Preparedness!

FOOD!

Most people don't know -- because they've never thought about it or never tried to find out -- that just about any city you can name has on hand enough food to feed the population for about a week. If the supermarkets and warehouses aren't re-stocked, you'll have about a week before you run out of food. Kind of scary, isn't it?

How much food do you have on hand? Are you one of those people who goes to the food market once a month and keeps the pantry full? Go look. Go ahead, go examine your kitchen and decide how long you could live on what's there ... if you couldn't re-stock.

If Y2K disrupts food distribution channels they way many fear it will -- even if only for a short time -- will you go hungry? Well, will you? You'd better find out, just in case, don't you think?

So ... don't you think it's a good idea to stock-up a bit? You can buy "kits" that will feed one person for a year (or 6 persons for 2 months, or whatever). Might not be a bad investment, eh?

On the other hand, those "kits" are rather expensive, especially the ones packed in nitrogen for long-term storage. Plain old store-bought canned food from your local supermarket is a lot cheaper, especially if you watch out for sales and specials, and use cupons. Look at the first link here to find shelf life and how to read the codes printed on the cans. You can buy very cheap bulk food staples from natural food stores and co-ops and pack them yourself in 5 or 6 gallon food-grade plastic buckets (sometimes you can get these free from fast-food outlets or bakeries and so on). Your digestive system will thank you if you either store what you already eat, or else take some time in advance to get used to a different kind of diet. Be sure and stock some "fun" food: candy, Twinkies®, canned and dried fruit, bean dip, corn chips.

Shelf Life of Groceries

The Food Storage FAQ from the misc.survivalism UseNet newsgroup.

Walton Foods is one of the more popular places to stock-up on some food for those days or weeks when the local supermarket's shelves are empty, and the food riots make it so awkward to go shopping anyway.

Millennium Gourmet Food Reserves

Best Prices Storable Foods, of Dallas, Texas.

Lakeridge Food Storage, Orem, Utah

Emergency Essentials, Orem, Utah.

Happy Hovel Foods and Country Store, Yelm, Washington.

Meyers Custom Supply, Cassel, California

J & K Enterprises, Terrell, Texas.

Foods For Survival, from Live Oak Farms.

Food Storage Central.

Ready Reserve Foods.

AlpineAire Foods

Mountain House food storage

Perma Pak, Distributed By Emergency Food Storage

Emergency preparedness food, water and water storage items available from Epicenter.

The Seven Major Mistakes in Food Storage, by Vicki Tate (from the Nov/Dec 1995 Issue of The Preparedness Journal)

Art's Emergency Food Storage Supplies "sells food and food storage supplies at affordable prices. We try to make it both easy and affordable to put together your food supply so you can be prepared for any potential crisis."

Frank Kunc has lots of information, plans, and other stuff for Do it Yourself Self Sufficiency and Hard Times Preparedness, with "Low cost solutions for high cost essentials"

The Dry Store from Mary Bell (see her book below), contains comprehensive information about drying foods

A1 Cannery has long-term storage #10 cans (about a gallon) ready for fairly quick shipment they say

American Harvest Foods has long-term storage food ready for immediate shipment they say

Millennium 3 Foods of Bozeman Montana has complete "Food for a year" kits along with other food items.

You can buy great spices at great prices at The Great American Spice Company. They have all kinds of spices, seasonings, mixes, flavorings, oils, dried fruits & vegetables, sauces and more. Quantities large and small. Spice-up that bland stored food!

Martie's Breads From The Hearth, are authorized distributors for the Family Grain Mill and all attachments. Martie says they are not backordered. This is one of the best grain-grinders, in both electrical and hand-operated versions, too.

Aim This Way sells various food items and equipment that might prove handy to have around.

Y2K Grub sells food and food-storage equipment, along with a few other useful items.

Emergency Food Supplies, of Utah sells Perma Pak® long-term storage food

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Don't forget storage equipment for food and water!

Glitchproof has an excellent selection of storage containers, including ready-to-use kits with everything you need (and instructions!).

