I was pretty sure my husband was overestimating the length of time we could live on our stored food, so yesterday I counted cans and made a rough estimate. (In referring to our ammunition he said, "We've got 70 bullets! How many people do you plan to kill?" I insisted that he buy more anyway.) My husband thought we had enough canned food to last four or five months. I guessed two months or less. It's hard to do an accurate estimate, but I figured on having fortified rice/soy "casserole" (from Future Foods) for breakfast, more rice/soy for lunch with vegetables and either soup or beans, and for supper a serving of meat, a serving of vegetables, and sometimes fruit. (It turns out we are low on fruit.) Much to our surprise, if only the two of us are eating, and if we carefully ration the servings, we can eat for about three weeks! At that time we would still have about 348 servings of rice/soy left, which would soon get pretty tiresome. Back to the store.

-- Pearlie Sweetcake (storestuff@home.now), February 08, 1999

Answers

I believe a lot of people will be found wanting. Many have no concept of what it takes to store food. The average American family dines out at fast food restaurants more than 3 times a week. Ever heard of dashboard dining? Grab a bagel and cream cheese, grab a Egg McMuffin, Burger King for lunch, and Boston take out for dinner or Swansons TV dinner. I know people who live this this! So, how would they know what to purchase and store for a nutritous balanced diet? This is all the more reason why it will be difficult for many. Even if they came to my door and asked for something to eat and I gave them a package of spaghetti, they wouldn't know what to do with it. Pearlie Sweetcake, I'm not coming down hard on you, but there's plenty of websites out there that tell you what to purchase and how much for short and long term disasters. Many will be found wanting, that's for sure. Paul Milne: Anyone who lives within 5 miles of a Burger King is hamburger! (You still are the voice of reason).

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), February 08, 1999.

And now for the Greybear super-simple, heavy-weight, guarenteed-not-to-fail extimation method for storable food with long shelf life (patent applied for):

How mech ever you can get is not enough.

---

The old bear just cannot understand WHY everybody wants to limit food storage to x number of months. Ok, so you think the "trouble will last only X months. Are you going to stop eating just because every thing gets back to normal. The Bear bunch here plans to EAT each and every day for the whole of the year 2000 and 2001 and 2002 and...welll, you get the drift.

The above method of estimation is not a joke. Unless you think food will FALL in price sometime in the future it would seem that all you can get (this is for most of us average folks who DO have a finite amount of $ available) would not be enough.

Even if you DO think food cost will decrease in the future, the only gamble yor are making is between the cost now and however much the price might drop. Pretty cheap insurance against starvation.

When things get bad food will be the best "money" you can have to "buy" or trade with. (Only the *most* rank amature even thinks about trading ammo. And the Pros are the ones that survive).

Of course, this applies only if you have FIRST taken care of the only thing that comes higher on the Bear-scale that food - security. That is the ability to hide and/or protect your food.

-- Greybear

- Too much food, HA HA HA, what a scream.

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), February 08, 1999.

The Average American (this includes me) is carrying around an extra 20-40 or more pounds that we'd almost certainly be better off without. Most of the world survives on far less than "three square meals a day" (which term BTW originated with sailors who put in long hours of hard manual labor in all weather, & ate their grub off of square plates). Not to mention the health problems from which many of us suffer that are directly related to obesity.

Short rations, for a while at least, would do most of us a lot of good.

-- pass (the@potato.chips), February 08, 1999.

Speak for your non-diabetic, non-hypoglycemic self!!! Miss a meal by 4 hours and miss me!!

Chuck Who turns into a BEAR and THEN falls out!

-- Chuck, night driver (rienzoo@en.com), February 09, 1999.

You said what I was going to say, Chuck! I've stocked up on "honey sticks" in case the additional exercise I know I'm going to have to indulge in pushes me over the edge of the safety zone offered by one of the thousands of stashed glucophages I'll have by then. (Honey sticks - long, thin plastic containers of honey, about the size of a pencil, available at check-outs in health-food type places. Should last practically forever, easy to carry around. The usual remedy, juice, may not be so readily available.)

-- Too-sweet Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), February 09, 1999.

Greybear is right. Don't stop gathering. Some thought does need to go into planning a balanced diet, but I don't think it has to be a rigorous affair. Just common sense. The human body is pretty adaptable. And I've found that it really doesn't take a second mortgage. I walked out of my local health food store with 425 pounds of wheat,soybeans,lentils and rice for less than $175. And some of that was the organic stuff, which I could do without but it's easier to get.

-- rick (little_engine_th@_could.com), February 09, 1999.

I agree completely with Graybear, there is no limit to what to store and certainly certain foods will double or more in price if they have to be imported. It could be $35.00 for a can of coffee in 2003, we just don't know.

I think financially and psychologically tho it is easier to break it down into 3 month segments. Take 3 months times the number of people and do that first.Then start on the next 3 months and so on. That way at least you have a well rounded diet and it doesn't seem so overwhelming. But really, there is no end, just more and more sense of security as you go along.

