Pantry Preparedness with Leisa Sutton

Send us Fan Mail Labor Day is September 7th. That is six weeks from today — and it is historically when the summer pantry building window closes, domestic produce seasons wind down, and fall food prices begin reflecting the structural pressures we have been tracking all month. Today I am giving you the week-by-week action plan: six weeks, five category focuses, specific quantities, specific reason...

Send us Fan Mail Consumer Reports caught a major grocery delivery platform charging some shoppers up to 23% more for identical items from the same store at the same minute. Meanwhile, Walmart is rolling out price tags that can change up to six times a minute to all 4,600 of its US stores by end of 2026. Kroger has them in nearly one in four stores already. Today I'm walking through exactly wh...

Send us Fan Mail NOAA released its July El Nino forecast four days ago. The numbers are significant — and almost nobody in the pantry preparedness space has connected them to the specific foods on your grocery store shelves.  https://youtu.be/lCrOb-qCFLM   Today I am walking through six specific food categories that are directly in the path of what is building in the Pacific right now, why each on...

Send us Fan Mail The USDA released its July crop production report on July 10th. The wheat number is the one I've been watching all season — and on Thursday, it was officially confirmed.   Total US wheat production for 2026: 1.536 billion bushels. The lowest since 1970. That is 56 years.   Winter wheat — the class that makes your bread flour and all-purpose flour — came in at 990 million bush...

Send us Fan Mail Something is happening at your grocery store right now that most shoppers are walking right past. Packages are getting smaller. Products are being reformulated. And manufacturers are counting on you not to check the net weight.   This week I have covered the big structural forces bearing down on fall grocery prices — the fertilizer crisis (Monday) and the record Fourth of July coo...

Send us Fan Mail The American Farm Bureau Federation just released their 2026 Summer Cookout Cost Survey — and this year's Fourth of July cookout hit a record high. Ground beef is now $14.06 for two pounds, the highest ever recorded in the survey. Pork and beans rose 13.8%. Fresh strawberries up 12.4%. But here's what I want you to understand: the cookout numbers are not just a news stor...

Send us Fan Mail The story you're not seeing in the mainstream coverage of the Strait of Hormuz crisis: one-third of the world's fertilizer supply was disrupted at the exact moment of spring planting. The FAO has warned this will reduce crop yields and tighten food supplies in the second half of 2026 and into 2027. That window starts now.  I spent time going through the institutional rep...

Send us Fan Mail Everything I’ve been tracking points toward fall 2026 being a rough season for grocery budgets. I’m going to show you exactly what I’m seeing — and what I’m doing about it right now, while summer is still here. A former USDA economist has specifically warned that food price inflation will intensify "towards the end of the growing and harvesting season — late summer." Thi...

Send us Fan Mail Something strange is happening with meat — and the data is more alarming than the headlines are letting on. Wheat was last month. Dairy before that. This is the most serious "Something Strange" video I've made, because this time it's not one problem in one category. It's multiple compounding crises hitting beef, chicken, and turkey simultaneously. Here&apo...

Send us Fan Mail Here's what's quietly disappearing from grocery store shelves this summer, and what I'm personally doing about each one. Seven specific items. Real reasons behind each one. And a practical action plan you can actually use. Support the show 📚My Books 📖Pantry Preparedness: The Best Insurance Money Can Buy! Paperback https://amzn.to/45HhtEh 📖The Frugal Prepared Pant...

Send us Fan Mail Not all food is getting more expensive at the same rate. Some categories are rising at two, three, even six times their historical average — and most people don't know which ones or why. Today I walk through 7 specific grocery items that are under the most price pressure right now, with the exact reason each one is going up. This is not general inflation talk. This is specifi...

Send us Fan Mail Two days ago — Tuesday May 13 — the USDA released the May WASDE report and the wheat numbers shocked commodity markets. U.S. wheat production is forecast at 1.561 billion bushels for 2026-27 — the lowest since 1972, down 424 million bushels from last year. Wheat acreage is at its lowest since 1919. Only 28% of the winter wheat crop is rated good to excellent — down from 54% a year...

