Reducing the Cost of an Emergency Food Supply
Preparing for emergencies can be expensive. When it comes to building an emergency food supply, the high cost is exacerbated by the fact that food expires more quickly than other resources. Add to that the rising cost of food in 2025 and 2026, and you might be tempted to ignore the issue altogether.
But don’t! After a disaster, you’re going to be stressed and working hard to clean up and recover. Calories will matter even more. Food can be reassuring, and regular meals can establish a sense of normalcy and make you feel better. Because we live on an island connected to the mainland only by an old bridge and a ferry system, expect long delays in resupply of our grocery stores and prepare accordingly.
Carol Appenzeller, Food Resilience Team Co-Lead, put together the following list of cost-saving suggestions.
Get on E-Mail Lists for Sales
If you’re buying food meant to last for years, get on the email list for the vendor of the items you want. Many regularly offer half-price sales, often on fresh produce. Even if the sale is for one-year-old stock, if the product has a 30-year shelf life, you still get 29 years out of it.
To see an example of this frequent-sales phenomenon, give ReadyWise your email and see what happens within a few weeks.. (This is just an example; we do not endorse a particular vendor.)
Shop at the LDS Home Storage Center
The Latter Day Saints Home Storage Center in Bremerton (288 Wilkes Ave.; open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) sells big, #10 cans of oatmeal and freeze-dried fruit that stores for 20 years. Prices are lower than those offered by many other vendors, sometimes by quite a bit. Everyone is welcome to buy, not just LDS members.
You can buy 8-can packs online, but the brick-and-mortar store in Bremerton sells individual cans as well.
Note: Their raw, dry beans are not appropriate post-earthquake food because the long cooking time uses lots of fuel.
Stalk Sales
Stockpile long-storing grocery items when they are on super sale. Subscribe to weekly grocery sales fliers to watch for sales on your chosen products.
Buy Freeze Dried
Freeze-dried food may save money in the long run. For example, you can buy a 3-pack of freeze-dried refried beans that costs $64 and is equivalent in content to 29 conventional cans of beans. If you do the math, you’ll see that the price comes to $2.10 per can, and the beans last 25 years.
Buy Small and Steady
Buy gradually by adding a small purchase—such as two cans of chili or three cans of tuna—to your weekly shopping.
Save on Water to Save on Food
Save money on water so you have more money for food. Consider investing in a 275-gallon intermediate bulk container (IBC) plus a few blue bottles to fill as needed. Here’s why it matters:
To store 2 gallons of water per day for sixty days for two people (240 gallons) costs $520 if you use blue bottles.
A 275-gallon IBC usually costs around $260.
IBC container
To eliminate the very high shipping costs for IBCs, buy them locally so you can pick them up yourself. Tractor Supply in Port Orchard carries IBCs. Container Exchanger in Tacoma sells affordable new IBCs with refurbished metal protective cages.