-- Sue (deco100@aol.com), February 09, 1999.

Wheat Berries - 150 lbs (150 loaves of bread)

Rolled oats - 50 lbs

Rice - 40 lbs

Corn - 50 lbs

Barley - 25 lbs

Beans - 100 lbs

Lentils - 25 lbs

Oil - 4 gals

Salt - 2 lbs

Sugar - 100 lbs

I measured out my weekly diet to come up with these amounts. Since I also can and pickle I pick up more of salt and sugar than listed above, I make my own vinegar. Add some herbs and spices and the above cheap list will keep you healthy and energetic.

-- Mitchell Barnes (spanda@inreach.com), February 09, 1999.

2000-01-01 is not necessarily the day you need to get into your stash. It could be 1999-09-01 (whatever) whenever panic shortages start to develop.

-- A (A@AisA.com), February 09, 1999.

Your diet seems very limited...have you tried this? How is your intestinal tract doing? Even a few days on this diet would cause me to start craving a salad...one reason we are building a bigger greenhouse. The easiest way to determine what to store is to keep all your grocery receipts(add in any of those fast food meals that you won't be getting,too) and start from there. If you garden you know what you can reasonably hope to grow/can--always remembering the variable old Mother Nature! Stressful times are the ideal time to take up a new way of eating. Personally, I like beans and rice but not everyday/everymeal. We are fortunate to have lived the self- sufficient life since the Hippie era so can spend more time trying to get thru to family and friends. Some GI--like the mother-in-law but others have always scorned us for our country way of life.

-- MUTTI (windance @train.missouri.prg), February 09, 1999.

These fingers don't know how to type....stresful times AREN"T the times to start a new way of eating. Life will be hard enough without a few comforts...chocolate and macaroni&cheese come to mind. Plan for this. Everything will take longer and take much more physical energy to achieve. Listened to Carla Emery speak twice this year and she calls deserts a food group that she says is number one...if you can still have desert things can't be that bad!!

-- MUTTI (windance @train.missouri.prg), February 09, 1999.

Paul Milne the voice of reason? Storing food for the end of the world? I can't beleive anyone would think that survuval rate would depend on locale of a 7-11 or how much food you squirelled away. It's about how bad the individual wants to live. Some of you white sissified soccer moms wouldn't stand a chance in a global disaster. But the rats in the cities, they have the meddle to gut you like a bluegill for a few bites to eat and a pack of Lucky Strikes. It's all about how badly the person wants to live. & I'm not talking about living good. Just bread and water living. You ought to factor that into your little plans.

Personally I have no qualms about getting barberic if the world comes to a screeching halt and I didn't pack bottled water and extra fruit for the ride. Tough times call for tough actions. So go ahead prepare... I'll come and visit when the going gets tough.

-- (John32@hotmail.com), February 10, 1999.

Thankyou John32. Precisely the mind set that the establishment wants you to have, so you can trigger their martial law plans. A widespread existence of this contingency plan (I'll go steal the guy's stuff down the street) is precisely what is needed to generate the widespread clammor for martial law, restrictions on freedoms, etc.

Marvelous, louse.

-- Naht this tahm! (X@X.X), February 10, 1999.

John32

I believe that you may be suffering under the mistaken belief that the veneer of society, manners and "good breeding" that us sissified white soccermoms normally display will remain intact whilst you threaten our families and our life. You could not be more mistaken. If you or your ilk come to my home to do your evil deeds, I promise you that I personally will take it upon myself to stop you with whatever force is required and I may consider serving you for dinner if things are bad enough around here. You have more to fear in me than my 6ft, 195lb husband. Got it????

-- soccermom from hell (ready@urban_alaska.usa), February 14, 1999.

http://www.niusr.org/

-- n (nn@n.com), February 15, 1999.

This is a link to Russ Kelly

-- B (Bb@B.com), February 15, 1999.

Do they still make Lucky Strikes? I didn't know that!

When the above blow-hard began to spew I was reminded of a line from an old movie. Don't even remember the name. But Sean Connery was a cop in some big city. Some bad guys come to his Apt to kill him.

He shoots them all VERY rapidly and to the state commonly know as VERY dead. When he looks a one of them who was carrying only a knife he said "Isn't it just like a dumb to show up for a gun fight carrying a knife?"

Gut you like a bluegill ... BWAAAAHHHHHAAAAAAAAAA.

-- Greybear

- Got whetstones?

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), February 15, 1999.

Hmmmmm.

To read the above quote you need to add "racial epithet" after the word dumb. I put it there I swear. But I prepended it with a greater than sign and followed it with a less than sign. Guess the great HTML gods didn't like that. Gotta learn that stuff some day.

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), February 15, 1999.

Pearlie--

Thanks for the reminder. Time to hit Sam's again--big time!

Soccer Mom from Hell--

YOU GO GIRL!!!!!

(always wanted to say that)

Y

-- Scarlett (ohara@tara.net), February 15, 1999.