United States Plastic Corp has a site where you can order plastic storage containers for food and water, along with oxygen absorbers and other useful stuff.

Sorbent Systems desiccant -- a moisture absorbing material to be packed inside anything you're preparing for long-term storage.

Tilia Food Saver, a handy gadget for vacuum-packing food, ammo, books, or whatever. Be sure and get extra boxes of the special plastic bag material!

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Books

Famine and Survival in America
by Howard J. Ruff
Paperback, 196 pages
Published by Target Publishing, 1974.
Out-of-print. Not listed in the Amazon.com catalog. Worth searching used bookstores for.

The Cornell Bread Book: 54 Recipes for Nutritious Loaves, Rolls and Coffee Cakes
by Clive Maine McCay
Paperback, 27 pages
Published by Dover Publications, 1981
Comment: How to make a bread that provides a complete protein mix. In any bread recipe substitute this mixture for each cup of wheat flour: 1 tablespoon of soy flour, 1 tablespoon of nonfat dry milk, and 1 teaspoon of wheat germ with the balance of the cup filled with wheat flour.

Cookin' with Home Storage
By Vicki Tate
Send $14.95 per copy, plus $2.50 shipping and handling (first Copy, each additional copy is $0.75 each for shipping).
to:
The New Cookin' With Home Storage
c/o Vickie Tate
302 East 200 North
Manti, UT 84642

Phone:(801) 835-8283

Vickie has a bunch of other good books in the "Cookin With ..." series, too. Ask her about 'em.

Just Add Water: How to Use Dehydrated Food and Tp
by Barbara G. Salsbury
Paperback
Published by Horizon Pub Co, 1972

How to Develop a Low-Cost Family Food-Storage System
by Anita Evangelista
Paperback, 112 pages
Published by Loompanics Unlimited, 1995

The Encyclopedia of Country Living: An Old Fashioned Recipe Book
by Carla Emery
Paperback, 864 pages
Published by Sasquatch Books, 1994

Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills
Hardcover
Published by Readers Digest, 1997

Five Acres and Independence: A Handbook for Small Farm Management
by Maurice Grenville Kains & Maurice G. Kain
Paperback, 397 pages
Published by Dover Publications, 1978

Beginners Guide to Family Preparedness: Food Storage, Back to Basics, Survival Facts
by Rosalie Mason
Paperback
Published by Horizon Pub Co, 1977

Making the Best of Basics - Family Preparedness Handbok
by James Talmage Stevens
Paperback
Published by Gold Leaf Press, 10th edition, 1997
Comment: This books is a must-have.

Putting Food By
by Janet C. Greene, Ruth Hertzberg, & Beatrice Vaughan
4th New revised Edition
Paperback
Published by Penguin USA, 1992
Comment: The classic book on preserving the harvest.

Stocking Up: America's Classic Preserving Guide, Completely Revised and Updated
by Carol Hupping
Revised & Updated Edition (also in a hardcover from Rodale Press)
Paperback, 627 pages
Published by Fireside, 1990

Dry It-You'll Like It
by Gen MacManiman
Paperback
Published by MacManiman Inc., 1977

Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook
by Mary Bell
Hardback, 280 pages
Published by William Morrow & Company, Inc., 1994
Comment: Everything you need to know about using your electric food dehydrator.

Disaster Survival Guide: Survivors Nutritional Pharmacy
by Cass Igram
Paperback, 137 pages
Published by Knowledge House, 1993

The Sprouting Book
by Ann Wigmore
Paperback, 116 pages
Published by Avery Pub Group, 1986

Sprouting for All Seasons: How and What to Sprout, Including Delicious, Easy-To-Prepare Recipes
by Bertha B. Larimore
Paperback
Published by Horizon Pub Co, 1997

The Sprout Garden: The Indoor Grower's Guide to Gourmet Sprouts
by Mark Matthew Braunstein, Mark Mathew Braunstein
Paperback, 128 pages
Published by Book Pub Co, 1993

Burpee: The Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener: A Guide to Growing Your Garden Organically
by Karan Davis Cutler, Cavagnarok David (Photographer), Barbara W. Ellis
Hardcover, 416 pages
Published by MacMillan General Reference, 1998

