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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Moving with food storage?

The following is an excerpt from an email we received last week. It's a great question, but neither Abby nor I know the answer. However, we'd love to hear some advice from you!

"I am now facing a cross country move and wondered if you had any advice or hints? The move is large enough that we will be hiring a moving company. I am worried that they may have issues with moving all of my goodies. We are a family of 3 that has a 9 month supply in our house. The items that come from the Bishops Storehouse are all in Mylar bags and safely inside the storehouse boxes but most of my grains are in 5 gallon buckets. Emptying my water containers will not be a problem but they sure are bulky.

"Maybe I am being paranoid and over worrying as I tend to do. Just thought I would ask if you had any experience or had any suggestions."

Any advice from our readers about moving with food storage would be greatly appreciated!!

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

We have moved many, many times and each time we had more food storage to move than furniture! Aside from the looks (it is time consuming to pack and move all of that food), many of the movers knew instantly we were LDS. And we live in the Midwest. You should have no problems. Even my canning jars they wrapped and moved, although I have heard from others that some movers balk at having to move filled canning jars. The biggest thing is weight and time - but other than that - it is their job and they do it. Good luck with your move! And I am glad you have movers - that makes a move so much easier.

Sara said...

I have never had a BIG move. My biggest move with food storage was about 45 miles but I just packed it in boxes and I was luckily enough to have family helping that didn't mind moving the food storage. I have also helped my parents moved their food storage SEVERAL times (4-5). It is worth it so you don't have to start over!

Anonymous said...

I'd say the reader should check with the moving company. On our last long move they said they wouldn't move any food. We are planning on moving ourselves soon (a short distance) and I want to move as little as possible. I've given some food to our church's food pantry and have been having guests for dinner to help use up the food before we move. I know I'll be able to build my food storage again in the new house.

The Millers said...

When we moved the movers did not have a problem at all with our items from the cannery. At the time we did not have much more than that. When they come to give you a quote they should tell you exactly what they will and will not move. And what they will pack and what they will not pack. Movers are paid by weight. They should not have a problem with the weight, it will just cost more. Bulky items should not be a problem either, our movers were willing to move our outdoor playset and 10x16 storage shed. Generally if you have the budget, they will move it. My parents moved when I was younger with a lot of food storage. Most of it was in #10 cans, but they had some in large garbage pails. The movers brought it all many times. They had honey in glass jars. The movers dropped one box. There were a lot of bees after that. Other than that I do not recall any other issues. My movers were more concerned with the quantity of books we had. It seems they could not comprehend why we would need so many.

Anonymous said...

I think it is worth it to move your food storage rather than trying to eat/give it away. Then you don't have to start over, as that it is time-consuming and costs money to build a 9-month or year supply. Plus, lots of unexpected expenses come up with moving so your food storage may come in handy! Check with your moving company. When my sister-in-law moved cross-country, the only things the movers would not move were canisters/food items that were already opened, so she gave us her partial box of Bisquick, the contents of her flour and sugar canisters from her counter, and half-used containers of baking soda and other similar items. She was able to move all of her bulk things, including food stored in 5-gallon buckets since the buckets seal.

Anonymous said...

This is such a timely post for me... I'm not moving far - only about 20 miles, but my Kitchen and Pantry are the last on my packing list because of the daunting task of packing up all my food storage. Thanks so much for this post! I'll be checking back for comments frequently over the next 14 days.

CheerfulHeart2 said...

The only problem I had was I needed to store it for a month or two between houses... in Phoenix in the summer. They had a facility to store my belongings in, but food was exempt from insurance or any guarantee. Most of it arrived fine anyway. My biggest loss was wet canned food that were probably needing rotated out anyway. I suspect if I went straight from house to house and skipped the storage period it would have been fine. I didn't do it, but I did consider packing up the soil from my square foot garden to bring. I asked at least few companies about that. Two gave me quotes. One balked a bit.

roxanne said...

We have had movers move us twice. In my experience, they just wouldn't take any liquid stuff, like the vegetable oil or the filled water jugs. As has been said, the weight is the biggest issue, and that all depends on your budget. But, it wouldn't hurt to call the company to ask, since they all have a little bit different policies, and it will put you at ease.

Karen said...

We're gearing up for a cross-country move, too, with the military. We've been told that they will move non-perishables. I don't know yet whether that means they'll be okay with moving my boxes of homemade jams... I think those will just come with us in a bin.

My big concern, though, isn't with whether they *will* move it, but whether I want them to. I have heard so many stories about things getting broken, lost, etc, that I decided I didn't want to trust the movers to take care of a bunch of foodstuffs. So I've spent the last few months using up our pantry store. I want to get to the point where when we actually move, I just have a small box of things to give to my mom before we leave, and then we'll use some of our moving money to replace the pantry store when we get there.

