This week’s question is a bit different, but very pertinent to our pantry building …
I would like to see you address current anti preparedness trends like Marie Kondo? etc. They are actively teaching people to un prepare, shop for food daily and it is a social trend now. Personally, I think all this is part of a bigger picture... make people dependent on the government and unable to defend themselves as we are seeing this in Australia. In Europe they have changed the language ie if you have a pantry or financial savings you are a hoarder. Yes, that includes money in the bank... interesting! So, there is a lot of active work going on to discourage people from building up a pantry.
Here are my thoughts on this current anti-preparedness trend …
I’m qualified to be called an older woman which means I have been blessed to be on this earth a number of years. In that number of years I’ve experienced and seen things that would make people of this mindset shudder and soon realize that they had and were making a mistake.
Life happens and is going to continue happening until our Lord returns or we die … either way life happens in the mean time. Hard times come to us all … usually more than once and it comes in all sizes and shapes. My goal is to be as prepared for those hard times as best I can and then leave the rest up to the Lord.
Okay, it’s your turn, how would you respond to this question/comment?
patsi
Sharing 42 years' experience of frugal living and pantry building (if you include my frugal childhood, well that would add a few more years to my experience!)
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She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
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Anyone who is interpreting Marie Kondo to mean anti preparedness has seriously missed the point, or, as the lady who asked the question suspects, has a hidden agenda.
ReplyDeleteSure, being a single young woman in an overpopulated Japan city when she wrote the book, she did write some silly things (like her shock at a client who stored toilet roll), but that's clearly because she was looking at the situation from her particular bias, and simply did not know any better.
And yes, for a single woman living in an overpriced shoebox, giving over half her available storage to toilet roll perhaps isn't the best use of her most limited resource, space.
What Marie Kondo is about really is identifying what most matters to you, what kind of life you would like to have, then getting rid of things that do not fit into that picture, in order to make room for those that do.
So for a woman wanting to be a Proverbs 31 woman, or wanting to keep a good pantry and be prepared for any other reason, KonMari method would have her get rid of tchochkes and what not taking up space and clearing that space to set up a deep, easy to maintain pantry. She might get rid of a mountain of clothing that does not fit or suit her lifestyle to make room for stacks of towels and blankets.
All these people yelling "Marie Kondo will throw out all your books", or issuing a dictum not to store food or whatever are either manufacturing outrage for clicks or blaming her method for their own shortcomings :-)
Anyway, my point - by concentrating on what other people claim "Marie made me do", we are in danger of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and not taking advantage of Marie's most important message, which is really that all our personal resources are finite, be that space available, money, or our time on Earth, and to give over any of those to stuff that does not add to, or indeed detracts from, the kind of life we aim to lead, is going to lead to all sorts of problems, including deep unhappiness.
Marie's biggest mistake has been assuming, in writing her book, that everyone's priorities will be the same, and letting her bias permeate her writing, but frankly, when I was in my early 20s, I was also prone to making the same mistake. She has married, had kids,travelled extensively and moved countries since, and has clarified many times that her method isn't about doing what she wants you to, but simply about being true to yourself, and we'll, living your best life.
Yeah, I'm a fan, how did you guess? :-D
Hi Allegra! I've not read any of Marie Kondo's books, but from what you're saying it seems that she has had a change of heart. I like what you said Marie's most important message was. When asked where I put all my pantry items, the first thing I tell people is that I get rid of all clutter and things that are not useful to me (I keep sentimental things) and use that space for creatively displaying/storing my pantry. Being prepared to the best of my abilities with the space and finances I have is important to me and is how I choose to live my life.
DeleteYou expressed and explained it perfectly Allegra - well said! And I completely agree with your interpretation.
DeleteMy oldest daughter is a minimalist. She lives in a very small 2 bedroom apartment with her fiance and dog. She looks in my closets and shutters from everything I have. But she does keep a small pantry. Why? Because why would you pay full price for something if you could get it half off a month prior. She has enough to feed her family for a month. It makes us both happy. She has no room to store more or she might. I have plenty of room so I store 6 months worth. She usually asks for specialty food items/alcohol for her birthday and Christmas. Items they will use. Not more stuff that they do not want or need.
