I’ve read that it’s wise to have a six-month supply of food on hand in case of plague, war or other catastrophe. The problem with emergency food supplies is that they don’t have an indefinite shelf life – they must be either consumed or discarded periodically and replaced with fresh stock. However, most
of the food I eat is fresh and consumed within a few days of purchase. I seldom eat canned or boxed foods and I hate the idea of throwing away food.
I propose a program where you buy a six month’s supply of basic foods with a long shelf-life, and then donate it to the local Food Bank or other charitable program every six months, and take a tax write-off for the donation.
In fact, this program could actually be run by a charitable group that would purchase the food in volume, assemble suitable family-size “pallets” of food and sell them for a small profit. Then, accept the return donation and distribute the food to the needy.
Each “pallet” should contain enough dry and canned goods suitable for feeding two people for six months -- two pallets for a family of four, etc.
All items would need a shelf life substantially over six months and require minimal preparation – you never know if you would have power or water available for cooking.
Items for the emergency food supply would be selected by a dietician to provide a balanced diet – and be suitable for use by a Food Bank or needy families.
Everything would be assembled on a pallet or container designed for easy storage and transport. Assembly could actually be handled by needy or handicapped people hired by the charity.
Every six months, the charity could deliver a new pallet of food and remove the old one. The Purchaser would only need to pay for the food and provide space for storage.
The Purchaser could buy the individual pallets upon delivery, or pay a once-a-year fee as part of an on-going program.
While this could be done on a local level, I see this also being a national or world-wide program with support from large corporations and charitable organizations. It would encourage donations, provide family security and provide a nice tax write-off for the giver.
While I selected six months as a "cycle," it could be a year or more, depending on the reasonable shelf-life of the food. I also assume the "balanced diet" in question would be very basic and designed to support life during an emergency.
The foods in the pallet would be basic and in-expensive -- I could imagine a pallet for two people costing $500-$1,000. If you bought two a year, that would yield a donation of $1-$2k per year.
While I love this idea, I don’t want to do the work involved in setting up such a program – so feel free to pass it on….. And I will take the first pallet!