State of the Pantry

It's been a year since I started my emergency pantry project, which has provided all kinds of benefits I never expected it would. I think these are the top three:

Convenience: When I run out of a staple I don't have to drive to a store; I now always have plenty on hand.

Lower Food Bills: I can buy nonperishables we frequently use when they're on sale and keep the extra in the emergency pantry.

Less Waste: Thanks to the first-in first-out strategy and the labeling of expiration dates on the face of food products, we've also been able to cycle foods into our working pantry as they grow close to expiring, so nothing is wasted (in a year the only thing I've not used before it expired was a dollar store package of ramen.)

I'm also able to see what we constantly use (soups, rice, pasta, canned veggies, small containers) versus what we don't (dehydrated foods, mixes, canned meats, huge containers) so I have a better idea of what to stock up on for hurricane season. I've also put together an extra first aid kit and some instructions on how to make water safe for drinking, but I need to think more on what survival tactic info we might need.

Unlike last year, when prepper reports had me very concerned, I am not as alarmed by the prospect of food shortages due to tariffs. I have enough shelf-stable food in the house to keep us going for about a year now without ever buying anything more. If shortages happen and I have to rely on my emergency pantry more heavily we might not be able to eat the dishes we most like (all of which have perishable ingredients) but I can make a decent variety of meals we'll enjoy and want to eat, which is 90% of the battle.

I can't do anything about what is happening to our country (and I am not discussing that, so no comments on it, please); I can just take care of me and my guy no matter what happens. So that's my focus.

Comments

Maria Zannini said…

Brava! Good job.

I find it difficult to juggle an emergency pantry. The few emergencies we've had to weather, we didn't have much appetite, usually because we were too busy working our keesters off to fix things. We sorely missed fresh food though. Oh, and sweets. We missed sweets.

May 21, 2025 at 5:24 AM

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