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Our current coronavirus crisis and things like runs on toilet paper have gotten me to think a little bit more about family emergency preparedness. We have a large pantry and probably at least a month's worth of meals stored up at any one time. But don't do canning and that sort of thing like my mother and grandmother used to do.

Anyone here into that preparedness and food storage? If so, I'd be curious what you do. A work acquaintance of mine who is very into that sort of thing in a rational (non-survivalist) sort of way tells me that the Mormons actually have this stuff down cold. It is somehow part of their theology or culture. He's not Mormon, but says they have some of the best printed resources on emergency planning and pointed me to this manual which I have found to be some interesting reading. It is a 220 page preparedness manual with a Mormon tilt.

https://thesurvivalmom.com/wp-content/u ... Manual.pdf

Any comments? Anyone else thinking about how to make their families and lives more resilient in these uncertain times? I'm thinking about getting into canning and putting more food away this summer. I'll have to get my mom come show the family how it is all done as none of my kids have ever been near a canning operation.

I find canning to be the easy part. Prepping and maintaining the garden can be labor intensive and depending on the area, a learning curve.

If you prefer not to garden, there are numerous fresh markets that sell in bulk in season that you can buy from.

I have no idea why the need to hoard toilet paper is such a necessity. I guess there are a lot of alternative things you could do in dire need and if it gets that dire, toilet paper will be the least of my worries.

You could also have a small backyard flock. We have a rather large coop that provides both eggs and meat. We don't however have a roo currently and are thinking about changing that.

You could do bees, a luxury. Bees are not as hardy as one thinks though. We are getting our hives soon....so, I will have to let you know how we do on that later on.

Depending on land, some we know have cows other goats. We don't have either. We would simply go without if need be.

I have however, thought about getting some smaller breeds of turkeys though. We really like turkey meat.

And, then again there is hunting. But, I suspect you might be more urban? ....so, I would start with garden and chickens...they are the gateway in my opinion into more "food freedom".

We also have a really nice variety of fruit tress that I adore.

wishing you luck on this new adventure.

I quit doing this nonsense 12 years ago; if we have a complete societal breakdown, I plan to suffering alongside the average person and hopefully share the gospel with them.

A bit of preparedness is good (especially if the average person starts doing it!) but I have no plans to be some lone holdout who survives when everyone around me doesn’t.

What I have to show for time and money wasted on preparedness: 55 gallon barrels full of water I didn’t need; a generator I never used; a well stocked pantry with food items I didn’t like eating and never ate; prescription and OTC medicines that are expired; and firearms and ammunition I rarely fired and didn’t enjoy shooting. It’s almost all been disposed of or sold by now.

One of the funniest things that happened was my house needed cleaned out and apparently bags full of hot cocoa mix from a bulk food store fed some mice with a sweet tooth. They all got ill and died and stunk up my kitchen whilst I was out of town. Took me months to find the little rascals.

We live in a very interconnected world and the best thing for me to do is be a good witness to my employer, through my business, and I’ll continue to buy food items from my neighbours the way I usually do - whether at a big store or at one of the many bulk food stores around here.

If I starve, well, God will work things out.

Josh wrote:I quit doing this nonsense 12 years ago; if we have a complete societal breakdown, I plan to suffering alongside the average person and hopefully share the gospel with them.

A bit of preparedness is good (especially if the average person starts doing it!) but I have no plans to be some lone holdout who survives when everyone around me doesn’t.

What I have to show for time and money wasted on preparedness: 55 gallon barrels full of water I didn’t need; a generator I never used; a well stocked pantry with food items I didn’t like eating and never ate; prescription and OTC medicines that are expired; and firearms and ammunition I rarely fired and didn’t enjoy shooting. It’s almost all been disposed of or sold by now.

One of the funniest things that happened was my house needed cleaned out and apparently bags full of hot cocoa mix from a bulk food store fed some mice with a sweet tooth. They all got ill and died and stunk up my kitchen whilst I was out of town. Took me months to find the little rascals.

