Food Vs. Gold and Silver–How to Start Your Stockpile
Friday, July 30th, 2010Author Steve Foste
One ounce of gold will just about buy you enough food to survive for one year for one person.
How much food do you have and where should you be putting your money today?
I have been looking at the food system at http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/foodpak1.aspx. Now, I understand that most of us don’t really want dehydrated foods and could probably do just as well shopping and building supplies through Sams and Wal-mart. Not to mention that these foods require a lot of work to process into a real meal and there is a pretty large learning curve as to how to properly use these products.
My point though is that for the price of an ounce of gold, you have immediate food security without spending a year trying to accumulate it. It is storable, and has multi multi years of shelf life. Over the last few months I have been buying the basics, beans, wheat, EAS Whey, canned goods, canned meat, personal hygene products and getting them in storage, but every time I look at the 25 lb. sack of white enriched rice I think it is going to go bad. I really want brown rice but it doesn’t store well but it has so much more nutritional value.
The system I am looking at provides 2800 calorie a day. Personally I think that is a lot of extra energy. The USDA nutritional guild lines call for 2400 calories a day for a man and 2000 calories a day for a woman. It is no wonder we are a nation of obese people.. These levels may be good for a hard working laborer who is in the sun or cold all day, but my opinion is that is way to much for the average American.
I am in the camp that the average male can get by on about 1800 calories a day with a supplemental vitamin, now I realize that this would very form person to person depending on activity, weight, metabolic processes, stress, and situation. But I am not so sure that if rationed form the very beginning and with supplement product purchased to add to the initial stash of dehydrated food, that you could extend that initial outlay to two years.
Using Tony’s math skill, I guarantee you I am not in his statistical league, we get this.
$1440.00 dollars for the 2800 per day package equals .0014 cents per calorie.
$408.00 adds 800 calories per day of the good stuff, canned meats etc to add quality.
$100.00 for oil for our essential fats.
Total calories per day, over 3600.
That’s 1800 calories per day for two people for one year.
A hand powered grain mill is required to grind the wheat, and a person should consider buying a quality mill if it is to last for a couple of years with replacement parts, cost around $450.00
Of course water is a necessity, the Berkey system seems to be one of the best out there. For around $400.00 you can set this up to run on batteries with a solar charger. Extra batteries are a must and a 2nd charger for redundancy. Purchase of two units may be good idea.
Total cost for two people for one year $2660.00 or a little over two ounces of gold. For each additional ounce of Gold spent I assume you could add on enough supplies for sustain and additional person.
I realize that this may be more expensive and maybe less desirable than what many of you have planned. But each family out there has their own needs and family to consider, and we are all different with different sets of resources, problems and available capitol. This works for me. It gets me where I need to be almost instantly and I don’t have to worry about rotating the stock and keeping everything up to date. It frees up my time and my mind to move into the other areas of preparations. Ie: barter, investing, learning skills, and living and enjoying life. It also provides me with peace of mind knowing I can at least eat for a year.
I like things simple, and the less complex they are the easier things are to manage. And the easier things are to manage in a survival system the more likely hood we will survive and stay well. Once I have completed the food storage my next plan is a system for cleanliness and sterility and safety measures. I don’t want people breaking legs and arms, shooting or cutting themselves and definitely want to be able to fight bacteria and viruses to the best of our ability to do so.
Steven Foste
For the Texas Ring.
Editor’s Note: I checked Steve’s source, above, and to my astonishment, he’s right. This system says it provides 2800 calories a day and insists on adding essential fatty acids. Oil is ALWAYS necessary, and particularly so in difficult conditions. If you read carefully most of the MRE firms are on the order of 1200 calories. I agree that this makes very good sense as a starter system at reasonable prices, and they even urge you to get a sample pack and test the taste. My Berkey requires no power at all; just pour water through. The filters are cleanable and it can do hundreds of gallons a day if you stand there pouring it through and filling jugs from the catch chamber. Filtration is fast, and extra ceramic filters were $100/set when I got mine several years ago. The water tastes good. Obviously, I need to go see what Steven has found and what innovations Berkey has come up with. I commend again Wal*Mart’s “Great Value Luncheon Meat.” This mid-price “spam” product has it all over every other version including the original. It is neither slimy nor over-salty, and it actually tastes good enough to slice cold for a sandwich. It’s probably about fifteen cents an ounce, now. Also good to add to beans or fry for breakfast. How about sending us the source for the grain mill, although $450 for a hand-powered mill sure sounds like a lot.
