{"id":2429,"date":"2010-02-26T20:17:43","date_gmt":"2010-02-27T03:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.survival-spot.com\/survival-blog\/?p=2429"},"modified":"2026-05-18T17:42:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T23:42:36","slug":"the-non-survivalists-guide-to-stocking-up-for-hard-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.survival-spot.com\/survival-blog\/the-non-survivalists-guide-to-stocking-up-for-hard-times\/","title":{"rendered":"The non-survivalist’s guide to stocking up for hard times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Lou,
\nAs a resident of South Mississippi, I think it is officially time to stock my swine flu\/tornado\/hurricane\/foreign invasion pantry. How do I do this without filling it with a bunch of processed crap, but still manage to stock away flavorful and nutritious staples?
\nKelly S.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Kelly,
\nThis particular swine flu pandemic\u2014which may or may not be linked to factory farms<\/a>\u2014doesn\u2019t appear to pose much of a public-health menace. But it reminds us of an old lesson: chaos happens. Regarding pandemics, our very own government advises people to keep two weeks\u2019 worth of supplies on hand, which is truly the least the government can do given its recent disaster track record. You don\u2019t have to be a Chuck Norris-obsessed, gun-packing paranoiac to stash a bit of canned food and water in case of hard times.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re worried about foreign invasion, huh? While keeping a sharp lookout for an armada in the Gulf, consider these tips before heading to the store for batteries and canned tuna:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Don\u2019t spend too much time obsessing about flavor. \u201cKeep it simple. Realize what the intention is, which is survival,\u201d explains Cody Lundin, founder of the Aboriginal Living Skills School<\/a> in Prescott, Arizona. \u201cSurvival is different from living, technically. You might be eating weird shit, including the dog.\u201d Of course, you won\u2019t need to eat the dog if you\u2019re prepared, which is the point of his hilarious book When All Hell Breaks Loose. <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2022 The amount of food to stock is up to you and your available storage space. If you\u2019re short on space, you may only be able to keep few day\u2019s worth of food on hand (tip: store stuff under your bed, if you can secure the containers against your always-curious toddler). If you are unsure about how much food you and your family will need, check out this calculator<\/a>, courtesy of the Latter Day Saints. (Note: the calculator is based on stocking food for one year, so you\u2019ll have to do a little extra math if you want a smaller pantry.) Yes, as it turns out, the Mormon church does indeed advise its members to keep a year\u2019s worth of supplies in their pantries. As a spiritual traveler you might be curious, so here\u2019s why. <\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 Label and date everything in your pantry and adhere to the FIFO (first-in, first-out) rule. The last thing you want to discover during an emergency is that your rice has bugs in it and all the tomato soup expired two years ago. If you are not going to rotate foods in and out regularly (isn\u2019t that what they do with Congressmen and lobbyists in Washington?), consider (gasp!) buying more processed foods, at least for some things. More heavily processed foods tend to keep longer. For instance, Lundin prefers white rice for long-term storage\u2014it keeps longer than brown rice, which contains oil that oxidizes. \u201cThe really healthy, groovy dark olive oil oxidizes like crazy,\u201d says Lundin. Which fat stores the longest? \u201cUnfortunately, it\u2019s [expletive] Crisco, \u201d he says. Bottom line: If you leave things in the refrigerator until they grow fuzzy coats, you might want to consider foods that store a really long time.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Don\u2019t rush out and buy foods that your family normally wouldn\u2019t eat. My husband and I purchased a bunch of powdered non-fat milk for Y2K. Here it is almost Y2K + 10, and we\u2019ve still got it. I wouldn\u2019t eat the dog before using it, but it\u2019s going to be one of the last things to go into my mouth when the power goes out\/ice storm hits\/government ceases to function\/all of the above.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Because the growing season is well underway in Mississippi, start planning along with your planting. Preserve some of this year\u2019s fresh, nutritious bounty from your garden or farmer\u2019s markets. For home-preservation advice, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Use food-grade plastic containers and bags for storage. If you are going to use non-food grade buckets, such as those big paint buckets you get at Home Depot, Lundin suggests that you store your food-grade Ziploc bags first. Herewith, my oft-repeated ditty about which kinds of plastic to use, courtesy of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy: \u201cWith your food use 5, 4, 1, and 2. Three and 6 aren\u2019t good for you. And 7 sucks big-time.\u201d (That last bit was my addition\u2014don\u2019t give me a guitar.) Glass is environmentally friendly but it has emergency storage drawbacks\u2014containers tend to be small, light-permeable, and breakable. That last one is a bummer if you\u2019re hit by an earthquake (or, say, rampaging toddlers).<\/p>\n

