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Had my first experience with the LDS cannery on Monday and it was great. Half the price of Costco and the people that volunter there where very freindly and helpful.

What did you do? Buy? Can? What?

You can order any of the items shown on the form at the link below. Depending on inventory levels and the size of your order, you may need to order some items in advance. Just discuss with the cannery volunteers.

You will can your own order, by the way.

Folks, this is the best kept secret for preppers trying to load up on the basics. Nothing fancy, but it will keep you alive if you've got a supply of water.

http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,7977-1-4352-1,00.html

Find a cannery near you:
http://www.providentliving.org/location/map/0,12566,2026-1-4,00.html

Any questions? I can help.

No disrepect to the canneries, but I'm getting better food prices from Utah-based commercial places like Augason Farms (which may be LDS affiliated, for all I know - the shipping is incredibly low, which makes me wonder).

68Camaro wrote:No disrepect to the canneries, but I'm getting better food prices from Utah-based commercial places like Augason Farms (which may be LDS affiliated, for all I know - the shipping is incredibly low, which makes me wonder).

Then Augason sounds like the best deal for you. Are the prices better even factoring in shipping?

The Augason owners may be LDS, but the business is not owned by the LDS church.

I went to the Augason Farms web site and they do have a much broader selection but they must be giving you some special deal because the prices they have posted on their site is quite a bit higher than the cannery. #10 cans price carrots LDS 8.30 AF 15.89, Oats LDS 2.50 AF 6.05, Pinto beans LDS 4.70 AF 10.35, rice LDS 3.85 AF 9.55, Wheat LDS 3.50 AF 7.89.

We need to do a per serving cost, apple to apples. For many of the AF products they are freeze dried, indefinite length storage. Not regular canned product. They may not be covering the same market.

68Camaro wrote:We need to do a per serving cost, apple to apples. For many of the AF products they are freeze dried, indefinite length storage. Not regular canned product. They may not be covering the same market.

Storage life for the dry (called "low-moisture," so not sure if freeze-dried or dehydrated...perhaps neither) items on the LDS list at the link above is 20-30 years. These items are definitely not wet-packed. I have canned just about everything on the list and no water/syrup goes into any can.

I'm in a mtg (suuuush) so can't research. The AF products are (I believe) freeze dried. Require reconstituting. Believe there are more servings per can. I'll check tonight if no one else does first. But this makes me wonder if I ordered what I thought I was ordering.

Nope - you all are absolutely correct - I stand corrected. While AF does have sales, even the sale prices aren't usually this good. I must've been comparing the wrong items.

While the cannery items are far more limited in selection, for what they have, they are significantly cheaper even than AF. You just have to do your own work. I presume they have bulk supplies at the cannery, and you do the work there. Or do you have to order in advance and it gets delivered to the cannery where you go pack and load it? (I'm thinking out loud and will answer this myself eventually, but if someone happens to know that would be nice to hear corroborated.) I'm going to look into this, and get the items that I can from the cannery. Fill in the balance from other sources. Thanks!

The cannery usually has supplies of everything available for canning and they do allow walk-ins (at least they do at the cannery in my town), but it's conceivable that someone came in 2 hours earlier and bought all of an item you need so I recommend calling in advance.

The experience of canning your own is nice, but I think you can also order online.

We made an appointment. They have some things already canned up ( red and white wheat, rice, quick oats) but the rest you have to can. If you open a box or bag you have to can everything in it but you only have to take what you want and the rest they put on a can rack for people that just 1 or 2 cans of an something. You can not bring in anything from outside to can but they did tell us if we had other things we wanted to can that we could stop by and buy cans, lids, oxygen absorbers and they would loan us a canner to take home. They sell everything at cost and the place is staffed by volunteers.

Unfortunately I found my local cannery is effectively closed due to lack of help. Only occasional Tuesday morning appointments, 2-3 people at a time, and no canning.

68Camaro wrote:Unfortunately I found my local cannery is effectively closed due to lack of help. Only occasional Tuesday morning appointments, 2-3 people at a time, and no canning.

(embarrassed laugh) Yes, this is one of the hazards of an all-volunteer system. It sounds like the previous manager has departed and a new one has not been found yet. Keep calling them every week or so to see when they will be back in operation.

