How long would your household food supply last?

[parmalee]

I think it's great you are working towards self-reliance. It's a skill that is lost on most people, including myself. I had a look at the issue some time ago. It seems that clean water is a major consideration, not just food. Many people keep 55 gal drums in their garages, water collection systems connected to their gutters, racks of canned food on their pantry walls, dried food in jars and mylar bags. It takes a lot of work and maintenance to stay prepared for the worst.

I suspect most people are not prepared and wouldn't be surprised if most people have only three days of food. But if you live in the city or the suburbs, once your neighbors start starving and see you're not starving, they will be kicking down your door.

For me, it's just living, not so much preparing for anything. That's partly why I dispute this three day notion. People--and Americans, especially--tend to accumulate stuff--and this includes food. And considering the size of American homes, and kitchens, well...

 

[Jeeves]

Do you have to adjust the fluid ratio slightly when working with rye or barley? With rye, at least, my efforts have always been slightly disappointing, but I can't quite figure out the culprit.

It's been a while since I made bread - and anyway, my brother was the expert. If I recall, the ryes, especially pumpernickel, can easily become dry and too heavy. Long rise, punch down, another long rise, and a long proof time after shaping seems to be the main thing. Some people put in coffee or cocoa; molasses and/or barley malt are common. I hate when they put in cracked or whole grain - unfriendly to old, expensive teeth - but quite like caraway.
Here's a take on it that sounds good to me
https://breadtopia.com/sourdough-rye-bread/

 

[RainbowSingularity]

bread

pondering what i would ideally like...
poppy seeds, sesame seeds pumpkin seeds sunflower seeds wall nuts (as a coating, baked and allowed to soften so it is not rock hard)
rice flour & pumpkin flour loaf...

with a cream cheese spread or double cream bri cheese or a very nice Camembert

 

[Jeeves]

Never used rice or pumpkin flour. I used to like sunflower seeds and dried cranberry on the inside of a wheat/barley loaf, sesame or poppy seed on the outside. Sometimes, driving north, we'd stop at a bakery that made a great multigrain bread with dried tomato, pepper and olives inside - it didn't need anything spread on it, so we just broke off chunks to eat in the car.
This is a pointless post: I'm just indulging in nostalgia, since I can't eat fresh bread anymore.

 

[Benson]

...in the event of emergency.

What few sources I can locate all state is that the average American household has only 3 days' worth of perishable and non-perishable foods. I find this most unlikely. Anyone know of any other such data, which might suggest a more plausible time period? And how long would your own household's supply of food last?

We, two humans and two dogs, live in a very small house--an 18' x 22' A-frame. We grow a fair amount of our food, but we live in a zone 5a; however, I am building a greenhouse this summer, in order to extend our growing window. We don't really buy much in the way of packaged or prepared foods, so it's mostly raw ingredients for proper food, but still, our kitchen is quite small. Yet we've always got ample food to last between 4 and 8 weeks--I kind of obsessively track these sorts of things. It would get boring eventually, but will still be nutritionally adequate, at least.

Anyways, that 3 day figure (for U.S. average) cannot possibly be right--I carry more food than that in a backpack or on my bicycle when I travel/hike! So what's the deal? Where is the real data hiding?

I was brought up never to let food stocks to fall. Make use the freezer and pantry are well stocked. The girlfriend and I could go a couple of months or so with what I keep. Everytime you go shopping, get that extra tin or two. A full pantry would probably cost over $1,000 to replace.

If you see priced reduced cream, buy it to make butter and then freeze the butter. Natural yogurt is much nicer when about a month over it's best before date so by it when it's reduced.

 

[Jeeves]

Make use the freezer and pantry are well stocked.... Everytime you go shopping, get that extra tin or two.

Some people who live in apartments think they have no storage space. Usually, what they really have is disorderly and inefficient storage. They have a closet full of outgrown clothes they wouldn't wear, even if they ever fit again, exercise equipment they thought they were going to use until they discovered how uncomfortable it is, and unwanted Christmas gifts from relatives who never visit...
Our pantry is a deep closet near the front door. We put in three sturdy shelves. That's where we keep pickles and preserves from the garden, as well as extra jugs of cooking oil, packages of dry pasta, canned goods, flour, cocoa, coffee, etc., bought whenever I see a very good price. When there are too many of something, I pack a reusable shopping bag for the local food bank.*

* I am soooo pissed at the supermarket chains that charge customers $10 for a food bank bag they make up with the cheapest house brand of spaghetti and beans worth maybe $3.00 wholesale. Where do the bastards get off making a profit on other people's charity? And then they have the brass to ask for another $2 donation at the checkout!

 

[Bob-a-builder]

Like Jeeves ^^^^. I could feed a family of four for a year with similar food on hand. I've considered buying a few tons of rice and burying them in the yard (vacuum sealed). I prefer buying bulk stuff on sale also. My pantries are overcrowded but I have 3 children and always imagine a crisis may hit in our lifetimes.

Freezerstuffs like Benson not so much. I mainly freeze bread and perhaps have a few months worth of meat

 

[Jeeves]

Like Jeeves ^^^^. I could feed a family of four for a year with similar food on hand. I've considered buying a few tons of rice and burying them in the yard (vacuum sealed).

Some staples you think are long-term turn out to be a bad investment. Beans from 1999 became impossible to cook palatably by about 2012; pasta was useless in a couple of years. Most of the Y2K wheat and corn have been fed to the birds, so that's okay. But I truly begrudge all the dehydrated spinach eaten by moths.
On the up-side: I'm still using the spices, and they've tripled in price in the meantime.