Bulk Food Supplies?

[DellaMyDarling]

Do you have a bulk supplier you order staples such as flour and dry beans from?

I can't seem to find one!

I do not appear to have any grain mills in my region.

In our mission to be more self sufficient, we now make our own bread. I'm a terrible cook but trying hard to learn scratch cooking. We manage to go through a minimum of 5lbs of flour per week. Bulk would be a nicer buy! Working on building the upstairs pantry (suggestions for easy access flour, sugar, etc storage would be great) but I can also purchase 5gal buckets and sealing lids to store excess bulk in basement. That appears to be the easy part, finding the goods doesn't seem to be.

 

[CrealCritter]

Wood working group in NC had a trailer setup, it was a complete wood working shop on wheels. They did a lot of charity and educational events and took donations of $$$$$ and equipment as a 501c, they did really well at it also.

They even paid me to give a presentation and live demonstration on how to saw logs into lumber. I also won several contests but I always donated back to the organization because I believed in its teaching, instructional and education mission.

What really touched my heart is when I volunteered to go and teach some disabled vets basic wood working skills. It was a very moving moment for me and I was hooked from that day forward, I still have some contact with a few of the guys even though I moved to southern IL.

I don't see why a mobile industrial kitchen couldn't be set up to do the same. Lots of options... Like teaching people how to can, processing fresh fruit and vegetables. How to butcher and prepare, preserve meat. The list goes on and on, all it takes is someone willing and knowledgeable to get it going. Trust me I would be interested in learning more about all that kind if stuff myself there are lots if people just like me that doesn't know jack about how to cook a decent meal from scratch. I take lessons from my wife, unless its the BBQ grill then that's my domain.

You could also do a mobile fresh food pantry (meals on wheels) comes to mind, who is doing something similar.
https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/

 

[wyoDreamer]

Just a word of advice - It is better to store the grain and grind it as you need it; rather than storing flour. Once ground, the flour will go rancid over time. If sealed properly, grain will last over 25 years. We store in 5 gallon buckets but actually sealed the grain into mylar bags with oxygen absorbers that will basically vacuum seal it. Once opened, we change the bucket lid out for a gamma lid - to give us easy access to the contents.

 

[baymule]

I ordered whole grains here, whole grains store well.

https://www.montanaflour.com/

I went to the local donut shop for food grade buckets with lids, got 'em for $2. I made long bags with my food saver, filled them up and vacuum sealed them. It is easier to fill the bags IN the bucket, BTW. LOL

I have a Family Grain Mill with a motor (electric grind) and a hand crank option (for if there is no electricity)

https://pleasanthillgrain.com/shop-by/brand/family_grain_mill/

 

[Beekissed]

Just a word of advice - It is better to store the grain and grind it as you need it; rather than storing flour. Once ground, the flour will go rancid over time. If sealed properly, grain will last over 25 years. We store in 5 gallon buckets but actually sealed the grain into mylar bags with oxygen absorbers that will basically vacuum seal it. Once opened, we change the bucket lid out for a gamma lid - to give us easy access to the contents.

Or more! I'm using grain right now that was sealed up in 1973 and it's as fresh a daisy.

 

[Hinotori]

The grocery store that sells bulk here will order whole bags for you in if you ask. The price is a bit lower per pound if buying by the whole bag.

 

[wyoDreamer]

If you are asking about the Country Living Grain Mill, no, I don't think you could hook a drill directly to it.
The motor attachment like what we bought, has the mill and the motor fastened down to a piece of plywood.
Maybe if the shaft is not built into the flywheel, you might be able to attach a drill to it after removing the flywheel, but I would worry about bending or damaging that shaft and then the grinder would be no good.

 

[CrealCritter]

I guess I'm our bulk food supplier.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Back in my first granola years life, I was involved in a community food co-op. Huge savings. The truck would come in once/month, and the members would take turns meeting the truck, unloading, breaking the bulk items down into family sized increments based on what each family ordered. It worked very well... until it got over run with YUPPIES who couldn't grasp the idea that they couldn't help themselves to the food as it was being broken down, and they wouldn't bother to show up when it was their turn to work. When the yuppies and their hoards of kids arrived, it wouldn't be unusual for 5# of raisins or trail mix to disappear out of the bulk bag... never mind, the fact that the entire amount was pre-ordered.

If you can find 2 - 3 families who are also wanting the same quality foods, and willing to commit a few hours to the process, it would not be difficult to set up a food co-op. I managed the paperwork, $, and ordering for our co-op for a number of years.

Such a co-op could easily be started with just a few families. Initially, while building your membership, you will need to limit your supplies to whole case items, perhaps breaking down a 50# bag of wheat between members. We would often meet before order day, and go through the list of items we wanted. Some one would say they needed raisins. (sold in 30# box) So, each member would state how many # they could take. We might get up to 25# with no takers for the rest. The rest would get bagged up as "surplus". There was ALWAYS an avenue to get rid of that surplus. If I took some to work, folks would get into a brawl over the opportunity to buy such great food at such a great price.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

At one of the local hospitals they have set up a little mini farm stand. It's decorated to look like a market cart. Folks drop off their excess garden produce there, and any one who has need/desire can take it! What a fantastic idea this is!