In the meantime, go here: http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Category3_715839595_10557_21158_-1_N_image_0

You can order the most basic of the basics...wheat, flour, oats, rice, beans...not too exciting, but it will keep you alive. The shipping is free.

68Camaro wrote:Unfortunately I found my local cannery is effectively closed due to lack of help. Only occasional Tuesday morning appointments, 2-3 people at a time, and no canning.

Check around. I am not sure how many cannerys we have in Florida, but you may find one that is close enough to make the drive worth while.

Also, in regards to the cannery letting you sign out one of the dry canners, some will and some won't let you do it. Our cannery up here in NY won't let us, so in our local congregation, we all chipped in and bought one.

You may also be able to volunteer there. I try to go once a year and volunteer with my boys. It is always a good experience for them.

reddirtcoins wrote:http://www.storeitfoods.com/page/drypack

Good info, reference source.

shinnosuke wrote:

68Camaro wrote:Unfortunately I found my local cannery is effectively closed due to lack of help. Only occasional Tuesday morning appointments, 2-3 people at a time, and no canning.

(embarrassed laugh) Yes, this is one of the hazards of an all-volunteer system. It sounds like the previous manager has departed and a new one has not been found yet. Keep calling them every week or so to see when they will be back in operation.

In the meantime, go here: http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Category3_715839595_10557_21158_-1_N_image_0

You can order the most basic of the basics...wheat, flour, oats, rice, beans...not too exciting, but it will keep you alive. The shipping is free.

Good tip/reminder, thanks. I really do already have most of the basics, but didn't have any *canned* wheat berries, and price is good - almost as good per pound as I can otherwise get in 50 lb bags, so I ordered two cases just to get some diversity of smaller packages in different container. Plus some O2 absorber packs.

knibloe wrote:

68Camaro wrote:Unfortunately I found my local cannery is effectively closed due to lack of help. Only occasional Tuesday morning appointments, 2-3 people at a time, and no canning.

Check around. I am not sure how many cannerys we have in Florida, but you may find one that is close enough to make the drive worth while.

Also, in regards to the cannery letting you sign out one of the dry canners, some will and some won't let you do it. Our cannery up here in NY won't let us, so in our local congregation, we all chipped in and bought one.

You may also be able to volunteer there. I try to go once a year and volunteer with my boys. It is always a good experience for them.

I think there is one in Lakeland, not too far, but far enough to make it expensive for small to moderate amounts. I would consider going to an alternate location if I was helping some of my family in their preps and truly stocking them up.

68camaro
are you referring to the one on Satellite Blvd?
i called them a year or so ago and was told they wouldn't sell to non-members (i believe that's the term he used) very nice and polite about it though.
Walt

That's the one... not sure what their policy is, but seems to be a moot point at the moment, regardless.

Walt, there is no policy for not selling to non-LDS members so I apologize for their ignorance in making that statement. And as mentioned above, for just the basics, they are obtainable online with free shipping.

walt2727 wrote:i called them a year or so ago and was told they wouldn't sell to non-members

If I remember correctly, refusal to sell to outsiders was one of the aggravating factors leading up to the war of 1857.

shinnosuke wrote:Walt, there is no policy for not selling to non-LDS members so I apologize for their ignorance in making that statement. And as mentioned above, for just the basics, they are obtainable online with free shipping.

Some of the storehouses might have this policy. I know that a couple of years back in (2008?) there was a run on them and the church was unable to keep up with demand. Our local storehouse did have a members only policy at that time.

Remember, that the storehouse is run/maintained in part from the donations that church members make and if there isn't enough to satisfy the local members, it would be fair for it to be restricted to those who support it with donations.

knibloe wrote:

shinnosuke wrote:Walt, there is no policy for not selling to non-LDS members so I apologize for their ignorance in making that statement. And as mentioned above, for just the basics, they are obtainable online with free shipping.

Some of the storehouses might have this policy. I know that a couple of years back in (2008?) there was a run on them and the church was unable to keep up with demand. Our local storehouse did have a members only policy at that time.

Remember, that the storehouse is run/maintained in part from the donations that church members make and if there isn't enough to satisfy the local members, it would be fair for it to be restricted to those who support it with donations.

Well, I learn something every day. I guess the cannery in San Antonio is more flexible than some of the others.