Beans & LegumesTop Ten Food Storage Myths
#10: The Government Will Give Me Food in an Emergency.
Actually, the government usually doesn’t get aid to disaster-stricken areas for about three days, and even then, they can’t feed everyone. Besides, there doesn’t have to be a catastrophic disaster for you to need your food storage. Power outages that last for a couple weeks due to storms are not uncommon. In similar non-catastrophic emergencies, the government might not step in with aid at all. Its important to be self-reliant and not have your life depend on aid from the government, neighbors, family, or friends. Taking the responsibility for yourself and your own family will always prove the safest option.
#9: I’ll Never Be in a Disaster Where I Need Food Storage.
Actually, the vast majority of Americans commonly find themselves in a situation where food storage would be helpful, if not vital. You may not have a devastating earthquake in your home town, but you could very likely lose your job. Having food storage would free up what money you have to spend on vital bills like your mortgage or rent instead of food. Again, there doesn’t have to be a catastrophic disaster for you to need your food storage. Sometimes its just common changes in life, like injuries, job loss, or financial troubles.
#8: Food Storage Tastes Disgusting.
Actually, modern improvements in food storage preparation and preservation have drastically improved the quality and tast of food storage. As a result, new food storage products taste delicious. You don’t have to eat chalky calorie bars day after day. You can have things like beef stroganoff, lasagna, & chicken teriyaki that you and your kids will love
#7: Food Storage is a Pain to Rotate.
Actually, with properly packaged freeze-dried food wich has only recently seen widespread commercial use, the shelf-life of food storage is more than 30 years and counting. That mean for some of us, our food storage could last longer than us!
#6: To Live Off Food Storage I Have to Do Things Like Grind Wheat and Bake My Own Bread.
Actually, modern freeze-dried food is incredibly simple to prepare. Just add hot water and wait 2-5 minutes and your meal is ready. No cooking and virtually no preparation or clean up. You can prepare it in the same dishes you are eating from.
#5: Only Fanatics and Doomsdayers Get Food Storage.
Actually, more and more regular normal people are realizing the wisdom in storing some food for a rainy day. So its not just
crazy people that are getting food storage, its smart people too that are just trying to be cautious and prudent.
#4: I Don’t Have Room For Food Storage.
Actually, there are all sorts of little nooks and crannies in your home where you could store food and not even notice it was there. Under your
bed, for example. You might have to get a little creative, and it might not be all in the same place, but everyone has enough room for at least a couple weeks supply of food. Even if it is under your bathroom sink.
#3: You’re Better Off Saving Money than Stockpiling Food Storage.
Actually, when it comes down to it, food is much more valuable than money. Most likely what you would be doing with your money in an emergency situation is buying food anyway, but often food is not available or accesible. Also, many times when power outages occur or
there is damage to other critical infrastructure, your money that is stored in the bank is not accesible either. So if your going to buy food with your money in case of an emergency, why not just buy it now?
#2: I Can Just Use the Food in My Fridge or Cupboards For Food Storage.
Actually, one of the most likely things to be unavailable in an emergency situation is electricity. If the electricity is gone the food in your fridge will go bad and most of the food in your cupboard will require electricity to prepare and cook. Having extra food in your cupboards is always a good thing, but food designed for use in an emergency will be so much more usable and beneficial.
#1: Food Storage is Way Too Expensive and I Can’t Afford It.
Actually, when you look at how long modern food storage lasts you could have a year supply of food for as little as $100 a year. Also, when it comes down to it, its all a matter of priorities. When, not if, you have an emergency, would you rather have a television that is a few inches bigger, or a stomach that is a few meals fuller?
i eat out of our supply occasionally and can attest that it taste GREAT & you guys are the most professional in the business!
Totomcurryimages.com
February 1st, 2010 at 10:14 amI like grinding wheat and making bread! hahahaha. Fun article.
February 1st, 2010 at 10:16 amI’ve acutally eaten from my food storage when it was time to rotate. The dehydrated fruits, and granola are great.
February 1st, 2010 at 10:38 amI live in South Dakota, This year we have had some really heavy snow and recently ice storms that have left many people out of power some for days some for weeks. I think any family who lives in a rural area in the Dakotas should have at least 2 weeks of MRE’s for the winter storms and the spring floods that may follow.
Rich Doty
February 1st, 2010 at 10:39 amKeeping food around is very smart. I ready that food in a bad time can cost as high as 9x the reg price. And if the power is out, who has cash anymore?
February 1st, 2010 at 10:42 amAlso, balance your food storage, some canned short-term things that you regularly use, and rotate those. I try to keep 2-4 weeks of those items on hand.
freeze-dried and dehydrated for the long-term.
also, don’t forget MREs and food-bars in your bug-out bag, along with water, for the grab and go emergencies.
February 1st, 2010 at 10:42 amActually, I have been expanding our storage supply over the past year. Actually, it is planning for the family in a responsible manner.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:13 amThe key is to store things you already eat and as you eat them, replenish them. Every time I use a can of diced tomatoes (for example) in cooking, I buy at least two more when I go to the store, one to replace what I used, and another extra. It’s an easy way to build your food storage without going into debt over it. I keep three or four extra loaves of bread in our freezer and enough supplies on had to bake my own if that were necessary. If you store powdered milk, use it for cooking NOW so you’re used to the taste because I can guarantee when the time comes that you have to use it and you’ve never tried it before, you won’t like it. As far as storing water, if you ever drink juice, that plastic is heavy enough to use for storage, so each time you empty a juice container, rinse it out and fill it up. It may not amount to much, but it’ll be more than the nothing you would’ve had.
