While I'm not running around like it's Y2k all over again, I know that if there were to be a natural disaster or something, I need to have a few things on hand.

Living in Alaska, 90% of our food supply comes from the lower 48 on trucks. While I like to buy as locally as possible, there are only so many things that actually grow here.  So if for some reason, our supply of food couldn't make it here, I would like to be prepared.  Especially in winter.

Some things I would like to have handy are;

rice, beans, flour, sugar, yeast, coffee, some canned or dried fruits, and plenty of canned veggies, fish, etc.

Whats on your list or in your pantry?

Just some things I would add to your list would be:

peanut butter, tuna, crackers, powdered milk, various pastas and noodles, spaggeti sauce, cereal

In San Francisco, we don't need to stockpile, but I think it's a good idea to have some things on hand for just in case. I have an Earthquake kit. Earthquakes are our "just in case" . The food stuffs I have inside are canned items, bottled water, peanut butter, crackers, dry dog food... all enough for three days. The emergency services say that it might be at least three days until help arrives. I replace the food in the kit about every year.

I stay stocked all the time. Not only could there be a natural disaster, but you never know what else might happen. My husband is out of work and last summer I hurt my back and was out of work for a couple of weeks. That stockpile of food really helped.

My grandma is like that. I swear she could easily live a good year solely off the food in her house. LOL

DH is the Head of Emergency Services for our county. In addition to having a major interstate running right through the middle (with trucks carrying who knows what), we have several major rivers and a volcano. You better believe we are prepared!!! :)

We keep much more than we need, on hand of tuna, PB, Spam (hate the stuff, but Hey!), also candy bars. (my preference : Pay Days they provide protein and calories, taste better than Powerbars and don't melt!  AND, they're cheaper! Whenever I see the Big Bars on sale, I replace what's on hand. )  We also have 4 5-gallon jugs of water we re-fill every six months. (Our tap water is some of the purest in the world, but you never know when we could be without it!)

gosh I've been trying to eat out of my stockpile instead of continually buying food all the time and stuffing it in the freezer and pantry..

Susanna, I'm all for cleaning out the pantry and freezer! I love that just for the challenge of making do with what's on hand.

My "just in case" stuff is usually just a one time purchase that is stored for emergencies only.  Used and replenished by the expiration date. Every 6-12 months.

I'm not constantly buying things. I also try not to put too much into the freezer in case there is a long term power outtage. I know that things can stay frozen for a while if you keep the door closed, so I don't want all my emergency food in there.

If you want to stock up on brown rice, I heard it goes rancid, so the freezer is the best place for it.

Part of the reason I like to keep some things on hand, if there is an emergency, the prices of things skyrocket. Supply and demand. I would rather buy it when I can afford it.

Remember that things like toilet paper, pet food, toothpaste, personal hygene products, first aid supplies, are all things that run out during emergencies too.

I've spent the last 4 months or so stockpiling things on sale, so I'm actually starting on a cycle of eating everything that we have stockpiled.  I need to make some room for the summer veggies coming soon :)  And I"m looking forward to having a few weeks where I don't spend any money on groceries (aside from the money spent on things that come up on super sales while I'm working through the stockpile).

We've suffered several prolonged power outages this winter (more than 3 days) and I didn't lose any of the food in my down cellar freezer(we never opened it during the outage). About 10 years ago, we were without power for about 8 days and on day 6, cracked open the freezer, fired up the grill and invited the neighbors over for ice cream, pork roast and grilled chicken. :-)

For emergencies, we keep a good supply of canned and dried foods that can be cooked on our gas stove top, as well as bottled water, batteries and a crank radio that can recharge a cell phone.  After reading an article on epidemic preparedness, I added a bottle of bleach to my emergency stash (it will disinfect pretty much anything). 

We're starting to stockpile stuff, and I just realized that I should get extras of over-the-counter medicines like Benadryl, allergy meds, A&D ointment (that stuff is great!), tylenol, etc.....

I also need to work on some extra pet food, too.

