My emergency food supply is extra normal food

While most emergency preparation in the PNW focuses on “The Big One,” I’ve realized the most common scenarios in which we actually need emergency food and water are: winter storm power outages (1-4 days, 1-3 times a year) and water main breaks (we had a two-day shutdown ~4 years ago, and a street-level shutdown a couple weeks back). I used to stock emergency ration bars and cans of veggies that I never cook with (mushrooms, beets, green beans, peas), and then I would throw it all away when it hit its Best By date. Now I just keep extra normal food on hand. (Michael Harley calls this a “deep pantry.”) This is easier for me to shop for because I’m simply buying extras of food I would buy anyway. Occasionally I am a bit too aggressive in stocking and don’t get around to eating something in time, but overall I think it’s less wasteful since I’m not buying special foods that get tossed every couple years. (My dad was an Eagle Scout and drilled us to always “be prepared!” This sort of…