Food_Individual

Individual and Family Food during a Pandemic

Stockpiling

There are two reasons to stockpile food in preparation for a pandemic:
1. Having food at home will mean you don't need to go to a grocery store and risk getting infected and bringing the virus home.
2. Absenteeism and death among people who produce, process and transport food may lead to shortages.

Since local outbreaks of flu last between 6-12 weeks, many concerned citizens are storing food for 12 weeks, to avoid infection. The Department of Homeland Security has indicated that it may direct US citizens to remain in their homes for 90 days (12 weeks) during a pandemic. Concern about disruptions of the nation's food supply has led to others storing food for much longer.

Resources:

Food - Where to start (pdf) (Nez Perce County, Idaho)
Food - Filling your pantry (pdf) (Nez Perce County, Idaho)
The price (and availability) of food right now (PFI)
Stockpiling food small space / smaller budget (PFI)
Food Storage Experts (PFI)
Some foods don't taste so good close to the expiration date (PFI)
Dehydrated foods. Who makes what? (PFI)
We went looking for white rice today and found... (Current Events)
Flour: vacuum pack? Etc. (Flutrackers)
Canned Butter/Cheese & More Discount (Flutrackers)
Does any know where to get inexpensive powdered butter and sour cream? (Flutrackers)

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Home Gardening for Food

During World War II, 40% of all food in the US came from Victory Gardens in people's yards and in community gardens (Wikipedia). Should there be a severe to very severe pandemic, food supply lines may be interrupted for long periods of time. Many people interested in preparing for a pandemic are creating gardens in their yards in order to grow some of their own food.

Resources:

Revive the Victory Garden
Survival Gardening- the Thread (PFI)
Planting edible wild "gardens" (PFI)
Your soon to be Pandemic Garden (PFI)
Growing and Using Potatoes (PFI)
Lentil Recipes (how to grow, prepare and eat) (PFI)
Is it possible to go back to the small farm? (PFI)
May 2008 Gardening & Homesteading Journal (Current Events)
April 2008 Gardening and Homesteading Journal (Current Events)
Are you growing veggies this year? (Current Events)
Gardening (LONG), starting a new garden, teaching self to garden (Flutrackers)

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Canning and other forms of food preservation

In temperate climates, food is usually not grown all year long. Also, in some years, a home garden will produce more of one kind of produce than can be eaten before it goes bad. In a severe pandemic, access to commerically canned food may become difficult. A traditional approach to preserving home grown food is to "can" it. In practice, this usually means to process the food and put it in jars with special lids and placing the jars in boiling water (sometimes in special pressure cooker). In this way, home grown food or food obtained from a nearby farm can be preserved by individual families. Food preserved in this way may be good for years. One of the classic books on this subject is entitled:

Ball Blue Book of Preserving

In the past, it was traditional to have root cellar. These can be set up in a basement and used for long term storage of potatoes and other root vegetables.

Resources:

National Center for Home Food Preservation
In Praise of Home Canned Food (PFI)
Canning and putting food by (PFI)
Pressure canners and vacuum sealers (Current Events)
Canning as a method of food storage preparation (Fluwikie)
Long term storage of fresh food (Flutrackers)
Food preserving techniques & recipes (Flutrackers)
Dehydrating Food: Methods and Recipes (Fluwikie)
Simple Indoor Root Cellar 8 Ft. x 10 Ft. (Flutrackers)

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Cooking during a pandemic

Cooking is often overlooked in preparing for a pandemic. Although a few days worth of ready-to-eat food may be sufficient for a short term emergency, pandemic waves are expected to last from 6 - 12 weeks. For most people, that will mean cooking, perhaps under difficult circumstances. It is worth considering how one will cook without electricty.

Resources: