Pragmatic Preparedness

For being one of the most universally useful and practical preps, a deep pantry seems to be surprisingly intimidating to many people. (If you’re not sure what a deep pantry is and why you should have one, then check out this link.) The fear of wasting food and money seems to deter a lot of folks from taking the plunge into what they foresee will be a mess of inventory tracking and spoiled food. I wouldn’t want that, either.

However, I found a method that I’ve been using for years and it takes me less than two seconds from the time I open the door to determine how much peanut butter we should pick up at Costco. There’s no spreadsheet, no app, no annual audits… and never once has an ounce of peanut butter gone bad in my house. I think this method could work for you, too.

Most people I know instinctively and successfully pull off inventory tracking every day. If you pause and reflect, it shouldn’t be too hard to identify something that you use and track subconsciously all the time… and I mean every day.

For many of us, it’s milk. But, it can also be bread, pet food. We look at a spot where we expect to see milk, bread, pet food, toilet paper,  etc. and if we see a certain amount of empty space, our brain just says, “I need to pick up more of that.”

Now, if you are the kind of person who regularly runs out of milk and bread and has scrawny pets, then maybe you should look into spreadsheets or an inventory tracking app. But, if your milk/bread/pet food rarely goes bad and you brain regularly says, “I need to pick up more milk/bread/pet food”, let’s run with that.

The first step is designating the right place and the right amount of space for each main item in your deep pantry… just like you have already subconsciously done with your milk/bread/pet food. You know where your milk always is and you know how much space it’s supposed to take up on the shelf or in the container. More space could equal more milk, so you have probably subconsciously limited the space to hold less than the amount of milk you will go through before it goes bad. (Tangentially, dark and cool spaces are almost always the best environment for deep pantry items.)

Let’s create the same scenario with my favorite prepper pantry item by following these simple steps:

#1 Determine the shelf life of peanut butter. I prefer Skippy over Jif, but Jif’s website has more specific info, so we’ll go with that. On Jif’s website it says:

#2 Determine how quickly you consume your peanut butter.

#3 Figure out how much space you could allocate to peanut butter.

So, if I know my household will go through one jar in two months, then I can allocate space for up to 12 jars. If I’m more worried about waste than I am about having the extra peanut butter, shrinking to the space for 10 jars should provide a bit of a buffer before anything would go bad. Or, if my space is limited, I can even drop down to six jars and still have one year’s worth of peanut butter in my pantry.

If I keep that peanut butter in a designated space that is full when I’ve hit my limit, then when I see empty space my brain will say, “I need to pick up more of that.” (For why that is a good idea even if there’s never an emergency, read this article.) And, not only can my brain recognize I need to get more peanut butter; it’s pretty easy to determine how much more. If I see empty space for two jars, then I only pick up two jars.

The final step is to use them in the right order. But, if you have ever had more than one open container of milk in your fridge, then your mother or significant other has likely explained what the right order is. You grab the oldest one first and generally use one at a time. That concept of inventory management is called FIFO. You just sort it by putting the future-most* “Best By” dates in the back and leave the empty spaces in the front until you replace them by putting the new stuff in the back and pushing the rest forward.

This isn’t just for food. I use this for many other types of consumables that store well like toilet paper, soap, furnace filters, etc.

If you’ve got an alternate method or a mindset that will manage your pantry well, that’s great!

 However, if you’re intimidated by the extra overhead of tracking specific items, then start with something with a long shelf life that your family eats regularly and try the same method you use for milk. Candidates could be peanut butter, pasta, canned soups, or canned fruits, or whatever your household consumes that lasts longer than you plan on storing it for.

When deciding what type of food to start with, only use food that your household consumes regularly. (This is not your stash of rice, beans, and MREs. See this article for long-term storage.) Also, I would recommend checking with your local food pantries to see what they are in need of. It’s likely that their needs will overlap with your household’s needs… and that becomes a great option if your calculations are off and you end up not being able to use everything. (In my neighborhood there are two annual food drives and I use those to review where I am at and what should be donated. It’s really satisfying when nothing you are donating “needs” to be donated and you can fill a donation bag and walk away with a good idea of exactly what you need to replenish.)

No matter how you manage it, a deep pantry will go a long way to providing peace of mind during the best and worst of times.

If you want to expand your knowledge about filling your pantry, here are some resources that I found helpful:

• The USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) has this useful article on when food goes bad and how ‘Best By’ dates are more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ then actual rules.
• ThePrepared.com has a good article with a list of long-lasting food for deep pantries.
• TheProvidentPrepper.org has a pretty thorough article on this.
• RoseRed Homestead takes a refreshing view in this video.

* Yes, future-most appears to be a made up saying, but I haven’t found a better alternative.