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Food Shortages: Catastrophe Stockpile

Get ready for the possibility of food shortages and start stockpiling food. Worst case scenario, you save money on your food budget and have a solid hoard of food for family emergencies and other catastrophes. Keep in mind that economic collapse, hyperinflation, and currency devaluation might mean that food is available but unaffordable. It’s not just about “food shortages.”

36 Foods To Hoard For Shortages

These are the foods I suggest hoarding for food shortages, they are the best for any long-term survival scenarios because they have been tested by civilizations and have proven themselves worthy of keeping people alive during hard times. Most of my long-term food storage is based on these foods, namely white rice, wheat, dry beans, and rolled oats. Let’s take a look at the food you should stockpile for shortages.

  1. Polished White Rice
  2. Jasmine Rice
  3. Basmati Rice
  4. Long-grain White Rice
  5. Arborio Rice
  6. Converted Rice
  7. Hard White Wheat Berries
  8. Hard Red Wheat Berries
  9. Rolled Oats
  10. Hulled Oats
  11. Pearled Oats
  12. Dry Beans and Legumes
  13. Pinto Beans
  14. Black Beans
  15. Lentils
  16. Split Peas
  17. Salt
  18. Table Sugar
  19. Field Corn
  20. Dry Pasta
  21. Quinoa
  22. Barley
  23. Rye
  24. Bleached All-purpose Flour
  25. Vinegar
  26. Soy Sauce
  27. Baking Soda
  28. Baking Powder
  29. Canned Soup
  30. Canned Pasta Meals
  31. Canned Stew
  32. Canned Fruit
  33. Canned Vegetables
  34. Canned Tomatoes
  35. Canned Meat
  36. Multi-vitamins
  37. Water

How Much Food For One Year

Below is a stockpile of dry emergency food suggested by the LDS church to feed one person for a year. It’s a list of emergency or survival food in the true sense, without consideration for flavor or enjoyment. Once this food is in place, you can start rounding it out with canned food, condiments, freeze-dried foods, or other preferred foods.

  1. Grain 400 lbs
  2. Beans and Legumes 60 lbs
  3. Powdered Milk 16 lbs
  4. Cooking Oil 10 quarts
  5. White Table Sugar 60 lbs
  6. Salt 8 lbs

Grain (400 pounds)

Storage of 400 lbs of grain includes a mixture of any grains you choose, polished white rice, wheat, grain corn, rolled oats, dry pasta, or flour. (400 pounds of grain per person for a year’s supply)

I’m not a big fan of storing flour because it has a shorter shelf-life than whole wheat berries, but it’s cheap and readily available. Expect to get a 10-year shelf life from properly stored flour.

Scott, Ready Squirrel

Store hard grains, dry beans, and rolled oats properly for a shelf-life of 30 years.

Up next, beans.

Beans & Legumes (60 pounds)

Store 60 pounds of dried beans, lentils, and split peas for protein from filling comfort foods.

Store dried beans, legumes, and split peas in Oxygen-free storage, and they will last up to 30 years.

Learn more about emergency proteins. Check out the Ready Squirrel article, Emergency Protein: Top 19 High Protein Survival Foods.

Next, let’s examine powdered milk which is excellent for baking.

Powdered Milk (16 pounds)

Non-fat powdered milk has the longest shelf-life and is used primarily for baking. Consider mixing fat and non-fat milk because fat is hard to get in a survival situation.

I suggest purchasing powdered milk professionally packaged for long-term storage. Stored oxygen-free, fatty milk will keep for 10+ years unopened, and non-fat powdered milk will keep for up to 20 years. I purchase my milk from the LDS Home Storage Center online and you don’t have to be LDS to make purchases.

Next on the list is cooking oil.

Cooking Oil (10 quarts)

You can store any cooking oil you prefer, but you’ll have to rotate it. Unfortunately, cooking oil has a limited shelf-life of two years if properly stored. In a long-term survival scenario, you will have to use animal fat or processed fat from nuts and grains.

Up next, sugar.

White Table Sugar (60 pounds)

White table sugar has an indefinite shelf-life. Store it in a sealed container, keep it dry, and it’s good to go indefinitely. I suggest storing more than 60 pounds of sugar because it is excellent for baking, fruit preservation, and barter.

Next up, salt.

Salt (8 pounds)

Salt lasts forever so store more than 8 pounds if you can, it’s not just good for baking and food preservation it is also excellent to barter for other items.

Learn how to prepare for food shortages or financial collapse. Check out the Ready Squirrel article, “26 Ways To Prepare for Societal Collapse.”

Next, let’s take a look at 35 canned foods to stockpile.

35 Canned Foods for Supply Chain Breakdown

Canned foods aren’t ideal for ultra-long-term food storage, but they shine for short-term emergencies because they are shelf-stable and ready to eat. Consider stocking some canned food for short-term emergencies but make sure to rotate your stock by the best-buy date to ensure your stock is fresh and ready when you need it. In the beginning, I’d focus on purchasing canned meat because it will be valuable and meat will be hard to get unless you raise animals or hunt.

