"Do you have your pantry stocked?" "What's a pantry?" It's not too late to stock up your pantry, so do it now!
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Background
Sunday I read a post by @the-bitcoin-dood titled "Spent The Better Part Of The Afternoon Learning About Emergency Food Storage". While he was only speaking for himself, he also provided good points any of us should consider now that the "interesting times" in which we live are becoming more "interesting" in ways we hadn't considered.
So this post is partly my comment to his post and partly some points for the rest of us to consider.
Why Have a Pantry?
Besides being a cabinet or a closet where we store food and sundries, a pantry is a reserve of things we need to get through life during times of adversity. Food is the most important part of a pantry, but it can also include whatever else we need to get us through a rough time.
Some of us may be near war zones, even if most other people don't know about them. We may have experienced natural disasters, or man-made disasters, or both. Then there are localized disasters such as unemployment, bankruptcy, or the death of the main money earner.
Stuff happens, and it can happen at any time and on any scale.
When it comes to pantries, I have to admit these points:
- We can't be ready for all possible situations (such as Armageddon or the arrival of an asteroid with Earth's name on it);
- We may not be in a position to take advantage of of the pantry we stocked when "stuff happens" (e.g., we're out of town, we're in jail, we're stuck on a train, the pantry itself gets wrecked, etc.).
Then why bother having a pantry?
- To be ready when "stuff happens";
- To live a simpler life after "stuff happens";
- To have peace of mind.
No amount of Bitcoin, gold, petroleum, diamonds, cash, cigarettes, wingnuts, or anything else can buy the peace of mind we can have in knowing that we are ready for whatever happens.
Along with peace of mind is the array of options you have available for handling a situation. It sounds lousy to be spending time on whether to choose between canned tuna or dried fruit for dinner, but those are options a refugee from a war zone or earthquake doesn't have.
Whether you want to prepare for the end of the world, or just the end of your professional sports career, it's good to be ready for that eventuality. Part of that is having a pantry for handling the basic needs over some period of time.
Topics Covered by @the-bitcoin-dood
@the-bitcoin-dood discussed the following topics in his post:
- Dried foods
- Water
- MREs
- Food Prep Buckets
- Powdered Foods
- Canned Goods
- Getting Organized
I will touch on these topics. Later I will add a point or two which also needs consideration.
Dried Foods
Cooking takes time and heating; heating can require either electricity or fuel, either of which needs to be paid for. As for time, it should be reserved for more preferred activities.
Dried foods are good because they can be eaten with zero or minimal preparation.
Water
Water-- H2O-- is tricky. It's one of the most important items you will need. It's also the item which will take up lots of space no matter how you acquire it. If you've bought enough bottled water to last a week, you know what I mean.
In addition to storing water-- either bottled water from a store or collected rain water-- it's a good idea to use methods for water treatment. It could be as simple as using a bit of bleach, or it could involve a supply of tablets made for water purification, or it could involve other methods I don't know about. Given the space water occupies, water treatment would be essential.
MREs (Meals Ready To Eat)
I have zero experience with these, but I'm used to things like beef jerky; some brands are better than others, although I can recommend Jack Link's Beef Jerky since it holds up well even after the expiration date passes. This could be considered part of the Dried Food category, but if MREs aren't an option then they can be replaced with suitable dried food options.
Food Prep Buckets
There are companies known for selling buckets of prepared food which can last up to 25 years. Just like with water, the biggest consideration is the space they would occupy for the pantry you want to set up (3 months, 6 months, a year, or longer).
If you can afford these buckets for the pantry you want to create and you have the space for them, go for it. If space is at a premium, there's always Twinkies.
Powdered Foods
This would be things such as herbs and spices and powdered drinks. Coffee, tea, juice, even milk. These would be easy to store.
Canned Goods
Protein
Tuna would be the most common choice. Another protein option is chicken; it's not bad, and it's a change of pace from tuna and Spam. I'm partial to cold cuts, but refrigeration and storage concerns don't help for storing cold cuts in this context.
Carbohydrates
For fruits and vegetables, it's good to go with those that can be eaten out of the can (save the prep time for things like hot cocoa, coffee, or soup).
Getting Organized
Once you get your pantry organized, check it often!
I've bought things for storage for future use, only to forget where I've put those things; then I find them 2 years past the expiration dates. Keep on top of the inventory of the pantry. How that's done is a matter of personal preference.
My Additional Points
Multi-purpose items
Building a pantry isn't cheap, and it can take up lots of space needed for other things. When it comes to the non-food portion of the pantry, focus on items which can be used for multiple purposes. A few examples of multi-purpose items include honey, coconut oil, and green tea: besides being good for meals, they also serve medicinal purposes. Just as with money, we need items which work for us rather than just simply take up space. This allows for more items to be purchsed for the pantry, and that allows for a greater range of options.
Medication, First Aid, and Nutritional Supplements
Medication
We get so focused on supplies and food for the pantry that we can overlook something just as essential: medications.
Ideally we would have enough medications to last the duration of the pantry supply. As a backup to medications, it's good to have other things which can assist us in ways similar to the medications. It may not be a 100% match between the medication and the backup, but it's better than 0.00%.
First Aid
First aid supplies would be needed for the pantry as well. Most days first aid won't be needed, so first aid supplies won't be that extensive. Even so, have enough to get through whatever length of time the pantry is designed to cover. This is also another case where multi-purpose items become important.
Whatever first aid supplies you need, be sure to include these items: iodine, hydrogen peroxide, coconut oil, and 70% alcohol. These multi-purpose items come in handy for first-aid purposes.
Nutritional Supplements
Not as high on the list as medications and first aid supplies-- but still important-- is nutritional supplements such as vitamins and minerals. Different people have different needs, but whatever the needs are there should be enough to last the term the pantry is designed to cover. Whatever nutritional supplements you add to the pantry, make sure they are of good quality: it will be a difficult time if you need to use the pantry, so these supplements need to give you the essential boost you need for both immunity and strength.
Other Things
If you're a tech person, have enough battery power for your devices. If you're a writer, have enough paper and writing instruments to last the term of the pantry. Whatever kind of person we are, money (however we define the term) will be needed. As for other considerations, only you can determine what they are.
Don't Forget the Pets
Not all of us have pets. But for those of us with pets, whatever we do for ourselves we need to do for the pets. For many people, pets are an essential part of the family, so they need to factor into the planning for the pantry.
Just My Two Sats
Stuff happens; that's just a fact. Knowing that, we need to be ready for at least the most likely situations (unemployment, natural disaster, bankruptcy, death of a provider, etc.).
In 2019, people would have said we were overreacting. Fast-forward to right now, and we have plenty of company in wondering what we're wondering. Inflation isn't helping matters, either, and that was before news coverage was dominated by wars.
It's not too late to set up a pantry to help us get through tough times. Most people with pantries began with nothing, and they added to them bit by bit until their pantries included the essentials. Setting up a pantry isn't cheap, so it's great to acquire multi-purpose items so that money is left over to buy other pantry items.
Food is the greatest portion of a pantry, but we also need to account for non-food items such as tools (mobile batteries, writing implements, etc.), first-aid, medications, and nutritional supplements. For people with pets, account for the pets when setting up the pantry.
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