How to Get Kitchen Staples With a Long Shelf Life at a Great Price

If you are trying to accumulate a 3-month supply of basic food, or if you just like cooking from scratch and using basic ingredients, there is a resource that few people know about, and even fewer utilize. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has long encouraged its members to try to accumulate at least a 3-month supply of food (a longer-term supply is even better) and a small supply of drinking water and other essentials, and they are masters of providing for the welfare of those members in need, so they actually operate canneries throughout the country. These canneries have some basic foods such as white flour, oats, sugar, etc., that are stored in the cannery in large bags (think 25 pounds or so), and basically you provide the labor of canning the food that you want in #10 cans or in mylar pouches. Since the church does not make a profit on the food, the prices are very reasonable. Currently you can buy a #10 can of white flour (4.8 lbs), with a shelf life of 10+ years (when stored in a dry place at 75 degrees or lower), for $3.05 a can. A #10 can of regular oats (2.7 lbs), with a shelf life of 30 years, will set you back $2.10 a can. (Note: prices are subject to change.)

The reason that I like the cannery so much is that it has everything you need: the food is there (no outside food is allowed in to prevent contamination), as well as the cans, the oxygen absorption packets, the lids, and the canning equipment. Like I said, you just pretty much provide the labor. If you plan on what the food storage goals are for your family and go to the cannery on a regular basis, you will be surprised at how quickly you will progress toward those goals. I also like the fact that the #10 cans have such a long shelf life.

It is my understanding that those who are not members of the LDS church but want to utilize the cannery are encouraged to go to the cannery with a friend who is LDS. However, many canneries will not turn non-members away, even if they cannot attend with a member of the church, as long as they adhere to the policies and procedures of the cannery. I would encourage you to call the cannery in your area to verify this before you go, just to be sure, as it may vary by individual cannery.

Want to know if you have a cannery in your area? There are canneries located in Canada, the eastern United States, Utah, the western United States, and South Africa, Tonga, and American Somoa. I have heard that there is a new cannery in Georgetown, Texas, but could not find it on the list.

The order form for the cannery is available on-line. It lists the the items that are available, the shelf life of each item, and the weight of the packaged item. The PDF even has a feature that allows you to fill out the form and it will do the math for you so that you can pre-plan your trip and take the form with you to the cannery. The price per can includes the cost of the food, the can, the "oxy" packs, and the lids. You will receive two free plastic lids for each 6 cans that you buy, but you can buy additional plastic lids if needed. If you are into dehydrating food and/or using your Food Saver and like to use oxy packs, they also sell oxy packs separately. (I buy a bag of 100 for $8.00.) Prices and item availability are subject to change, so check regularly and before each trip so that you aren't surprised.

I would encourage you to call the cannery that you plan to attend to get all of the information that you need; however, I will share my experience with the cannery nearest me and hopefully you will find the information useful for your next trip.

1. Our local cannery generally is by appointment and they like to make the appointments for groups of between 2 and 8 people. However, at our cannery, each Wednesday morning, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., is reserved for individuals and no appointment is needed. Be aware that even though they are open until 3:00, they want you to be leaving by 3:00, not showing up at that time. The people at the canneries who are there to assist you are volunteers and generally have a set shift that they "work". Plus there will be a "group appointment" coming in around 5:30 for which the cannery will need to prepare.


2. Children under the age of 16 are not allowed inside the operating area of the cannery. If you have small children, maybe you can sweet-talk a friend into watching them for you in exchange for a can of hot cocoa mix!


3. Open-toed shoes are not allowed in the cannery. Trust me, as a total clutz I am always glad to wear my sneakers for protection!


4. Don't wear your "pretty" clothes. You may think that you can delicately scoop all that stuff into the can (okay, maybe you can do it, but some of us can't!). My Friend Lauren and I recently canned 36 cans of flour together, and for a little while there we looked like we had been in a snow storm!


5. When you first go into the cannery there is a shelf that has some food on it that has already been canned. This is food that someone did not purchase, and you are encouraged to look on this shelf first for items that you want (it might save you some time).


6. As I said earlier, the food at the cannery comes in large bags or boxes (around 20-25 pounds or so). If you open a bag and only want, say one can of pinto beans for example, you do not have to purchase the contents of the whole bag, but you do have to can the whole bag. The cannery does not want any opened bags of food attracting unwanted pests. The excess cans that you don't want will go on the shelf for someone else to purchase. This is why I try to plan each trip in such a way that I am buying several cans of the same thing instead of "one can of this, one can of that, and one can of something else". You could end up doing a lot of canning without much to show for it!


7. Our local cannery is not set up to deal with electronic transactions of any kind. It is strictly cash or personal check, so plan accordingly.


8. Our cannery is a little bit of a drive, so on one of my early trips I decided to "make it count". I loaded my little 4-door sedan down. Unfortunately, I learned that just because all of those boxes will physically fit into my car doesn't mean that my shock assemblies can handle it. That early trip resulted in my poor husband having to do a total replacement on said shock assemblies. He was a much better sport about it than he should have been! I'm much more careful now: I'm reasonable in my loads, I mix in some light items like oats or macaroni when I'm getting flour and milk, I spread the weight of the load all throughout the car, or better yet, I try to go with a friend who has a vehicle who can handle it!


9. There are some prepackaged cases (6 cans/case) of specific items that you can just swing by and pick up: pinto beans, quick oats, white rice, hard red wheat, and the "starter kit". The starter kit has two #10 cans of hard red winter wheat, two #10 cans of white rice, one #10 can of pinto beans, and one #10 can of quick oats.


10. I like the fruit drink mix. It has a shelf life of 2+ years, currently costs $6.90 per can, and it is a powdered orange drink that reminds me of that powdered orange drink that the astronauts used to drink. It is high in vitamin C, and kids seem to like it. If you find that it doesn't mix as well as you like and is too grainy, I was told by someone who grew up drinking it that his mother used to mix it with hot-to-boiling water and then just let it cool before serving and this completely dissolved the crystals.

I go to the cannery on a fairly regular basis now, and I have come to actually enjoy these trips. It is a little bit of work (I won't lie), but it is so nice to know that my pantry is beginning to be stocked with lots of the "basics" that have a long-enough shelf life that I don't have to be constantly worried that it will go bad before I can use it. With my recent purchase of regular oats, stay tuned for some oatmeal-applesauce muffins that "Gan"-"Green Thumb" and I will be making soon!