Pantry Principles - What a Global Pandemic showed me about my Pantry

I have been pushed in many ways by our current global health crisis. One such way was that I had to adapt and cook in a different way because suddenly our supply chain broke under the strain of our panic. I call it my Pantry Panic event. What was missing and how much might we need. Beans! Did I have enough beans? Yes, but maybe no, better order more. I did have some and they were good till late 2021.

I have always had a good pantry but not one that could withstand months of quarantine and an uncertain future. Not a pantry where toilet paper and yeast and basic staples like flour and sugar would disappear from local stores. I refused to dramatize and be fearful of the future because there was no reason to think anything like this could ever happen in a million years, right? If I believed my grandmother, I was living without hope that the future I was in was better than the past she was talking about all the time. Even if I was taught this dire situation was possible by my paternal grandmother, admittedly I did keep enough pantry foods to help me feel we could weather a setback, just not one that would last months or even years.

It takes years of practice to stock a pantry and to do so in small weekly increments, it is a costly venture so small investments weekly are the best solution. Who has time for that now? We all work! Most women have no time after a full-time job and raising children to be a pioneer woman and grow a garden from seeds 'cause there are no plants in the garden centers--Oh and forget finding seeds before the end of May, all the seed houses were cleared out. I have been collecting and buying seeds for about 6 years now, as a hobby, not as a survival measure!

A small pantry is a luxury that I had to have, I was always interested in pantry principles. I was compelled since I was a child of poverty, so having extra "just in case" was and is a cellular driven need for me. I had laid up things but not near as it turns out as much as I needed. I apparently needed a much larger supply of staples. I needed a pantry like our grandparents had in "war times" when we needed a victory garden. Did I have enough seeds? Yes but I knew they were seeds from a few years ago, so new seeds were needed. I waited with bated breath and they arrived. After I ordered these, the supplier ran out.

Now we also need a local supply chain for milk, butter, and eggs, and a local mill for flour. The proximity of your food source equals the likelihood you can establish a relationship for the future while still supporting local farmers and stores today.

We needed to find a local abattoir and farmers who could help us weather the giant Agra businesses abruptly crashing. I studied canning, both pressure canning for low acid foods and water bath canning--dehydrating, too. Why? Because I was interested and retired. NOT because I wanted to survive a collapse of the food chain.

I needed a pantry that could withstand 3 meals a day because the restaurants closed and there was no more takeout. We did not eat out much, I thought. It turns out we did go out for takeout more than I ever thought. Takeout once a week for my family so I could get a break from cooking, and monthly celebrations of birthdays and calendar events like religious holidays and Valentine's and Mother's and Father's day. Luckily I went to culinary college so making delicious, beautiful food was not beyond my ken.

It has been a steep learning curve. It has been a costly lesson. I have now been self quarantined for months. I sat unable to go to the markets even as I could see my granny's predictions unfurl. I fretted and shewed my lip hoping I was wrong and it would slow down enough for me to safely navigate the stores, but no. It got worse. I was lucky. I knew what I needed to get and started to look for staples in bulk before they completely disappeared. It was like riding the Bonzai pipeline on a surfboard as the wave crested. I sent hubby for supplies and my friend helped me navigate a different route to supplies. I was blessed to know what was likely to disappear first, and I added some to my pantry. I was barely ahead of the empty shelves. Now 5 months later things have stabilized a little.

Now we need to get ready for what they call the second wave, one that will be worse than the first. I am so tired. I am older and retired and one of the most vulnerable in society, I am the least likely to survive and the most expendable. So be it.

When we hit the "new normal," nothing will be the same. The price of everything will be much higher and there will be less of it for that higher price. When the "new normal" arrives we will see that the few will have benefitted beyond measure because while we were trapped they played freely and bought everything that was not nailed down. That is history, that is what granny was trying to tell me. Prepare for the worst, not for yourself but for the people you love. Stock a strong, broad, deep pantry. Start a garden, buy seeds, know your farmers, buy local, stay alert, and appreciate what your forefathers and mothers have and are teaching you.

~ Cookin Mum