200# of rice,100#of beans(yuck,I know,but I'm a poor student and it's a near complete protien)for 2 people we're talking survival rations here people and eating it would suck much less than not having the ability

-- zoobie (zoob@aol.com), April 22, 1999

Answers

Better buy some Beano! Stocking three months assorted.

-- SCOTTY (BLehman202@aol.com), April 22, 1999.

I plan to have enough food for at least three months. Would prefer six if I can afford it. Have about a month of food stored right now. Beans, rice, canned vegetables, tuna, canned fruit, powdered gatorade, canned milk, salt, sugar, flour, Bisquick, corn meal. Also storing toilet paper, plastic storage bags, soap, toothpaste, other toiletries - liquid detergent. Saving water in 2 liter drink bottles. Also have purchased medical supplies: alcohol, peroxide, antibiotic ointment, bandages, Immodium AD, tylenol, etc. Have bought large bags of dry dog food for my pets - YES EVERYONE, LET'S NOT FORGET ABOUT OUR PETS! Has anyone thought about storing motor oil? If we have a shortage, it seems like this would be a good thing to have.

-- Scarlett (creolady@aol.com), April 22, 1999.

Hi zoobie, I get tired of beans too, but we stored about 50#. I love brown rice, but everything I read said it didn't keep for more than six months. I'd already bouht 25#, and I've had it six months, so have to throw it out. I bought 25# white rice which keeps good.

I did buy lots of wheat and some flour. We love bread, and I plan to make lots of bread. Hope to have an outside oven built by this fall. Love cornbread, oatmeal, oat bran, lentils, so I bought quite a bit of them. Canned goods, NF dry milk, pasta. I planned my list from two sources. One from Backwoods Home and the other from an article in Countryside magazine.

WeI love jelly so overstocked on that. We hate boxed Mac and Cheese, so we bought a lot of that to give away. Most people like it, and this way, we won't be so tempted to eat it. Lots of Ramen Noodles, hot choc. mix, coffee, tea, lemonade mix, gator ade. If Y2k is a nonevent, I'm donating Ramen Noodles, white rice and Mac and Cheese to the Mission Kitchen. But all the rest we will use.

I don't eat meat so I bought lots of sardines, tuna and mackeral, which we love love. Bought canned stew and corned beef for my husband. Most canned goods I bought at Sav-a-Lot or on sale. I bought a little candy, but I ate it immediately, so I'm not buying anymore. I did not buy MRE's.

I plan to can a lot of garden stuff this summer if we have a good garden. Check out Aldi's and Sav-a-Lot for the best buys.

-- gilda jessie (jess@listbot.com), April 22, 1999.

1500 lbs of wheat 400lbs Rice 600 lbs of oats 40 lbs salt 600 lbs corn a cyber garden , enough seads for 4 seasons of planting so much ammo that i have it stacked under the little ones bed water barrels and 4oo yds from the river, clean now have home water filteration system finnishing this next 3 months all hand pumped , NO genrator or noisy things like that that screem come loot me , 2000 lbs of cand food , lots of soup and dryed stuff, pasta, and such , 300 lbs of navy beans 275 lbs of great nothern beans 100 misc dryed beans Wife said i am crazy, we will see , if nothing happens i did tell her i would seak some medical help , becuse i must be crazy... ron

-- Ron (rjcash@fred.net), April 22, 1999.

I don't think we'll have more than four months of food on hand unless you count the chickens, steers, and garden seeds. What my family decided to do is to relocate to an area with abundant food supply in the rough. My choice, SW Montana. If you believe Y2k is going to be for the long haul it makes no sense to move mountains of food to your suburban or urban location; you should rather move yourself and those you love. Milne pointed this out for years, so the real question is -- Will Y2k be for the long haul either directly or by domino effect?

-- Jim The Window Washer (rational@man.com), April 22, 1999.

We got 3 months worth of assorted nitro-pak foods for family of three plus assorted supermarket " TVP enhancers" (gravy mix, broth, chili powder). Also the usual stuff, TP, garbage bags... We (group of 3 families, total of 7 adults) are trying to decide where to fill up the 55 gallon water drums we scavenged from a nearby toothpaste plant, since we won't be moving them once filled obviously. In our separate homes? in the largest family home so we can all congregate? out of our moderately sized midwestern city altogether to an as yet undefined let alone purchased rural hideaway...all thoughts welcome.

-- watchful (sorryforfake@address.org), April 22, 1999.

I'm going for three months. I've hit Sav-A-Lot; made excellent use of my vacuum seal/food saver for pancake mixes; sugar etc. I just ordered my windup flashlight and radio. Our Jotul wood stove is due to come in this weekend (after waiting for it since January). I'm waiting for my kit to access my well from the "well dipper". Here's the real kicker, last night my husband got laid off indefinitely. They were contracted at Caterpillar. Now I am scared. Cat is shutting down their plants for a week here and there. Guess things are getting shaky in South America...

-- Marsha Sykes (MSykes@court.co.macon.il.us), April 22, 1999.

