non-plastic bulk food storage?

[mum4vr]

Like a LOT of bulk food. We order from a co op every 3-6 months, and must store 5-10-25-50 pound bags of flour, oats, lentils, etc. At the "split" we repackage "shared" items in big baggies (ie if I get 10# and my friend 15# of a 25# bag of oat groats, it's coming home in plastic).

Right now we use ziplock knockoff "big bags" gallon or larger and also 1-2-or 5 gallon buckets. Glass is lovely, but my destructo-boys break things and they are prohibitively expensive. Sealed wooden barrels are also lovely (I admit, I covet) and prohibitively expensive.

I cannot be the only person who thinks this way. What does everyone do to store without plastic?

Sorry if this was discussed earlier-- I looked back several pages and didn't see it.

Maybe the amatuer wood workers in my life would like a set of chisels for their birthdays, so I can get a set of dovetailed food containers for Christmas-- or ya know just bc they eat most of said food?

TIA for any ideas

[megan_k]

I, too, would like to hear ideas about this.  With all the worries about BPA and the like, it would be nice to have long term food storage that wasn't plastic.

[ridingmomma]

Me too!

[littlegreenlady]

What about metal?

metal 5 gallon bucket

http://thuleracks.molnaroutdoor.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=5gmb001

I'm putting the paper sacks in big plastic bins, but would prefer something else.

oh I just re read your post, and wanted to suggest that you keep any of the thick paper sacks when you are done with them and reuse them.

We do that for when we need to split a bigger sack. We also double up thicker paper grocery bags for bigger things like beans then fold and tape them.

[talia rose]

I have been looking as well but not found anything....currently using a rubbermaid with lid for the sealed bulk bags, open bags we keep in the freezer, transferring smaller amounts to gallon jars....

[Ruthiegirl]

We also buy a lot of bulk goods and our food co-op has a mess of heavy cloth bags that we use for our 'splits'.  They are simply bags -- long strip of cloth sewn shut on the sides and tied closed with a piece of string.  Sometimes, I'll transfer food over to jars, but often I just leave the food in the bags.  Wash when empty and reuse.  

I do throw my bags in to the freezer to kill the bugs and then leave them on shelves in the basement.  I have not had any problems with this method.  I buy 4 times a year from the co-op and I often have food stored for half a year or more.  

I also save the heavy paper bags that beans and rice come in and reuse those as well.  

[julievan]

Thank you for your post Ruthiegirl regarding bulk storage. I have been trying to figure this out and your information is really helpful. Will use cloth bags and freeze to destroy germs. Have been storing my bags of stuff in a camping eskie, so should all be good! Thanks again.

Mum of two, homeschooler,  Australia.

[moppet]

I use big glass jars and just keep them nowhere near my husband (he is as bad as a kid about breaking things). It was pretty expensive, but I just bought a piece here and there'd until I completely phased out the plastic. It took a long time, but I have a pretty much plastic free kitchen now!