Emergencies happen. Whether you’re concerned about a zombie apocalypse, major weather event or another pandemic lockdown disrupting the supply chain, a prepper pantry will help you prepare for unforeseen events. These types of events that can cause a very real food shortages at local grocery stores and back up the supply chain.
Having extra food, water, every day essentials and yes, toilet paper on hand is a productive way to stay prepared for any crisis, large or small. A prepper pantry is simple to start but take a bit of planning. Organizational management is needed to ensure you always have enough supplies to meet your family’s needs.
A Prepper pantry will help you feel more prepared for the unknown possibilities of the future. Let’s go over how to get started and the must-have items for a well-stocked food supply.
What Is A Prepper Pantry?
Essentially, a prepper pantry is a specific area where you store basic supplies, mostly food, for emergencies. There are two distinct types of prepper pantries, but you might combine elements of both to better suit your space and personal preferences.
Working Pantry
The first, of the two, is a working pantry. This is the bare minimum of a prepper pantry, but is also the least expensive, the easiest to start and requires very little space. It’s usually small but larger than the average kitchen pantry. Working pantries are only intended to provide basic supplies for a few weeks to a month or two, depending on their size.
Working pantries are the items you normally use in your daily kitchen, and will continually rotate these items in and out as you prepare daily meals. Then, replace the items removed while grocery shopping. Rotation is essential in a working pantry to ensure all food is used in the classic FIFO -First In, First Out-rotation.
If you garden or farm and regularly home can excess produce, you may already have a working prepper pantry and not even realize it.
If you already purchase extra items while grocery shopping and always keep a rotating stock, you too may already have a prepper pantry.
Emergency Pantry
The second type of prepper pantry is long-term emergency food storage pantries are the ultimate in prepper pantries and quite extensive. These pantries are intended to hold enough food and supplies to last your family for several months or even a couple of years.
These pantries contain large quantities of nonperishable foods that last a long time, which may include MREs (meals ready-to-eat) and bulk items such as sealed, 5-gallon buckets of flour/rice/beans and oversized canned goods (sometimes referred to as #10 cans). Items in long-term pantries are saved until needed and aren’t for everyday use such as working pantries.
Your Long-Term storage does need to be rotated as well, to keep ideal nutritional content, just not as quickly as your daily pantry. Some will rotate from their long-term as a grocery store and restock the working pantry. Some will keep it sealed and contained until it’s needed. Either way you choose, it’s important to keep long-term pantries organized, pest-proofed and temperature-controlled to fully protect your stored items.
Why You Should Have One
Prepper pantries are extremely useful when those big emergencies happen, such as natural disasters, economic collapse and times that spark fear in others that cause food hoarding. They can also come in handy for smaller personal emergencies, such as a sudden illness or job loss that cuts into your grocery budget.
Being prepared gives you peace of mind because you know you’ll have extra food available until whatever emergency or crisis passes.
We’ve all seen it, the hoarding at the stores, remember-the toilet paper memes weren’t based off of nothing. We’ve also seen how quickly food prices can rise and supply-chains collapse, or even food factories burning down.
In order to mitigate of the “what if”, stocking a prepper pantry for your home will calm those fears and concerns. No matter the size of your family, whether one or a dozen, a stocked prepper pantry can quite literally be a life-saving resource.
Stocking your prepper pantry with items such as staple foods, you’ll have what you need to make basic meals to keep your family’s belly’s full and nourished during the emergency. If you have extra, you can even bless another family in their emergency.
Size & Location Matter
You’ve decided you want to start your own prepper pantry, location is critical to ensure the space helps prevent spoilage and pest infestations. If your home has a large basement that doesn’t flood, you could be set, but if you are like us, with very limited space, you need to get a little creative (as weight and space matter in a traveling RV).
A few important things to keep in mind are that high temperatures and moisture speed up spoilage, and direct sunlight can destroy the nutritional content out of your food. With that said, location is what matters the most.
Your pantry should be located in a cool, dark space that’s free of moisture and currently pest free. I say currently, as pests will be drawn to food so added measures might need to be taken to keep them away (very specific to your location).
Keeping your pantry in a cool dark space will prevent your food from going bad earlier than it should. Proper storage containers and methods are also aid in slowing the process, which we will go over below.
When it comes to size, of course a large room full of shelves is the most ideal. It’s the easiest for organization and access. That said, lack of space is a common concern for many. With a little creativity, you’ll be able to find any unused space to convert into a food storage area as long as it’s still a “cool & dark” place, it will work.
Start Small
Going out and mass purchasing every item you need for the next year, is unreasonable and expensive. I don’t know many who can, or would, chose to spend that amount of money out the gate. There’s often no reason to do this either, unless you know there is a major emergency coming-immediately. It’s perfectly OK to begin with a few cans or boxes and increase it a little at a time. Each week, set aside a small part of your grocery budget to dedicate to stocking your pantry and take advantage of sales, coupons, etc.
Start by setting a goal of reaching a two-week to three-week supply of food will get you through most smaller emergencies. It doesn’t take too long to meet that goal, even for a larger family, when simply adding on a few items each week. After the first goal has been met, you can concentrate on compiling a food supply that’ll last three months, then six months, then a year or more for longer-term emergencies.
A great way to add on a few items each week is by doubling certain items. Canned goods, for example, buy one for the working pantry and one for the prepper panty. Another option, is to can/dehydrate/freeze/freeze-dry foods you’ve already made/purchased. You already have it, now put those leftovers to work!
When you’re ready to start planning out the details, start with how many people are in your home, how much they eat (relative to one another: 2 adults, 3 kids, 2 dogs). Don’t forget personal needs too, dietary concerns and restrictions as well as whether you’re planning to put back toiletries and such also.
Then, review your storage location and determine how much food could reasonably fit there. Whether it’s weeks or months or even years, your space will very much determine how capacity you can put back.
Prepping Your Pantry
When you begin collecting food for your pantry, create a simple list of the foods you eat as a family on a regular basis this will ensure it’s foods your family will enjoy, as they already do. This will prevent you from wasting money and space on items that won’t be eaten. With that said, your family might eat foods they wouldn’t normally, especially during an emergency and if that’s all that’s available, but familar food is definitely more comforting during a known stressful situation like an emergency.
Once you’ve made this simple list of foods your family enjoys, turn it into a weeks meal plan. Use this list as the basis for food needed for one week. Then you’ll need to find ways to get those fresh items into non-persishable form.
It’s also important to stock basic shelf-stable pantry staples that last the longest without refrigeration. Think dry nonperishable items such as flour, rice, canned goods and dehydrated products. These items offer more bang for your buck because they won’t go bad as quickly and don’t require as frequent rotations as perishable foods.
Typical items that make this list:
- grains (oats, rice, flour, pasta)
- beans (any you like)
- oil (olive, coconut, ghee)
- canned/dried produce
- canned meats (tuna, chicken)
- water
Turning your fresh foods into non-parishable items is one of the most cost effective ways to stock your shelves. Not only do you know exactly what’s in each container, you might even know where and how they were grown if they came from your own garden. Extending the life of fresh produce can be done through canning, pressure canning, dehydrating or even freeze drying. This will all depend on what you have available to you, costs, space available and skills. The latter of those can always be worked on.
The most important item you’ll want to make space for is water. Store at least 1 gallon of water per person in your family for each day. Don’t worry about the water going “bad”, as you will also need purchase water purifying tablets or a filtering system. This ensures that no matter how or where you store water, it will be usable. Also, you can always go back to basics of boiling water to clean in.
While making your lists (you will need to write this all down, we’ll talk more about that below) keep an eye on covering all three macros – carbohydrates, protein, fats. Ensuring your nutritional needs are met, especially knowing that stress will be higher, possible physical exertion increase or decrease, calculate an average caloric intake for the household per day. The average adult will need 2200 calories at minimum and a gallon of water per day.
Organization Is Key
Organizing your prepper pantry is just as important as what you put in it. Each prepper pantry you’ll want to maximize the space you have to the items you need. There are so many different storage container options that provide airtight seals. Giving your items an airtight seal, is one of *the* most important part of. stocking your prepper pantry. Airtight seals are used to prevent moisture and bugs from getting inside. If either of these happen, it can be devastating as it’s not only money lost, but it’s mores lost stock!
Containers are available in various sizes to fit any type of space. From Mylar bags, to glass jars to 5 gallon pails and more. While Mylar bags are some of the most expensive and are classed as single use, the foods stored inside can last decades when stored correctly and also take up less space than buckets.
5 gallon pails, however, are much less expensive, and it’s easier to remove partial amounts from these containers and reseal them, all while keeping the items inside airtight. Make sure the lids you’re using has a silicone or rubber ring inside the lids’ lip to create that air tight seal.
When you’re evaluating your space, you’ll want to gauge what type or storage works best for your situation. 5 gallon pails and number 10 cans are great to stack floor to ceiling, but aren’t always workable in a smaller space as it dedicates a lot of space to one item. The container size should also be appropriate to the portion size to the number of people accessing the pantry. So, number 10 cans might be too big for a single person but perfect for a family of six.