Phooey on having to figure out another system for storage

This is actually one of my goals for the year. We have a very small back porch that I am hoping to turn into a pantry. I love to can food and make jams and jellies and Dh and I love to make wine and we really need the room. I was even considering adding sort of a mini cellar in the floor to store potatoes anc carrots.   It is not uncommon for the power to go out here for several days and we were snowed in several times over the winter.  I think self-reliance is just a terribly important thing to learn for anybody.  I amhoping to raise my own poultry and rabbit for meat this year, as well as purchasing a steer from one of my neighbors, I'll definitely need more room then!

ETA: Has anyone had any success with learning to forage wild foods? I harvest sassafras, dandelions and ramps and am really interested in learning more.

I have been stockpiling for about a year.  I just went through all my can goods and I had about 8 cans of soup I had to pitch.  Watch the expiration dates!!!!!  Set them up on a first in first out basis in your cabinet and/or pantry and don't let them get shoved to the back.  To pay the penalty for stupidity, I have decided that we have to eat everthing I have stockpiled before I buy new soups or veggies.  It is going to be an interesting month or more.

"I just went through all my can goods and I had about 8 cans of soup I had to pitch.  Watch the expiration dates!!!!!  Set them up on a first in first out basis in your cabinet and/or pantry and don't let them get shoved to the back."

This is why it's suggested that the things you buy for your stockpile or emergency preparedness or whatever you choose to call it, are things you would normally eat on a regular basis... so you will be using them & replenishing them rather than allowing them to expire. Also, in times of crisis/stress you want normal/comfort foods, not things you wouldn't normally eat... i.e. not Spam, if you don't really like it but perhaps canned chicken or ???

I was really surprised to discover the expiration dates on our canned chicken. 

I didn't know cans *had* experation dates.  I also hadn't realized we'd bought the chicken quite that long ago.  Oops.  We'd been using the cheaper frozen for normal use, but I guess it's only cheaper if you don't throw the other out!

We just added 10 new chicks to our flock of 7. From those 7 we get a dozen eggs every four days, two are roosters. When the new batch starts laying, I will be selling their eggs to help pay for the feed.

For those of you interested in learning more about canning, preserving, DIY, making cheese, etc. I would recommend the forum;

Sufficientself.com

Aimee S. I haven't found the guts to butcher one of my chickens yet, so, if you achieve your goal with them and the meat rabbits, let me know how it goes!

I'm in the tornado belt. :-O We also get some very nasty ice storms here. We had 2 years where we were without power for 10 - 12 days. I always stay stocked up. The first thing I stock up on is drinking water. I now keep a supply that will sustain each person for 14 day @ a gallon a day. I also have to store water for the 5 dogs and two cats. During tornado and ice season I also fill bucket after bucket with water for things like cleaning up, bathing, flushing the toilet etc. If they are predicting very bad weather I will also fill the bath tubs so we can have that for the toilet.

As far as food goes I stock up on peanut butter, tuna, granola bars, power bars, snack bars, tuna, canned pasta. Pretty much any shelf stable food that I see I grab and tuck away.

I also have tucked away extra batteries, flares, glow sticks, regular flashlights, hand crank flashlights, hand crank radio, candles matches, lighters, first aid kit, kerosene (heat), propane (cooking), OTC drugs of various kinds are put up too. I also put up toys for the kids. The newness of them is a great stress releaser for them and it keeps them busy. Bored children in a crisis is not what you want or need.

I also have a 2 week supply of prescription medications put up for those of us that take meds.  I leave it right in the bag the pharmacy gives me. The pharmacists writes on the bag when I must use that two week supply and restock a fresh supply.

I dig through all this stuff and pull out anything OOD or close to it every few months. I rotate the batteries too.


The year after the last ice storm that left us without power for so long; the town I was living in got hammered by 3 tornado's in one night. So, yep, I got a little PTSD going here and I'm a bit obsessive about having what we need.

http://beprepared.com/article.asp_Q_ai_E_6_A_c2a_E_tn_A_name_E_InsightArticles

Link is to some really good/helpful articles on emergency kits/plans etc.  I live in Utah and although I am not LDS(Mormon) I have learned alot from my neighbors since being prepared is a big part of their religion. I have a pretty good kit going and we have "cold storages" in most basements here. My tip is besides of course food/meds/tolietries don't forget pets. If prepared so easy to include them, have food and carriers or even cheap cardboard one from pet store near/with your kits. I even have cut a half of a cardboard box and have it in carrier for kitty litter and have a baggy full in kit.