Herbs for Sale: Growing and Marketing Herbs, Herbal Products, and Herbal Know-How
by Lee Sturdivant, Peggy Sue McRae (Illustrator)
Paperback
Published by San Juan Naturals, 1994

Growing Your Herb Business
by Bertha Reppert
Paperback, 186 pages
Published by Storey Books, 1994

Solar Gardening: Growing Vegetables Year-Round the American Intensive Way (The Real Goods Independent Living Books)
by Leandre Poisson, Gretchen Vogel Poisson
Paperback, 288 pages

Four-Season Harvest: How to Harvest Fresh Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long
by Eliot Coleman, Kathy Bary (Illustrator)
Paperback, 224 pages
Published by Chelsea Green Pub Co, 1992

Grow It: The Beginner's Complete In-Harmony-With-Nature Small Farm Guide-From Vegetable and Grain Growing to Livestock Care
by Richard W. Langer, Susan McNeill (Illustrator)
Paperback, 360 pages
Published by Noonday Press, 1994

Western Garden Book
by Sunset Editors
Paperback, 624 pages
Published by Leisure Arts, 1998

Herbs: An Illustrated Guide
by Sunset
Paperback, 112 pages
Published by Sunset Pub Co, 1993

National Garden Book
by Editors of Sunset Books and Sunset Magazine (Editor)
Paperback, 656 pages
Published by Sunset Pub Co, 1997

Survival Bartering
by Duncan Long
Paperback, 56 pages
Published by Loompanics Unlimited, 1986

How to Grow More Vegetables: Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops
by John Jeavons
Paperback
Published by Ten Speed Press, 1995

Square Foot Gardening: A New Way to Garden in Less Space With Less Work
by Mel Bartholomew
Paperback, 347 pages
Published by Rodale Press, 1981

The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping
by Rosalind Creasy
Paperback
Published by Random House, 1982

The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure
by J. C. Jenkins
Paperback, 198 pages
Published by Chelsea Green Publishing Co, 1996

The Backyard Homestead: Mini Farm and Garden Log Book
by John Jeavons, J. Mogador Griffin, Robin Leler
Paperback
Published by Ecology Action, 1983

Lazy-Bed Gardening: The Quick and Dirty Guide
by John Jeavons, Carol Cox, Sue Ellen Parkinson (Illustrator)
Paperback, 118 pages
Published by Ten Speed Press,1993

How to Grow More Vegetables: Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops
by John Jeavons
Paperback
Published by Ten Speed Press, 1995

Hydroponic Hot House: Low-Cost, High-Yield Greenhouse Gardening
by James B. Dekorne
Paperback, 178 pages
Published by Loompanics Unlimited, 1992

Survival Greenhouse
by James B. Dekorne
Availability: This title is out of print, but if you place an order we may be able to find you a used copy within 1-3 months.
Published by Peace Pr Pub, 1978

Self-Sufficiency Gardening: Financial, Physical, and Emotional Security from Your Own Backyard
by Martin P. Waterman
Paperback, 120 pages
Published by Loompanics Unlimited, 1995

Cooking With the Sun: How to Build and Use Solar Cookers
by Beth Halacy, Dan Halacy
Paperback, 114 pages
Published by Morning Sun Press, 1992

Backyard Meat Production: How to Grow All the Meat You Need in Your Own Backyard
by Anita Evangelista
Paperback
Published by Loompanics Unlimited, 1997

Backyard Livestock: Raising Good Natural Food for Your Family
by Steven Thomas, George B. Looby
Paperback, 229 pages
Published by Countryman Press, 1991

Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game
by John J., Jr. Mettler, Elayne Sears (Illustrator)
Paperback - 208 pages
Published by Storey Books, 1989

Seed to Seed
by Suzanne Ashworth, David Cavagnaro
Paperback - 222 pages
Published by Seed Saver Publications, 1995
Comment: How to save seeds from your garden to replant.

BACK to Ken L. Holder's "Preparedness" Page.

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