When deciding sizing for your supplies, use 5 gallon pails to store supplies you need more of, such as grains. Use smaller Mylar bags for your single use items like dry-active yeast. Small containers or jars are great for things like dried herbs that need to retain their integrity to keep their oils fresh for use. They also stack nicely on shelves. Vacuum-sealed bags will also help create more space.
If you are storing all these items in a regular pantry, ensure that your shelving can hold the weight you’re putting on it. Last thing you want is your shelving failing and glass jars breaking everywhere. If you have the option to build your pantry from scratch, look at heavy duty shelving. While they may not be “Pinterest worthy”, keeping your pantry organized and safe is definitely more important.
Keep It Fresh
First In, First Out (FIFO). If you’re unfamiliar with FIFO, it ensures stored foods are properly rotated to promote freshness and prevent waste.
To keep your FIFO system organized, create an easy method to keep track of which foods have been stored the longest, which are the ones that were first in, and should be used next, or first out.
Label EVERYTHING! Don’t miss this oh so very important item. No one wants to be the one to perform a sniff test of items, especially during an emergency when stress is already high. Save yourself, and your nose, and label everything with a date.
You can keep track of this right on the container, in an organized list or whatever fashion works best for you. It has to be a method that works for you, so you stick to it. I personally, take out the sharpie and write on every container the packaged date (if I re-packaged it) and the original package expiry/best before date.
Another way, is just like restaurants, using a massive excel sheet and a clipboard in the pantry. The clipboard is written on with the item you’re removing, some details about the item that tie back to the master list. The master list is then updated monthly, or more frequently. This is very detailed, but efficient for the families this works for. Again, make sure it’s a method that can be consistently kept up.
When rotating your stock, be sure to check the condition of the packaging and storage containers you’re using. Check for rust, dents, seal imperfections, perforations, animal/pest activity and overall condition. If they’re damaged, replace them as soon as possible. If you won’t be able to use the large quantities before their dates, donate them!
You’re Ready To Make Your Prepper Pantry
This is just one article of many out there on the internet. The best thing you can do right now, while in the beginning stages is to research, research, research!
The internet is full of prepper resources. Not to mention, your local library will have books as well. Who knows, even your neighbour might offer some advice. Use what works for your family. Over time, you may find your methods changing, and that’s ok! Just like everything in life, we’re always trying to perfect our skills and efficiency, you’re prepper pantry should ever evolving too.
Just keep remembering, you have life insurance, car insurance and more, all for emergencies or accidents. Your prepper pantry is an insurance policy for hard times and emergencies. The big difference between your car and pantry, your pantry can provide for others as well. As you prepare for your family and friends, don’t forget to set a small amount aside for charity. You might end up saving someone else’s life with YOUR pantry insurance policy.
Items To Get You Started
Learn more about these top 9 items
To build a proper pantry, start with the basics of food.
- flour, sugar, salt (make your own bread here)
- pasta, rice, beans
- cooking oils, shortening, fats
- canned meats, soups, chili, fruits, vegetables
- tomato/spaghetti sauce, chicken/beef broth, bouillon cubes
- instant potatoes, oatmeal/hot cereals, soup mixes
- powdered milk, baking powder/soda, yeast
- pancake mix, biscuit mix
- peanut butter
- herbs, spices
- condiments
- honey, syrup
- pet food (if applicable)
- lots of water and filtration
- hard candies, as everyone needs a treats
Other prepper pantry items to consider storing include:
- trash bags
- cast iron cookware (to cook over open flames)
- hand-crank can opener
- scrub pads/wash cloths
- all-purpose cleaners
- hand soap/sanitizer
- diapers/pull-ups for babies/toddlers (if applicable)
- baby wipes and other baby essentials
- pet treats, medications, etc.
- food derived vitamin C (prevents scurvy)
- deodorant, razors, shampoo, toothpaste/brushes, and other personal hygiene items
- OTC drugs such as pain relievers, allergy pills, cough syrup/drops, heartburn medicine, etc.
- packaged first aid kit starter, then upgrade and add in a First Responder Kit when you can
- candles, lanterns, flashlights, batteries, etc.
- battery/solar-powered radio
- cash
- clothing in sizes up (children)
- shoes
- socks, socks, socks
- generator or solar power bank
- 80 Proof Vodka (wounds, tinctures, etc)
- BOOKS! They will be the google/internet when the power is out
If you’re looking for more, hope over to the MSP Storefront for more.
One Response