HOWEVER, I will NOT agree on trying to make rations for one stretch to sustain two adults in far from ideal circumstances, and I expect some lively discussion to develop. Always good, that.
Congratulations, Steve, on doing your homework and writing an excellent presentation for us.
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Dave says:
July 31st, 2010
12:24 am
I’m looking for good freeze dried and/or dehydrated foods as a backstop against garden failure. Any recommendations beside the one mentioned above? I will supplement with rice and beans in 5 gallon air tight pails. Consider a still for water, fuel and whatever else your imagination may devise. Photo voltaic cells on the roof give me power at least during the day (300 days a year in Hawaii). Home raised fish and chickens hopefully with rabbits to follow.
I hope I can stay but I’m ready to run.
Steve Foste says:
July 31st, 2010
4:08 am
Dave
I was orginally thinking about Happy Hovel Foods. I see your challange shipping to Hawaii is fairly expensive. They have been in business for a long time and have a great variety. My decision for Pleasant Hill wad due to shipping cost. And it was a nice package of food products. Happy Hovel has a great cataloug they will send you, it is some excellent information
http://www.happyhovelfoods.com/
Steve
Steve Foste says:
July 31st, 2010
5:16 am
Whew.
Dave just for fun I wonderd what it woudl take to UPS 70 lbs to Hawaii from Washington state. 239 dollars. Not really a viable option.
It must be tough to get things shipped that far. Am I wrong or are there shipping companies that consolidate peoples orders and have them shipped in by ship to reduce cost?
Lynne says:
July 31st, 2010
3:23 pm
Steve, I think your making the assumption that food will be availible for purchase, in many disasters that is not a safe assumption.
I find having a lot of whole grains for my long term storage actully takes up less room than if I was storing all those dehydrated cases for 1 year of food. I do a lot of scratch cooking so I’m using stuff and rotating it out. So I’m not to concerned about losing stuff to spoilage. Plus I can make beer, bread, pasta or cereals and fresh sprouts for “greens” year round. I like the flexibility grains give me.
I’m looking at Par-boiled rice to get the best of both worlds. About 80%% of the nutrition of brown rice and better storage time of white rice.
I started out doing this as cheaply as possible and I’m adding more things all the time. I’m lucky I live where we have farms, ranches and orchards all around me. I’m looking to start using and storing freeze dried fruits and vegies this fall from a local factory using local foods. Just like everything you have to strike a balance.
FYI You can make a gravity fed Berkley water filter for the cost of the filters and a couple of Food grade buckets, just google it.
Dave you might check out “Military surplus stores” for MRE’s as a backup.
Dave says:
July 31st, 2010
7:25 pm
Steve thanks for the tips, I’m looking in to it. Lynne, I have a few cases of MRE’s, but having enough for long term is both cost and space prohibitive. But surely great for a prepositioned cache.
Lynne says:
July 31st, 2010
8:43 pm
Well Dave you may look into growing coffee beans and shipping them to us caffeine/coffee fiends as a barter arrangement. I’m sure we could work some thing out. Wink wink
Lynne says:
July 31st, 2010
10:04 pm
You are not alone.
Yes I may get pissy and obnoxious. But I do care, Your my homies, my gang and folks I can share stuff with and hope you have an answer. I don’t have many answers though I do my best. Hell I’ll give you alternatives and a place to look for stuff. You call me on stuff and I hope I call you on stuff. It’s not about being right it’s about what works for you. God knows Linda has slapped me down and reevaluated my attitudes. Now I’m getting it from several others. Check your attitudes and what you think know at the door. You may learn something.
Steve Foste says:
August 1st, 2010
4:24 am
Thanks for the Berkley tip,I did look it up. The berkley filters are about 99 dollars plus the other supplies, 150 to 200 dollars to set up.
Lynne, there is about 300 # of wheat in the system, and you are right I would not stop at just this package, I would continue to add items off the shelf. But this the insurance package, and stores without having to rotate all the time.
Dave, I would take some of those coffee beans to, and I need to get Linda to plant that Tobacco, or maybe James or dave Franklin.