ReplyDeleteAs for Europe, Hubby's family comes from Italy and still has a lot of family from there. We also have friends over there. My MIL grew up on a farm. If you wanted meat you went and butchered an animal. If you wanted eggs you go collect them. She didn't have a refrigerator until she came here. Our friends have a very small refrigerator. They live in Venice and their home is much smaller then mine. They buy fresh fruits, veggies and meats every few days. They never put meat in the freezer. They do store other goods though such as flour, sugar and pasta. It is how they grew up. They are always amazed at how big our refrigerator is.
Making Cents Of It All, I like the idea of asking for specialty food for birthday and Christmas! I would not call my self a minimalist but I'm all about not getting stuff I do not want or need! I would much rather use the space it would take up for things I do want/need.
DeleteMy thoughts on this comment...trends come and go. When I was 20yrs old, the trend was everyone had to be super skinny and a certain look to be cool. Today, we here comments like "body shaming" is unacceptable.
ReplyDeletePersonaly, I love history and love to look at how our ancestors survived without all the luxuries we have today (hydro, running water, central heat, etc.). Today we here people complain about job loss, financial strain and food insecurities. Well, our ancestors didn't rely on goverment funding and grocery stores and they survived. So if I want food security in my home, I guess I need to look closely on how they did things. That is why I keep a deep pantry, grow gardens and learn about what I can forage locally for food, should I need to! To ensure my family is fed for as long as possible, regardless of what the future may hold.
Well said Rhonda, well said!
DeleteOur daughter in Germany has told us that any sort of stocking up is frowned upon there. When she lived in the USA she kept things like a large bucket of rice and buckets of beans, etc. She has to shop most days because products just come in small packages there and she said the cashier will give her the evil eye if she seems to be buying more than what is enough for a day or two. This is all well and good until they are struck by any sort of illness or bad weather and then they really have to cope because they live in a big city and walk everywhere. It is about a mile to the nearest grocery store that is not just a neighborhood shop. They have a spacious apartment and a large kitchen so they do have room to store some food but it is just difficult to do so with the mindset and carrying everything home and up three flights of stairs. The pull behind grocery carts are frowned behind too so they must hand carry everything. She has said that they do have some things on hand now just because they have been there awhile and she has learned how to fly under the radar so to speak but it was very hard when they arrived with a bare kitchen and were just trying to get basic food stuffs on hand.
ReplyDeleteIt would be so hard for us to shop daily. Hubby would not cope well with his brain injury and at our age we just might not be up to it physically some days. The pantry is still security here even though it has to be managed. Also, our small food budget means we have to shop for the deals in order to have what we want on hand. In the last few days though we have seen several items that are way out of date and need to just be pitched so that is a waste even if we only paid 50 cents for the item. I have been tempted to write the price I paid for everything on it with a Sharpie just to make it hurt when I have to get rid of anything. But, then my pantry would all look like it came from the scratch and dent store which would drive me nuts!
On the other hand my 80 year old Mom does keep a small pantry but was in the habit of running out to the store for what ever struck her fancy most days. She absolutely cannot do that anymore because she cannot carry her purchases in the house. I have been ordering online with her and the groceries are delivered. This has been a huge stretch for her and me. I have to try to get her to think ahead and suggest foods that she may want or need and is not thinking of at the time. Now there is another tropical storm brewing and I am trying to get her to place an order so that they are well stocked in case of any supply issues and I cannot get her to do it. This is frustrating since I am 500 miles away and cannot just run over there and help if they need.
Well that was a lot of rabbit trials I went down! Sorry.
Lana, you might have gone down several rabbit trails but they all led to the main point … a well-stocked pantry is so very important! Sure hope your mom listens to you!
DeleteI think it is shocking and dangerous that people don't at least store some food. It is just foolish.
ReplyDeleteOut My Window, it's scary for sure!
DeleteI'm not a minimalist at all, but am busy clearing out useless clutter since I just retired. It's difficult (ok, impossible) to be a minimalist if you are prepared. Another thing I can't understand is people clearing out their pantry. Then they just have to start all over, and while I get using older dates first, it's not wise to be left with nothing.
ReplyDeleteAmish Heart, I agree!
DeleteI have read Marie, I do use how she folds shirts in my own dresser and that's about it.
ReplyDeleteMinimalism is intentionally living with only the things that you feel that you absolutely need... it's what YOU FEEL YOU NEED.
