If all grocery stores shut permanently, how long would your current food stocks last?

[Spinneret]

About a week , I couldn't have sandwiches after 2 days

 

[tasha99]

6 months? Idk, but we have an absurd amount of food in the house (2 fridge/freezer combos, a chest freezer, and a lot of pantry stuff including huge bags of different kinds of rice and beans. It would stop being healthy within a week or two, though, because what would be left would be beans/rice/meat/flour/masa etc with no veggies.

 

[tvguy]

A log longer than I would have guessed. without looking. In the cabinet, 22 cans of soup. 1 can chili beans, 1 can refried beans, 2 tin foil pouches 2 boxs of high temperature milk that needs no refrigeration. Just back from the store so a weeks worth of meat, plus a 6 pack of fully cooked hamburger patties, a couple meals worth of fish fillets. I'm guessing 4 to 5 weeks.

 

[tvguy]

6 months? Idk, but we have an absurd amount of food in the house (2 fridge/freezer combos, a chest freezer, and a lot of pantry stuff including huge bags of different kinds of rice and beans. It would stop being healthy within a week or two, though, because what would be left would be beans/rice/meat/flour/masa etc with no veggies.

I have to ask, is freezer burn an issue? My mom's two sisters and brother all had large families, two had 5 kids, one had 6. They had a chest freezer, but I know one Aunt said generally everything in their freezers was used up in a month, and she dated everything in there because after two or three months it was suffering the effects of being frozen that long.

 

[TinkAgainU]

We have emergency food I would not be thrilled to eat, but food and water (based on 1 gal/per person per day) for at least a month - food more than double if I get creative with basics like rice and flour (assuming sufficient water and power). Meds for at least 90 days. I have 90 days of everything as a goal - water is the most difficult storage challenge.

I'm always totally shocked when people with kids say they have few emergency supplies. There is a great phrase "it's not the odds that drive me, it's the stakes."

 

[tinkerjo]

6 months. I’m a little light on some things, and water is one, but have a freezer full of meat, canned goods, and staples like flour, sugar, yeast. (And the skills to grow/make/hunt my own food) so most likely longer than 6 months.

 

[TippyThomas]

Several months. Not sure I'd enjoy it, but I wouldn't starve.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I have to ask, is freezer burn an issue? My mom's two sisters and brother all had large families, two had 5 kids, one had 6. They had a chest freezer, but I know one Aunt said generally everything in their freezers was used up in a month, and she dated everything in there because after two or three months it was suffering the effects of being frozen that long.

Freezer burn is a symptom of air in a cold environment so ensuring better wrapping is the solution.

I’d guess several months worth of meals between my apt sized chest freezer and pantry goods.

 

[Meriweather]

at least 6 months....from pantry, freezer

 

[Meriweather]

I have to ask, is freezer burn an issue? My mom's two sisters and brother all had large families, two had 5 kids, one had 6. They had a chest freezer, but I know one Aunt said generally everything in their freezers was used up in a month, and she dated everything in there because after two or three months it was suffering the effects of being frozen that long.

I vacuum seal all my meats.
We used to have a freezer burn problem and now it is solved

 

[TinkAgainU]

Yikes, my 90 days is looking sad now. But honestly, the list of stuff to consider in a larger emergency (ie: more than just one county) gets pretty long... Communications (news, family), transportation (if away from home), medical needs, power (lights and cooking), food - at least some that could be prepared with utilities out, including food for babies and pets, basic comfort if the weather is dangerously hot or cold, water, more water, and last is security - hopefully, not the extreme kind, but given some thought and neighbor considerations.

 

[CGB]

At least six months, possibly longer. We have an extensive (rotating) pantry and freezers. I garden & can/freeze vegetables and fruits. We have close relatives who farm and raise their own animals. They also have land for foraging and hunting.

 

[Tink3815]

About 2 months for meals with meat. About 6 months for meals with my homemade tomato sauce, frozen and canned vegetables with pasta. We also use the vacuum sealer for all our meats and frozen vegetables.

 

[neverlandsky]

A week. We shop the outside aisles of the store. The most we ever had was 6 months when the pandemic started. However, we donated majority of it to Salvation Army.

 

[BrianL]

Right now - I could maybe make it through lunch!

I mean, I guess technically, I have a few cans of beans and such I could survive on, but I actually need to go to the grocery story today - before lunch!

 

[Magical2017]

We'd be okay for about a month. We are also growing some lettuce, basil, and tomatoes for some fresh veggies.

 

[RangerPooh]

We are a multigenerational large household, so not long. Probably a month, and we'd run out of staples (bread, milk, butter, flour/sugar) after a few days. Meats (freezer burn and all) would keep us going for the month. Sadly our vegetarian daughter would be hungry after about a week.

 

[barkley]

i would guess 9 months to a year. it would'nt be to everyone's favored choices but between fridge(s)/ frozen/canned/dry goods (and the essential coffee) it would likely last.

 

[Tink3815]

I forgot about coffee, I should stock up.

 

[_19disnA]

Guess it depends on what sort of disaster you are planning for. If you live near the coast where you might have a hurricane is probably a different sort of plan from someone in the midwest where there might be a tornado. If you live in a remote area, seems the issue is more about how far away the stores are and what happens during a power failure. With an approaching hurricane you are more likely to have to evacuate and then all of those items you are stockpiling won't do you much good if you can't fit them in your car (30 gallons of water/person would take up a LOT of space). Do you periodically rotate those stored items since most likely have a shelf life? Seems like you will end up throwing a lot of things in the trash if the expected disaster never occurs.