you don't need to store food in case of a food shortage - you just need to store a database of people who have food stored... y'know, like the grasshopper and the ants - that is the moral of the story right? 
I just wondered how many of you........
- Thread starter Dave
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Even for the shorter periods of a few weeks such as after hurricanes Janne and I have mentioned water becomes problematic.
Correct. We have normally a super safe water supply ( desalinated sea water) but it may not function, or become tainted, after a hurricane.
I tested different " liquids" for taste and pleasantness when warm and found that these are nice to drink even when body temperature:
Canned fruit juices
Canned fizzy water with or without flavour
US beer type Bud and Millers
Sodas are too sweet, European beer gets an unpleasant flavor.
Red wine is fine, white is OK.
We have a prototol I made in case of hurricanes. The most important is to wee outside, and do No2 in the garden toilet, but no flushing.
The water in the toilet reservoirs I need for cooking.
I tested different " liquids" for taste and pleasantness when warm and found that these are nice to drink even when body temperature:
Canned fruit juices
Canned fizzy water with or without flavour
US beer type Bud and Millers
Sodas are too sweet, European beer gets an unpleasant flavor.
Red wine is fine, white is OK.
We have a prototol I made in case of hurricanes. The most important is to wee outside, and do No2 in the garden toilet, but no flushing.
The water in the toilet reservoirs I need for cooking.
Funny I should see this today as we've started spring cleaning in the kitchen. What with the crazy way the cabinets and cupboards are laid out in the kitchen we've been finding cans and dried goods in places we'd forgot about. It's all still good and we reckon there's enough to keep the two of us going for 2 maybe 3 months if we're careful. Factor in my wood burning stoves and plenty of wood we should be okay.
With the stream running down the side of our property we should be okay for water. But it's only a last resort. If the water is down at least we have a header tank in the loft and the imersion heater they will provide potable water.
With the stream running down the side of our property we should be okay for water. But it's only a last resort. If the water is down at least we have a header tank in the loft and the imersion heater they will provide potable water.
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That is what happens when you marry a Chinese!
Tell me about it...took wife to UK for first time where she saw a box of Uncle Ben's in my sister's kitchen. She asked how old it was and was gobsmacked when my sister said it was a year...."but we would cook this in one meal!"
A week in the fridge/freezer if we didn't open it much. A month in the pantry. 2 big gas bottles. A well. A garden after that...
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Dunno if its the same, but I do guerilla gardening, everywhere I frequent I have food growing, native wild species to the particular area, apart from in town, ill plant any seeds in those council owned flower beds, lettuce, basil, coriander, carrots etc, no one ever really notices
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Interesting post !
I reckon we have a years worth if the electricity stays on what with the freezers and the pantry. Not worked it out in detIl, but 6 months not a problem.
FWIW my gran who had lived through the war always had a cupboard full of tins "you never know" was reason, I guess those rationing years left their mark.
I reckon we have a years worth if the electricity stays on what with the freezers and the pantry. Not worked it out in detIl, but 6 months not a problem.
FWIW my gran who had lived through the war always had a cupboard full of tins "you never know" was reason, I guess those rationing years left their mark.
I live at the end of a 500 mile power line. In years gone by, wildfires have killed the line for more than 30 days.
The village set up refrig trucks so we all could save our freezer contents but no access = just about as good as gone.
We get cut off by landslides and avalanches. Might be 4-10 feet deep and a quarter mile wide.
One mudslide (aka rock smaller than your head) site got blown out every week for a month.
We lost a steel bridge in a rainstorm one night. It disappeared.
Some weeks later, a chopper crew noticed the wreckage in a log debris pile, 1/2 mile downstream and around a corner.
We get cut off by freezing rain an inch deep on the highway (there's only one way in and out of here.)
That meant maybe 150 extra people to feed as no highway traffic/trucks could get into or out of here.
Fortunately, groceries were arriving by train.
GovBC has set up a road conditions website called DriveBC for up to the minutes road conditions and advisories.
Lots of solar-powered video cameras so you get a pretty good look at the highway.
The village set up refrig trucks so we all could save our freezer contents but no access = just about as good as gone.