We live in an apartment so space is VERY limited for storage, but we’ve stored parts of our food storage under our daughter’s crib and in her closet (because what kid needs a whole closet to themselves?) and that has proven to be very helpful. There’s a foot of space or more above our cabinets in the kitchen and although it’s not pleasing to the eye, there’s food storage there, too.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:32 amI live in the city,directly down the street from a supermarket.They are resupplied daily,a truckers strike or any kind of storm slows them now.If we get hit any kind of disaster they will be out in two days.I stock food,water,medical and means to defend it.
February 1st, 2010 at 12:01 pmComing from New Orleans, can you say Katrina?
At least once a year we had power outages! And no one anywhere has never had a power outage.
Wait didn’t the ENTIRE eastern seaboard lose power a few years ago because of an antiquated power grid?
Yes, lets wait for FEMA!
February 1st, 2010 at 12:33 pmThink of it this way. How much money do you spend on fire insurance for your house? How likely is it that your house will burn down?
Well it is probably a hundred time more likely that you will be without electricity for a couple of days at some point. With a little bit of foresight, some freeze-dried food and a couple of cases of MREs, you can turn a disaster into a family adventure.
Annual Fire Insurance Premium: $1000.
Emergency Food Supply: $100.
Watching Your Kids Happily Cracking Open That Case of MREs When The Power Goes Out: Priceless.
February 1st, 2010 at 12:52 pmWe’re still working through the cans of grain mix we stored for the promised 2000 year complications. It’s still delicious ground for baking or great when simmered until tender.
You can easily add seasonings to get either breakfast or an entree from it.
When my sister got laid off I shared some of our stash with her. It never hurts to have some on hand.
I grew up with food shortages off and on. Here in Colorado it sometimes snows enough to shut things down anywhere for a few days to a week or more. And, I’m in the city!
It’s comforting to know I’ve got enough stuff on hand to get by.
February 1st, 2010 at 2:05 pmAll you have to do is watch the news about Haiti and the people there. That should be reason enough to have your own emergency food and water stockpile. They are going on 3 weeks now.
Do not expect anybody to come to your rescue for days or weeks. Ask New Orleans and Katrina victims.
February 1st, 2010 at 5:29 pmwe have about 90 days of food and water, but it’s all standerd store bought stuff. we realy should add some longterm, freezedried stores to our supplies.
February 1st, 2010 at 6:11 pmOur family uses several of the Mountain House and Saratoga products instead of canned, fresh or frozen veggies. They are just as good as fresh or frozen and you don’t have to worry about spoilage.
February 1st, 2010 at 6:20 pmI am 72 years old and I store MRE’s, freeze dried, and canned food. Why? If anything happens, my old belly is not going to suffer. Besides, it pays to be ready. If you do not store some food, you may be sorry one day.
February 1st, 2010 at 6:47 pmMost Americans don’t relize how small a disruption in Basic supplies and services can throw our society into chaos.
February 2nd, 2010 at 8:19 amA very good article to read about this Scenario is “Nine Meals From Anarchy” by Rosie Boycott. You can find it at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti…od-crisis.html
Although this Scenario is set in Great Britain it is relevant to all modern societies. I personally store 1 month worth of Mountain House freeze dried foods in town where I live and a year plus supply in the country.
When my husband was told at the beginning of last year that he was one of those that would be forced into early retirement, I utilized the time remaining to really beef up our food storage. We are not in a situation where we have to live off of it exclusively, but I am integrating it into our regular meals so that we are now used to the taste and texture and are finding lots of new and innovative ways to use it. It has indeed freed up money for bills etc and is a true blessing to know that I have it fall back on. The powdered eggs are in the fridge and I will never again buy tomato paste, now that I have used tomato powder. The meats are great stretchers and work wonderfully in soups and stews. We have even incorporated TVP and find it quite versatile and tasty. I recommend food storage to everyone and have had opportunities to teach about it on a couple of ocasions this year. It’s comfort, and a great sense of security to know that we will not be hungry.
February 2nd, 2010 at 4:48 pmI’m thinking of buying, but if I don’t have electricity in an emergency, how will I heat the water to add to the freeze dried food? Could I use the hot water from the kitchen faucet? Is that hot enough? Does it have to be boiling? In an emergency my electricity goes off but my gas so far has stayed on, and my heaters are gas-fired.
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:47 pm[...] The Ready Store’s blog has a post on the top ten food storage myths, and I encourage you to take a look at it. Meanwhile, I’ll share the main points here because [...]
February 3rd, 2010 at 7:09 amI purchased several 50 lb. bags of rice for storage and when I got home I thought, where am I going to store this? I knew that I had to get creative. I bought a new trash can and put the bags in it,then I covered the can minus the lid, with a piece of round plywood and covered that with a beautiful cloth. Instant end table. Then I put my lamp & accessories on the top and nobody is the wiser that it’s food storage.
February 3rd, 2010 at 8:35 amExtra food storage is essential, whether you’re in the country or the ‘city.’ You never know when you’re going to need it. But, be very wary of who you share your storage information with or you’ve find yourself without, very fast. Looters are the first on most disaster scenes. They’ll even eat Brussel sprouts if they’re hunger enough.
But, I’m a firm believer in having at least a six-month supply of food available. So far as heating water, the time to check for solar cookers is now, when there’s no pressure. They are perfect for purifying water and come in many styles to fit all pocketbooks — or, build your own. There’s nothing to it.
March 1st, 2010 at 3:43 pm