Tex Norton says:
August 2nd, 2010
3:08 pm
FYI, I’ve been using The EpiCenter for freeze-dried foods. See Occasionally, they’ll offer significant discounts: 20-25% off list prices. They feature Mountain House brand and Gourmet Reserves brand. FWIT, I’ve been very satisfied with their products.
Tex
PS: I believe the correct spelling of the water filters you’ve been discussing is “Berkey,” not Berkley.
Lynne says:
August 3rd, 2010
5:59 pm
I think you if you live in an ag. area. You will have a better time of getting food and fuel. If you support those folks, always a plus. Will they help you? kind of a “crap shot”. Can I help you? Get some positive commitments. It may be security traded for fuel, food or ammo.
I have nothing against folks that buy/sell MRE’s and they a good stop gap measure. But you may talk to some folks that hae critters? Are you really that concerned about zoning laws if the stuff hits the fan? I love that folks are getting on top of self-sufficiency. I think that is great!!
As they say in the Movie Wall-E. I don’t want survive. I want to live.
Lynne says:
August 3rd, 2010
7:55 pm
I’m building a 10 gallon bucket/ bin of survival. Yes it takes a bit of water. I can handle that. But I’ve built a real survival bin in a 10 gallon bin. I have beans and rice, pastas,and sauce, a biscuit/pancakes mix and milk. I’m working on bread. C’mon folks think outside of the box. I’m not the smartest person in the room. I have a nice little 10 gallon box that will give 1 person 1 month of food, and easy to throw in the minivan.
Now the box may get bigger, and folks healthier than me. I don’t mind that. I love ideas to try out. We may have trash a few ideas and grab some others. What works or not and keep moving forward.
Lynne says:
August 3rd, 2010
8:16 pm
Please Steve don’t assumme you will have food. Unless you have stored it. All the gold in the world will not make someone sellout a good sourse of food. I’m guessing you have something in hand when you buy gold or silver, Food/ grain is a bit more bulky. But easily stored with just a little imagination. I can fit a 1 months supply for 1 person in a 10 gallon bin and have some leeway as well. Now you are talking about 1 year of food and that can be met on about $300.00 per person not thousands of dollars per person.
Give me an 1 oz of gold, I’ll give you a year’s worth of food for 2 people and 1200 calories per day. Will you have to work to survive YES. But I could do it. So instead of me or anyone else telling you what you should do? Just do it…
Dave says:
August 4th, 2010
1:29 am
If you folks are seriosly interested in coffee, I can send some. I don’t know how you’d want to handle information exchange. Any ideas?
Lynne says:
August 5th, 2010
12:13 pm
I’m not sure of the shipping costs. If you could ship Green coffee beans would be better as far as storage. I can buy 1 # of green beans for $5.00 to $8.00 per pound + shipping at a few sites. Can you get an estimate on shipping cost to Idaho and I’ll do the same for the Dehydrated foods and I mail to Hawaii. We may be able to barter.
It might be to expensive right now but in the future…..
Kurt says:
August 5th, 2010
10:32 pm
OK, I know the filter ate it that time lol.
There are some sites listed on my site that I have found. Some I have bought from, some I would like to try. I’m not going to list them here as that seems to be why the filter ate my comment lol. It’s in the pages section, under additional resources. Gonna try to add another link in there tomorrow for a place I found that sells emergency food tabs cheaper than most places.
I also hit restaurant supply stores for bulk bags of beans and pasta, and WalMart, Sam’s Club, and Costco, for canned hams etc. These kind of places should be readily available in places expensive to ship to, like Hawaii. These are the type places I have to get most of what I can store, as it is far cheaper to buy than freeze dried.
Dave, if you want to exchange contact info and keep it private, one of my sites has a log on system and a private messaging system that can be used for such purposes if you like.
Dave says:
August 6th, 2010
1:31 am
I’m not sure that I can find green beans or beat that price. I’ll check. Waialua coffee is relatively new just a few years old. A rather small operation, limited production, I would assume a higher price tag.
I am also not sure that the green beans would store better than those processed. You would know better than me. How many pounds are you interested in? Any certain type?
