suzie]

  On 12/29/2022 at 10:33 PM, Carborendum said:

I don't know if you're joking, but I agree.

I can't get my family to understand that you're SUPPOSED to eat the skins of kumquats.  Their logic is that we don't eat citrus skins - period.  Then they complained that it was too difficult to peel.  Too bad my trees died in the frost.

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No, I'm not joking. I love it!

[mirkwood]

  On 12/29/2022 at 8:47 PM, Backroads said:

'Cept I can't quite figure out just what I have sacrificed.  

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Anyone who has truly put up food storage has sacrificed purchasing something else in order to have (work towards) a year supply.

[classylady]

I’ve noticed a trend in some of my younger generation acquaintances. Many seem to be minimalists. For example, my daughter who is a minimalist, has very little extra food in her pantry. She has 2 or 3 cans of soup, a small bag of rice, a bag of spaghetti noodles, some Mac&cheese, and a couple boxes of cereal, plus an item of this or that.  Anyway, not much.  She only has a small freezer, and does have a couple of pizzas and frozen bread. She has 4 kids, so she has milk and juice on hand along with  fresh fruit. If there was a disaster she and her family would be out of food within a week. Her husband makes a good living, so they have the money, but don’t prioritize it like I do.

I’m totally opposite. My pantry is filled with soups, beans, rice, powdered milk, flour, sugar, salt, canned meats, canned veggies. I have two freezers in my garage that are filled! Plus I have another refrigerator with its small freezer in the garage also.  It’s full too. This does not include my long term food storage. I try to rotate my canned goods, but now that we don’t have as many living at home I’m having a hard time using things up.

I don’t know why I have this need to make sure we have plenty of food, and I’m always thinking when I go to the grocery store, “what are we getting low on?”  I don’t like running out of any items.  My daughter-in-law and son, with their 9 kids are always running out of something, like toilet paper, and I’m thinking, “don’t you keep a running count in your head of what you’re getting low on?” It isn’t like they are destitute and can’t afford to buy toilet paper. I might be the way I am because I grew up in a home where we didn’t have much. My mother was a widow with 7 kids. There were times when we didn’t have food in the house. It may have traumatized me.

 

[Ironhold]

  On 12/28/2022 at 8:25 PM, Backroads said:

I'll be the first to admit my family's food storage is nowhere near what it ought to be. Yet, I feel that for a shorter-term disaster, we would be fairly comfortable for a time. If nothing else, those days where grocery shopping has been neglected, it's easy enough to pull out some rice and beans from the pantry and a bit of meat from the deep freezer, maybe top if off with some canned veggies. Some might say we are privileged enough to have such on hand.

And yet, it seems such an odd privilege. 

I'm hearing about people who have their car break down or something and within that day they are desperate for food. I certainly appreciate the perks of buying food fresh and frequently, but these people are asking for stuff like ramen and mac-and-cheese, hardly the pinnacle of nutrition but certainly stays on the shelf for awhile. How hard off are you to have absolutely nothing in the house to eat within a day of an emergency?

So this all leaves me wondering, am I spoiled by having a bit of food storage?  I feel like this should be a common thing: not just the year-or-two food storage goal or your bunker for the apocalypse, but to have some shelf-stable basics in the pantry and a loaf of bread in the freezer. This should not just be something members of our church should do. This should be common sense and a common aim.

This isn't to say I want to just dismiss true food insecurity and poverty. That's part of my thought process here. With all the inconvenient inflation, it's likely more difficult than it was to even get a few cheap basics to have on hand. 

Perhaps it's that time when, food storage speaking, those lamps ought to have been lit.  

 

Expand  

It's person by person. 

Some people, sadly, don't think about tomorrow. They don't understand the importance of having food storage and take for granted that they can just schlep on down to the nearest store to get what they want. This attitude seems especially prevalent in people who live in dense urban centers, where there's often a corner store or food service facility within walking distance of where they live. 

Other people, however, aren't in a position to maintain any sort of significant food storage. Their finances may be just that tight, or they may reside in a place where they don't have a lot of room.