For many the topic of food storage is a daunting task that often confuses the average family. Most people usually have some concept of why storing food might be beneficial, yet they just don't know where to begin. They often think on a large scale rather than manageable levels. It is not necessary to rush out and purchase a years supply of freeze dried buckets of food, or case lots of MRE's. In most cases this is a waste of money that could have been spent on other critical items. It is often not as satisfying as less expensive and familiar options. In this article I will discuss some of the general ideas concerning food storage, and give some examples of where to begin.
First let's go over some of the reasons you may want to consider having an active food storage supply. First and foremost it should be realized that our food supply can be disrupted for any number of circumstances since it relies on a very delicate supply chain. Most of the food we eat actually comes from hundreds, even thousands of miles from where we usually purchase it. Natural disasters ( Floods, Hurricanes, Drought, Blackouts, etc), Political and Economic conditions (Strikes, Fuel Prices, Bank closures, Riots, etc), Contamination (Terrorism, Sanitation,etc) are just a few situations that can affect how that normal food supply gets to the market we usually purchase it at.
There are other reasons that may prevent us from obtaining our food, even if it is there at the store waiting to be purchased. Illness, car problems, lack of funds, inclement weather, road closures and a host of other conditions may cause a disruption of our food supply as well. There are so many things that can go wrong between when oats are grown out of state, and that bowl of hot oatmeal lands on our tables for breakfast. There are literally thousands of people, machines, and conditions that need to work in harmony to keep that amazing pipeline of food flowing to our pantries.
So where to begin? First let's look at a timeline of what might give us some peace of mind. For the vast majority of situations likely to be encountered, a 2 week supply of food and water will be sufficient. It is also very simple and inexpensive to obtain. Most situations are resolved within this time. Storms are over, roads get cleared,power is restored, and the next paycheck usually arrives within a couple of weeks. In fact, many Americans easily have a couple weeks worth of chips, dips, frozen pizzas, and beer already in the house. These facts lead many to have a false sense of security. It subsequently causes them to absolutely fail when things play out longer than a couple of weeks.
I believe for most people a one month supply should be the minimum standard. Ideally however a three month supply of food is what I believe a family should have to be considered "prepared". We're obviously not going to be able to survive in a hole for years on end, or withstand some apocalypse, but we will be prepared for just about any type of event that has been encountered around the globe in recent years. Events that totally eliminate food distribution for longer than three months are usually caused by events requiring further preparations that are not within the scope of this article. Those preparations are also not within reach of the average homeowner or novice.
A 1-3 month supply of food is usually best comprised of foods that we are already familiar with eating and preparing. A years supply of wheat berries, powdered milk, oil, and honey does little good if we don't know how to prepare it, and our bodies can't handle it. Special diets, and tastes can be given individualized considerations if we focus on things we already use. It is actually very easy and convenient as well. It's also handy to have the ability to simply go into the food storage to retrieve an item that was forgotten during regular shopping. We seem to run out of the items we forgot, right when we need them.
There are a few different ways to achieve our preparedness level of food. First, we need to have a reasonably accurate idea of just what we eat in a month. This can be determined by keeping a journal for a few weeks, or writing out on paper some of the meals we typically enjoy. For example, if I typically enjoy a bowl of oatmeal, some fruit, and some coffee for breakfast, it is a relatively simple process to measure that out one morning so I know what amounts of each I use in a day. Other days, I may choose some cereal, and a glass of orange juice. Again, I need to know how much of each I typically use. This needs to be estimated for each member of our families. The process is repeated for various lunches, dinners, and occasional snacks.
In the above example we still need to get things to be shelf stable. The oatmeal was fine, but what about the fruit, and milk for the cereal? We could simply use things like canned peaches, or oranges. Powdered milk while not a favorite to drink, might be used with things like a bowl of cereal. Shop around and find some shelf stable ideas for the things normally used and then multiply the amounts used by the family for the determined time period planned for.
At the end of figuring that out, we might come out with a list of items like 7 boxes of cereal, 48 cans of fruit, 48 cans of vegetables, 3 boxes of powdered milk, 3 cans of coffee... etc. Once we have some idea of what we need, there are various methods of obtaining it. Some like to get all of one or two individual items like peanut butter for example. Other like to purchase items by meal. They may for example purchase only breakfast items. That way they know they have 1 month of breakfasts for each member of the family, and then they move on to the next meal category. After some time, they know they have exactly a months supply of food for various meals, and then simply repeat the process until they reach a three month supply.
Watch for things on sale, or things you may have a coupon for. It is usually not necessary to try and get all the things at once. This is to our advantage. We are planning ahead when times are good so we can do it at a comfortable pace. Buying things and storing them are usually easier to do that figuring out just what to get. There will be some items that are difficult to figure out a shelf stable option. It is those cases only that we should consider things like freeze dried options. Things like freeze dried meats can be a welcome addition to soups or dishes created with items found at the local market. What we don't want to do is pay a specialized food company for things like spaghetti and sauce when those can be purchased extremely cheap almost anywhere.
Now that we have discussed why, what, and how much to store, this should be able to give us the tools to build a foundation for a solid food storage plan. Determine what is eaten, and convert items to shelf stable alternatives if needed. Determine amounts required for 1-3 months, and obtain them at a comfortable pace that is affordable. Items are commonly obtained in an organized fashion usually by food category, or meal category.
Some helpful and recommended books:
Not Your Mothers Food Storage by Kathy Bray
100 Day Pantry by Jan Jackson
It's In The Bag by Michelle Snow
In future articles we will build on this foundation and also provide details on some products that have worked for us, and tips and tricks we have learned along the way. It's never to early to begin your food storage plan. You'll be glad you did when it counts.
//EE
(C) 2013
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