Excellent hi-effort post. I would add a few things. A 20-lb bag of flour, kept in airtight container, and a few cans of baking powder and a few packages of lard, will make a lot of food - biscuits, pancakes, etc. with very little cost.
Rice+beans is a complete protein. Stock up on both (talking dried beans) they last forever. But be sure to stock up on chili powder and cumin to add some flavor to them in addition to salt and pepper.. If you have meat to add when preparing, so much the better, but they are fine with just the rice+beans and spices. Also canned tomatoes help with this - sliced, diced, crushed, paste, it doesn't matter. When you're really hungry, this will taste great.
Have some big cans of cooking oil, esp if you plan on frying anything, but also for baking recipes etc. When Stalin starved the people to death, I read about a survivor who said they had no oil for cooking things in pans, and had to use dried weeds to separate the food from the hot dry skillet.
I have three chest freezers for vegetables I grow all summer and for meats I buy a lot of on sale. Also lots of butter. A full chest freezer will keep food frozen for several days - even a week - without power. And in winter you can put the food outside if the elec goes out for so long that the food begins to thaw.
The last item is really insane, but I have a couple 50-lb bags of dry feed corn. You have to cook it in water forever, and it doesn't have much flavor, but it is a last resort if you are literally starving to death and it's cheap. Doubt it has much nutritional value but like I said - if you are actually starving ...
PS: we don't have Costco around here, so I don't know about them, but Sam's Club has the best deals on rice. I no longer belong, but when I did you could get 50-lb bags for something around $10 IIRC. Sure it's a bit more now, but I haven't found a better price anywhere. Walmart has 20-lb bags for $9 here.
Be careful with storing too much oil. It will go rancid on you ... especially the vegetable oils. If you can afford it buy GHEE (or make your own from butter) it is butter with the milk fat removed so it is shelf stable. Lard would also be good as it is shelf stable but even it will go rancid if you don't use it up soon.
Whatever you buy ... make sure it is something you will eat and will not completely change your diet (in other words too much wheat or too many beans if you are not a bread or bean eater) It will upset your stomach.
Also be sure to rotate all your foods. You can buy the 10lb cans of dry milk powder (NOT carnation crap) which you can mix up with water and drink at home as you need it. I buy it this way open one can and take out 2 and1/2 tablespoons and mix it in a pitcher. You have real milk this way and it is much cheaper than buying a carton of milk. The dry powder lasts a long time. This is the best way to store milk.
Don't forget a way to cook everything if you no longer have power. You will need a source of energy (BBQ coals/propane) to light it. I have an outdoor wood fired pizza oven to use in case of power outages. (I live in a Hurricane Prone area)
I have 6 gallons of water in water storage containers that I keep filled in our attic that I replace annually in case of Hurricanes.
I did mention rice and beans, but as I said, that was off the top of my head. Your additional ideas are all sound too. Here's the thing, however:
Timing is an important factor, and time is running out. These preparations should have begun years ago. I felt that something like what we're seeing today was coming way back around the turn of the century. I did not buy into the Y2K hoax, but started prepping shortly after that when I realized just how fragile our modern economy and society is. Any large city is 3 days away from anarchy and starvation if the food trucks fail to arrive.
We who live in the country -- or CLOSE to the country -- will be in a better position when TSHTF. And if the welfare SNAP payments stop coming, a desperate, intolerant, and impatient group of pampered people will be looking for their next meal, no matter what the have to do to get it.
We people of Western Civilization have been taught that violence never solved anything. To which I say, "BULLSHIT!" Violence solved WWI and WWII and more wars throughout the centuries than flowers and kumbaya ever did. Violence is rarely the answer, but when it IS the answer, it is the ONLY answer. Learn that, love that, and live that.
Excellent hi-effort post. I would add a few things. A 20-lb bag of flour, kept in airtight container, and a few cans of baking powder and a few packages of lard, will make a lot of food - biscuits, pancakes, etc. with very little cost. Rice+beans is a complete protein. Stock up on both (talking dried beans) they last forever. But be sure to stock up on chili powder and cumin to add some flavor to them in addition to salt and pepper.. If you have meat to add when preparing, so much the better, but they are fine with just the rice+beans and spices. Also canned tomatoes help with this - sliced, diced, crushed, paste, it doesn't matter. When you're really hungry, this will taste great. Have some big cans of cooking oil, esp if you plan on frying anything, but also for baking recipes etc. When Stalin starved the people to death, I read about a survivor who said they had no oil for cooking things in pans, and had to use dried weeds to separate the food from the hot dry skillet. I have three chest freezers for vegetables I grow all summer and for meats I buy a lot of on sale. Also lots of butter. A full chest freezer will keep food frozen for several days - even a week - without power. And in winter you can put the food outside if the elec goes out for so long that the food begins to thaw. The last item is really insane, but I have a couple 50-lb bags of dry feed corn. You have to cook it in water forever, and it doesn't have much flavor, but it is a last resort if you are literally starving to death and it's cheap. Doubt it has much nutritional value but like I said - if you are actually starving ... PS: we don't have Costco around here, so I don't know about them, but Sam's Club has the best deals on rice. I no longer belong, but when I did you could get 50-lb bags for something around $10 IIRC. Sure it's a bit more now, but I haven't found a better price anywhere. Walmart has 20-lb bags for $9 here.
Be careful with storing too much oil. It will go rancid on you ... especially the vegetable oils. If you can afford it buy GHEE (or make your own from butter) it is butter with the milk fat removed so it is shelf stable. Lard would also be good as it is shelf stable but even it will go rancid if you don't use it up soon.
Whatever you buy ... make sure it is something you will eat and will not completely change your diet (in other words too much wheat or too many beans if you are not a bread or bean eater) It will upset your stomach.
Also be sure to rotate all your foods. You can buy the 10lb cans of dry milk powder (NOT carnation crap) which you can mix up with water and drink at home as you need it. I buy it this way open one can and take out 2 and1/2 tablespoons and mix it in a pitcher. You have real milk this way and it is much cheaper than buying a carton of milk. The dry powder lasts a long time. This is the best way to store milk.
Don't forget a way to cook everything if you no longer have power. You will need a source of energy (BBQ coals/propane) to light it. I have an outdoor wood fired pizza oven to use in case of power outages. (I live in a Hurricane Prone area)
I have 6 gallons of water in water storage containers that I keep filled in our attic that I replace annually in case of Hurricanes.
You could turn that feed corn sweeter and tastier with the proper enzymes that turn starch to sugar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtnboJ3Kxeo
I did mention rice and beans, but as I said, that was off the top of my head. Your additional ideas are all sound too. Here's the thing, however:
Timing is an important factor, and time is running out. These preparations should have begun years ago. I felt that something like what we're seeing today was coming way back around the turn of the century. I did not buy into the Y2K hoax, but started prepping shortly after that when I realized just how fragile our modern economy and society is. Any large city is 3 days away from anarchy and starvation if the food trucks fail to arrive.
We who live in the country -- or CLOSE to the country -- will be in a better position when TSHTF. And if the welfare SNAP payments stop coming, a desperate, intolerant, and impatient group of pampered people will be looking for their next meal, no matter what the have to do to get it.
We people of Western Civilization have been taught that violence never solved anything. To which I say, "BULLSHIT!" Violence solved WWI and WWII and more wars throughout the centuries than flowers and kumbaya ever did. Violence is rarely the answer, but when it IS the answer, it is the ONLY answer. Learn that, love that, and live that.