As a society, we are complacent when it comes to food. Grocery stores have always stocked what we need. If we're in a hurry, we can always run through the drive through and get something to eat. We can even have food delivered to us, whether that means groceries or a tasty entree from your favorite restaurant. Few of us give any real thought as to how our food is made, prepared, shipped. We're talking about "Supply Chains".
By in large, our food supply is dependant on trucking. That's right, its the 18-wheelers that run on diesel and traverse the country via the interstate highways. Here at the Outpost, we're always asking the question "what's the worst thing that could happen?"
What if those trucks stopped running? What if those trucks couldn't make it to your neighborhood grocery store because of some weather event like snow or ice, or maybe because a hurricane or flood knocked out the bridges and roads that lead to your town.
What if diesel became a scarce commodity in itself, and fewer and fewer 18-wheelers were able to run because the supplies of the much needed fuel just simply weren't available?
How long would your grocery stores in your area have food on the shelves available for purchase (never mind what the prices could look like if suddenly Chef Boy_Ar-Dee became scarce)? When I was younger (I mean, a looong time ago), grocery stores had the back area of the store that contained extra stock that could be put out if the shelves started to empty out before the next delivery. That's not true anymore with your newer, larger grocery store chains that we've become so dependant upon.
No, our grocery stores now don't have much additional stock, if any at all: everything that comes in on the trucks goes directly to the shelves, the freezers and coolers in the shopping aisles. Let that sink in for a moment: whenever you walk into your grocery store, look around and remind yourself "what you see, is what you get."
Now, in an emergency, how long would it take for all of that "what you see" stock to disappear? If you've ever been in a natural disaster such as a hurricane, a blizzard, etc., you have no doubt seen how quickly the shelves tend to disappear when it comes to essential supplies. Usually, however, that supply comes back quickly after the disaster has passed and trucking is able to deliver again. But what if that truck never came?
Here at The Outpost, we believe in a simple food security philosophy we call The Food Triangle:
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We will discuss Freeze Dried Food selections as well as how to garden and can your own vegetables in later posts. In this post, we are going to focus on the easiest way to start your prepper pantry: Canned Food/Dried Goods.
Canned foods are simple to acquire, and honestly the best way to start prepping for your own food security system. Its as simple as going to your local grocery store and getting "a little extra" on the canned items you buy every week. Canned fruits and vegetables, canned meats such as tuna, chicken and spam and also include some of your dried goods like crackers and pasta, peanut butter, dried beans, etc.
Designate a seperate shelf in your pantry for your "emergency" stash; better still, use a different pantry, closet or room for your stores. Stored inside at room temperature, your canned and dried goods should last as long as the expiration dates say.
On that note, we believe its important to invest in a good permenant marker and write either on the bottom or the top of the can (1) what the contents of the can are, and (2) the expiration date. "Why?" you ask? If you're thinking like a prepper, you tend to ask yourself "what's the worst thing that could happen?" with all of your preparations. Labels tear and get lost, and date stamps will fade. And after a prolonged emergency, all of those tin cans are going to look the same without any labels.
(Maybe find someone in the home who has better handwriting than this guy.)
Finally, when it comes to your Canned and Dried food stores, schedule in advance on your calendar every three months to inspect and ROTATE your canned food stores and dried goods. What do I mean by rotate? I mean to take your "emergency supply" and move them to your main pantry and restock your emergency stores with new items of the same kind (i.e. swap out the green beans for newer green beans). This way, your emergency supply always stays up to date and you are less likely to waste food because you let it expire.
This is the easiest way to begin prepping for family emergencies in our opinion. If you currently have more than 3 days of food in your home for you and your family, you are already ahead of the majority of Americans. If you have a week's supply, you are well on your way to becoming a responsible prepper. Just having the security of knowing that in the case of an emergency you and your family would not go hungry is a wonderful feeling to have.
Until next time, God Bless you all. Keep calm, and Prep on.
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