  1. Evaporated Milk
  2. Meat
  3. Tuna
  4. Beef
  5. Chicken
  6. Turkey
  7. Spam
  8. Salmon
  9. Sardines
  10. Corned Beef Hash
  11. Vienna Sausages
  12. Ham
  13. Chili
  14. Stew
  15. Pasta Sauce
  16. Fruit
  17. Tomatoes
  18. Peaches
  19. Pears
  20. Mandarin Oranges
  21. Pineapple
  22. Vegetables
  23. Corn
  24. Green Beans
  25. Potatoes
  26. Peas
  27. Olives
  28. Pickles
  29. Sauerkraut
  30. Sweet Potatoes
  31. Pumpkin
  32. Asparagus
  33. Pinto Beans
  34. Black Beans
  35. Chickpeas
  36. Navy Beans
  37. Vegetable Oil
  38. Shortening

Next up, instant dry packaged foods.

34 Instant Foods For Food Shortage

You can reconstitute these simple foods with hot water or open the package and eat. These types of food are excellent for food shortages because they are easy to make and ready to eat, and many are filling comfort food. Let’s take a look at the list of 34 instant foods.

  1. Knorr Pasta
  2. Knorr Rice
  3. Instant Cup Rice
  4. Muffin Mix
  5. Ramen Noodle Soup
  6. Dry Soup Mix
  7. Macaroni and Cheese
  8. Cup of noodles
  9. Bacon Bits
  10. Couscous
  11. Crackers
  12. Nut Butter
  13. Cereal
  14. Powdered Milk
  15. Powdered Eggs
  16. Waffle Mix
  17. Pancake Mix
  18. Granola Bars
  19. Nuts
  20. Instant Oatmeal
  21. Instant Potatoes
  22. Freeze-dried Backpacker Meals
  23. Freeze-dried fruit
  24. Freeze-dried vegetables
  25. Freeze-dried meat
  26. Instant Rice
  27. Instant Breakfast
  28. Freeze-dried Coffee
  29. Tea Bags
  30. Fruit Drink Powder
  31. Instant Hot Chocolate
  32. Fruit Snacks
  33. Potatoe Chips
  34. Corn Chips

Next, let’s examine one of the most important foods to stockpile, canned meat.

Meat For Food Collapse (food shortage)

Meat, protein, and fat are the hardest foods to come by in a serious food shortage. Take this under consideration when planning your survival pantry. Ideally, we could all raise chickens for eggs and cattle for whole-fat milk and meat, but many can’t do this, if not most of us. The next best thing is going to be canned meat. Following is a list of 17 types of canned meat you can stockpile so you’ll have some on hand in the event of major shortages.

  1. Keystone Beef
  2. Keystone Chicken
  3. Keystone Pork
  4. Keystone Turkey
  5. Keystone Ground Beef
  6. Lehman’s Canned Meat
  7. Hormel Meats
  8. Kirkland Signature Brand Chicken
  9. Spam
  10. Corned Beef Hash
  11. Tuna
  12. Salmon
  13. Freeze-dried Meat Mountain House
  14. Freeze-dried Meat Nutri Store
  15. Freeze-dried Meat Augason Farms
  16. Freeze-dried Meat Honeyville
  17. Freeze-dried meat Rainy Day Foods

Ready to learn more about canned emergency meats? Check out the Ready Squirrel article, “Canned Meat: A Must-Have Survival Food.”

Next, let’s look at some of the major foods that Venezuelans have a hard time getting.

Foods In Short Supply: Venezuela

Venezuelans call the ongoing food shortages, the situation, or the Maduro diet. Economic collapse leading to hyperinflation and overall societal breakdown have left Venezuelans’ food, water, and electricity insecure with a high malnutrition rate.

In Venezuela, the only way to get the food you want is on the black market at exorbitant prices. There isn’t technically a food shortage in Venezuela, they have food but it is so expensive most can’t afford to buy it. Imagine that the price of meat goes up 1,000,000% based on your currency. Ok, let’s look at the list, you will probably notice most of these foods are simple staple items.

  1. Coffee
  2. Cornflakes
  3. Flour
  4. Bread
  5. Protein
  6. Meat
  7. Rice
  8. Cooking Oil
  9. Milk
  10. Cheese
  11. Butter
  12. Dry Black Beans (National Dish)
  13. Corn Flour
  14. Hygiene and Sanitation Supplies
  15. Toilet Paper

Up next, is food shortages in the United States.

Foods Shortages: United States

At present, there aren’t any food shortages in the United States, but there are supply chain issues because there aren’t enough long-haul truck drivers, and the food supply system hasn’t gotten back on track post-virus. Remember, it takes a while for the food chain to hit maximum output once it goes down or decreases operations. As I edit this article in 2022, there is a railway strike and the price of diesel is through the roof, this exacerbates food shortage and supply issues.

