View Full Version : Long Term Food Storage
After a few years of giving canned goods to the food banks, I made the move to LTS foods.
Here are some online sources that I have ordered from and can vouch for their customer service and/or product quality.
MRE Depot
http://www.mredepot.com
LDS home storage
http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10151&categoryId=10002&langId=-1&cg1=14087&cg2=&cg3=&cg4=&cg5=
Emergency Essentials
http://beprepared.com
The Epicenter
http://www.theepicenter.com
shadowalker
03-03-09, 13:09
Walton Feed (http://www.waltonfeed.com/) is very good as well, especially for bulk food. If you live near Idaho you can pick it up to avoid shipping costs.
MarshallDodge
03-03-09, 13:19
Honeyville (http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/cannedfoodstorage.aspx)
I have not purchased from them online but have read good reviews about them. We have a local outlet store and their prices are reasonable.
Walton Feed (http://www.waltonfeed.com/) is very good as well, especially for bulk food. If you live near Idaho you can pick it up to avoid shipping costs.
Walton Feed also has food storage buckets that have a gasket in the lid that most other sources don't have.
I plan to order some this spring to store some jasmine rice.
I'll order my mylar bags, O2 absobers & desiccants from Sorbent Systems.
http://sorbentsystems.com
shadowalker
03-03-09, 14:11
Awesome, I've been looking for an affordable source of mylar bags.
Also consider local container and packaging stores as you can avoid the shipping fee.
In the Boise area you can order from http://www.containerandpackaging.com/ and do will call, of course you can also have them ship to you if you are out of state.
Right now they have some overstock gasket lids and 5 gallon buckets at good prices, I just purchased 16 for about $95.
Awesome, I've been looking for an affordable source of mylar bags.
Also consider local container and packaging stores as you can avoid the shipping fee.
In the Boise area you can order from http://www.containerandpackaging.com/ and do will call, of course you can also have them ship to you if you are out of state.
Right now they have some overstock gasket lids and 5 gallon buckets at good prices, I just purchased 16 for about $95.
The overstock lids say W/O gasket?
shadowalker
03-03-09, 15:03
These lids (http://www.containerandpackaging.com/item.asp?item=PL710)have a gasket but also have a retractable pour spout which may or may not be a good thing depending on your application.
Honeyville (http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/cannedfoodstorage.aspx)
I have not purchased from them online but have read good reviews about them. We have a local outlet store and their prices are reasonable.
I bought a bunch of wheat, barley, oat groats, etc from them at their outlet store in SLC. Well recommended.
Now I just need to repack it all in my foil bags with O2 reducers.
I will start a topic on what I am trying to do for long term storage of food that makes it easy to use
Chad
DANGER CLOSE
03-04-09, 05:01
http://www.mountainhouse.com/
K.L. Davis
03-04-09, 08:55
www.readydepot.com seems to have a good selection... including some pre-packaged kits, like the 72 hour Food Kit (http://www.readydepot.com/servlet/the-70/Emergency-Food-Storage-Shortage/Detail) -- and of course you can get Yoder's canned bacon there :D
www.mredepot.com
these are the guys who actually import the Australian Cheese and the NZ Butter that everyone else sells and usually have the best prices. They also are active supporters on other gun forums and offer a nice discount to forum members some of the time. Someone here (official M4C rep) might want to invite them on board here...
They also sell Yoders etc.
Being completely realistic, what length of time should one be prepared to feel them self and family? I realize this is a very subjective question. I don't have the money to go out and buy food for a year. I do realize I can accumulate a little at a time. I guess I would be asking, how much food do some of you all have for disaster usage.
MarshallDodge
03-04-09, 21:20
I would start out with enough for a 72 hour kit (http://lds.about.com/od/preparednessfoodstorage/a/72hour_kit.htm)then add to it.
We have about six months of dry and canned goods, and quite a bit in the freezer. We buy our beef by the 1/4 cow which would have to be kept cold or even jerky if I had to.
Watch your sale papers from the grocery stores and buy a little here and there as your budget allows. My wife just bought 10 boxes of Life cereal for $10, that stuff is a staple in our house.
I set my first goal at 3 months worth of LTS food and cash savings.
I have about 3 months of food now but I need to get the cash savings set aside before I add any more.
Next I'll go for 6,9,12 months or so in case I loose my job, get injured or the SHTF.
We have a years worth of basics like rice, wheat, beans, and other grains (barley, oats and oat groats, etc). We also have a bunch of canned food that we use somewhat and replenish somewhat regularly to go along with it, and a few cases of that last forever canned cheese and butter and a small amount of the long term storage canned meat. I would like to get more cheese and butter, more noodles, more meat, etc to go along with the basics. And things like honey, sugar, oil, etc we have some of but need to do better.
I was raised eating wheat and my wife eating rice and we do use it regularly in our normal diet so our systems won't be shocked if we have to switch over to our stored food.
I need to do better on water as well.
A years worth of wheat, beans, rice, etc is not that expensive. Adding in all the extra canned stuff is what makes it expensive.
