Introducing the Pantry Preparedness Series

     It been awhile since I made a blog post although I have been making posts on the Facebook page for this blog.  The past couple of years have been very disruptive and quite frankly with the current geopolitical situation, things are only going to get worse.  There is a lot of speculation as to what is actually happening.  Whether what we are seeing is orchestrated or not, the fact remains folks need to prepare for what may come.

     Back in March of 2020 shortly after the pandemic was declared, talk of food shortages began.  I remember telling hubby that this was a warning to start stocking up on food.  Warnings of shortages for coffee (weather), chickens/eggs (avian flu), hazelnuts (political), grains (weather, political), and a variety of other foods have been predicted.  We've seen shortages in cream cheese (labour), Kellog's brand (labour), canned corn (high demand), chicken (high demand, avian flu), yeast and cornstarch (unknown).  We have also seen local shortages of some foods due to high demand and winter weather.  A couple of weeks ago President Biden said there would be food shortages and shortly after, Prime Minister Trudeau said the same.  We also know the war between Russia and Ukraine will more than likely affect the fertilizer supply which would have an impact on crops.  In addition, we are seeing global hyper-inflation so food prices are skyrocketing.  Even if the food is available, you may be in a position that it is no longer affordable.  Panic buying similar to what we saw at the start of the pandemic is predicted to start in July but this time the target will be food.

     This Pantry Preparedness Series is meant to give you tips for starting and maintaining a well stocked pantry.  It is not meant to create fear.  The mantra is always prep with purpose, not with fear.  The second mantra is do one thing daily.  

     The general recommendation is to stockpile as much food as possible to meet your needs.  Stockpiling is not the same as hoarding.  Stockpiling is an organized method of stocking your pantry with the foods you eat within a certain time frame.  Everything is very organized with new stock being put to the back, moving older stock to the front and constantly rotating.  For example, you use 5 cans of green beans in a month so you stock 7 cans because you always have a couple extra to help get to the next sale.  Then you ideally wait for a sale to replenish to the 7 within that month.  So if the sale comes and you have 4 cans of green beans left, pick up 3 and put those to the back.  This ensues you have a month supply of green beans on hand most of the time.  At some point you will want to move to a larger capacity storage so you can slowly increase depending on the sales.  Hoarding is unorganized stocking beyond what you can reasonably use within a given time frame.  For example, you may have a hundred cans of green beans some here, some there, not really knowing how many you have and not rotating your stock.

     With respect to time frame, many are happy with a one to three month supply of food.  That is, if you were lockdowned or under quarantine, you have enough food to meet your needs.  The Mormon church recommends that their members have a one year supply.  Home canners generally put up enough to get from one growing season to the next with enough extra in case the next growing season fails, so two year supply.  I am now seeing preppers and homesteaders focus on longer term storage (10 - 30+ years) based on current events.  So, the time frame is up to you.  Some is better than none, more is better than that and some long term should be considered.