# How long would the food in your average supermarket support one person? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 30, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320 "2011-10-30T22:02:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/21 "2011-10-31T14:54:42Z")
Would it help extend their life if I stored the flour, rice, etc. in the freezer? ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/22 "2011-10-31T15:11:45Z")
I wonder if it would be possible to grow some of your own fresh food by saving all the potting soil from the florist department, composting all the fresh fruits and vegetables you can’t eat immediately, and planting whatever looks easiest to grow. (Potatoes and garlic seem to sprout just fine in the darkness of a kitchen cupboard, so I bet you could get a nice garden going under the fluorescent lights of a typical supermarket, at least for a while.) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/23 "2011-10-31T15:16:34Z")
I would prefer getting locked in Costco. At least there would be books to read, DVDs to watch, tools to keep up the place, gas to power things, and enough TVs to watch everything on every channel. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/24 "2011-10-31T15:27:03Z")
The first thing I would do, would be to move almost all the perishables into the freezers. I would think that a single person would have enough food to last his entire life on the contents of a supermarket. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/25 "2011-10-31T16:25:56Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > I would prefer getting locked in Costco. At least there would be books to read, DVDs to watch, tools to keep up the place, gas to power things, and enough TVs to watch everything on every channel. My local Shop Rite has all these things for sale, and a private generator. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/26 "2011-10-31T18:13:33Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Would it help extend their life if I stored the flour, rice, etc. in the freezer? Definitely. Even if the freezer wasn’t operating, you could keep them there to prevent bugs, etc. from hatching in them. I go along with the suggestion of taking all of the stuff that’s in cardboard or thin plastic and enclosing that within the many freezer bags that are certainly in the foodwrap section. The store may also have other heavy-duty containers that can be used. And I love the idea of making a garden assuming that the appropriate lighting is available. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/27 "2011-10-31T18:24:48Z")
If we’re positing that I’m locked in to a supermarket forever, then I say it would support me for approximately a year, after which I die a ghastly death of asphyxiation from the sheer rancidness due to decomposition of perishables. [sub]en garde, hypothetical![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/28 "2011-10-31T18:56:43Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I don’t disagree with either of your statements, but **treis** was hypothesizing that the packaged goods (including cereal) could be counted on to stay in an edible / nutritious state for decades. The packaging in which those foods are marketed simply isn’t designed for long-term storage…I know that the rice my wife buys (Riceland) comes in a cardboard box, with the ends hot-glued shut. Dry beans tend to be packaged in thin plastic bags. Without extraordinary means to keep them from decaying (or being consumed by vermin), I think that it’s a crapshoot that even beans and rice are likely to keep for decades. As was pointed out the canning goods aisle, and as an aside, there is usually a hell of an aisle of plasticwares that you could transfer foods into to stretch their use by date. And people are forgetting baby food! Powdered milk, canned milk, retort package milk/// ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/29 "2011-10-31T19:01:28Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > As was pointed out the canning goods aisle, and as an aside, there is usually a hell of an aisle of plasticwares that you could transfer foods into to stretch their use by date. Agreed on the plasticwares and canning goods, though I think that would be likely to add years, not decades, to the net survivability of the store’s perishable contents. There just aren’t enough of those supplies in a typical store to seal up even a substantial fraction of the food in a grocery store at any one time. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/30 "2011-10-31T19:10:30Z")
I think the plasticware will start to deteriorate after a few years. I’d clean out glass jars as they’re emptied and use them. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/31 "2011-10-31T19:47:35Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’d clean out glass jars as they’re emptied and use them. That might help some. However, unless you’re doing actual canning (with heat), you run the risk of introducting bacteria into the food you’re placing in the jars, and then sealing the jars imperfectly with the lids the jars came with. Tiny little food poisoning projects in the making. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/32 "2011-10-31T19:53:24Z")
In season, our local supermarkets all sell quite a lot of seeds as well as compost, and garden furniture- certainly near the windows you’d be able to get a fair amount growing, which would also sort out a lot of the rotten fruit and vegetables. You’d be wanting something fresh by the second year, even if you were working your way through the vitamins and supplements section. I’m not sure what you could do with the rotten meat though- it _will_ compost, eventually, but it’d stink to high heaven for a long time first. Do you have access to hpothetical side rooms, or just the main customer area? Could probably sacrifice an office or empty store room as a decomposing centre. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/33 "2011-10-31T19:59:39Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > The first thing I would do, would be to move almost all the perishables into the freezers. I would think that a single person would have enough food to last his entire life on the contents of a supermarket. And as a former forklift driver (Price Club/Costco) with schloads of experience in boxing, rotating stock, stacking and space management, I could support a few others along with me…get thy meat to the freezer! They usually sell BBQs there too, so I would find a way to hook one up to the natural gas line. There’s plenty of bottled water there along with juices and sodas (although soda seems to eat through aluminum cans in a year or two)…and \*\*ALL THAT WINE WITH ALL THAT MEAT!!! \*\* **WOOT!!! WOOT!!! WOOT!!!** ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/34 "2011-10-31T20:02:10Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > I’d clean out glass jars as they’re emptied and use them. > > That might help some. However, unless you’re doing actual canning (with heat), you run the risk of introducting bacteria into the food you’re placing in the jars, and then sealing the jars imperfectly with the lids the jars came with. Tiny little food poisoning projects in the making. 🙂 My idea was to use the glass jars for long-term storage of the dry goods (flour, rice, salt, etc.). For those things, I don’t think canning is necessary. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/35 "2011-10-31T20:10:03Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > I’m not sure what you could do with the rotten meat though- it _will_ compost, eventually, but it’d stink to high heaven for a long time first. Cook as much meat as you can before it goes bad, and freeze it. What you can’t cook before it starts going, just dedicate one freezer to freezing the bad meat. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/36 "2011-10-31T20:11:52Z")
> [@Yeticus\_Rex](#): > > \*\*ALL THAT WINE WITH ALL THAT MEAT!!! > \*\* > **WOOT!!! > WOOT!!! > WOOT!!!** That would be wine.woot, then. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/37 "2011-10-31T20:33:50Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > My idea was to use the glass jars for long-term storage of the dry goods (flour, rice, salt, etc.). For those things, I don’t think canning is necessary. Fair point. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/38 "2011-10-31T20:45:08Z")
For sure there would be grand feasts of turduckens and porlampot roasts with side meals of freshly tossed veggie-fruit and cream salads with ice cream and cake for dessert for the first two weeks or so. Then you gotta start getting rid of that crap. I sure hope you’re stuck in the supermaket but able to open a window so you can chuck it. ---
**Author:** ![randomface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@randomface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomface)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/39 "2011-10-31T20:55:03Z")
If you can find some bread yeast, you could turn a bunch of the juice into wine fairly easily. Wine keeps much longer than fresh juice. Any meat or veggies that wouldn’t fit in the freezer could be dehydrated into jerky. Any fresh milk you couldn’t drink could be made into cheeses of sorts, although they wouldn’t keep for that long. Use any glass or plastic containers to seal up the flour, sugar, cornmeal, cereal or any other dry good that isn’t sealed very well in it’s original container. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320/40 "2011-10-31T21:27:52Z")
If the supermarket has an outdoorsy section, you might be able to live off of freeze-dried meals for decades. Come to think of it, the best place to survive after the apocalypse might just be a Super Wal\*Mart across the street from a Cabela’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-food-in-your-average-supermarket-support-one-person/601320.md?page=3)