Try for a years worth of beans, rice, wheat, and other grains (this is not that expensive) and then add in a month at a time of canned stuff, long term stuff, etc. When you are at the store, buy on the case lot sales, and buy a few extra cans or whatever each time you go shopping. It adds up and you also end up with stuff you normally eat and so can easily rotate through.
(doing this in my head, a years worth of wheat is about $100 plus or minus, per person, plus some rice and beans so a family of 4 is less than $1000 easily on the basic grains and beans etc)
Most of the time when we go to Costco, we buy a "case" (6/8/10 pack of whatever) for the food storage too, of a soup, chili, veggies, or whatever. Do it slowly and eventually you have a years worth
Chad
calebgriffin31
03-05-09, 13:20
Does anyone keep agricultural seed in their stock of food as well? A handful of vegetable seeds can go a long way to feeding your family. Just a thought.
MarshallDodge
03-05-09, 13:41
Does anyone keep agricultural seed in their stock of food as well? A handful of vegetable seeds can go a long way to feeding your family. Just a thought.
I probably have enough seeds to last me for two seasons of gardening. Most of them I picked up at the dollar store, 8 packets for a dollar.
We grow alfalfa and bean sprouts in small trays on the kitchen counter and eat them regularly. They are supposed to be good for you and have enzymes to help you fully digest your food. It is very easy to grow your own and you can eat them year round because you grow them indoors. I like the "spicy" blend which has a hint of radish in the taste.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2150725_grow-own-sprouts.html
http://www.ultimate-weight-products.com/page/UN/PROD/raw_food_tools/H-HP-A34&QTS=froogle
MarshallDodge
03-05-09, 13:46
One other thing I forgot to mention is "heirloom" seeds. My understanding is that a lot of the seeds that you purchase produce seeds that are sterile. Heirloom seeds produce plants that when harvested, the seed that can be used for growing plants the next season.
shadowalker
03-05-09, 15:47
Katrina proved that 72 hours is too little except in the case where you are leaving the scene and will have access to food and water by an area unaffected by the event.
I'd shoot for an absolute minimum of 5 days. Water is more important than food in the short term.
My "emergency" grab and go is 5 days, short term 2-3 weeks and am working on completing a 1 year supply.
Don't use MRE's for more than 12-14 days of food, they are great for emergencies but our digestive systems don't like it longer term.
calebgriffin31
03-05-09, 16:02
Don't use MRE's for more than 12-14 days of food, they are great for emergencies but our digestive systems don't like it longer term.
+1 I agree completely... But it does save on TP... :) or just add enough metamucil to keep things functioning correctly.
bigshooter
03-06-09, 20:12
I have ordered from both mredepot.com and honeyvillegrain.com multiple times and have been pleased with their product/service.
also these guys:
http://www.shopsimplerliving.com/
Outlander Systems
03-08-09, 10:54
Somebody say long-term food storage?
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/3096/77837919.jpg
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/7460/64791499.jpg
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/9168/51378509.jpg
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Hey Landlord, what are you using to keep track of expiration dates on your stuff? Having had a can of pineapple juice & a can of spaghetti sauce both fail at the same time and leak all over the place, I have become more concerned with canned good rotation than I was in the past.
(you need more Rotel!) :D
--Vic
Heavy Metal
03-08-09, 14:33
Any pasta you plan to keep for any length of time should be frozen over night to kill off any grain weevil eggs or you could find weevils in your pasta at some point.
K.L. Davis
03-17-09, 20:04
For frozen storage, get a small, clear plastic cup... fill with water... freeze the water... then put the cup in the freezer with a penny on top of the ice.
If you are away, or have not checked that freezer unit for a while... check the cup when you first open the freezer, if the penny is at the bottom of a cup of frozen water, then you lost power long enough for everything in there to thaw.
SeriousStudent
03-17-09, 21:20
K.L. Davis - that Yoder's bacon sounds interesting. Have you tried some? If so, were you pleased with it?
And that is a great idea on the penny, I am going to do that with my freezer, thanks! :)
SeriousStudent
03-17-09, 21:26
Somebody say long-term food storage?
I love those Idahoan dried potatoes, too! My kids eat those Loaded and Four-Cheese flavors like they are going out of style. ;)
Sam's sells the variety pack here for a good price, and Albertson used to put them on sale for 79 cents a pack. I would stock up and buy 20 when they did that.
I have gotten good deals on big canisters of Stovetop stuffing after Thanksgiving, too.
Vic303 - does TheLandlord remind you of our friend from the bayou country? ;)
That is quite a compliment, by the way. I admire your work, Mr. Landlord!
Somebody say long-term food storage?
Those Costco shelving units are nice
The only problem is all that food is "perishable" and needs to be rotated quickly (in the long term scheme of things) or else it will go stale. You need a big family for all that ;)
white spaniard
03-22-09, 17:30
Nice setup Landlord but my wife want's to know what is up with the Publix and Target baskets?
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