When I was growing up, a well-stocked pantry was something that most people had. People didn't run to the store for every meal, or get fast food from the drive up window, the way many people do these days.We lived on a small farm, in an old farmhouse that had a cellar with a dirt floor and stone walls. Our cellar shelves were always stocked with row upon row of canned vegetables, fruits, jellies, jams, and meats, thanks to the long hours my mother spent working in a hot kitchen every summer and fall. (We helped too.)
Once I started my own family, there were several years where I stopped gardening, didn't bother keeping a pantry, basically believed that I didn't need to keep a pantry because "the stores would always be open and there would be plenty of food".
Around 1997 or 1998, I started reading some of the Y2K preparedness boards, and I learned just how fragile our just-in-time delivery system is. I learned that it really wouldn't take a whole lot to disrupt our nation's food supply.
Y2K nudged me back to my gardening and pantry keeping roots, and I've continued with those things ever since.
If you're new to stocking a pantry, Brenda at Coffe, Tea, Books, and Me has shared an excellent series of posts on starting, stocking, and keeping a pantry. Here is her latest post on this topic.
I do some of the same things that Brenda does. I try to buy a little extra each week. Some weeks I have a little more available cash, and can buy several extra items for the pantry. Other weeks, things are tight and I might only buy a can or two, or a package of something, to stock my pantry.
The first thing I do when I bring groceries home is mark (with a Sharpie) that day's date on every can, bottle, or package. Newer items always go behind the older items, so we're always "rotating our stock", just like in the store.
I always freeze flour or rice for a few days first to kill any bug eggs that might be there.
I follow this saying, "Stock what you eat, eat what you stock". No sense buying stuff that nobody in the family will eat, whether it's on sale or not.
Your pantry doesn't have to be fancy. It can be a cupboard in your kitchen set aside as your pantry. It could be shelves in the basement or garage. You can even keep canned goods and such under a bed, in a closet, or behind the couch if you live in a small space.
The photo above is an old shelving unit that was out in the garage. Mr. B painted it purple for me, and I now use it as part of my pantry.
Having food in the pantry has been very comforting, whether it was a period of sickness, loss of a job, or just not wanting to go out in the middle of a Nor'easter.