When I was growing up , almost nothing was threw away. You either reused it or gave to someone in need or stored it until it was needed. AND the house never looked like my parents were hoarders. Mother and Pop's house did years later because she started into collection cut glass dishes and vintage jewelry. Daddy, we thought was a minimalist until we cleaned out his house and found every bill he ever got in the drawers instead of clothes. Guess he felt he needed those bills. My son is a minimalist. HE does have a 30 day pantry.My son feels he needs a 30 day pantry as he has went through furlough with the military and that gives me time to bring him food if needed. He feels he needs 2 empty cardboard boxes for his cats to play with instead of buying them toys they only play with a couple days and then ignore
My grandmother was from Italy BUT she lived in the north where the store was a day trip not a morning walk like in the cities there so she had a pantry but her grandmother shopped daily as she lived in the city and didn't have one. It wasn't a NEED in her eyes.
Daddy had a pantry of 2 wks living in the city when he didn't drive any more before that he has a pantry of a year because he didn't like to go to the grocery store.
I feel I need at least 1 yr in the pantry. Hubby didn't understand that until 2008 when he went down to 3 days a week work and we lost everything except his 401k. After having a child and a friend put food on the table for 6 months he makes sure I have what I want...need for peace of mind in the pantry.
Chef Owings, I grew up in a home where we always had a well-stocked pantry and I carried that idea over into my marriage. I was so glad I did when my husband suddenly became unemployed and we had 3 small children to feed, I realized what a gift my mom had given me in teaching me how to keep a pantry. I'm with you, my pantry gives me peace of mind.
DeleteI live in Europe. Of course yes, I live in the outmost border of Western Europe, but I have never ever met anyone, who would have frowned upon keeping a sustainable pantry! What they think as a neccessary pantry items vary, and the amount they keep, but I'm convinced these people are able to live from their shelves for two weeks, most people for a month. Of course, there's always those who have only 15 packs of candies and few packs of crisps (chips), but they'll survive, anyway. Of course there's people that are homeless, broke, poor - they can't afford even their daily food.
ReplyDeleteYes, young people are moving towards no-pantry-life, but slowly. I know for sure, that there are people who don't want to store anything, not even extra package of pasta, in their home. But they are minority, and they are cosidered oddities, weirdoes, reckless. And I have never met them, they most likely try to avoid me :-)
Of course, there are hoarders, and I know I'm in danger to become one. It's because of my background, my heritage. My parents have seen life where daily food wasn't granted, sometimes it was only boiled potatoes (and they grew potatoes from thick peelings, not from whole spuds). My grandmother grew flax/linen, processed it and made bedsheets. They waited for two years to get bedsheets! And she weaved them with looms my granddad built himself. We still have those looms, they are beautiful.
I can't and I don't want to live a minimalistic life. It's also a psycholocical thing, I have lost most precious people in my life, and no things will bring them back. I'm filling emptiness inside me with things, but as long as I stay in control, I can live with it.
Every people has they own reason to do things the way they do, sometimes they just don't know better way.
Ulvmor, I loved reading your post, and am sorry for your loses. You're right everyone has their reasons and like you, mine come from experience. Thank you for sharing.
DeleteHi Patsy and addressing the question posed I am not a minimalist and I live in Australia. I keep a well stocked pantry of a years supply and only keep things that we use or stock the important things to us we will use in both groceries and other day to day needs. We are also LDS which means we are taught/counseled to stock everything we need "every needful thing" for sustaining life for at least a year including savings.
ReplyDeleteI would like to touch on Australians being defenceless which is far from the truth. In regards to guns we are allowed to have them with a license if you own a property as we do or you are a member of a gun club as long as they are kept securely. There are other forms of defense apart from guns also which are also legal here to own. Then we have the armed to armed combat my ex military husband is trained in and I am apt with both martial arts and self defence.
I would say feeling defenceless is a mental choice and we don't feel or think we are defenceless and we have God's blessings each and every day in our lives which are immeasurable.
It is also a personal choice to be prepared or not and we choose to be prepared and unfortunately we cannot help those who can but won't. We as a husband and wife will pass on our knowledge of preparedness to others if they ask us and that is the best we can do. We have had many personal experiences in our lives where being prepared has got us through the tough times and it gives us peace of mind.
Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).
Lorna, thank you for your informative comment. So glad that you have choices and that you are exercising those choices! Keep up the good work!
DeleteThank you Patsy :).
ReplyDelete