# Where do you buy most of your canned and long term food



## rawhide2971 (Apr 19, 2013)

I was doing some (long term ie; prepping ) shopping this week and got to thinking and started wondering where others buy items for their long term storage items.

Heres some of the places I buy items.

Canned goods: Aldi, Food Saver and a couple of other lower end shopping stores. These are the kind of grocery stores that don't put the items on shelves but have them bulk stacked and are no frill's kind of shopping. Usually canned vegtables are about 40% (?) cheaper than the larger grocery stores and based on past usage the quality is just as good. (ok some of the items maybe a step down but not enough to turn up our noses at them)

SAM's, BJS - Sugar, Salt, and some other itmes that we pick up in bulk.

Local Mill - Flour, corn meal and Biscuit mix.

Long Term meals such as freeze dried and Dehydrated - Freeze Dry Guy (Usually when the discounts are in effect) BJS (Warehouse store), Emergency Essentials when they have something really good on sale, and I keep my eyes open for any really good specials.

But I really kind of spread my buying around and of course during the growing season I and my wife can and put up a lot of stuff as it is available.

But lately I have stepped up as much as my budget will allow some of my purchases of canned goods, I figure that the way the economy is going and the way things are going in the "goberment" that there is a real possability that inflation might be right around the corner...just a bad feeling deep down in my ample gut and I don't want to be caught short.....so anyone have any input to my rambelings?


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

I can my own foods. I do buy some LT items from Augason Farms and Thrive Foods.


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

rawhide2971 said:


> so anyone have any input to my rambelings?


I can't speak for your discount grocery stores but the ones around me that sell in cases seem to deal in items that are much older than what's in the regular grocery store. Remaining shelf life seems to be about half. I just use the regular grocery store and wait for the canned goods to go on sale.

Oh, and once you do stock up, you're going to find that you're going to be eating a lot of expired food. Let's say you buy 100 cans of soup. In a SHTF situation, that's going to be gone pretty quick. But, sitting there now, it's not the first thing you think of eating on a daily basis so it sits, and sits, and sits. Then you notice it's about to expire (or already has) so then you start eating a lot of it. Most canned goods I eat have already expired. At 18 months past expiration, creamed soups have a "different" texture but still taste fine. Clear things still look at taste fine.


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## rawhide2971 (Apr 19, 2013)

I appreciate your input but I totally disagree with the comments about the expiration issue. I have closely examined the expiration dates on the canned goods and they are equal to the ones at the more common chains, but to the other point most canned items are good many years past the "sale by" date printed on the can. Not to be confused though, the intent with the purchased canned goods is to have on hand 2 to 3 years of short term storage, not for the long term, I perhaps did not make that clear. I have two phases my prepping that fit my family’s needs, the immediate need for a immediate need due to a natural disaster or a relative short term civil disaster and my long term which is for more than a year which is why I have the freeze dry and dehydrated items


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

ZoomZoom said:


> *I can't speak for your discount grocery stores but the ones around me* that sell in cases seem to deal in items that are much older than what's in the regular grocery store.





rawhide2971 said:


> I appreciate your input but I totally disagree with the comments about the expiration issue. I have closely examined the expiration dates on the canned goods and they are equal to the ones at the more common chains


I did say it was the stores around me, not all of them. Ours aren't that good.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

rawhide2971 said:


> I appreciate your input but I totally disagree with the comments about the expiration issue. I have closely examined the expiration dates on the canned goods and they are equal to the ones at the more common chains, but to the other point most canned items are good many years past the "sale by" date printed on the can. Not to be confused though, the intent with the purchased canned goods is to have on hand 2 to 3 years of short term storage, not for the long term, I perhaps did not make that clear. I have two phases my prepping that fit my family's needs, the immediate need for a immediate need due to a natural disaster or a relative short term civil disaster and my long term which is for more than a year which is why I have the freeze dry and dehydrated items


I should point out that we grow some of our food and Costco is where I get a chunk of our freeze dried items when on sale.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Buy canned goods at Aldies an local groceries when them be on sale. Got a feller I can buy case lots a canned goods dirt cheap from time ta time to. Most goes on shelves an I dry an store the rest. Gives us a bit a both worlds.

On occasion I make it ta the nearest LDS cannery, but that be a 4 hour round trip. Only do that ifin were goin thata way fer other thins.

Can our own meats, soups an other stuffs to from the garden an farmers market.

Aldie's stuff here seems ta be bout same date wise as them local mega marts.


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## camo2460 (Feb 10, 2013)

We use Aldies, Save a Lot, and Sam's, and of course we do a lot of canning. If we want to can some thing that we don't grow or can't find we go to the Meninite community


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

Dare I say the dreaded word - - Walmart.


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## JustCliff (May 21, 2011)

I use Food Lion mostly. I did try Wal-Mart. I would recommend NOT buying and storing Wal-Mart brand cans. I have had multiple failures with the cans. They are very thin and the coating (tin) is very thin. I have had them rust from the outside in and the inside out.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Long term storage*

I don't really consider canned goods long term storage. I am talking about foods that are in metal cans such as canned soups, fruits, and vegetables. They have a limited shelf life. For some people this is no issue, because they are only preparing for a couple weeks or months. I have some of this. But, I consider long term storage to be food that is dry packed such as rice, beans, wheat, oatmeal, p. milk, sugar, salt, etc that will last for years, even decades and still be edible and nutritious.

