One Year Supply of Food

How to accumulate a one year supply of food without breaking the bank

As fuel prices increase, droughts and water contaminations occur and economic irresponsibilities increase, food prices accelerate at alarming speed. Stocking up now is a decision to have an available and affordable food supply.

The good people at www.survival-homestead.com prepared this list for stocking your food pantry in an easy, and inexpensive, way. This is based on 2 people to complete in one year. You can adjust this to suit your family needs, double for 4 people, or increase to complete in under 52 weeks. Don’t forget the water supply.

Times have changed in a short time. Many survivalists believe that the impending food crisis doesn’t leave enough time to slowly create a food supply. That isn’t based on potential disaster. It is now based on the accelerating rise in food prices. As I write this, staple food costs have gone up 40% in the past 7 months. Drought, oil contaminated rivers and coastal ocean waters, and severe economic issues are expected to increase the cost of food even more in the coming few years.

Investing in a one year supply of food now has the potential to save money as every day food prices skyrocket. This is a personal decision based on your immediate family needs and financial situation.

Someone gave me a list on how to accumulate a one year supply of food storage for 2 people on $5 a week. Well, with the economy like it is, I figure you’d better up that to at least $10 per week. So the information has been based on a weekly expenditure of double the original amount.

Make a Food Kitty

Set aside $10 a week to buy the specific items each week for your long-term food storage. Take an envelope and that becomes your “food kitty”. I use a zippered bank bag envelope, that way I don’t have to worry about losing the change. Put in the $10 and don’t use that money for anything but purchasing your one year supply of food.

One Year Supply of Food

After buying the items for the week from the one year supply of food list, put the remaining change back into the envelope. Because two cans of tuna don’t cost $10, there will be change left over. That way when the week where you are to buy 10 pounds of powdered milk arrives, you will have enough in the envelope to make your purchase.

Weeks 38 and 44 you will have “off” to replenish the kitty.

By the end of the 52 weeks, you should have a one year supply of food, that includes: 700lbs of wheat, 240 lbs sugar, 40 lbs of powdered milk, 13 lbs of salt, 10 lbs of honey, 5 lbs of peanut butter, 45 cans of tomato soup, 30 cans mushroom soup, 15 cans tuna fish, 10 macaroni and cheese dinners, 500 aspirin, and 730 multiple vitamins

It is suggested that you add 6 lbs of dried yeast and 6 lbs of shortening to your one year supply of food and this should be enough to sustain 2 people for a year.

Only buy food that you will eat. Just because lima beans are on sale, doesn’t make them a good buy if you can’t stand them!

For every 2 people you have in your family add $10 more and double or triple the amount of whatever you are buying that week. Also it is possible to speed up your preparations. instead of taking one year to complete, spend $20 per week, and accomplish it in 6 months, or $40 per week, and accomplish it in 3 months.

With a permanent marker write the date purchased on the can or box. When stacking the items on the shelves, always put the newest items to the back and on the bottom. That way it will be easier to rotate the foods out, in the order they were bought after accumulating them. The first item purchased in your one year supply of food is the first to be used.

Week 1: 2 cans tuna fish, 2 boxes salt
Week 2: 5 boxes of Macaroni and Cheese 4 cans tomato soup
Week 3: 3 cans mushroom soup,1 2.5 lb peanut butter
Week 4: one bottle 365 count multi-vitamins
Week 5: 4 cans tomato soup, 1 10 lb powdered milk
Week 6: 1 bottle aspirin (500 tablets)
Week 7: 1 100 lb container wheat
Week 8: 1 5 lb powdered milk
Week 9: 1 5 lb honey
Week 10: 4 cans tuna, 4 boxes macaroni and cheese
Week 11: 1 10 lb sugar, 1 box salt
Week 12: 4 cans mushroom soup
Week 13: 1 bottle 365 count multi-vitamins
Week 14: 1 100 lb wheat
Week 15: 1 box macaroni and cheese
Week 16: 1 5 lb honey
Week 17: 2 cans tuna, 4 can tomato soup
Week 18: 1 10 lbs sugar
Week 19: 1 100 lbs of wheat
Week 20: 2 10lbs of sugar
Week 21: 1 10lb powdered milk
Week 22: 1 can mushroom soup, 1 10 lb sugar
Week 23: 1 can tuna, 4 cans tomato soup, 1 10 lbs sugar
Week 24: 1 10 lbs sugar
Week 25: 2 cans tuna, 2 cans mushroom soup
Week 26: 1 100 lb wheat
Week 27: 3 10 lbs sugar
Week 28: 1 10 lb sugar
Week 29: 1 10 lb powdered milk
Week 30: 2 10 lb sugar
Week 31: 1 can tuna, 3 cans mushroom soup
Week 32: 1 can tuna, 4 cans tomato soup
Week 33: 1 100 lb wheat
Week 34: 2 cans tuna, 1 box salt
Week 35: 1 10 lb powdered milk
Week 36: 2 10 lb sugar
Week 37: 4 cans tomato soup, 2 boxes salt
Week 38: Stash $10 in the kitty
Week 39: 1 100 lb wheat
Week 40: 1 10 lb powdered milk
Week 41: 3 10 lb sugar
Week 42: 2 cans tomato soup, 1 10 lb sugar
Week 43: 2 cans tomato soup, 2 cans mushroom soup
Week 44: Stash $10 in the kitty
Week 45: 1 10 lb powdered milk
Week 46: 4 cans tomato soup, 4 cans mushroom soup
Week 47: 1 10 lb powdered milk
Week 48: 4 cans mushroom soup, 1 10 lb powdered milk
Week 49: 7 cans of tomato soup
Week 50: 7 cans of mushroom soup
Week 51: 2 10 lbs sugar, 1 box salt

For items like flour, powered milk and other powered items can be stored in large five gallon buckets and sealed using those oxygen-removing packets, to increase the storage time.

You can also add some dehydrated foods to your one year supply of food by purchasing a dehydrating and creating your own supplies. This is an effective method that can be cheaper because you control the food source, quality, dehydration time and packing methods. Products like this have a much shorter shelf life and need proper storing to avoid mold, but with the right system and effort it can be a great way of creating near term storage to lesson the impact of rising food costs.