Why Pantries are Important

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Why every house that has a kitchen should have a pantry?
What goes into designing a proper pantry and steps you can take now?

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Why every house that has a kitchen should have a pantry?

When was the last time a storm rolled through your town and the power went out for several hours. How long has it been since a snow storm shut down your city (atlanta)
Would you not be better off if you did not have to panic and run to the store because your refrigerator is empty and you are going to be stuck inside for a while.

There are 7 basic needs we all have.

• Food
• Water
• Shelter
• Energy
• Security
• Sanitation
• and Health

Today I am going to talk about the first two, food and water.
When was the last time you took a drink of water or had a bite to eat? How often do you eat and drink? Does it sound logical that you might want to have that stuff around.
When you go to the gas station to fill up your car do you usually just put a gallon in the tank because today you don’t have to drive very far and you will just get another gallon tomorrow. No, you fill up.
Why not do the same thing for your food?
Once this is understood that a family should take food storage into consideration for the potential power outage or even job loss, we start to create a basic checklist.
Food – How much do you really need on reserve. How convenient do you want life to be, would be my next question.
sales
bulk buys
always have item on hand
Build 30, 60 and 90 days of reserves in that order
Begin with “copy canning”
Food rotation
Water
FEMA recommends storing at least one gallon per person per day. I would say take that number and project out how many days you feel you need and double it. A very convenient method of storing water would be 5 gallon containers. You can fill them up with cheap tap water and they will last for a year without doing anything to them. This will at least give you enough water to cook, boil and drink for some time.
Five gallons per person would be a minimum and easily obtainable. Another great thing to have on hand would be to get a one gallon jug for each person in the house. Rotate these out every six months to keep them fresh.
This water storage can easily be designed into your pantry space to allow for easy upkeep and management.

What goes into designing a proper pantry and steps you can take now?
Pantry history
Time travel back 100 years and everybody did it
Pantry design – These steps will help you determine the design needs of your pantry.
Step one – keep a food log
For a month, just keep a notebook on your dining table. when sit down to eat just write out the items you used. this will even start to look like your own personal cook book. perhaps you can clean it up later and create a easy go to binder with all your great recipes. What this log does is tells you what you buy. but not only that it tells you what you buy fresh and what you buy that could be kept on the shelf for a little longer.
Step two – keep a spending log
This one is not as mandatory but is a good idea. create a spending log of your groceries. try to keep track on when those items in your log go on sale. Perhaps when they do you pick up several extra cans, boxes or bags. The key to this is you already know what you eat, what you like and you are not stocking up on items that you don’t eat already. Store what you eat, eat what you store.
Step three – start copy canning
Each time you go to the store and you are going to buy that can of spagetti sauce you like go ahead and buy two of them. Put one on the back of the shelf and use the other one. Next time you go to the store, buy two more. Store both, use that older one you bought the last time. So on and so on. You will be amazed at how fast your pantry will build up.
Step four – learn to cook 5 items you have never eaten before with storable items
Step five – affirm your responsibility

Shoutouts for this weeks show goes to Jack Spirko, for years i have listened to his podcast. Most of what you have heard today were tips and tricks picked up from his show and my years of experience in taking action. Don’t be stuck in a situation where you are not prepared. Don’t put you or your family in danger by having to run to the store during an ice storm only to find that the shelves are almost empty. Don’t leave your family dehydrated the next time some area wide contaminated water warning goes into effect.

Take action
Start stocking your pantry today
Happy to help get you started. Do you want more information or feel like I missed something here, let me know. Would love to hear from you.

I wanted to end this show with a great quote from Jack Spirko since I mentioned him so much in todays show. Jack said:

“What you do matters and you do control your own destiny. Live life to the fullest and understand that you have more control over your life then anyone or anything else.”