To Jim the Window Washer: I'd be interested in hearing about Montana. That is where I want to go, but I am having a difficult time convincing the rest of my family. If you have time, can you e-mail me. My correct address is below. Thanks! :-)

Scarlett creolady@aol.com

-- Scarlett (creolady@aol.com), April 22, 1999.

Hi Scarlet. I'm using internet access from local library, so can't e-mail you.

SW Montana is beautiful, but it is also practical. Growing quickly now so lots of jobs are available. Traditionally it has relied on Farming/Ranching as well as tourism (Yellowstone and world class fishing). Lots of cows, wheat, and to maybe surprise you, potatos. Beehives are common because of the extensive clover fields. There is also a lot of mining which is getting hurt by depressed commodities. It is cold typically for winter so a little more work during summer. I'd recommend having a greenhouse for personal use (we do) during the somewhat short growing season, but the days are Looooong making the plants grow faster.

There is a benefit to the cold winters, though. No pesticides ever needed, even with cabbage and broccoli type crops (grows like weeds here). I would also think that the climate would help the natives if diseases returned re. y2k.

If you are further interested, look through normal channels like real estate websites, etc. My recommendation if you need towns are Bozeman (big), Ennis, Twin Bridges, Three Forks, Whitehall, Butte (a truly fitting name for an ugly town), and possibly Helena.

Hope that helps.

-- Jim the Window Washer (rational@man.com), April 22, 1999.

Enough food/water/milk/supplies for 5 adults and 3 children for at least 1 year. Plus some extra stuff for neighbors.

I'm still buying and will continue to do so.

-- Isetta (do_not_reply_@hotmail.com), April 22, 1999.

We'd love to go to Western Montana (family), but can't seem to sell our house. So we will apparently ride things out in Central Minnesota (nice place to "ride things out!"). We have a good year's supply for 2 adults and 4 teenage boys, but there are still shelves to fill, so we keep buying. I get tired of beans, too, but learned to make refried beans that are to die for! So we will use lots of pinto beans (600 lbs worth). I just bought 35 lbs of hard candy on sale ($1 for 5 lbs)that I imagine will come in handy when little ones begin to feel out of sorts with all the inconveniences. I made up a month worth of dinner menus, wrote out the grocery list for it, mulitplied by 12 and there was my basic storage list. If you do this, just make sure you include only storable items. I am stocking up on Cheez Whiz, hot cocoa mix, baby wipes, Lysol spray, deoderants, too much to list.

-- winna (??@??.com), April 22, 1999.

About a year for three, some extra for neighbors/friends/other family that might come knocking. And non-hybrid seeds enough for us and several neighbors to create victory gardens. Preparing abundantly to arrive at y2k in position of abundance rather than scarcity. No down side - can always use preps. to save on grocery bills of future!!

-- Leslie (***@***.net), April 22, 1999.

This is the author of the new Y2K website http://y2ksafeminnesota.hypermart.net. The "Food" section and the "Introduction" section both shed a bit of light on this topic IMHO. MinnesotaSmith

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesota@hotmail.com), April 22, 1999.

Ten years worth of food for my wife and I, because Ed Yourdon predicts a ten year depression.

-- freddie (freddie@thefreeloader.com), April 22, 1999.

winna - can you post or send your bean recipe? I'll admit that I am not looking forward to that portion of our new diet and I would love to look forward to beans fer dinner. Thanks!

-- marsh (armstrng@sisqtel.net), April 22, 1999.

Where is Sara Nealy? She is a whiz with bean recipes. (she has some in the archives). Beans are kinda bland by themselves, but you can do ALL KINDS of good things with them.

Also check here:

htt p://soar.Berkeley.EDU/recipes/beans-grains/indexall.html

-- Debbie (dbspence@usa.net), April 22, 1999.

Wow Debbie, Thanks for the great site! Aloha, Justin

-- Justin Case (justin case@Aloha.com), April 22, 1999.

I don't have the money for the sort of goals the other posters have indicated.

Instead, I buy extra every time I shop. Always at least an extra day's worth.

I consider the goals to be very good, but I also think that it is more important to develop the habit of preparing. This results in more thinking about possibilities.

-- GA Russell (garussell@russellga.com), April 22, 1999.

Jim the Window Washer: Thank you for all of the information about Montana. I'll look up the towns you mentioned. Scarlett :-)

-- Scarlett (creolady@aol.com), April 22, 1999.

How much? I don't know but I think an indicator of WHEN to stop is at the point where you forget where you put things. Tip from my 93-year-old grandma; used plastic bagel bags (long and thin) make a great cleaning glove substitute. And she faithfully washes our those little plastic bags with the ziplocks. Thanks, grandma D!

-- Mr. Mike (mikeabn@aol.com), April 22, 1999.

well, we're resolving part of the issue by moving to a small town that has it's own grain elevator (50 lbs of triple cleaned wheat = $6.00 and you get to keep the bag).

Other stuff, well the group we're working with is establishing multiple cache's [ALWAYS have Plan B!], and I'll just leave it at that.

Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), April 22, 1999.

Thanks for the great bean recipe site!

-- marsh (armstrng@sisqtel.net), April 23, 1999.