Over the summer and into the autumn, my Michigander of a sister and myself — the Canadalander — have laughingly been referring to our pantries as Victory Pantries, as a nod to the Victory Gardens of WWI and II, aka War Gardens.

It’s a sister thing.

But it’s really no laughing matter.

As we watch the price of food rise at a steady rate — gulping every time we hit the markets of super, stores of grocery or convenience, whatever — we’ve been stocking our pantries with sale items.

No, not a gross of Cocoa Frosted Flakes or a skid of Pop-Tarts, but common staples that we both use frequently — canned tomatoes, beans, peanut butter, baking ingredients, and butter, Bacon!, whatever for the freezer.

Feeding a small family of deux, I haven’t really thought too much about this in the past, until recently.

I think about it now. A lot.

To keep the costs down on a lot of dry goods and baking supplies, I’ve been visiting our local Bulk Barn, Canada’s largest purveyor of bulk foods. It eliminates the throw-away packaging, which I assume is also better for the environment. One can only hope.

What to do, what to do about reusable storage containers?

I like cheap, and I like glass.

I like glass because I can see what’s in the container.

I like glass because it doesn’t yellow with age.

I like glass because it’s pretty.

There are disadvantages to glass, of course. Weight for one. It can crash and shatter for another.

I like glass.

I’ve used a lot of canning jars for small stuff, like spices and nuts, and bought some nice Anchor-Hocking large containers for oats and sugars, etc. (moderately cheap), and made in the USA, baby!

Yesterday, while in the Canadian Tire — yes, I am a Canadalander — I found these 56 ounce beauties. Cheap, cheap, cheap, I mean…inexpensive, Bernardin mason jars, also made in the USA. They have wide mouths and the standard metal screw lids and seals that go with them. I did invest in some white plastic lids for the long haul.

I’m waiting for them to dry.

So they can be loaded.

With bulk staples.

For my Victory Pantry.

I also buy local, when the growing season is on, and meat and poultry directly from local farmers. That is not cheap, but it’s healthy and benefits our local farmers.

This makes me a locavore. Not to be confused with herbivore or carnivore.

That’s a post for another day.

Food consumption is a fine balancing act.

My roots are sweating just thinking about it.

And that’s your Sunday news flash.

Note: The Victory Garden Poster image: Your victory garden counts more than ever!, 1945, Artist: Morley, Size: 27″x19″, Publication: [Washington, D.C.] Agriculture Department. War Food Administration. Printer: U.S. Government Printing Office