stored food

[emordnilap]

We are gradually running down our stores prior to re-stocking with things we know we'll eat.

I think that's what I was getting at. It seems a bit silly storing food if you're not rotating it, even given the trade aspect of it. All the food we have in excess of weekly needs is stuff we're using up - rice, barley, pasta f'r instance - and we top up once in a while.

We're not well organised, don't get me wrong.

[emordnilap]

It really doesn't take much energy to cook a few dried peas or
Soak a bit of couscous. In fact I bet you could eat dried peas just after soaking, not tried but wouldn't be surprised.

Yeah, a home-made rocket stove would suffice for cooking. As for eating dried peas just after soaking, no problem. They're starchy but, like I said, PEAS!!!

[emordnilap]

There hasn't been a discussion about this sort of thing on the forum for a while. Has the doomsday clock ticked another minute towards midnight?

It just passed through my mind that I need to get some stocks of stuff. I'm interested in how long wholewheat pasta will store; brown flour I know goes off sooner than white, so maybe brown pasta goes funny too. I dunno.

I heard on the radio someone saying that whole-wheat pasta was 'niche'. Crikey, I haven't eaten white pasta since I was a kid except on those strange occasions called 'eating out'. I learned in my early 20s that white sugar, pasta, rice was all useless except to kill you. In my student days I virtually lived on brown pasta and baked beans and it hasn't done me any harm. Wait...

[emordnilap]

We seem to be rice-wallahs at the moment, though I appreciate it's got a dirty great C-footprint and comes from miles away etc.

re. pasta, if climate change makes the UK warmer, we might be able to grow our own

Pearl barley makes a nice alternative, and is local. Excellent in risottos (or should that be "barlottos"?)

And spelt grains. Ever tried 'em? Absolutely delicious, filling, nutty, British climate-friendly, doesn't have the 'slickness' (?) that barley has, 20 mins max. to cook, just add to a stew or whatever. My latest discovery. I'm thinking of getting a sack of 'em. This is the brand we have at the moment.

[Tarrel]

Thx for info on the Spelt. I'll look out for some. Mushroom "spelotto" anyone?!

Barley is hyper-local to us. It's a major crop in this area for the whisky industry!

[emordnilap]

Barley is hyper-local to us.

This should be the major consideration for anyone concerned about their planet. Getting bulk calories locally is ideal - or at least, within a couple of hundred kilometres - while making sure you get a range of 'imported' foods to make up for other nutrients.

[vtsnowedin]

For emergencies it doesn't have to be all that fancy. 20 pounds of all wheat flour with some baking powder and baking soda can make a lot of biscuits, pan cakes etc. Ten pounds of rolled oats for breakfast porridge and cookies. Another twenty pounds of pasta of various types then twenty pounds of dried soldier beans, peas or lintels. And of course as much rice in five gallon snapped tight pails as you have space for. If you have that then you won't go hungry and then can add canned stuff to your liking plus what you can forage from garden and woods.

"lintels"? Bit tough on the old teeth there VTS, especially the concrete ones! Or did you mean "lentils"?

+1 on the rolled oats. Versatile and nutritious.

Yes of course. On the rolled oats, a lot of old Yankees, my father included ate oatmeal or' cream of wheat' hot cereal every day for breakfast for years with perhaps some toast and coffee. So there with just two of my items you have a third of your needs. And with a good breakfast under your belt you will have the energy to forage for the other two meals. and the fuel to cook them. Anybody here ever bake bread in a dutch oven over a camp fire or on one of your rocket stoves?

[featherstick]

Potatoes are local to us- I grow them on the allotment. I am growing fewer this year but will always have some in the ground. Dried chickpeas can be sprouted and eaten raw. We don't really have enough of the basics in stock - a couple of weeks' worth max depending on point in the shopping cycle. I always think we'd just go down to the Indian shop and buy the lot if we had sufficient warning. I must build up my stock of cash at home too.

Water of course is another basic. We have about 100l in bottles, 60 in jerrycans, another 100 in the butt outside, and 2x80 waterbobs which could be filled in the bath with sufficient warning. Again, nothing like enough for a sustained emergency. The plan is to get a 1000l IBC in the back garden and fill it with rainwater. Just one of many projects....

[vtsnowedin]

Potatoes are local to us- I grow them on the allotment. I am growing fewer this year but will always have some in the ground. Dried chickpeas can be sprouted and eaten raw. We don't really have enough of the basics in stock - a couple of weeks' worth max depending on point in the shopping cycle. I always think we'd just go down to the Indian shop and buy the lot if we had sufficient warning. I must build up my stock of cash at home too.

Water of course is another basic. We have about 100l in bottles, 60 in jerrycans, another 100 in the butt outside, and 2x80 waterbobs which could be filled in the bath with sufficient warning. Again, nothing like enough for a sustained emergency. The plan is to get a 1000l IBC in the back garden and fill it with rainwater. Just one of many projects....

