# How do you measure your food stock ?



## sinbad (Oct 27, 2009)

You have a stocked pantry. 
You have a long hard look at its contents. 

Simple question : 

How do you measure the numbers of days or weeks it can sustain you and family ?


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

If you eat what you store , just keep track of how much you use,and then adding the fresh stuff that makes up you meals.


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## carolexan (Dec 28, 2010)

The below is a guide of amounts of some items. I used it for a general guide. Now that I've done this so long and keep a regular record of what comes and goes, it's easy to know with just a glance.

Consider stocking some of the items listed as examples below. Amounts are suggested quantities for an adult for one year. 

Flour, White Enriched 17 lbs 
Corn Meal 42 lbs 
Pasta (Spaghetti/Macaroni) 42 lbs 
Beans (dry) 25 lbs 
Beans, Lima (dry) 1 lb 
Peas, Split (dry) 1 lb 
Lentils (dry) 1 lb 
Dry Soup Mix 5 lbs 
Peanut Butter 4 lbs 
Dry Yeast 1/2 lb 
Sugar, White Granulated 40 lbs 
Soda 1 lb 
Baking Powder 1 lb 
Vinegar 1/2 gal 

Suggested Amounts To Store For One Year: From the Federal Emergency Management Agency

We do store much more than my post above talks about, this is FEMA's list not mine...it's gives you an idea what you may need for 1 person for one year


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

We've recently gone to counting the number of meals, sort of. In addition to meals, we store brownies, cake mixes, etc. that are measured in weeks, so for example we have enough brownie mixes to have one every 2 weeks for a year. Some things we just measured how long it lasted & then stored enough to last a year with some cushion, like condiments, coffee, tea, etc. We also have a plan C which is bulk amounts of sugar, pintos, rice, FD fruits, & salt that are not counted in any of the above. It's an odd system, but we know what we got.  Can't wait to read about everyone else's systems! Mine desperately needs some tweeking!


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## PamsPride (Dec 21, 2010)

I tried to plan out a menu with our favorite meals that use food storage items and then I started getting 12 of each meal and then work on 24. That was the goal anyways! The kids eat to much though! :gaah:
Like: 
12 #10 can Ravioli
12 meals of spaghetti
12 meals of Taco rice fixins
12 hamburger helper meals
12 Chicken veggie casserole
12 chicken casserole
12 #10 cans baked beans...add hot dogs

My kids could easily eat a variation of spaghetti every week....spaghetti, rigatoni, skillet mac...so I have a lot more of that stored. I have other meals but I can't think of them right now. But throw in pizza once a week and my kids could eat that menu plan over and over again!! I think I have/had 14 meals planned out and then I just plan on rotating those. We have like 200 pounds of potatoes stored from our garden and my son put a deer in freezer, plus one from the neighbor. My family are meat and potato eaters. 

I tried to plan enough pancake (waffle) mix and syrup and oatmeal for breakfast meals to last a year. Cereal can not be realistically stored here for long term! The kids will just eat it all! 

Haha...that all sounds good written out but I know we are short several of the meals because either I did not get all 12 or we have ate through it all ready. :gaah:


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

There are only two of us but I decided to feed the dog and cats homemade food so I count the dog as one person and the 3 cats as one person. I stocked like that for a couple of months and then I decided that I needed to add at least an imaginary person to the mix (for a buffer or to help someone else out ... depends on the circumstance) -- so I stock for 5 now. But it is a kind of odd mix because some things are not good for the dog or cats and some things for the dogs and cats the hubby won't eat (like tuna fish).

At the beginning I did exactly what they tell you not to do ... I bought one thing at a time as I caught it on sale ... so for a while I had 52 cans of Ragu (the hubby's fav) but only enough spagetti and macaroni for maybe 3 meals ... but since I was fortunate enough to have a sizable amount of money I could dedicate to backstocking it wasn't as much of a problem as it could have been. Took me roughly 6 months to get almost a years' supply of everything put back based on what we eat regularly.

Now I am in the process of stocking bulk items (rice, beans, wheat, corn, seeds for sprouting) that we don't eat as often as we should but store well and are easy to fix ...

Next step after that (in July as a matter of fact) is the LONG term storage ... freeze dried. I am looking forward to that because of the variety of stuff ...

All this, along with learning to dehydrate and can should keep us happy for quite a while.

I have already made the decision to donate anything in the "regular" pantry that we don't eat and comes close to expiration dates to the local food bank and just replace it with fresher. Seems wasteful to some but it works for us ...