After searching for a while, I found the LDS cannery to be the best source of long term food, but they do not have everything that I store.

My next choices are Sam's and Costco. There is also an organic warehouse in my area where I have gotten stuff that I couldn't find in the other places, such as dried corn, sorghum, varieties of beans.

I also try to pick up at least one item (can, box, bottle) that will store for a while, when I am in a typical grocery store, such as pasta sauce, salt, boxed milk, pasta mix, jello, pudding mix, tea. If I find a good deal, I will purchase a few. It is interesting to see how this builds up over time. I started a gluten free bucket and try to buy something gf everytime I'm in the store. The buckets just keep multiplying.


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

LDS Cannery / Bishop's Storehouse (when I am accompanied by an LDS member)

Local coop

Azure Standard

Aldi, Walmart

Local restaurant supply store

Watch out for Walmart, though. All in all, they are cheaper. But, occasionally they will have an item in the main aisle giving the impression that it is marked down, but the price is not a good price. But, although they will get you on specific items, if you did all your shopping there, you will be ahead of the game.


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

I buy my bulk grains from wheat montana. On their website you can find a dealer near you. As far as the other staples I usually only buy at Costco. They are cheap and already come in 25 lb bags of rice, beans, salt, sugar and other items. I tried some dehydrated milk but it tastes just like non dairy dry coffee creamer. Not too impressed with that stuff. My garden is a bit of a train wreck this year so not too many veggies to can come harvest time I think. My garden seems to be like the chicago cubs. Maybe next year.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

weedygarden said:


> I don't really consider canned goods long term storage. I am talking about foods that are in metal cans such as canned soups, fruits, and vegetables. They have a limited shelf life. For some people this is no issue, because they are only preparing for a couple weeks or months. I have some of this. But, I consider long term storage to be food that is dry packed such as rice, beans, wheat, oatmeal, p. milk, sugar, salt, etc that will last for years, even decades and still be edible and nutritious.
> 
> After searching for a while, I found the LDS cannery to be the best source of long term food, but they do not have everything that I store.
> 
> ...


Canned goods have been tested that are over a hundred years old and found to be edible and most to be quite nutritious. I grew up being taught rotation and I eat out of my long term stores so everything will get eaten before it goes bad. No one place has everything I want.

Costco-Great prices for bulk and even better sales
LDS Cannery-Great prices and willing to answer questions, items I can't find elsewhere
Carr's (Safeway)-Mostly sales
Fred Meyer-Mostly sales
3 Bears-Great prices, hard to find food items, and an excellent gun department
Amazon-Great prices and free shipping.


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## Reblazed (Nov 11, 2010)

In addition to the local stores and markets, I like honeyvillegrain.com. The product (I purchase mostly dairy from them) is good and shipping is $4.49 per order.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

I got all my groceries and water from regular grocery stores. We could afford to do it that way so we did. We got extras of things that were cheap so we bought 150 cans of baked beans, 180 boxes of Mac & Cheese and I forget how many boxes of Ramen Noodles that we have.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

Kroger and this month academy sports.they have Mt house and cliff bars!


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## GrinnanBarrett (Aug 31, 2012)

I travel a lot in my work so I gather a ton of hotel points. I cash those in for Walmart Gift Cards. I use the cards to buy food at Walmart like canned goods, rice, beans, pasta, and others. I don't love Walmart but I love not having to pay. I also use the LDS cannery in Carrolton, TX as a good resource. For Freeze dried I go with Costco, Emergency Essentials, Major Surplus (for specialty items like life boat rations), Nitro-Pak and JRH as examples. GB


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

For folks that require it, Augason Farms has a fair amount of Gluten-Free food.
http://www.augasonfarms.com/Gluten-Free-Food


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## rawhide2971 (Apr 19, 2013)

Thanks for the feedback folks. I apprecaite the sharing of information and have picked up a couple of good ideas. As most of you I tend to plan for long term and for an intermediate term and I do rotate my stock as appropriate. I have not had any bad experience with canned goods and was quite surprised to hear the comments about rusting out or can failures on the Walmart brands. Since I do buy at SAMS and Walmart I will be taking a hard look at what I purchase at those locations. I think cost per unit for canned items ALDI is hard to beat in this area. 
My garden is also not preforming up to past years, the weather is not cooperating, to much rain and hard winds have knocked things about and the rabbit population has been very busy this year. But we have been canning what we can harvest and the Jelly supplies are strong. Thanks again.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

I also buy Augason Farms, sometimes direct and sometimes from places like Walmart or Overstock.com. I have a few Wise Foods emergency buckets as well. I buy brand name canned goods from Walmart when they are on sale or store brand items from a regional grocery store. I would not buy an $0.88 can of Great Value food if it came with a $1 instant rebate. I have had the same experience as JustCliff with the cans being thin, weak and fragile, but that's nothing compared to the low quality and poor taste of the food (if you can call it that).


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