How Long Before You Go Hungry?

[PhilaGardener]

Well, after 3+ days without power two weeks ago after an ice storm, I can say I was starting to wonder . . . That said, I put the fridge stuff out in my car in a cooler (to keep things from freezing) and the chest freezer topped off with cold packs refrozen outside overnight. I am not rigged for a generator (yet) but I am now thinking that through carefully. The hardest part was not having a good wood stove . . . but I had a gas hot water heater that kept going, so I connected 200+ ft of garden hose to the hot water tap at the washing machine and trickled warm water through to heat my first floor. Came through it all fine in the end, just a bit cold!

It is very true that we seem to be living on the edge in highly populated areas. It wouldn't take much of a disruption in the food distribution system to empty the shelves.

As for the bug out bag, the last thing I want to be in is gridlock. Where to go anyway?

 

[lesa]

A long time, as long as we're not picky about what we eat... If the power goes out in the winter- fine. But, if the power goes out in the summer, all the freezer food wouldn't take long to spoil. My greatest loss, would be to run out of coffee. Now you've got me nervous- better stock up!

 

[ninnymary]

My two freezers and pantry are pretty well stocked. I would say for a while, maybe 2 weeks? Hard to tell.

Mary

 

[Smart Red]

I can go without groceries forever.
We NEVER eat at home, every meal is eaten out . . . . . . . . .
I have not yet been unable to get out and eat!!!! THANX RICH

Normally we can 'make it' out no matter the weather if we go carefully enough. One ice storm, however, had the power lines down right on the driveway. We didn't test to see if the power was running, but we didn't leave either. That was 23 hours of no water, lights, heat, etc. except for the fireplace. It was after that I purchased emergency supplies and cooking tools, just in case.

 

[so lucky]

Last time we had an extended power outage (a week) we just camped out indoors. With a gas water heater, we always had hot water, which was a blessing. We used a camp stove to cook on, and kept the house temp around 55 to 60 with the wood stove in the basement. No way of circulating the hot air, was the big problem. Food supply was not an issue.

 

[baymule]

Good topic, @Nyboy . We live in hurricane country and sometimes go for weeks with no power. I think the shortest was a week and the longest was over 4 weeks. Just plan on the freezer thawing. Plan on eating everything in it and calling all the neighbors that might be hungry. Honestly, we generally have a housefull of people anyway. I have hand saws, axes, chain saws and other things to reduce fallen trees to BBQ wood. I keep what we call coal oil lamps (and you oughta hear this Texas/Southern accent slaughter the pronunciation cole-AWL and I manage to make the cole into 2 syllables) or kerosene lamps and I can walk in pitch blackness to the box of matches and lamp to get it lit.

Forget the stores. They get wiped out-clean empty. Then when power is restored, it is a week or two before they can open back up. ALL the cold/frozen food is melted, soured, rotten, stinky, thrown out. Then they have to clean all the cold cases and restock. I think everyone should experience walking back into a grocery store after weeks of nothing just for the grateful feeling it gives you. It is a sacred kind of quiet, like walking into a church. People all ask how each other is and how did they weather the storm. The shelves are still mostly bare, those dozen packages of meat are dwarfed by the empty expanse of cold case. It's weird.

Food? I have squirrel DNA. No, I don't bury it in the backyard, but the pantry is packed. I have buckets of rice, beans, 2 kinds of wheat, quinoa and sugar. I have 1/2 gallon canning jars that I use for dry goods storage. I have jars of jelly, preserves, and vegetables from the garden. Before a storm, I go buy several big plastic trash cans with lids and fill them up with water, along with every receptacle I can lay hands on. We eat darn good around here. I have made flour tortillas over a fire in the back yard and they were scarfed up faster than I could cook them. I think we could last for several months, easy. Might get tired of rice and beans, but what the heck. Those chickens would start looking mighty good. And I always have a garden, year around. You know you can eat pretty good if the garden is in.

Hurricane Rita came 3 weeks after hurricane Katrina obliterated New Orleans. Houston evacuated. Millions of people fled. A 2 hour trip from Houston took 22-27 hours and people ran out of gas. It was over 100* and several people died in the heat. We were covered up by people that were supposed to go past our town to shelter towns further inland, but they didn't make it. We opened up our schools and churches. I spent a few nights at the elementary school behind our house and a couple of nights at our church. We ran out of food at church, so I went scrounging. A local fast food restaurant opened up the freezer to me, since it was melting anyway. I went back to the church with a truck load of semi frozen food. They got what they wanted and I distributed the rest around the neighborhood.

SHTF situations happen. You just deal with it.

 

[PhilaGardener]

Good topic, @Nyboy .
SHTF situations happen. You just deal with it.

Good work, @baymule! Being prepared makes all the difference! When it happens, it is too late.

Be calm, be resourceful, be patient, and you'll be OK.

 

[unclejoe]

We could go a long time as well. With the garden, chickens and are stockpiles, we could go from one growing season to another just like was done before modern conveniences were available.

 

[Carol Dee]

http://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-survival-guide-to-long
I stumbled upon this article. Found it interesting for those tat want to preserve foods for long keeping.

 

[baymule]

@Carol Dee I use buckets from the doughnut shop. I store grains, sugar, and beans. I keep a good stock in the pantry as well. Plus what I dehydrate, can and freeze from the garden. My mom gets her "doom and gloom" letters from her financial gurus who proclaim they and only they can tell you how to make money in the stock market. LOL But lately, several have said to hedge inflation, invest in food. Long term, storable food. Inflation is driving prices higher and higher, so at least that prophet of gloom made a trickle of sense. Except I am way out in front of this latecomer to the party.

Stocking up on non perishables actually does make money sense. Every time I go to the store, prices have climbed. I still buy bread, but I mill wheat and make bread too. It is a whole lot cheaper (and better) to make my own bread. I grew corn last year for corn meal and it is fabulous--soooooo good! I store the corn in glass jars. I don't have buckets of corn-gotta dig up some more of the yard so I can plant more!

The Mormons or LDS believe in food storage and have food centers to help their members or anybody else that wants to buy food. Their prices are fair and they have a wide variety of food. For people on a budget, it would probably pay to buy in bulk from a LDS food center if there is one nearby. I have been to one in Houston, and the people couldn't have been nicer. I bought my wheat there and it was cheaper than internet, not to mention shipping charges.

http://providentliving.org/self-reliance/food-storage/home-storage-center-locations?lang=eng