James,
I found a vendor that sells gluten-free flours in #10 cans for long term storage. See this PDF. Look bottom of page 3 and top of 4. (Also flour in bags that are not packed for long term storage.)
This company make a lot of the baking mixes that are repacked and sold under a different label by the long term storage food companies. So prices are good, but you will pay shipping. (I have no affiliation, but did buy from them and have been happy with the products.) God Bless! – Lyn H.
Dear Jim,
This is in reference to the posters with diabetes in their families.
I am diabetic, Type 1, which means Insulin Dependent by definition. I am also a survivalist. These positions are not mutually exclusive, but my options for survival are quite limited. Why? Diabetic test strips last around two years if they’re kept cool and dry. Insulin must be refrigerated but not ever frozen or shaken, and lasts at most 18 months. Oxygen destroys it. Shaking destroys it. What does this mean? You’re dependent on civilization to survive, and can only last 18 months without supplies. Meds to reduce your odds of a nasty side effect (coma, embolism, stroke, heart attack, blindness, ketone acidosis) are worth retaining and using.
If civilization falls too far to produce insulin, you’re screwed. No really. There is no happy way around this. The upshot is, insulin is produced in many places, and there are some methods which are quite surprising, such as genetically engineered safflower plants by a firm in Calgary, Canada. I don’t have access to the seeds yet, but I want them, badly.
To retain access to insulin, you must live near places which stock and store the medicine. This pretty well prevents the Deep Boonies lifestyle, and means you’ll have to deal with societal collapse in the burbs or city, or at least close to them. It means dealing with the horde, and retaining contact with those groups or persons who still have access to the medicine needed to live. You don’t have the option of moving away unless you can let yourself or your child die painfully, which happens less than 12 hours after the insulin in your system is gone. That may happen regardless, but you’d best organize your plans around staying close to the medicine. And that means staying in the cities and suburbs and dealing with the people there.
Think carefully and plan accordingly and learn to deal with unpleasant people. We don’t know just how bad things will get. It might only be the Great Depression 2..Its predecessor was survivable but unpleasant. A good hidden safe is far more valuable to you than a main battle rifle. Good luck. We both need it. Best, – InyoKern
JWR Replies: To extend your logic, the safest place for a diabetic to live would be in close proximity to a pharmaceutical manufacturer that produces insulin. And. ideally, it would be one that is in a swine producing region.