I admit it. I have security issues. If my food stores are stocked I feel safe. If they are dwindling I am nervous. I justify it with feeling prepared for what may come be it a storm, the lack of a paycheck or increasing food prices. At this point in our time prices are continually rising so everything I put into our pantry is at a better price than I will be able to get it in the future. And so I am stocked and ready for winter!
This house as been such a blessing as far as space to store food. There was a small empty room next to the kitchen that my wonderful father-in-law converted into a pantry for me for Christmas last year. There is a long skinny room behind the garage that already had multiple shelves just the right size for home canned foods. Plus I have a chest freezer (we got from a garage sale), an upright freezer and a refrigerator in the garage. And of course a 27 cu ft fridge in the kitchen we go off of Craigslist.
I buy grains, sugar, honey and beans in bulk and keep them in 6 gallon food grade buckets with gamma lids. I also shop at Costco and keep stocked up on pastas, tuna, oils, vinegars, etc… I canned as many jams, sauces, and pickles as I could over the summer. The freezers are filled with beef from a whole cow, half a pig, chickens, lots of corn, zucchini, peaches and apples I put up this summer.
Check out how other moms store their food: