Economic Collapse / Food Storage

[DaveP]

How about vitamins? Does anyone know the shelf life of them? Would they be a good thing to store? I'm just trying to get a well rounded supply of everything. Thanks for all the answers so far!

There's no one answer. 2 years is ballpark but it depends on ingredients which vary. Expiry dates are printed on containers but shelf life can be extended by keeping them in cool conditions Do not expose them to humidity.

[dandyprat]

i love stock piling and food storage, ive been doing ir for a little while now and learning from ym mother in law a little and recently became a Shelfreliance consultant.They are just recently starting home parties in canada so i am so excited to start building my food storage and goign all the way. but its not just for emergency, youc an use the food as every day pantry foods not only so you know how to use it in emergency but also your not running to the store as often and not throwing food out as often when you do use your food storage with freeze dried, dehydrated and canned foods. but the biggest must have that everyone should start on is water for sure! even emptying 2L pop bottles and filling them with water and keeping them in a cool dry place.

[TrueNorthTreasures]

Though I have not made purchases from either of these Canadian sources of dehydrated & freeze-dried foods, I have definitely bookmarked them and will likely buy from them in the future:

Dri-Harvest Foods (based in Alberta)
http://www.dri-harvest.com/index.htm

Thrive Food Storage Canada (based in Alberta)
https://www.incaseof.ca/store/catego...-canada/22_47/

To see reviews of the various products Thrive Food Storage offers, visit their American site at http://www.shelfreliance.com/foodstorage

Last week I went ahead and placed an order with Thrive Food Storage Canada. I ordered 12 cans of various fruits and vegetables, as well as one can of TVP "Sloppy Joe" mix (TVP is a vegetarian protein source). Most of the foods I ordered are ones that are difficult or very time consuming to dehydrate at home (e.g., mango). Things like peas, corn, etc I can easily do myself.

The order costs will vary depending on what you buy (e.g., corn or broccoli is an average price, whereas something like mango is quite a bit more expensive). The shipping charges weren't too bad - it came to about $35 for the order.

With my online receipt was a notice that due to extraordinary demand, shipments would take 2-4 weeks. That's kind of unfortunate, but I am looking forward to getting my order and trying out some of the items. I plan on using it rather than storing it. Sometimes after a long day at work, it's nice to be able to throw together a soup or casserole in 5-10 minutes (literally), which is so easy when using dehydrated or freeze-dried foods. If I am really impressed with the product then I might buy more in the future for storage purposes.

I'll keep you posted!

[Castle]

Hey everyone, still working on my storage bit by bit.

Question I have though, does anyone know much about food-safe storage containers? I've found. I think I read that HDPE -2 or something like that is a safe kind of plastic, but I'm having trouble finding out what I can keep where. I'm looking for containers that I can hold around 20-25lbs of food in

[abbasgirl]

Last week I went ahead and placed an order with Thrive Food Storage Canada. I ordered 12 cans of various fruits and vegetables, as well as one can of TVP "Sloppy Joe" mix (TVP is a vegetarian protein source). Most of the foods I ordered are ones that are difficult or very time consuming to dehydrate at home (e.g., mango). Things like peas, corn, etc I can easily do myself.

The order costs will vary depending on what you buy (e.g., corn or broccoli is an average price, whereas something like mango is quite a bit more expensive). The shipping charges weren't too bad - it came to about $35 for the order.

With my online receipt was a notice that due to extraordinary demand, shipments would take 2-4 weeks. That's kind of unfortunate, but I am looking forward to getting my order and trying out some of the items. I plan on using it rather than storing it. Sometimes after a long day at work, it's nice to be able to throw together a soup or casserole in 5-10 minutes (literally), which is so easy when using dehydrated or freeze-dried foods. If I am really impressed with the product then I might buy more in the future for storage purposes.

I'll keep you posted!

Personally I prefer my fruits and vegetables fresh. But I checked out the Thrive site out of curiosity the other day. Suddenly Google Ads is putting an add for that site on every web page I go to!!!