I would say... if you're trusting your food storage to a mover, take an inventory first, and photos, so that if it gets damaged or lost you will be able to back up your claim that yes, you did in fact have 200 pounds of wheat kernels on board that truck. :)

Anonymous said...

I would recommend renting a trailer that you can attach to your car. That way you can pack it yourself without costing a fortune.

Anonymous said...

It may depend partly on whether you do the packing or whether the movers pack everything for you. If you are packing yourself - then they are just dealing with boxes and buckets, not questioning their contents. On one of our long moves, we even moved the contents of our wine cellar well packed and padded in sealed 5 gallon buckets. The moving company said they would not insure that, but there was no damage. For things in preserving jars - just make sure each jar is wrapped in paper and they are securely packed in boxes or buckets (buckets will catch any leaks if something does break).

Don't forget to put the stuff you need right away (sheets or sleeping bags, towels, a pot or kettle, etc. - we used our camping stuff) into a pack last/unload first bag. We were a couple days ahead of the truck and camped out in our own house until everything else arrived.

Anonymous said...

It may be more costly to move much weight in food. You could perhaps use the savings to build it back up again. And donate anything in an appropriate container to a food bank.

Crunch the numbers. Is it prudent to pay $100 for a 80 pounds of pasta when you could buy 80 pounds of pasta for $60? All to hang on to the initial investment of $60. That means you spent $160 on 80 pounds of pasta instead of $60 for the food pantry-your surplus and another $60 to build up again.

Now the stuff in 5 gallon buckets you can't really share so go ahead and bring. Don't waste it.

Not to mention stuff like conditions in the truck during the trip. Think heat harming the quality not just glass breaking. Think pests getting into oatmeal and cold cereal boxes.

When you eat from your store ahead of a move you are buying less. Put the savings in the build back up jar/bank.

Shannon said...

Unless the cost is prohibitive for you, I wouldn't worry one bit about moving all your food storage. Once you get settled you'll feel so glad to have it and be ready to pick right back up where you left off.

Anonymous said...

The last time we moved, the guy that quoted noticed that we were LDS and was looking for our food. I didn't have much then. I think he was disappointed! They moved all of our things. I would have them take the food. UNLESS you are way over weight and want to take a small trailer behind your car. That is kind of funny. Pulling a trailer full of food cross country. hahaha.

Kristina said...

Most moving companies will move dry goods. We've also had them move liquids, so long as we signed a form stating that we were responsible for any leakage and subsequent damage to any of our property. Just ask your moving company what you need to do in order for them to move your food storage.

If they know before hand, they may have special instructions for your liquids, etc, that you can take care of before they get there.

Sant Family said...

I just moved across the country (WA to LA) with Allied and they moved ALL of my food storage (family of 8) AND my emptied water containers. They only didn't move opened containers. Because we had a car transport company moving a couple of cars, too, we could put some opened containers in those cars.

And, as many people have said, the movers knew instantly that we were LDS because of our food storage. It was pretty funny. I had a great conversation with one of the movers about FHE.

Anonymous said...

We moved from La to NC using a mover that the military pick out. They moved all our food storage as well as large amounts of fabric and sewing items, plus boxes upon boxes of books. I made a detail list of all the boxes and made an extra copy of the list that the movers gave us. I numbered all the boxes and labeled were each were to go once we got to our new housing. This made it easy not only to check off as each come off the truck but the movers were able to put the boxes in the rooms they were needed in.

Mandy said...

I just finished reading a book by Regina Leeds called "One Year to an Organized Life". She is a professional organizer, and details out specific things to do each month. One of the months (August maybe?) is all about moving, and how to make it go as smoothly as possible. I definitely recommend you check it out from the Library and read that section.

I would also suggest that if you have a lot of #10 cans, that you go ahead and buy the boxes from the cannery that are specifically designed to fit those, and then pack them yourself. Your movers may be willing to pack all of your cans, but they will make them fit into whatever size boxes they have.

Mary said...

We moved from Indiana to Albuquerque and the mover's took everything that was dry (I had to leave the oil behind). Be careful about pre-packing anything, we had some friends who did that and the moving company made them open every box to show them it wasn't damaged or broken since the moving company becomes liable for your stuff once it goes on their truck. Good luck!

Unknown said...
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jade said...

Learn how to eat healthy on a budget with these smart money-saving tips. Food Truck Finder

jhon said...

, inquire if you can get tax exemption for the goods you buy in your country of departure which will not be used in said country. Long distance moving companies

Elizabeth J. Neal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

My question is with what food storarge are you actually considering to make the move? Because size, boxes, containers matter. Is it frozen food ? I would like to know what the case is about and maybe I can help with some tips. I moved frozen meat one time. For further info, visit the site.

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