Send us Fan Mail Grocery inflation headlines keep saying "things are cooling down." Here's the problem: that headline is built on two falling categories — eggs and dairy — masking seven categories rising faster than their historical average, including beef up 12% year over year, coffee up 19%, and sugar up 6.7%. Add rising energy costs flowing directly into food production and trans...

Send us Fan Mail The headlines say grocery inflation is 'cooling.' Here's what they're not telling you: seven of the 15 food categories the USDA tracks are rising faster than their 20-year average. Beef is up 12% year over year. The full tariff impact hasn't hit your store yet. And consumer behavior is changing in ways that economists only see when people stop expecting re...

Send us Fan Mail BIG NEWS!! Pantry Peace - Security For Real Life : A Beginner's Complete Guide to Building Your 3-Month Food Security Plan  https://amzn.to/4a48yja June starts today. And so does the most important food preparation window of the year.  Between now and September 1st, the domestic growing season is open — produce is at its cheapest and most abundant. The tariff wave is completi...

Send us Fan Mail This isn't fixing itself by fall, and after tracking extensive data on commodity trading, tariffs, and shipping delays, I'm certain most people are unprepared. I've been watching the port congestion and other supply chain issues closely. Understanding these challenges is key for effective risk management in your household. Hey Dazers! Links to everything mentioned i...

Send us Fan Mail A few weeks ago, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints quietly distributed an estimated 10 million pounds of food across all 50 states. Most people saw it as a warm, charitable story and moved on.  I could not move on from it.  The LDS church does not operate a casual food pantry. They have been building food storage and distribution infrastructure for nearly a hundred y...

Send us Fan Mail The future economy isn’t being shaped by technology alone — it’s being shaped by fewer people. A shrinking workforce means slower services, higher costs, longer wait times, and more responsibility per household. This isn’t about fear. It’s about preparation. In this video, we’re talking about how to stay stable, useful, and secure in a labor-scarce economy. From protecting your ho...

Send us Fan Mail Today, I want to break the numbers down with you — calmly, clearly, and practically — so we can understand what families are really up against in 2025… and how your pantry plays a powerful role in keeping your household stable. Support the show 📚My Books 📖Pantry Preparedness: The Best Insurance Money Can Buy! Paperback https://amzn.to/45HhtEh 📖The Frugal Prepared Pantry E-book:...

Send us Fan Mail Our grandparents didn’t call it “prepping.” They just called it life. During the Great Depression and wartime years, self-reliance wasn’t a trend — it was survival. They wasted nothing, reused everything, and knew how to stretch a meal farther than most of us can imagine. Today, as we face inflation, global instability, and supply chain challenges, the lessons from their era are m...

Send us Fan Mail  When food assistance falters, millions of families feel the impact immediately. The empty EBT balance, the uncertainty at the checkout — it’s more than a financial strain; it’s emotional. But while the system may fail, your pantry doesn’t have to. In this episode, Leisa from SuttonsDaze breaks down practical, empowering steps you can take today if your benefits didn’t arrive, and...

Send us Fan Mail You remember that feeling, don’t you?  The one that hit when you walked into the grocery store and saw shelf after shelf sitting empty.  Not just the fancy things — the basics. Flour. Rice. Toilet paper. You stood there, blinking, holding your list, realizing that no matter how much money you had in your wallet, you couldn’t buy what wasn’t there. That feeling of helplessness stic...

Send us Fan Mail When you open your pantry, do you see stuff or security ? In my newest podcast episode, we’re shifting from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset — because peace of mind begins one shelf at a time. Share in the comments: what’s one item that always makes your pantry feel abundant?  You can download your quick reference guide to substitutions here: https://www.mediafire.com/fi...

Send us Fan Mail Building a pantry doesn’t have to be overwhelming. In this video, we start where you are — with the food you already eat — and build a simple, practical 2-week supply for every person in your household. You’ll learn what to stock, why it matters, and exactly how much you need to create peace of mind without breaking the bank. Once that foundation is set, expanding to a month, thre...

Send us Fan Mail Are you tossing money in the trash without realizing it? 🛒💸 The average family wastes 30–40% of their groceries every month—that’s like throwing away a whole bag of food every time you shop. In this week’s podcast, I’m sharing 12 practical meal prep hacks that help you stretch your food value, save money, and reduce waste. From cooking once and eating twice to freezer tricks tha...