[TudorChick]

food storage is fine but don't get paranoid....don't get crazy.store enough that if something happened you would be ok for a year.don't go crazy and build a bomb shelter..that is nuts...

[secheltsaver]

food storage is fine but don't get paranoid....don't get crazy.store enough that if something happened you would be ok for a year.don't go crazy and build a bomb shelter..that is nuts...

Well,I guess the guy who built our house was a little different then,lol.He was an old pioneer who'd lived up the Inlet for years,and it came with a bomb shelter-we found the door(rusty corrugated metal) under a pile of scrap wood in the shed We decided to call it a root cellar-o.k. it has 3 bunk beds,and the concrete is better than the stuff the house is sitting on.......

[taxsavey]

I think emergency kits are smart. It has been proven we are 9 meals away from anarchy. All it takes is a disaster and trucks can't bring in food. Each grocery store is restocked every 2 days. I know this because my friend was president of superstore. Now think of an economic collapse which is inevitable. Some smart things to do:

dry beans, water
water purifyer there is a particular kind that shocks hot tubs excellent for purifying and way cheaper (its on you tube, it has to be the right kind. They explain)
a fab way of preserving food because everything has sugar is make a dirt cheap hydrater. Get an old dresser, pull drawers out and replace with screens you can put in cheap and easy. put the meat or vegies or fruit on there. put 2 cheap $3. computer fans on the bottom to circulate air and a cheap heater in. The food is healthier, more compact, you can add water to bring back to normal. Stays longer!
the problem is that you can only plan so much. If you do have anything, it will be war to keep it when people are hungary.

[recessionisnotfun]

I sure wish I was LUCKY enough to have a bomb shelter personally.

[TrueNorthTreasures]

Here is a recent (short) CBC interview done on Canadian "Preppers"...

http://www.bridensolutions.ca/blog/?p=439

[TrueNorthTreasures]

Last week I went ahead and placed an order with Thrive Food Storage Canada. I ordered 12 cans of various fruits and vegetables, as well as one can of TVP "Sloppy Joe" mix (TVP is a vegetarian protein source). Most of the foods I ordered are ones that are difficult or very time consuming to dehydrate at home (e.g., mango). Things like peas, corn, etc I can easily do myself.

The order costs will vary depending on what you buy (e.g., corn or broccoli is an average price, whereas something like mango is quite a bit more expensive). The shipping charges weren't too bad - it came to about $35 for the order.

With my online receipt was a notice that due to extraordinary demand, shipments would take 2-4 weeks. That's kind of unfortunate, but I am looking forward to getting my order and trying out some of the items. I plan on using it rather than storing it. Sometimes after a long day at work, it's nice to be able to throw together a soup or casserole in 5-10 minutes (literally), which is so easy when using dehydrated or freeze-dried foods. If I am really impressed with the product then I might buy more in the future for storage purposes.

I'll keep you posted!

I have been using the things I ordered for some time now. My favourite item, and the best bang for my buck out of the items I ordered, is the powdered tomato. This is what I now use to make tomato sauce instead of buying canned sauces. The taste is rich and the amount of sodium is almost non-existant. I have to keep an eye on my sodium intake, so this has been a lifesaver. The diced onions are also a good buy and will last me a long time.

I also really enjoy the dehydrated mushroom slices. The flavour is excellent. The dehyrated green & red pepper is going to last me a long time, which is great. I was suprised (and admittedly a little disappointed) at how small the pieces are and that there seem to be a lot of seeds among the pepper pieces, but these are great to use in a pinch when you have to throw together a soup, casserole, or pasta sauce in a hurry.

I liked the diced potatoes but probably won't order them again, unless it was specifically for long term/preparedness storage. In terms of cost, I found this item rather expensive for the amount you actually get in a package.

[TrueNorthTreasures]

I also discovered (unfortunately, *after* I'd placed and received my order) that there is an SC'er who recently started to sell Thrive Foods! So if you wish to try any of the products and would like to support a forum member rather than an online store, do connect with dandyprat. She also has a nice Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/ForeverThrive