# How much of a pantry do you maintain? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 6, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681 "2011-01-06T23:50:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/1 "2011-01-06T23:50:06Z")
The continual news reports about panicked shoppers converging on grocery stores whenever a snowstorm (or other weather challenge) is predicted makes me wonder: do people in general really keep so little food on hand that not being able to buy groceries for a couple days creates a crisis? And thus was born the Pantry Poll. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/2 "2011-01-06T23:53:06Z")
Iā€™ve never understood it, either. I guess they were all juuuuust about out of toilet paper and planning to go to the store anyway? My WAG is the people you see panicking and stocking up are self-selecting to be stupider and less prepared than the general population, so youā€™re seeing the worst of the worst. Iā€™m not sayinā€™ my house is a fortress that would survive the zombie apocalypse but a couple days? Sure. Itā€™s not like I go grocery shopping daily - sometimes not even weekly - as it is. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/3 "2011-01-06T23:53:56Z")
I have a tendency to hoard food when Iā€™m stressed, so I have a pretty full pantry all the time. Assuming we didnā€™t lose power and werenā€™t too fussy about wanting fresh bread/milk/veggies, I think it would take two weeks or so to eat to the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/4 "2011-01-06T23:54:56Z")
Okay, how could two of you reply before I got the poll typed in? šŸ˜ƒ ---
**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:** [January 6, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/5 "2011-01-06T23:59:54Z")
I could go for a few days, although Iā€™d have to start in on the stuff I really donā€™t like as much. And note that some of the last-minute shopping before a big storm is for perishable things like milk and bread. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/6 "2011-01-07T00:00:27Z")
I have very little in my pantry. I have some soups, though I donā€™t really eat them, a pasta. I should get a lot more pasta, but I donā€™t. I just checked, I have 5 boxes of pasta, a bag of rice, and a couple of bags of beans. I tend to get things every few days since I pretty much live alone. My refrigerator is almost empty. I always seems to run out of the stuff I need right when it snows. Though I have plenty of TP. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**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:** [January 7, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/7 "2011-01-07T00:09:25Z")
hm, we do a fair amount of shopping at BJā€™s Wholesale Club, so we tend to get the multipacks of pasta, canned diced tomatoes, canned tomato paste, canned tomato sauce [we prefer to make our own pasta sauce] multipacks of assorted canned fruits and vegetables, fresh fruits and vegetables, flour, yeast [we do a fair amount of baking] meats, cheeses, frozen veggies, and so on. I think that we generally have at least a month of food on hand at any given time.šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/8 "2011-01-07T00:17:07Z")
I see right through your little plan. A poster named StarvingButStrong wants to know how much food I have in my pantry? And when I tell you, you come over, beat me up, and take it all. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/9 "2011-01-07T00:19:58Z")
Itā€™s all just part of my hoarding behavior. ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/10 "2011-01-07T00:29:54Z")
We could eat for at least a month, easily, but meals might get a little repetitive after that. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/11 "2011-01-07T00:44:09Z")
Off of _just_ the pantry, we could eat for a week, maybe two. But if you incorporate the disaster stash, we can go for a month easily. In that case, I view the pantry as a way to augment the freeze-dried stuff, rather than as a stash on its own. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/12 "2011-01-07T00:50:54Z")
It really depends on the type of product. We have lots of soup, rice and pasta. We load up on coffee when there are sales, so we probably have 20 bags now. We are well ahead on paper goods. Every year at the end of the season we buy and freeze a ton of cheap corn from the farmers market, to make sure we have enough for Christmas dinner. But meat and stuff really depends - we often try to get rid of it to make room in the freezer. We could do a week or two no problem, a month might be pushing it. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/13 "2011-01-07T00:54:04Z")
I could eat for ~ a month. Granted, after the first week, the cereal would be dry, salads would be history,there would be no cheese (except parmesan grated off the current big block), yogurt or any other cowy stuff, after the second, Iā€™d have to dip into the canned goods and beginning in the third week, beans, pasta, rice and oatmeal would be a big part of my diet. I could wash my clothes, hair, body and wipe my ass though, for probably two months. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/14 "2011-01-07T00:57:06Z")
Yeah, you do have to incorporate the ā€œWhen were we at Costco last?ā€ question into things to come up with an accurate answer. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/15 "2011-01-07T01:03:16Z")
After the first week or so, Iā€™d really start to miss the fresh veggies and milk. After two, Iā€™d run out of cheese and maybe meat and eggs, and OJ and yogurt. Coffee would run out around then, too. But weā€™d still be able to come up with SOME kind of relatively balanced meals for a while after that. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/16 "2011-01-07T01:10:51Z")
Ahh the Great French Toast Emergencyā€¦ We have a moderate pantry. If weā€™ve just stocked up we could easily last a month (just plan for more soups and stews to stretch easier), if we havenā€™t, well we wonā€™t starve but itā€™ll be lots of biscuits and pasta and probably soup of some kind but with little veg made from whatever I have in the freezer and cans. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/17 "2011-01-07T01:12:38Z")
I have so much in the freezer and pantry that Iā€™ve made a New Yearā€™s Resolution to quit hoarding food! ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/18 "2011-01-07T02:18:52Z")
I voted ā€œPretty sizeable: we could eat for a month at least.ā€ But that month would be pretty desperate. Mostly we eat fresh fruits and veggies. If you include ā€œfrozen meatā€ in the pantry, it would be a bit more interesting. Mostly the dry/canned goods are once-in-a-while type things. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/19 "2011-01-07T02:35:46Z")
I voted slim. Iā€™m a fan of having more in a pantry, but \*\*Tracyfish \*\*does not. Sheā€™s odd about food, though. If she magically ran out of food tomorrow and I wasnā€™t around, I think sheā€™d chew on flour or something. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681/20 "2011-01-07T03:53:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I see right through your little plan. A poster named StarvingButStrong wants to know how much food I have in my pantry? And when I tell you, you come over, beat me up, and take it all. I laughed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-of-a-pantry-do-you-maintain/566681.md?page=2)