Author: Alan Hagan
Date: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Food

The Prudent Pantry

All copies of the original 1999 print run of The Prudent Pantry: Your Guide to Building a Food Insurance Program have now been sold. If you want a copy for yourself an occasional book does make an appearance on E-Bay or ABE Books. I am presently at work on doing the research for an updated and revised second edition of The Prudent Pantry and will announce when it is ready.

The Prudent Pantry

First Edition

Table of Contents

I. What Is Food Insurance?

A. Why should anyone want to store food?

B. Isn't this hoarding?

C. Where am I going to get the money to buy everything?

D. Basic rules for filling your Prudent Pantry

1. What are you storing food for?

2. Store what you eat, eat what you store.

3. Rotate, revolve, rotate, turn around, rotate, cycle out.

4. Food storage influences lifestyle.

II. Water, Water Everywhere, But Is There A Drop To Drink?

A. How much water do I need?

B. Water storage

1. Portable water storage containers

2. Non-portable water containers

C. Finding more water

1. Short-term expedient sources

2. Long-term water sources

D. Water treatment

1. Contaminants

2. Pathogens

3. Physical treatment

4. Chemical treatment

E. Suggested water related books

III. Do I Need All This Stuff For A Hurricane?

A. Food storage program creation checklist

1. Take your time

B. Levels of Preparedness

1. Grab it and go! The Immediate Crisis Kit

2. We're in this for the long haul

IV. Do Cheese Puffs Count? Planning Your Prudent Pantry A. The Mormon Four

B. The Mormon Seven or Kearny Plan

C. The Buddy System

D. The Targeted Plan

1. Creating the plan

2. Quantifying the plan

3. Caloric intake

4. Purchasing stores

5. Merits and demerits of the Targeted Plan

E. The Problems of Fresh Foods

F. Continuing research

G. The importance of fun foods and variety in your diet V. Critical nutrition: Nutrients Commonly Lacking In Storage Foods and Where To Find Them.

A. First things first

1. Water & salt

2. Calories

3. Protein

B. Vitamins & minerals

1. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)

2. Vitamin A

3. Vitamin D

4. Iron

5. Calcium

C. Sprouting seeds

VI. What Goes Around Comes Around. Shelf lives.

A. Environmental storage conditions

B. "Best Used", "Use By" and other food product dates C. Closed dating codes by manufacturer

1. Specific product lines

D. Shelf lifes of some common foods

VII. A Cornucopia of Storable Foods.

A. The grains

1. Flours & meals vs. whole grains.

2. About gluten

3. Grain varieties

B. Beans, peas & lentils

1. Legume varieties

C. Acquiring grains & legumes: Some considerations 1. Selecting good grains, beans, peas and lentils

D. Dairy products

1. Milk

2. Cheese

3. Butter

E. Vegetables, fruits and meats.

1. Fruits & vegetables

2. Meats

F. Sugar, honey and other sweeteners

1. Granulated sugars

2. Honey

3. Cane syrups

4. Corn syrup

5. Maple syrup

G. Fats and oils

H. Cooking staples

1. Baking powder

2. Baking soda

3. Herbs and spices

4. Salt

5. Vinegar

6. Yeast

I. Infant formula

1. Use forms of infant formula

2. Choosing a specific formula

3. Spitting up

4. Expedient formulas

J. Mail ordering storage foods - what you should know.

VIII. Safe Deposit: Storage Methods and Techniques.

A. Storing dry foods

1. Grains and legumes

2. Dry milks & eggs

3. Granulated sugars & salts

4. Dry meats, fruits & vegetables

5. Other dry foods

B. Storing liquid foods

1. Oils and fats

2. Honey & syrups

3. Other liquids

C. Bagged & jugged - storage containers

1. Food grade packaging: What is it?

2. Forms of packaging materials

3. Recycled packaging

4. Mylar & polyethylene bags

D. Under pressure! - gas purging and fumigation

1. Using dry ice for fumigation or purging

2. Compressed gasses

E. The breath of life - oxygen absorbers

1. Handling oxygen absorbers

2. Using oxygen absorbers

F. Gasping for air - vacuum packing.

1. Vacuum Packing Considerations

G. The cold shoulder - freeze treating

H. Dryly speaking - moisture & desiccants

1. Food moisture content

2. The significance of air humidity

3. Desiccants in food storage

I. The gritty truth about diatomaceous earth

J. Rust never sleeps - storing canned goods

IX. Where Am I Going To Put It All?

A. Putting it away

1. Storage space considerations

2. Inventory & tracking systems

X. Just Say NO to Rot! - Spoilage and How to Prevent It.

A. Insect infestations

1. Dealing with insect infestations

B. Rodent infestations

1. Commensal rodents

2. Non-commensal rodents

3. Cleaning up rodent infested areas

C. Fungal spoilage in foods

1. Fungi in dry foods

2. Fungi in high moisture foods

3. Mold growth in kitchen and storage areas

D. Bacterial Spoilage

1. Botulism: Catastrophe in a small package

2. Bacterial spoilage in food handling and fresh foods

XI. The Tool Department. Important Equipment for the Prudent Pantry A. Grain mills

1. Basic mill types

2. Grain mill models

3. Mill use basics

B. Food dehydrators

1. Selected food dehydrators

XII. I Gotta Go! Expedient Sanitation For When The Lights Go Out.

A. Human waste disposal

1. Makeshift toilets

2. Somewhat longer term solutions

3. True long term solutions

4. For those connected to municipal sewage systems

B. Garbage disposal

C. Non-sewage liquid wastes

D. Personal hygiene

1. Bathing

2. Clothes washing

3. Dish washing

E. Insect and rodent control

F. Community sanitation

XIII. Information Please! - Resources

A. Books

1. Food storage/preservation/production

2. Specific foods

3. General foods

4. Food science & nutrition

5. Cooking methods

6. Water & sanitation

7. General survival books

8. Medical

B. Bulletins & Pamphlets

C. Electronic

XIV. Putting It All Together. The Dress Rehearsal.

A. At home

1. Vital and important equipment

2. Consumable supplies

B. Away from home

C. Dress rehearsals

D. A final note.

Appendix A - RDA table

Appendix B - How to use the Nutrition Facts label in your food storage planning Appendix C - Nutritional compositions of some common storage foods Appendix D - Emergency water & sanitation community service hand-out pages