People used to buy wheat grinders and big tin cans of wheat. Look up Magi Mill and Wonder Mill, vintage wheat grinders commonly owned by LDS families at one time.
Plus buying 5 gallon cans of TVP (textured vegetable protein). Which they eventually threw away, it was inedible. Big tins of pasta, macaroni and that.They stored large containers of water. Also many other items. Eventually the two years went down to 72 hours or whatever.
I think, but not sure, this all started with the 1960's Cuban missile crisis, fallout shelter and preparedness days.