Prepare with Food

During the early response period following a major disaster, only those who have prepared an emergency food supply will have the certainty of food.  

Snacks are best used as treats, not the entire emergency diet, but they are vital supplies in your kit and will sustain you and provide basic energy: Granola, protein bars, nuts, chips, preserved cheese spread, peanut butter, cookies, crackers and little restaurant size packets of honey, jam/jelly. More substantial emergency food boosts morale/comfort and provides more stamina.  

Short-Term Food Storage Makes Sense

Had you even heard of Supply Chain Disruption before 2019?  Shortages of items we want/need for our household, along with steadily rising prices are a new reality. Because the USA imports so many of our consumer and medical products, it introduces a greater chance for supply interruption.  

Whether the food on your table is USA grown and packaged, or comes from outside our country, transporting it to your local stores is a link in the supply chain.  Home storage of an emergency supply of essential items is sensible for COVID times and other emergencies/disasters. 

This article is about simple, short-term pantry storage from which you could create meals, without relying upon grocery store supplies or the benefit of refrigerated foods -- for several weeks 

Strategies for Long-term Food Storage

Long-Term Food Storage:  There are three approaches:  1) Store larger quantities of short-term canned/packaged items; 2) No. 10 cans or 5-gallon buckets of bulk ingredients; or 3) Freeze-dried or dehydrated foods; or a combination. 

For canned and packaged long-term storage, you will need some way to organize the food so that you can rotate it into your regular meal planning.  Use organizers designed for a FIFO system (first in, first out) to aid rotation.  Put in the newest can(a) at the top and take out the oldest at the bottom.  A browser search for “canned food organizers” will net you lots of choices.  Mine are cardboard and arrive flat, requiring some easy folding assembly.    

Shopping On-Line at Smith's Food and Drug

This is lengthy, only because it is detailed, step-by-step instructions, meant especially for those who have never shopped for groceries on-line.  I hope the detail helps you.

Log onto:
https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/

On the top right-hand side of the web page it will say Pickup at (some out of state location).  Pull down that menu and it will have you enter your zip code.  Right under this it will say Change Store.  Click on this and select the store location you will be shopping.  Or if you prefer go one more step down and select Delivery. Either way: proceed as shown below.

Keeping you Informed about Food Supply

Organized and provided by Glenn Beck at Blaze TV, March 16, 2020

• Food producers and supply chain managers say there is generally enough nonperishable food on shelves, in warehouses and on the production line to last several months. But labor shortages due to a shut-down, illness or travel restrictions could create localized supply disruptions.
• The challenge could soon be getting that food to the right places once local distribution centers are wiped out.
• In addition, millions of Americans, who previously got food at restaurants or in school or at work cafeterias, will have to serve themselves at home, with food bought from grocery big-box enterprises.
• "The replenishment cycle is going to be the real test here," said Sean Maharaj, a supply chain expert and managing director at AArete, a consulting firm in Chicago. "Manufacturers don't sit on a lot of extra inventory, so what do you do when everything you have is depleted?"
• Beyond that, industry officials acknowledge some uncertainty about how exactly they will be able to replenish their stocks if factories and ports worldwide are short-staffed.
• Over the past decade, retailers have moved aggressively to become more efficient by slimming down on inventory instead of stockpiling in warehouses.
• "Turns out Just In Time delivery systems have a downside," said Maharaj.

Federal Government to Oversee Food Distribution and Security

Breaking News from Mike Adams at Natural.news.com

March 16, 2020

The US government is just days away from rolling out coordination and security oversight of the national food distribution networks, according to a high-level source who spoke with Natural News.

The food supplies will keep flowing, and the federal government will be coordinating and offering security to make sure the private grocery chains maintain food supplies.

We are told this is in the final stages of being completed, with some measure of rollout to begin as early as just a few days from now in at least one region of the country.

Things That I Learned from Hurricane Sandy -- A Heads Up For All of Us!

by Frantz Ostmann on Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 7:13am 

1. The excitement and coolness wear off around day 3.
2. You are never really prepared to go weeks without power, heat, water etc. Never!
3. Yes it can happen to you.
4. Just because your generator runs like a top, does not mean its producing electricity.
5. If you do not have water stored up you are in trouble.  A couple of cases of bottled water is “NOT” water storage.
6. You should have as much fuel as water:   a. Propane,     b. Gas,      c. Kerosene,      d. Firewood,      e. Firestarter, (kindling, paper, etc.)
7. Even the smallest little thing that you get from the store should be stocked up. (spark plug for the generator, BBQ lighter, etc.)

Added Observations Regarding Hurricane Sandy

by Amie Ostmann

1. Store a lot of ‘mix-ins’ to help flavor your stored water.  
2. Being without running water was more inconvenient than having no power.  
3. Before-hand we stored milk jugs filled with water, ¾ full, and put in the freezer.  When we had no power, we put the jugs, a couple at a time, into the fridge to keep food cold.  When they melted, we used for drinking.  
4. I wished I had more candles.
5. 10-hour candles were awesome.  
6. Candles give a broader light than a flashlight.  
7. We had one lantern; it was better than the candles.  I wished for more.

Food Safety During Power Outages

Power can suddenly go out because of severe storms, heat waves causing high or spiked usage, man-caused events.  It is inconvenient and frustrating at best, and brutal at worst.  

Prolonged power outages can be dangerous.  For one thing, when we lose power we lose refrigeration.  Food safety becomes an issue.  

Foods That Last "Forever"

Honey
Honey never really goes bad.  The consistency and color can change.  Many honey harvesters say that when honey crystallizes it can be re-heated and used.  Honey’s low water content, is not a friendly environment for microorganisms.

Salt
Indispensable mineral.  Although prone to absorbing moisture, it’s shelf life is indefinite.  

Sugar
Life would be so boring without sugar.  Much like salt, sugar is also prone to absorbing moisture, but this problem can be eradicated by adding some rice granules into the storage container.