One other thing we do is make sure we have a years' supply of multi-vitamins, Vitamin C, fish oil and calcium for both of us ... just in case. Just multiplied the number of pills we needed for the year for each of us and stocked up ... These don't ever go bad because we take them every day.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

A lot is guess and can't be calculated ....like canned goods..a can of green beans has 3 servings, but I know by experience, it's only two...so a case(12) would be 24 servings.
When I inventoried my stock as I listed the items, I sort of calculated the servings.
A 50 lb. bag of rice says 500 servings, but I know it's closer to 400 realistically..

I actually calculated my boxed and packaged and canned goods(fruit, meat, and veggies.) and got a real close estimate by dividing the servings by 2 (# of people) and then by 3 (number of meals per day).
So if I had 6 cases of green beans, 12 cans x 6 = 72 cans
72 cans = 144 servings
144 servings divided by 2 people= 72 meals
72 meals divided by 3 (per day) = 24 meals

I have enough canned green beans for 24 meals....but add all servings first!!!
Then divide by persons in family
Then divide by 3 meals per day...

I HAD to do this because I was really concerned about what I REALLY had in my pantry.


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

I didn’t get quite that detailed in my estimating. My LTS stash is #10’s of FD foods. A few cases of readymade meals but mostly individual ingredients, with lots of fruits. I figure about two #10 cans a week for me, plus some cans of regular grocery store bought supplies: Pasta, sauce, beans, rice, fruits, vegetables, grains and all that. So, I have 14 cases of FD (including dairy) and I think 6 boxes of dated supplies. This plus the garden (inside and out) and I call it a year’s worth. Yeah I know I’m 2 cases short of my 2 cans a week but I only estimate. If it comes down to it I would be on strict rationing depending on how long I foresee the trouble to last.

For the pup, I am always 3 bags of her sawdust (dry dog food) ahead or stored. Each lasts almost two months so she has a solid 6 months stored. If shortages last long enough for that to be gone, she will eat vegetables from the garden. As a supplement she will eat rice and beans with ‘gravy’ on them. I have 3 cans of FD beef bouillon (or some kind of beef stock) packed away that I can use or can be used for her. Also cans of oatmeal and rolled grains that she would eat, or share with me anyway. And pancakes! Who doesn’t like pancakes or biscuits with gravy on them! And the last resort fried/baked dough with gravy.

If things look like they are going to last longer than a year, I’ll get in line with the sheeple from the beginning for my handout and save what I can for when that stops. If it lasts more than two years, well… I like a majority of the population at large are just SOL. There are not many folks these days who are prepared (both in land, knowledge and supplies) to be self sustaining for an indefinite amount of time. I know, I know many here are going for that but for me it is unrealistic unless something magical happens.


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

Woody said:


> **snip**
> 
> If things look like they are going to last longer than a year, I'll get in line with the sheeple from the beginning for my handout and save what I can for when that stops. If it lasts more than two years, well&#8230; I like a majority of the population at large are just SOL. There are not many folks these days who are prepared (both in land, knowledge and supplies) to be self sustaining for an indefinite amount of time. I know, I know many here are going for that but for me it is unrealistic unless something magical happens.


Looks like you pretty much use the same system I do.

And I agree with you totally ... if things completely collapse and it lasts longer than a couple of years, well ... it is what it is. As much as we would like to, given our current state of affairs it is simply not feasible for us to drop everything, move to the middle of nowhere and set up camp. So we will do the best we can with what we have and let the cards fall where they may.

Personally I don't see so much of a total collapse as I see just a really hard time coming. I think those of us in suburban and city areas will become much closer to our neighbors and behave a lot more like little close-knit communities. As much as I enjoy doing FTFs with people from other places the fact of the matter is no matter how much I like you and you like me if things get really rough it is unlikely that either of us will leave what is ours and venture out. Again ... it's just not feasible for the vast majority of the population. And if things wind up like they are in the Middle East right now (heaven forbid) I am certainly not coming out of my house for ANYTHING!!

My low drag, high speed days are over.


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## Herbalpagan (Dec 8, 2008)

I count the meals on hand, then convert to pounds stored. It helps me to know that I have 100 meals of spaghetti, 300 meals of oatmealenough wheat for 750 loaves of bread. 
,


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## Centraltn (Feb 21, 2011)

Average non physically active folks eat 2 1/2 - 3 lbs a day. Now multiply that with number of people you have to cover. A yrs supply is 365 days worth of food.. do now multiply ypour last figure times 365 and thats how much you need to figure a yrs supply for your family. If they will be more physically active, then they will need more calories a day hence more poundage of food a day


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