Whats enough food? The new prepper neurosis!

Wednesday, 27 May 2015 20:38
Written by Jay P.
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Published in Prepper Basics
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This seems to be the new preppers million dollar question...

C Rats

When you're just starting out, buying a years worth of freeze-dried food isn't financially feasible and learning to extreme coupon is going to take you a year or two to master. Most new preppers don't have the preservation skills to get ready in a timely fashion, so what to do in the mean time? I'll briefly cover some strategy then go into some basic recommendations. Begin by breaking your food down into basic categories: Perishable, Non Perishable and Staples. When we say perishable, we mean it requires an active power source to maintain its edibility like meat, milk and eggs. Non perishable think dry boxed goods and cans and staples being bulk rice and beans that can be stored for years if sealed properly.

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Naturally all food expires but these categories make it easy to form a plan. The trick in planning is finding a good balance in which to rotate foods that expire early, with foods that last a while to get the most out of the good stuff. What I mean, add a cup of staple rice to a regular meal, this fills you up and cuts down on the amount of yummy stuff required per meal, and ensures your using the early expiration products in good time. By supplementing with staple foods, you effectively stretch a weeks worth of food into 2 or maybe even 3 weeks. Of course there are a thousand ways to skin this cat, but we have found this formula is easy to learn and doesn't require a lot of extreme couponing or food preservation skills to start using. We know this is a lot, but Per Person:

3 days of perishable food in the fridge or freezer
3 weeks of non perishable food in the pantry
6 months of staple foods -or-
- 1 cup of rice AND beans a day -or- 90lbs of rice and 90lbs of beans
2 gallons a day (that's cooking, drinking and hygiene), or 360 gallons (yeah right! But that's how much you'll need!). This is almost universally where people fall short....

Notice we didn't say meals or calories a day...Take the next few days to write down exactly how many meals your actually eating, add 5% in case you have to do extra work then go from there...We don't expect everyone to get here, but having a clearly defined set of planning goals allows you to factor in shortages and plan for variables like "guests".

The strategy: Most outages and weather crisis last between 2-4 days on average, so stocking up on frozen and chilled foods may go to waste after a few days if you don't have back up power. It helps to have coolers handy but you're still on borrowed time. The non perishable dry and canned foods will carry you thru statistically most "major" local scenarios. Having 6 months worth of bare bones survival staples is your ace up the sleeve should things take longer than expected. It's not great but at least you know you'll survive. Once you have achieved this BARE minimum standard, now you can start to play with food in a bucket or all the various other purchasing schemes to shore up your obviously plain Jane survival menu, but for now at least...You'll be ok. This is very achievable on most budgets. It may take time to accumulate, but most people can make it to this goal. I usually just get a few extra cans, plus 1 bag of rice and beans per trip to the store. It adds up quick.

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The real key to long-term success is resupply. This will come in either a barter/market after the fact, or thru sustainable agriculture. Both of which are entire articles and classes by themselves. When planning on using agriculture, don't forget to factor in winter growing cycles and the time between planting and harvest. I know this sounds obvious, but there are a few out there who are hoping their seed banks will carry the day... Being prepared is an ongoing process and will never be "finished". You will be constantly rotating food, acquiring new resources and trading up as you go. Resist the urge to go out and just buy a bunch of bulk food and try planning your purchases to make the most out your finite cash resources. Don't be in a hurry and seek advice. Of course if you have any more questions you can join our forum: CAG NET for $1 a month and get direct Special Forces operator feedback!! As always, Thank you! Here are a few skills to learn to help out with your food preps: