Our goal is 3 years worth - and we are getting there and should be 100% by this fall. Lots of grains (flour, rice, corn meal, pasta), canned goods, dried beans, other dried stuff, sugar, salt, honey (lasts forever)...
By the way, it is a good idea to toss your bags of grain in a freezer for a few days before you store it away in an airtight container. Freezing kills meal worms - otherwise, you might break into your store of goods and find some extra protein.
Our calculations were pretty simple: (3 meals a day X number in family X 365) X 3
The 3 meals include: A grain, a vegetable, and sometimes a meat.
Not exact I imagine but I trust my own figuring more than I trust shareware. And it may get boring but we'll not starve. Plus we are counting on supplementing with livestock and wild foods. And we don't count certain things in our store - we don't count the honey, rotating cans of fruit juices, jerky, etc... so we will hopefully be 3 years +
There was an article recently in the WSJ saying that food is about the best invesment value going right now.
Here tis: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/...jgyMTI1Wj.html
Final thought: Great way to create a ready made root cellar - buy and have delivered a new concrete septic tank - bury or have it buried in the side of a hill. Line the inside with shelves. Might also make a good way to stash stuff.
Something I never see on a must have list (maybe assumed one has this in their toolbox or in the garage): A good whetstone for keeping knives, axes and stuff sharp.
