Catherine wrote:
This writer from your link is both informed and hilarious:
"I am a mormon/roach. We *own* stockpiling. I am talking about people doing this for decades, and not just buying tons of freeze dried crap that you would have to be starving to eat, but rotating their suppies, so you learn to cook from your "food storage."
It may come off as a whacko survivalist move, but it's remarkably helpful to have a room full of food. You cut back on impulse trips to the store, and it's a nice buffer if you have unexpected expenses during a month. Plus, it's harder to dip into food storage than it is to dip into savings.
When we lived in Kentucky, whenever a little snow or ice hit, there would be runs on bread and milk at Kroger's, and we'd be forcibly reminded that the food supply chain is fragile at best.
My point being, is that having some food on hand doesn't need to be tied to a particularly ideology or millenialist worldview, and makes some sense.
Here's an online calculator (lds sight--may offend some)
Here are some general tips which I've absorbed over the years:
1. store stuff you'll actually eat.
2. white rice keeps well. Grains with oils (brown rice, other) may not.
3. Weevils or other nasties will infiltrate grains stored in their original packaging, or hatch from within grains, so you have to freeze it or use moisture-absorbing packets, or small pieces of dry ice.
4. Stewart Brand wrote an excellent article on his experiences with the last SF earthquake. He pointed out that knowing your neighbors and having a neighborhood skills inventory was vital (among other good suggestions).
5. Water is probably more important than the food, if you had to choose.
6. If space is cramped, you can use bed risers. Hard to rotate if it's hard to get to.
7. Laugh if you must, but wheat is cheap and dense. If you learned to cook with whole wheat it would make the process simpler. Of course, that's assuming you'll have electricity and fuel. Hand grinders are workable, but it's arguable that you'll burn calories operating it. Still, eating freshly ground grains is a treat. See Laurel's Kitchen Cookbook for lots of whole grain recipes and advice. Once you've had freshly ground cornbread, you'll never go back to that bitter, rancid stuff they sell at grocery stores.
8. Get an industrial blender and try making Blender pancakes. We like to use "white" whole wheat, which is lighter and IMO tastier than hard red.
Basically, you are either going to store a bunch of canned food and bottled water under your bed, in anticipation of a minor crisis, or cross the line and become a food storage geek. If you become a food storage geek, then you're talking lifestyle choice, and getting weird looks from strangers and the mass of metafiler users, who I imagine as all living in a loft in SF doing web design and eating biscotti for dinner at the local coffee shop. (as long as we're slinging stereotypes..)"
