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survival/food storage




We are a couple in our late 40's



each of us has 2 part time jobs



we don't have much disposable income



no kids



last few years we have been trying to build our food supply and become more self sufficient.



some of our food is now past "best before" dates



we decided to try to consume it to see if it was still ok to eat.



(we did the "sniff & taste a wee bit" to "check" it - this is not advice to eat food past the "best before" date. If you are unsure of any food - chuck it! It is better to be safe than sorry!)



some long term storage experiences



Pace salsa 5 years old-still good



Tea and coffee-over 3 years old-still good



Shelf milk aka UHT milk-over 2 years past best before date-ok as long as you shake it before you use it-fat settles - bottom of tetra pack turned to "yogurt"



canned goods from store (meat, fruit, vegetables, soups etc)-2 years past best before-still good Had a couple cans of tomato paste swell up-didn't open them-threw them in garbage.



Miracle whip salad dressing-2 years past best before-still good



Kraft bottled (italian, french, ranch, etc) salad dressing. Over 2 years old-ok.



honey-crystallized-but still good-soak jar in to water for a while to re-liquefy.



dry goods-sugar, powdered milk, flour, baking soda, baking powder, yeast, cake mix, pasta, etc. Over 2 years old-no difference. Stored in area that never gets past 70 deg. F



Breakfast cereal (corn flakes, rice crispies type)-over 1 year old-very slightly stale-but still good.



Health and beauty aids and over the counter meds-all health and beauty aids were ok (except for expired birth control-didn't want to take a chance on that!). The pain killers still killed the pain, the soap still washed as well, the cold and flu medicine worked just as good. Band aids don't stick quite as well and certain vitamin tablets changed color.



Crackers (triscuit, ritz) Just over 1 year old Very stale - eatable but not pleasant.



Pet food-dry food that was older than about 6 months-pets would turn up their noses at. They would eat it if nothing else was given. We felt sorry for them and gave the old stuff to the animal shelter.



Has it changed us or the way we look at or do things? Yes! We now regularly buy products that are discounted because they are close to the expiry date. We have not had to do very much grocery shopping in January because we have been consuming this expired food.



We have noticed that many of the new packages are quite often a few ounces less than the old ones, but still charging the same price as 2 years ago. I would say we have saved money by purchasing food 2 years ago that was on sale-every week a few extra items.



We were thinking of trying "the Bison diet" (buying sacks of wheat, beans, corn, etc at the feed store), but were not sure if we would like it or be able to figure out how to use it. With the "buy extra normal food every week" plan we knew we would not mind eating what we had stored. I found it very easy to have both the male and female food urges satisfied. He buys what he likes and she buys what she likes. Sometimes we have to keep track of each others inventory (and remind the other person to "ease up") because we tend to stock up too much on our favourite foods.



Submitted by: a nameless couple