Potatoes do well here also. I often get yields of forty to one and can keep some in the insulated root cellar right through until new harvest. I can't eat as many now as I once did as I cant tolerate that many carbs. with my activity level.
You can't depend on having any warning as even if one is issued before a major storm etc. the stores will get stripped bare of what you need just before you get there. Better to buy five pounds of something extra to set on the back shelf as you shop each week and slowly build up your stocks. Then as you use stock up and buy more place the new purchase on the shelf and rotate the oldest one out for current use.
My water comes from a spring on my property and flows down to the house by gravity so can't be cut off by anything less then a prolonged drought which has only happened once in my lifetime so I don't store any. Having a portable generator provides backup for freezers and my daughters drilled well if needed. Or we could always take a bucket to the brook that my spring headwaters and start bailing into 55 gallon plastic drums I use for sap storage while sugaring.

[Catweazle]

The plan is to get a 1000l IBC in the back garden and fill it with rainwater. Just one of many projects....

I don't know if you can move one, but I'll be back in Kent in the next few weeks, in the van, so if you want one collected and delivered locally let me know. There's a chap on eBay, in Cardigan, selling them for £35 or best offers. If you fancy one of them I can collect and bring it over with me.

[adam2]

There hasn't been a discussion about this sort of thing on the forum for a while. Has the doomsday clock ticked another minute towards midnight?

Yes, IMHO.
All out nuclear war is arguably less likely than in the cold war, but many other sorts of doom seem to be increasing in probability.

Many unstable regimes have the Bomb or are trying to obtain it, making a limited nuclear attack more likely. This might not directly affect the UK, but consider the potential effects on world trade, including food and fuel imports.

Climate change seems to be worsening with growing potential to interrupt food or fuel supplies.

In many countries there is growing anti government feelings, often expressed via violent protest. IMHO these protests are in fact against rising food and fuel costs, and regime change is unlikely to reduce food or fuel prices, leading to ongoing violent protest.
Instability tends to spread.

Within the UK we are increasingly reliant on large interconnected corporations who themselves are very reliant on IT systems and on imported inputs, and on electronic banking/money transfers.
In case of a sudden crash food would be short within hours.

[featherstick]

The plan is to get a 1000l IBC in the back garden and fill it with rainwater. Just one of many projects....

I don't know if you can move one, but I'll be back in Kent in the next few weeks, in the van, so if you want one collected and delivered locally let me know. There's a chap on eBay, in Cardigan, selling them for £35 or best offers. If you fancy one of them I can collect and bring it over with me.

Thank you, that's a very kinds offer. We are moving on with garden projects so I may well say yes. When are you back?

[adam2]

Many basic or uninteresting foods are much better with butter, and of course butter contains a lot of calories and keeps well in a freezer. This however is reliant on an electricity supply.

USA doomers often recomend a stash of tinned butter, but this does not seem to be available in the UK.
Can anyone recomend a UK supplier of tinned butter ?

Cereals, fruit, and cakes or biscuits are often more enjoyable with cream, which of course contains a lot of calories.
Tinned cream is far less popular than in years gone by, but can still be obtained from some of the larger supermarkets.

Evaporated milk is nearly as good and is sold everywhere.

[vtsnowedin]

There hasn't been a discussion about this sort of thing on the forum for a while. Has the doomsday clock ticked another minute towards midnight?

Yes, IMHO.
All out nuclear war is arguably less likely than in the cold war, but many other sorts of doom seem to be increasing in probability.

Many unstable regimes have the Bomb or are trying to obtain it, making a limited nuclear attack more likely. This might not directly affect the UK, but consider the potential effects on world trade, including food and fuel imports.

Climate change seems to be worsening with growing potential to interrupt food or fuel supplies.

In many countries there is growing anti government feelings, often expressed via violent protest. IMHO these protests are in fact against rising food and fuel costs, and regime change is unlikely to reduce food or fuel prices, leading to ongoing violent protest.
Instability tends to spread.

Within the UK we are increasingly reliant on large interconnected corporations who themselves are very reliant on IT systems and on imported inputs, and on electronic banking/money transfers.
In case of a sudden crash food would be short within hours.

The question becomes how long do you need to prepare to be independent from the normal supply lines? Full Doomers think a couple of years and include seeds to plant in the first spring that lets them attempt it. Most of us being more optimistic and having less available funds that can be brought to bare settle for a lot less. But really is there any reason why anyone could not have two weeks worth of non perishable food in their domicile at all times? If one is aware of the possibilities would not a ninety day supply be the first priority?

[adam2]

I would agree that two weeks reserve should be the absolute minimum for reserve food and water stocks, a month in remote areas.

Three months would be better, and a year better still.

I keep 3 months worth in London, suitable for a near normal diet for 2 weeks, after which I would be reduced to MREs, lifeboat rations, and tinned tuna.

At Mothers home in Somerset I keep a couple of years worth, a near normal diet for a couple of months after which we would be largely reduced to boiled pasta, lifeboat rations, soup powder, Mountain house doomfood, and tins of spam, tuna, and fruit.

Over the last couple of years I have increased stocks of dried pasta very substantialy indeed and now have over 50 kilos.

I am equiped with seeds and tools, but do not have the land to grow more than a small suplement to stored food.