There is a rumor that aluminum is in short supply, making it harder for manufacturers of canned food and beverages to get ahold of materials. I don’t see this being a long-term issue because aluminum can be recycled indefinitely, and the United States can recycle it. Most of the new aluminum does come from China.

Be looking for hyperinflation where the price of everything skyrockets, which means food may be available but it will be so expensive most won’t be able to purchase it.

Hyperinflation is rapidly rising inflation, typically measuring more than 50% per month. Hyperinflation can occur in times of war and economic turmoil in the underlying production economy, in conjunction with a central bank printing an excessive amount of money and can cause a surge in prices for basic goods—such as food and fuel—as they become scarce

Investopedia.com

Emergency Water

We’re talking about survival food, but I must mention the emergency water supply. Emergency water is an essential addition to your long-term food storage. You can survive a couple of weeks without food and only three days without water.

A clean water source is necessary for cooking dry staples, hydration, hygiene, and sanitation.

Ideally, have access to a clean natural water source but, at the very least, store one gallon of clean water per person for each day.

I suggest storing at least a 2-week supply or 14 gallons of water per person and adding water stores for cooking beans, rice, and other dry staples and packaged foods.

Up next, what causes the food supply chain to stop working?

What Causes Food Supply Chain Breakdown?

A Food supply chain breakdown occurs when networks of suppliers, shippers, and distributors hit roadblocks or bottlenecks in the food distribution system caused by issues with food harvesting, shipping, or packaging caused by a disruption anywhere along the supply chain.

The typical food supply chain has six parts: raw materials, production, processing, packaging, storage, wholesale distribution, and distribution to consumers. If any of these parts are disrupted, it can cause food shortages and they are all interconnected so the supply chain is easily disrupted.

The food supply chain is a system of relationships and interconnections built over decades and cannot simply be turned on and off quickly. Once the chain is broken or lags in production, it takes time to build back up to full capacity.

Up next, are signs the food supply chain is broken.

24 Signs The Food Supply Chain Is Broken

Food shortages can be an indication of societal breakdown in general. It may not be obvious what is causing food supply issues, so start stocking up to ensure you have food when you need it. Here are 24 signs that the food supply chain is in trouble.

  1. Foods Shortages
  2. Food Rationing
  3. Price Controls
  4. Rising Prices
  5. Hyperinflation
  6. Empty Shelves
  7. Diminished Food options
  8. Limits on purchase quantities
  9. Stretched supply chain
  10. Rail breakdown
  11. Road system down or diminished
  12. Diminished labor pool
  13. Labor strikes
  14. Food manufacturing decreases
  15. Packaging system upset
  16. Crop failure(s)
  17. Inflation or hyperinflation
  18. Insolvency of restaurants
  19. Insolvency of grocery stores
  20. Major increase in oil prices
  21. Currency devaluation
  22. Societal collapse
  23. Major catastrophes
  24. Manipulation
  25. Bureaucracy making laws vs elected officials
  26. Corporatocracy
  27. Graft and corruption
  28. Curfews and lockdowns
  29. Postal and delivery service overload
  30. Shift to online shopping and downfall of brick and mortar

Learn more about prepping for societal collapse. Check out the Ready Squirrel article “26 Ways To Prepare For Societal Collapse.”

Up next, 32 non-food supplies to stockpile for societal collapse.

32 Supplies To Stockpile (Non-Food Items)

Stockpile the non-food supplies you might need in case of a supply chain breakdown or other catastrophes, or natural disasters. More than likely, you already have a lot of this stuff in the house, but it’s a good idea to have a list to keep track of what you have on hand and what needs to be replenished. Let’s check ou the list of non-food supplies.

  1. First Aid Supplies
  2. Prescription Meds
  3. Water Filter System
  4. Isopropyl alcohol
  5. Cleaning materials
  6. Laundry Soap
  7. Bar Soap
  8. Shampoo
  9. Hand Disinfectant
  10. Bleach
  11. Lysol
  12. Baby Wipes
  13. Trash bags
  14. Toilet paper
  15. Toothpaste
  16. Manual toothbrush
  17. Dishwashing Liquid
  18. Camp or portable stove
  19. Cooking Fuel
  20. Tinfoil
  21. Ziploc Bags
  22. Paper Plates
  23. Plastic forks, spoons, and knives
  24. Cook Kit
  25. Manual can opener
  26. 5-gallon buckets for cleaning laundry and clothing
  27. Flashlight
  28. Scissors
  29. Knife
  30. Batteries
  31. Candles
  32. Lighters

Thanks for stopping by Ready Squirrel. If you have questions or ideas, leave them in the comments below.

Keep on Prepping!

Best Regards, Scott

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