We live in a very interconnected world and the best thing for me to do is be a good witness to my employer, through my business, and I’ll continue to buy food items from my neighbours the way I usually do - whether at a big store or at one of the many bulk food stores around here.

If I starve, well, God will work things out.

Do you have kids Josh? That tends to focus the mind differently from being a single guy.

Ken wrote:

Josh wrote:I quit doing this nonsense 12 years ago; if we have a complete societal breakdown, I plan to suffering alongside the average person and hopefully share the gospel with them.

A bit of preparedness is good (especially if the average person starts doing it!) but I have no plans to be some lone holdout who survives when everyone around me doesn’t.

What I have to show for time and money wasted on preparedness: 55 gallon barrels full of water I didn’t need; a generator I never used; a well stocked pantry with food items I didn’t like eating and never ate; prescription and OTC medicines that are expired; and firearms and ammunition I rarely fired and didn’t enjoy shooting. It’s almost all been disposed of or sold by now.

One of the funniest things that happened was my house needed cleaned out and apparently bags full of hot cocoa mix from a bulk food store fed some mice with a sweet tooth. They all got ill and died and stunk up my kitchen whilst I was out of town. Took me months to find the little rascals.

We live in a very interconnected world and the best thing for me to do is be a good witness to my employer, through my business, and I’ll continue to buy food items from my neighbours the way I usually do - whether at a big store or at one of the many bulk food stores around here.

If I starve, well, God will work things out.

Do you have kids Josh? That tends to focus the mind differently from being a single guy.

I used to.

There are worse things than pandemics and worse things than running out of food.

I find creating food and preserving food to be immensely satisfying.

Living as rural as we do going to the big box store can be an "event" at times.

If canning seems a bit overwhelming, do know that most foods also freeze well.

One of the best resources to get you started I think is the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. This would get you started easily.

I had a bunch of freeze dried food, water storage, ammunition in the past.

I got rid of all that now.

However, I do have a family of 8. So supplying for my family takes a bit of work as we have been through hard times financially. I also suffer digestion issues enough that I have first hand experience with the value of growing our own food.


Gardening is a lot of labour but it is incredibly rewarding. Things like cucumbers and carrots fresh from the garden taste so good. I share with our children watering, adding nutrients to soil, weeding, and etc. as a parallel to our spiritual lives.

We plant our own seeds to cut cost even more and the children really enjoy this, plus they begin to learn more value in investing in things rather than our instant gratification culture. Recently my oldest son planted two avocado trees we started from seed into his fish aquarium - it is fun to connect and experiment together, as these activities helps us to do things together as a family productively enjoying God's creation.

Canning is also satisfying when trying to provide. My wife makes excellent salsa, relish, hot peppers, jams, pie fillings and etc. at a fraction of what they would cost in the store - plus it provides gifts to give to company, family at Christmas, or whoever.

If you have never had chickens they are actually much easier than you probably think. Again the children love hatching chicks and then don't mind caring for them with the little work it is after that fun of holding those fluffy little creatures. Plus they make fertilizer for the garden.

We also have a woodstove, gravity feed water, shallow well water, and a little creek on our property. Which could help with preparedness.

We have lots of fruit and nut trees. I've planted fruit trees the last places we lived - even rentals - it's fun to think how it could provide for others in the future.

We hunt. We have deer, bear, elk, and turkeys coming through our yard - I caught a wild turkey recently with my bare hands.

I'm not interested in emergency preparedness any more but in just trying to sustain my family I think I am more prepared now than when I had emergency supplies...

violet wrote:I find creating food and preserving food to be immensely satisfying.

Living as rural as we do going to the big box store can be an "event" at times.

If canning seems a bit overwhelming, do know that most foods also freeze well.

One of the best resources to get you started I think is the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. This would get you started easily.

If you enjoy it as a hobby, that's great - I used to do a bit of that myself. Eventually, though, it just didn't make sense to keep all the stockpiles around.

I am providing for my family in a sustainable way.

We really aren't "stockpiling". We are sustaining.

I never considered what I do for my family a "hobby". I will have to share that one with my husband.

but alrighty......