We get cut off by landslides and avalanches. Might be 4-10 feet deep and a quarter mile wide.
One mudslide (aka rock smaller than your head) site got blown out every week for a month.
We lost a steel bridge in a rainstorm one night. It disappeared.
Some weeks later, a chopper crew noticed the wreckage in a log debris pile, 1/2 mile downstream and around a corner.
We get cut off by freezing rain an inch deep on the highway (there's only one way in and out of here.)
That meant maybe 150 extra people to feed as no highway traffic/trucks could get into or out of here.
Fortunately, groceries were arriving by train.
GovBC has set up a road conditions website called DriveBC for up to the minutes road conditions and advisories.
Lots of solar-powered video cameras so you get a pretty good look at the highway.
Winter -81/82 northern Sweden, snowstorm. Followed by -45 to -53 C Cut power pylons by sheer snow weight, plus falling trees.
Army had to take people out, install emergency power to large animal farms. Shot cows in small farms. Come farms were without power for up to 2 weeks. I was there with my unit.
Mid 80's snowstorm in southern Sweden. Power cut, army had to mobilize and sort things out. Power out for about one week. Thousands of animals died mainly from thirst.
Can not happen? Depends on where you live!
Army had to take people out, install emergency power to large animal farms. Shot cows in small farms. Come farms were without power for up to 2 weeks. I was there with my unit.
Mid 80's snowstorm in southern Sweden. Power cut, army had to mobilize and sort things out. Power out for about one week. Thousands of animals died mainly from thirst.
Can not happen? Depends on where you live!
Sorry Nomad.
A serious food shortage is not that unusual, I dont think.
TBH I dont know why I did it. I just had this feeling, like I needed to to do it. Its by no way a complete list.
I could also add to that wheat, in large sacks, straight from the farmers fields. As I have a handheld grinder.
Its not like it could never happen in Britain you know. Its already happened twice in Germany during the twentieth century.
Thanks for the interesting post though.
Fair enough. Please can you put me down for spam, peanut butter, rice and kidney beans .(wait for it) .without the spam! :viking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE
For some of us those natural disasters aren't a question of "if" but "when." So far I've been through 6 hurricanes (2 in Mississippi and 4 here) plus one ice storm that knocked out power for almost a week here. And I was away from the Gulf for over a decade and a half. It's a given that a big hurricane is going to hit the somewhere on the Gulf or East Coast every year.
But a year's worth is overkill.
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With no human threats, I would be a happy camper for maybe 2 months.
Then the monotony would set in without a lot of innovative food prep work.
I'd need good water, the rest of it, I can cope with.
The thing with a food cache is that you must work your way through it, turn it over, as time goes by.
You can't simply stock up and ignore it. Just because you bought rice does not guarantee that it is bug free. OK?
Sure the bugs are added protein but I'll not face that until I really, really have to.
Clostridium botulinum likes old, canned meat. Or so I've heard.
Bon appetit.
Then the monotony would set in without a lot of innovative food prep work.
I'd need good water, the rest of it, I can cope with.
The thing with a food cache is that you must work your way through it, turn it over, as time goes by.
You can't simply stock up and ignore it. Just because you bought rice does not guarantee that it is bug free. OK?
Sure the bugs are added protein but I'll not face that until I really, really have to.
Clostridium botulinum likes old, canned meat. Or so I've heard.
Bon appetit.
I imagine Gaudette is talking for the majority of members here that are UK based. Many of these things are area specific so most of the advice from overseas isn't going to assist.
My old housemate rest his soul used to keep an extra month of grub.
Not for the zombie apocalypse but because he was self employed and it was part of his safety net incase he was unwell or there was no work available and he couldnt afford any shopping for a while. A month he figured would give him enough security to find some work
Its not a bad thing perse to have some back up storage can be a challenge at times im sure
Not for the zombie apocalypse but because he was self employed and it was part of his safety net incase he was unwell or there was no work available and he couldnt afford any shopping for a while. A month he figured would give him enough security to find some work
Its not a bad thing perse to have some back up storage can be a challenge at times im sure
It's a good idea in that circumstance - like pre spending your savings on what you'll need so you don't 'accidently' buy something else.
