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Two Letters Re: Sources for Food Grade Buckets

Mr. Rawles,

I'm glad that I bought the "Rawles Gets You Ready" family preparedness course! It has a ton of great information. I followed one piece of advice in the course, and I struck pay dirt: I went to three local bakeries (one was actually part of a supermarket). All three had food grade buckets available. At two of these bakeries, I got charged just $1 each for five gallon buckets with lids. Most of them had already been cleaned. They also threw in a few extra [bucket]s with no lids, for free. And at the other bakery, the buckets and lids were absolutely free. "Just remember us, if you ever want to order a cake," was all they asked in return.

Thanks again for putting the preparedness course together. When I first ordered it, the price seemed high, but it is now plain to me that having it is going to save me and my wife thousands of dollars. Thanks for all that you do with your blog and books. It is nice to see that you still offer all the stuff in your archives, free. You are a saint. God Bless, - P.D.K. in Cleveland

Dear James,
Many of SurvivalBlog readers look for or mention places to find food grade buckets for their long-term food storage needs. I have tried many of them myself (supermarket deli's, ice cream parlors etc.) with some success, however one place I recently found via a Craigslist posting ended up to be my new "motherload" source for these buckets. It was a local vegetable farm. Unbeknownst to me, the seeds to plant various crops just so happen to come in bulk quantity in either five or six gallon plastic HDPE #2 food-grade buckets with rubber gasket lids and sturdy metal handles. I paid the farmer one dollar for each bucket, including the lid. The buckets were dusty but clean, had no traces of any odors, and a quick wash and rinse with soap and water was all it took to prepare them. The farmer told me that he had over a hundred available, with many more to come during the planting season. He said that most all of the local farmers had so many buckets that they just ended up throwing them away in the recycle bin. He told me that his young daughter had suggested trying Craigslist. He told me to stop by at anytime if I needed any more (which, rest assured, I will).

With the price of these same buckets going anywhere from five to eight dollars (plus shipping) on e-bay and other sources, one only have to make a few enquiries at any local produce farms. You may end up be pleasantly surprised.

Wishing you and all of survivalblog.com readers a happy and Holy holiday. The late Memsahib, your family and your good self will be in my prayers. - Bill M.

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