Food storage mistakes

[2die4]

Hmm...reading this thread reminds me that I got a 5 gallon bucket of rice that is nearing it's prime.

[David Armstrong]

We've solved the rotation/spoilage problem at least in part by looking at the issue two ways: what are the normal short-term needs and what is needed for long-term. We developed it from looking at the local culture, which has often been through a feast and famine process that has colored local cooking. What it amounts to is a wide variety of items with a shorter shelf-life but in limited amounts, then a narrow selection of long-term items to provide a base in large amounts. For example, down here in Cajun country a huge amount of the cooking revolves around a large serving of rice basically flavored with a bit of gravy or sauce. So our long-term storage is rice and flavorings that can store without much need of rotation. Our short-term stuff is always fresh as we don't keep a lot of it and use it regularly, but if SHTF we can easily reduce the consumption of the short-term stuff by changing it to supplementing the rice instead of serving as a major part of the meal. Instead of a 4 ounce side of corn that same 4 ounces serves as an addition to 10 servings of rice with gravy, which might also contain a few ounces of meat.

We like rice as it is local and can be used both as savory and sweet, but pasta would seem to be similar, a long-life product that can serve as the base for flavorings from other products (tomato sauces, alfredo, beef stock, etc.)