Savvy Shopper: Keep a supply of food on hand for disasters

With all the recent natural disasters, I couldn’t help but recall that there are people who build up a one-year supply of food as a hedge. While placing too much faith in perishable things has its pitfalls, preparedness does have its place.

And with Hurricanes Harvey and Irma taking a rainy day to a whole new level, this idea takes on an added urgency.

In addition to covering your flank, having a store enables so much more. For one, stocking up judiciously makes it possible to get the best prices. In addition, it helps you help others when they are hit by misfortune. To my way of thinking, a win/win/win situation like this merits a closer look.

If you are of like mind, here are some ideas on how to get there:

How much should I store? — While having a one-year supply doesn’t hurt, I can’t say it’s advisable for everyone. In my mind, the aim should be to have enough food to last through a period where a grocery store’s supply might be cut off.

For example, during Hurricane Harvey, supermarket shelves were empty for about a week. In the case of Florida, certain areas have it much worse.

However, in West Texas, where we are not as susceptible to these disruptions, we have the luxury of a more optimistic timeframe. As a result, I would use Houston as a benchmark. In addition, since you will likely be sharing should crunch time occur, increasing your inventory by a factor of 2 to 4 is a good idea. Consequently, a 2-4 week store will probably get you through practically any situation.

What should I store? — If we were in Houston or Florida, I would advise a narrow set of options. However, since tornados and blizzards are the only natural disasters that might conceivably disrupt our supply chain, flooding doesn’t enter the picture and I feel safe in recommending non-perishables like pasta, canned foods and prepackaged drinks.

At the same time, while you should emphasize foods you eat everyday, variety will serve you well should supplies get thin. In other words, be sure to consider canned fruits, vegetables, beans and meats. Since power might also be in short supply, it also makes sense to prioritize building up canned goods as most are safe for consumption without cooking.

What about spoilage? — In the first place, dry foods and canned goods have extremely long shelf life. Second, if you emphasize stocking up on items that you eat anyway, using your supply on a first-in/first-out basis will keep your inventory in good stead. In the worst case, even if you lose a few items to spoilage, it should be minor and you can chalk it up as cheap insurance.

How can I get the best prices? — For the types of products that regularly come on sale, the A-J’s Sunday edition features a short list of 5-10 really good deals from Sunday ads for retailers like CVS, Target, and Walgreens.

Similarly, the Wednesday paper publishes the same kind of highlights for grocery stores.

What you may not know is that the Lubbock Savvy Shopper also publishes highly detailed lists of practically every good to great offer (typically more than 100 specials) that’s out there at https://sites.google.com/site/lubbocksavvyshopper/. Also, for items that don’t typically come on sale, I recommend buying from Wal-Mart as they have the best everyday price.

For more guidance on this point, go here: http://static.lubbockonline.com/PDFs/11-15NeverOnSale.pdf.

Additional points — As man does not live by bread alone, there is a lot more to being prepared than having enough food. For example, backup power, communication plans, fuel and medical are just a few points to consider. For help in making plans, this website is a good source of information: https://www.ready.gov/make-a-plan.

What’s nice about being prepared is that although slight modifications may be needed at first, you can quickly return to your routine once the adjustments are made. And when you consider that our city has had lengthy disruptions in the past, it makes sense that such developments might take place in the future.

Since preparedness is a deep issue, I intend this article to be a starting point.

If you have ideas or questions, please visit and “Like” our Facebook site (Click https://www.facebook.com/LubbockSavvyShopper or log on to Facebook and enter “Lubbock Savvy Shopper” in the search tool) or write us at SavvyShopperLubbock@gmail.com and let us know your thoughts.

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SEAN FIELDS is the A-J’s Savvy Shopper. Read his columns Sundays and Wednesdays. Email him at SavvyShopperLubbock@gmail.com, like his Facebook page at Facebook.com/LubbockSavvyShopper, or see previous columns and deals at lubbockonline.com/savvy-shopper.