Why Bring Back the Pantry and the Cellar?

There is an older wisdom at work in putting in a year's supply of emergency food storage, something that harkens back to when life and food were simpler, more seasonal and closer to the earth. Before the modern grocery store, before food manufacturing, before the modern kitchen festooned with cupboards and countertops, there was the canning kitchen, the pantry and the cellar.

The way we were

In the past, when folks grew or raised most of their own food, storing provisions was a common, everyday and laborious practice. From the poorest cottage to the largest mansion, the cellar, the pantry and the canning kitchen were essential components in that life preserving routine.

In the days of yore, food was stored seasonally in the pantry and the cellar. Fruits and vegetables harvested in one season were preserved for use across the other seasons and beyond, in case of a poor harvest the next year. Peaches canned in September or October could be eaten through August the next year.

A pantry was once part of nearly every substantial home. It was usually located near the kitchen where the cooking was done, for obvious reasons. Its shelves were stocked with canned and dry goods, staples used in everyday meal preparation.

Along with the pantry, often there was also a cellar. Sometimes called a “root cellar” because root crops such as potatoes and carrots were stored there, it was constructed in the ground adjacent to the home or in a basement area beneath the home.

Going underground, where the temperature is nearly constant (between 55 and 57 degrees Fahrenheit, 13 to 14 degrees Celsius), kept food at a low, steady temperature and humidity to prevent spoiling. This was an elegant and efficient way to extend the shelf life of most foodstuffs.

We once stockpiled food from each harvest in the cellar and the pantry. We canned, dried and stored surplus food so it could be used through the winter season. Stored provisions were also handy to see people through poor harvests, when food became scarce.

We knew how to preserve food: dried meat, canned fruits and vegetables. We had the equipment: cook stoves, homemade dehydrators, canning jars, kettles, colanders, lids and seals, among other sundry items.

It was a way of life. Every home sought for an ample pantry; every homemaker knew how to use it.

Back to basics

Now all that is nearly gone. Except for a few rugged individualists, most of us live in a very different reality. The food creation and storage practices of our forefathers have fallen by the wayside. Most of us are four or five generations removed from the traditional method of acquiring food. Once a universal practice, storing is now the exception rather than the rule.

The national trend toward suburban living, away from the demands of rural life, has left us with precious little ground to use for our sustenance. We typically have only small yards, so we grow few or no vegetables.

We don’t know how to grow food. We’ve lost the knowledge. We don’t know what it takes to wrest edible, nutritious food from the earth. For the most part, we have no idea how much time and effort must be invested in growing food. Children today think that milk comes in plastic jars and bread in plastic bags and nearly everything else in colorful packages. They have no real understanding of where steak comes from or what it takes to make even a simple soup from scratch.

Where we are today

We can try to turn back the clock by duplicating the food storage approach taken in the past. Or we can use the better way modern technology has afforded us.

Other than as a hobby, why would we want to struggle and use valuable time to create our own stored food that will last only a short time when we can avail ourselves of the advanced methods of commercially prepared food storage that lasts a long time? While it may be emotionally gratifying to create some of our food storage with our own hands, few have the time and resources needed to generate all that is needed.

For example, if our ancestors could be here to see what food storage has become, they would shout for joy. They would see that storing food today is almost no trouble at all, especially when choosing the products from Augason Farms.

So, why turn back the clock? Who wants a world without antibiotics? A simple wound could be a death sentence without penicillin. Who thinks that walking or riding a horse is preferable to a comfortable and swift automobile? Pioneers struggled and suffered terribly for days and weeks trying to travel the distance many of us drive daily to work in comfort and relative safety. Who wants to go back to city streets of dirt and wooden sidewalks? In wet weather, roads were a smelly, disgusting mixture of mud and horse manure. In dry weather, all that mud and manure became airborne dust carrying tuberculosis . . . and worse.

So why go back to the old ways of preserving food? The best our forefathers could manage was to store food for a year or two. Anything kept for longer than that could not be trusted. Yet Augason Farms products boast a 10, 20, even 30 year shelf life in some cases. Advances in dehydration, freeze drying and canning make it possible to store things for much longer periods of time.

That durability confers great advantages on modern food storage and offers users many more options not available to our forefathers.

With more than 40 years of experience providing the best in food storage at the highest quality, Augason Farms is the place to turn for all your food storage and emergency preparedness needs. Great taste and wholesome products have been our hallmark for generations. When you choose Augason Farms, you’re not only selecting food you can count on, you’re getting delicious peace of mind.

Anthony E. Larson
Augason Farms Copywriter

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