Passionate about pantries

A couple weeks ago, tired of tripping over things that somehow got stored on the floor, I did a deep clean and reorganization of our pantry. It’s always nice to do this, since it increases efficiency and reacquaints me with things that tend to get pushed in back and forgotten.

As always when giving attention to the pantry, I took a moment to step back and give thanks for this space. It’s stocked deeply and thoroughly. It allows us to create entire meals without having to dash to the grocery store (an hour’s round trip) for any particular ingredient. If we’re getting low on something, it gets added to a running list for restocking at a future time.

I was asked to write a piece for Lehman’s on the benefits of a well-stocked pantry, which I just sent in. I pitched a follow-up piece on pantry organization, on which I haven’t heard back yet. But my enthusiasm to write on the subject made me realize just how passionate I am about pantries.

Interestingly, pantries took off in a BIG way during the COVID lockdowns (dubbed “pantry porn“) as people (a) realized the benefits of having an in-home grocery store, and (b) were bored out of their gourds and decided pantry organization was the next Hot Topic. I thought it was great to see so many people get involved in pantries, although I think the trend has fizzled somewhat.

Of course, most of these pantries featured online involved a lot of beautiful organization that wasted a lot of space, at least in my opinion.

These intensely organized pantries may be Instagram perfect, but many don’t reflect the reality of active usage. As meals are planned and prepared, things get raided, moved around, rummaged through, restocked, de-stocked, and otherwise used. Many pantries featured in the pantry-porn phase were more for photo ops than practical food storage.

Still, it was a trend I enthusiastically applauded. Pantries are the greatest thing since … well, sliced bread. (The term “pantry” stems from the Latin word “panna,” or bread room)

Our pantry is ugly. It will never be featured on anyone’s Instagram feed. But it is perfectly suited to our family’s needs, deeply stocked, and critically important, especially since my job loss. Therefore it is dazzlingly beautiful in my eyes.