Linda Brady Traynham says:
August 6th, 2010
3:32 am
I protest! I never laid a hand on Lynne! Ah LUVS our Lynnie. Hate to tell you coffee is up 79% this year. I’m down on freezers for long-term storage at present, having just had two painful, smelly examples of what happens when workmen unplug the things to use the outlet and don’t plug them back in. I now know there are little cheap screw-on gizmos available that prevent plugs from being removed without a screwdriver…
Kurt says:
August 6th, 2010
11:49 am
Linda, what ya ought to consider is laying out a pre plugged in extension cord, and telling them that THAT is their power, unless they specifically ask about a different outlet first. I know many would not grasp that, think yours would? Might be worth a try.
Lynne says:
August 7th, 2010
4:36 pm
I’m sure any coffee would be fine, something good for a French or European roast. Green beans is the best way to go for long term storage of coffee. Plus they are easy to roast but like anything it does take a little knowledge and practice.
I’m thinking around 5 pounds as a test to see the shipping costs and how well it ships. Dave what are you interested in as far as dehydrated or freeze dried foods? Veggies, fruits or something else? I think you would get the most bang for your buck with fruits and veggies in #10 cans. Plus easy to ship.
It might be a little expensive right now. But as long as UPS, Fedex and USPS keep going I know I would have a supply of coffee.
Linda,
I do have a small chest freezer but I’m looking to go with root cellars, Smoking, salting and canning this fall. Sorry about your loss, I always hate when food is wasted but especially when combined with stupidity/ignorance.
I’m still getting coffee pretty cheap right now. I think it’s a “Loss leader” for the stores around here. Of course it helps if you have a 3-9 month stash so you can wait for sales.
Lynne says:
August 11th, 2010
3:50 pm
Dave this is practice for a “barter economy”. I don’t expect you to beat prices. I need a base line of costs. I maybe able to send you canned goods, or ship a good product to you on freeze dried or dried goods to you. I’m not looking to make money just get you the most bang for your buck. I’m looking for the same. I expect it will be a little high cost to start off and then go down in costs. Remember the only place in the USA capable of growing consistent coffee is Hawaii. What a great trade item. C’mon folks think out of the box. start thinking about “empty grocery shelves”. Wheat and rice will go up in cost and anything made with them are looking at a 20-35% rise in cost. We may have a break to buy before futures cost us.
At min. I think we are looking at some scarcity/inflation on food and fuel, and a deflation on “hard goods”. Damn Obama/congress has a plan. If that doesn’t scare you I don’t know what will. As Davy Crockett said to Congress. ” You all can go to hell. I’m going to Texas.
Linda Brady Traynham says:
August 11th, 2010
9:22 pm
Kurt, what they need is full-time supervisors each. Unfortunately, if we had the energy for that we’d do the work ourselves!
Linda Brady Traynham says:
August 11th, 2010
9:24 pm
We’ve learned the hard way about water damage, goats, chickens, theft, power failure due to people, a freezer going out…it all hurts, it’s all annoying, and it still beats waiting until the last minute!
Lynne says:
August 11th, 2010
10:58 pm
Now Linda if you get all pissy I won’t be able to get your critters or set up some treade with Dave. Now linda I am lookig forward to playing with your critters. You are not allowed to quit. You have become our totem. Quiting is easy, staying an fighting is hard. You have about 5 months of dropping all on taxes this yearand it won;t can’t cost anyone anything. I’d love for you to pick an old tat guy at random.
Do I deserve anything? No and No Hows that for a ?
Lynne says:
August 13th, 2010
7:40 pm
DAng the more I look at it the better I’m doing in my state. I have food of all sorts. I have home energy in the dams. My weak link is vehicle fuel I think with a little motivation we can overcome that issue.
It’s not a problem, just an opportunity to excell.
Lynne says:
August 13th, 2010
10:38 pm
Linda I do mucho hugs But I am working for a “coffee conenction” . It won’t be cheap but if we can hit an equitable trade. I am not doing this from the kindness of my heart. I want some profit. When did profit become a bad word? Hell I’m trying to buld an import/export business. Why am I considered evil? I want to put people to work. Fricking Liberals I want to get off SSD yet these goombas want to punish me.
Kurt says:
August 14th, 2010
2:02 pm
Lynne, of course they want to punish you for that. If you got off SSD, they would not longer have as much control over you. That’s unpardonable in their eyes as they know what’s best for you.
So what ya got going as far as an import export business going? Any thing any of us can do to help? I’d love to do the same thing, I even picked up a few contacts on suppliers a while back trying to get it started.