As your storage foods–both wet-pack and dry-pack–near their expiry dates, I recommend that you consistently donate them to a food bank.
This approach has several advantages:
1.) You will be charitably helping the less fortunate.
2.) Food will not be going to waste.
3.) Your own larder will be stocked with fresher, more nutritionally- complete foods.
4.) You can take a tax deduction for your donation. (Be sure to get a signed receipt.)
If you are concerned about OPSEC when making donations, then drive 40+ miles to a food bank in a neighboring county.
Keep in mind that most food banks will not accept food that are out of date. So keep close track, and donate the foods at least six months before their marked expiry.
If for some reason you do lose track of an expiry date and have to discard foods, then I recommend that you save the containers. This has multiple “gains”:
1.) It provides you containers that you can re-use. As I’ve previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog, steel cans have umpteen uses, even if you don’t own a can sealer.
2.) It reduces your OPSEC risk. (There will be no labeled cans for your trash collector to see.)
3.) Grains and vegetables can be composted. (Do not attempt to compost any meat food products.)If this is done gradually, some expired storage foods can also be used as livestock food supplements. But remember to rehydrate foods first (soaking them in water), and dole them out on small quantities to avoid any gastric distress.