Next, here\u2019s a Gristed-up list of things to stock:<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0 Preserved meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, beans, and soups. On one hand, canned foods are often full of additives, salts, etc., and even the healthy ones may come in cans with plastic liners that contain bisphenol-A. On the other hand, Lundin points out that canned food is easy to acquire and stores for at least two years. \u201cTry to get stuff you can eat right out of the can,\u201d he suggests, \u201cWhen you\u2019re talking about emergency cooking, there\u2019s going to be fuel shortages.\u201d My tip: Instead of tuna consider skinless, boneless sardines that are chock full of Omega fatty acids, and sustainable – lower on the food chain and also lower in mercury.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Protein\/fruit\/granola bars. Look for the ones without any HFCS or unpronounceable ingredients. My coop grocery store, which provided three emergency pantry lists last month (vegan, gluten-free and one for regular folks), suggests Cascadian Organic granola bars<\/a> and Stretch Island fruit leathers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Dry cereal or granola. Granola is ridiculously easy to make and nutrient-dense: Here\u2019s one recipe.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 Dried fruits, grains and nuts. If you can, choose organic and buy in bulk to save money. For more money saving tips here<\/a>. Also consider nut butters. When I don\u2019t buy them in bulk, I often buy Woodstock nut butters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0 Crackers: Buy high-quality, high-fiber ones. There are some brands<\/a> in my pantry that will not only keep you regular during times of stress, but also may be used to re-shingle the roof after a hurricane strikes.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Baby food<\/a> and\/or formula if you need it.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0 Vitamins. The idea here is that if your nutrition suffers, you can boost it with vitamins.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Juice, plus fluids with electrolytes. Don\u2019t just reach for your average \u201csports drink,\u201d which may be loaded with lots of sugar and carbs rather than the salts and minerals your body needs to rehydrate in the event of an illness. This<\/a> is the one I keep on hand.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Water: This is key. \u201cWater is a not-optional item. If you don\u2019t have it, you die,\u201d says Lundin, who suggests doubling the standard recommendation of one gallon per person per day. Also, consider storage carefully because, as Lundin points out, water is heavy (8.3 pounds per gallon). \u201cIf you live on the 24th floor of an apartment and you want to put 1,000 pounds of water weight over four square feet in your closet\u2014that\u2019s a bad move.\u201d At the moment, our family uses plastic jerrycans, the ones used for camping.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pet food. Reach for the good stuff<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lastly, here\u2019s a list of non-food stuff to have on hand:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Soap, or alcohol-based (60-95%) hand wash.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0 Any prescription meds your family needs, plus a basic first-aid kit that includes a thermometer, fever meds such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, and anti-diarrheal meds.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0 Flashlights: If your flashlights use rechargeable batteries, good for you, but if the power goes out you wont be able to plug in the recharger. Consider a hand-crank flashlight (my tiny hardware store carries them) or solar-powered ones and\/or emergency candles.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Portable radio. Here\u2019s one<\/a> that operates on solar, hand-crank or battery power and has a built-in cell phone charger and flashlight.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Manual can opener. Lundin recommends Swing-A-Way can openers because they \u201clast and last and last\u201d or P-38 <\/a>can openers, which you can get online or at military or outdoor stores. He keeps a P-38 on his keychain. Watch Lundin open a can using a concrete curb in this clip<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Garbage bags: Use them for trash, make-shift sleeping bags (Lundin-style, filled with newspaper) or the removal of a corpse (but let\u2019s not dwell on that). Get strong ones!<\/p>\n

\u2022 Tissues, toilet paper,<\/a> diapers (if water is in short supply, you won\u2019t be washing cloth diapers, so go for disposable eco diapers) and feminine hygiene <\/a>supplies.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Extra strings for your viola.<\/p>\n

Now here\u2019s the weird thing about all of this. You\u2019d think it would be morbid or depressing to store up for the apocalypse. But it\u2019s not\u2014found it empowering and liberating. Do it, and you\u2019ll be more in control of your fate and perhaps much less hysterical. That\u2019s always a great feeling, no matter what the storm clouds (or flu bugs) are doing.<\/p>\n

Your Fellow Yankee,<\/p>\n

Lou Bendrick<\/p>\n

[Via Grist.org<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Lou, As a resident of South Mississippi, I think it is officially time to stock my swine flu\/tornado\/hurricane\/foreign invasion pantry. How do I do this without filling it with a bunch of processed crap, but still manage to stock away flavorful and nutritious staples? Kelly S. Dear Kelly, This particular swine flu pandemic\u2014which may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[376],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-to"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.survival-spot.com\/survival-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.survival-spot.com\/survival-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.survival-spot.com\/survival-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.survival-spot.com\/survival-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.survival-spot.com\/survival-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2429"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.survival-spot.com\/survival-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18273,"href":"https:\/\/www.survival-spot.com\/survival-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429\/revisions\/18273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.survival-spot.com\/survival-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.survival-spot.com\/survival-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.survival-spot.com\/survival-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}