A reader, Jason McNew, submitted this article on food stocking, requesting that it be published. I usually don’t honor such requests, but thought there might be enough interest.
I have not begun stocking food, although know many people who are. Chris Martenson has been advocating this protection for quite a while.
Should you have any questions regarding this post, please direct them to Jason at his email address below. I am a novice in such matters.
As an aside, if you choose to go this route, don’t tell your neighbors or friends. Ditto, if you are storing gold in your home. In the event of Armageddon, you don’t want people breaking into your home taking what you were prudent enough to provide for yourself and your family.
How to build a subsistence ration for 4 people for 6 months.
The United States and her citizens have been consuming more than we produce since about 1980, while borrowing money to make up the difference. This cannot continue in perpetuity, and will eventually result in a very painful economic and social correction. Daily readers of Economic Noise are acutely aware of this.
Several economists are suggesting that their clients store enough food for 6 months. While this seems like a daunting task, it is not very hard if kept simple.
Here is a table taken from the free online book Nuclear War Survival Skills, which can be found here.
Table 9.3. A basic survival ration for multi-year storage
Ounces per day Grams per day Pounds for 30 days full ration Kilograms for 30 days full ration Whole-kernel hard wheat 16 454 30 13.6 Beans 5 142 9.4 4.3 Nonfat milk powder 2 57 3.8 1.7 Vegetable oil 1 28 1.9 0.9 Sugar 2 57 3.8 1.7 Salt (iodized) 1/3 10 0.63 0.3 Total Weights 10 748 49.5 22.5 Multi-vitamin pills: 1 pill each day Book Page: 89
Thus, feeding 4 people for 6 months will require:
720lbs wheat.
225.6lbs beans.
91.2lbs milk powder
45.6lbs vegetable oil
91.2lbs sugar
15.12lbs salt
720 multivitaminsFifty pound sacks of “feed” wheat can currently be purchased at thousands of feed distributors throughout the U.S. for about $9.50. The best source for beans that I am aware of is the Mormon run outlet, Honeyville Grains. They will ship 50lbs. of pinto beans to your door for $60. Milk powder from the same outlet costs $50 for 25lbs., including shipping. Vegetable oil (Crisco), sugar, salt, and multivitamins can all be purchased cheaply at WalMart. Total cost to acquire all of the above is under $900 (at least for now).
Obviously this would make for a very rudimentary diet, but it will keep you and your family fed and in good health. Should a complete lockup in the credit markets occur (as almost happened in 2008), expect severe supply chain disruptions.
Jason McNew can be reached at jasond@mcnew.org.
the problem with lists like this is appetite fatigue. how many people know how to cook hard wheat? most families would be better off storing a two weeks supply of canned fruits, canned vegetable, pasta, crackers, peanut butter, soups, spaghetti sauce, etc. these are things that we eat everyday. once you have your two weeks, start over, and store another two weeks. throw in some soap, shampoo, and toilet paper and you can get by for quite a while. when i was a child, my father lost his job and it took a couple of months to become employed again. nothing changed for us kids, because my mom continued to cook normal food from her deep pantry. they only spent money on perishables like eggs, milk, fresh fruit and veggies.
What amazes me is that I think we are about to see the first time in history when “preppers” came out on top. Although they may still be premature. I fully expect some of the most hardcore preppers to go all-out crazy when they realize that their predictions actually came through. What I think that they fail to realize is that any society that finds itself in a position where everyone needs six months of food supply is a society that has been sent back to the middle-ages, where the majority of the population will very soon starve to death. Now, obviously storing food still makes sense because having too much isn’t that much of a problem, and you can always help your neighbours.
But if you are preparing for an event where you are going to consume all of that food yourself, you better be prepared for what awaits when you open the door – no society and a lot of dead people. Even if I too see disasters and economic distress in our future, its worth mentioning that there is little point of preparing for Armageddon. Luckily, in a semi-free economy there will always be massive forces working to counter the economic collapse.
With that said, obviously it makes sense to store food, especially if you are a retiree or if you have children. Scary times are ahead.