Looking For Locals Willing to Take “The Pantry Challenge”

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

A couple of very resourceful Moapa Valley ladies are sending out a challenge for area residents to learn to become more self-reliant.

Laura Bledsoe, of Quail Hollow Farms in Overton; and Cally Wade, organizer of Second Saturday Market; are coordinating “The Pantry Challenge.”
“We are putting together a group of people who want to take on the challenge to live off of their own pantry/storage for a set period of time,” said Bledsoe in an interview last week.

But they aren’t going to just leave the members of this group to their own devices. Rather they are going to meet together with group members on a regular basis to provide training that will prepare members of the group for the challenge.
“The goal is to learn to preserve, store and then use foods and items needed to thrive,” Bledsoe said.

“These are important skills in case of an emergency. But this challenge will also teach you what you really like and want to eat and make sure that is what you keep in storage. We want to be intentional in preserving ongoing foods that your family enjoys.”

Bledsoe said that there are known experts on various fields of preparation in the community that the group might learn from through a series of seminars in different topics.

But she would also like the members of the group to be able to share their own areas of expertise with the rest of the group.

“Of course, we have in mind people with expertise who would be willing to come and talk to us,” Bledsoe said. “But I am sure that there are people that I don’t even know out there, that have some great skills that they could teach us. So I would love to see people come out of the woodwork, let us know who they are and what they can contribute.”

Topics could include gardening, canning, dehydrating, freeze-drying, buying in bulk, storage techniques and more.

After several months of learning, preparing and practicing, the group will be ready to take on The Pantry Challenge. They will completely block out going to the grocery store for a time and try to live only off of what they have accumulated in storage.

How long will that time be? Bledsoe said that this is still undetermined; and it may even be different for each group member.
“On YouTube this has become a bit of a trend where people will try this challenge for a month,” Bledsoe said. “That is a long time.”

Bledsoe envisions it going for anywhere from two to four weeks.
“We want it to be a challenge,” she said. “And if you think about it, anyone can go a week. I mean you can clean out your fridge in a week, right? So we want to extend it a bit longer. But I think people can decide what is right for them on what their personal goal should be. In any case, if we can really learn from an experience like that, then we will know what we need and what works.”

Bledsoe said that the details will be discussed in the groups’ first meetings. This will include a decision on when the challenge should be scheduled, how long the challenge will go, and what the group members can do to prepare in the months leading up to challenge.

The first meeting of the group will be held on Tuesday, May 16 at the Old Logandale School. There will be two sessions: one at 10 am and another at 6:30 pm. All are welcome.