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A few times a year I see an article or blog post with titles something like "10 top foods to have in your emergency stockpile." For example These lists often have some good suggestions but they often include Honey. They claim that honey never spoils making it an excellent choice for a base sweetener to store long term for emergency preparedness.

This is horrible advice. While it is true that honey will "never spoil", this is not the same as being "usable after long term storage". Honey has a tendency to crystallize after just a year or two of storage even under near perfect storage conditions. Once crystallized it is a huge pain in the ass to do anything with it. When I first started food storage prepping in the my mid-20s I followed a lot of this advice and added honey to my long term stock and rotate strategy. By the time I was 30 I had completely phased honey out of the long term strategy. I still stock and rotate Honey but it is on the 1 year schedule, Not the 3/5/10/20 year schedules. I stock enough honey to get though local disasters or even global supply chain problems but in a real 'end of the world as we know it' situation my plans assume that honey is a luxury that disapears in the first 12 months.

Stock and Rotate can be hard to stick to and hard to make it fit into a modern life. I always recommend that people also stock "Forever Foods." These are things that have a 20+ year shelf life. These are things you can invest in without being concerned about spoilage and loosing your investment. These articles advise you that honey is one of these Forever Foods but it just is not. Stop listening to them. Granulated sugar stored in airtight containers with a desecant and a Oxygen absorber is a far superior choice. I rotate both white granulated baking sugar and blonde 'Sugar in the Raw' type sugar on a 10 year schedule and it comes out of the 5Gal bucket like it was yesterday. I have a bunch in the 'forever' pile and have zero worries. Honey will be useless after 2-3 years max.

These days when I see someone say "Honey lasts forever" or even "you can heat it to disolve the crystals" I take it as a sure sign that they have not really tried this in real life. When you try to walk the walk you realize honey is a bad idea.

A few times a year I see an article or blog post with titles something like "10 top foods to have in your emergency stockpile." For example [https://poal.co/s/preppers/112280](https://poal.co/s/preppers/112280) These lists often have some good suggestions but they often include Honey. They claim that honey never spoils making it an excellent choice for a base sweetener to store long term for emergency preparedness. This is horrible advice. While it is true that honey will "never spoil", this is not the same as being "usable after long term storage". Honey has a tendency to crystallize after just a year or two of storage even under near perfect storage conditions. Once crystallized it is a huge pain in the ass to do anything with it. When I first started food storage prepping in the my mid-20s I followed a lot of this advice and added honey to my long term stock and rotate strategy. By the time I was 30 I had completely phased honey out of the long term strategy. I still stock and rotate Honey but it is on the 1 year schedule, Not the 3/5/10/20 year schedules. I stock enough honey to get though local disasters or even global supply chain problems but in a real 'end of the world as we know it' situation my plans assume that honey is a luxury that disapears in the first 12 months. Stock and Rotate can be hard to stick to and hard to make it fit into a modern life. I always recommend that people also stock "Forever Foods." These are things that have a 20+ year shelf life. These are things you can invest in without being concerned about spoilage and loosing your investment. These articles advise you that honey is one of these Forever Foods but it just is not. Stop listening to them. Granulated sugar stored in airtight containers with a desecant and a Oxygen absorber is a far superior choice. I rotate both white granulated baking sugar and blonde 'Sugar in the Raw' type sugar on a 10 year schedule and it comes out of the 5Gal bucket like it was yesterday. I have a bunch in the 'forever' pile and have zero worries. Honey will be useless after 2-3 years max. These days when I see someone say "Honey lasts forever" or even "you can heat it to disolve the crystals" I take it as a sure sign that they have not really tried this in real life. When you try to walk the walk you realize honey is a bad idea.

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[–] • 1 pt (edited )

You need to think about the food groups and a balanced diet up front. Meat, Dairy, Grains, Fruits/Vegetables, Sugars, and Fats. Try to have a solution for each.

Meat - There are lots of medium term solutions but for long term (10+ years) you are looking at freeze dried/vacuum packed options. This is one of the few places I recommend buying something prepackaged as a long term storage food. The big #10 cans of things like ground beef, taco meat, powdered eggs etc. are good choices.

Dairy - Again not a lot of choices. Things like condensed milk and Parmalat will get you out to 10 years. Beyond that your only option is powdered milk.

Grains - Grains and carbs are easy. Flour, oats, grains, rice etc. are all good choices. They all have 20+ years in a 5gal bucket with a desecant and an O2 absorber. Dried, powdered potatoes is also excellent.

Sugars - Per my post, granulated sugar

Fruits/Vegetables - Learn to garden and actually do it. You don't have to go nuts but at least grow a tomato plant and a cucumber plant or something. Get used to putting vegetables on your own table and have plans to expand your operations. Keep a stock pile of crop seeds. Get some #10 cans of freeze dried Fruits/Vegetables for a buffer but I am not a huge fan of how they prep. They are OK for cooking but its not fresh. Plan on being able to grow Fruits/Vegetables. If you have any land at all plant a few fruit trees. Apples and Cherries are easy to care for and have big yields.

Fats - Fats are a challenge. Fats are essential to good diet and fats spoil quickly. Be prepared to Hunt. That is the only real solution, but you can offset this to some degree with vegtable oil, olive oil, coconut oil, and lard.

[–] • 0 pt

I'm fucked then I can't eat grains as I have coeliac disease, I can't stomach meat and I hate dairy Not joking.

[–] • 0 pt

You just said "I can't eat 3 of the four food groups." How are you alive?

[–] • 0 pt

I tried eating meat a few years ago and even with digestive enzymes I just couldn't stomach it. Coeliac disease is a fucking curse though and attempting to get dietary advice from the medical mafia is pointless, they are fucking clueless and I suffered needlessly with coeliac for decades. As you know, the damage caused to your gut by gluten doesn't always heal when you stop eating it. My gut can't handle milk (apparently that's common in coeliacs?) but I do use organic butter daily. If you have any tips, they will be gratefully received. You seem pretty knowledgeable.