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What are the Different Types of Food Storage?
The term food storage is used very loosely in the emergency preparedness industry. Depending on the person who is sharing the information it could be anything from a bucket of beans to the canned goods you buy at your grocery store. So what are your options? What is going to work best for you? Below are the some popular options available to help best suit your needs for your emergency food supply.
Regular Canned Goods
This is usually where people start with their food storage. The idea is that you buy a few extra cans of the goods you usually eat when they go on sale and try and get to the point where you have a 2-week supply of extra food. The great thing about this option is that it’s easy and you use the food that you’re familiar with. It saves you from rushing to the grocery store if a storm is coming. However, this shouldn’t be a permanent solution to your food storage needs due to the shelf-life limitations.
Shelf Life. Most cans of goods that you buy at the grocery store last a few months – maybe a year if you’re lucky. The best rule of thumb with canned food is that it will last at least 2 years but you’ll find a lot of canned food will last much longer than that – possibly up to 5 years. Foods that contain a higher acid content such as tomatoes and fruits will be closer to the 2-year range. If you deal with canned goods that are past the expiration date, carefully inspect the food with the “sniff” test and determine whether it’s spoiled or not. So as a long-term solution, this has it’s weaknesses for sure. However, as a way to start your food storage, it’s a great option.
One tool that makes it really convenient to circulate your inventory is the FIFO Can Tracker. You just input all your cans and when you need your corn for your Sunday dinner just grab the bottom and & it will move all the contents down the line. When you restock your shelf just simply insert the cans in the top rack and it will fall into place and you can walk away knowing that the can you put in first will come out first.
Preparation. When your local grocery store has a big sale on all canned goods, you might start buying up as much as possible, but not really taking to heart what you’re buying. True, baked beans at $0.30 per can is a great deal, but do you really want to live on baked beans during an emergency? Look in your pantry and write down the canned items that you have and the next time you go grocery shopping just pick up those items so you can stock up your food storage.
Dry Bulk Food
Dry bulk food might be something you recall your parents or grandparents would have set aside in cold storage. These are items like wheat, rice, beans, sugar, rolled oats and other staples packaged in large bags or large buckets.
Shelf Life. One of the reasons that the older generations loved these staples was because they stored for so long. Most dry goods will store for a very long time. If stored at an ideal temperature (75º F. or lower) as well as proper packaging for long-term storage, if it is stored properly your beans, rice, and wheat could store for 10-20 years.
Preparation. When dealing with dry bulk food items it can be difficult to turn the dry goods into something edible. If you choose this option you’ll need to have a lot of supplies in order to cook and prepare these items. You’ll need a wheat grinder in order to turn your wheat into flour – or to an edible source of food. You will also need additional ingredients to turn the goods into a meal. One other thing to take into consideration is that you will need fuel and a heat source in order to bake or to cook the goods. So just remember that you’ll also want to have enough supplies to help with preparing your dry bulk goods.
Taste & Nutrition. With dry bulk storage you will typically give you an excellent nutrition. As for the taste, that depends on your cooking supplies that will help you turn a boiled pot of beans into a flavorful meal. I would recommend you do some research in what you can make with your dry bulk foods. You can do a simple search at your local book store & you might find some cooking books that could assist you with preparing some good meals.
Dehydrated Food
Dehydrated food storage is a shelf-stable food that is processed using high heat. Basically, they are items that have been dried for preservations. With the high temperature, it removes the moisture from the food which allows for the extended shelf life.
Shelf Life. Recently, a study conducted by Brigham Young University has discovered that the shelf life of dehydrated food will have anywhere from 10-20 years. It’s also ideal to store your dehydrated food in a location that is in a cool dry location (75º F. or lower) to get the most maximized shelf life.
Preparation. Most dehydrated food does require that you cook it. This will require fuel, a stove, and the time to cook the food. Sometimes, dehydrated soups require a cooking time of 15-30 minutes.
Taste & Nutrition. Again, because of how the food is processed by using heat, it will affect the foods flavor & also remove 25% of the nutritional value of the food. You will also find that with dehydrated food it just wont taste quite the same or due to the heating processes it will discolor the food. If you have picky eaters they might turn the food away.
Freeze-dried Food
Freeze-dried food has been used since the space age to provide the astronauts with food that is lightweight and compact. Where dehydration uses evaporation to get the food out, freeze-dried food uses high-end technology that zaps the moisture out of the food quickly – keeping 100 percent of the natural nutrients, enzymes and taste. For a long-term food storage, I would recommend freeze-dried food as your best choice.
Shelf Life. Freeze-dried food will give you the longest shelf life hands down. You will get at least 25 years or more depending on what cool temperature (75º F. or lower) it can be stored at. I have herd of 40 year old freeze-dried food being tested and it has lost very little taste or nutritional value.
Preparation. The food is designed for you to just add water, stir and wait about 5-7 minutes and you will have a hydrated and ready-to-eat meal. It will make your fuel costs are very low and you wont spend your valuable time in preparation.
Taste & Nutrition. Now, this is what makes freeze-dried food such a find for food storage. Due to the process that makes the food freeze-dried actually “freezes” the food’s flavor and locks it in and allows the food to taste like fresh food. The flavor isn’t muted or dull and the texture, color will all look fresh. The nutrition of freeze-dried retains 99% of the vitamins, nutrients and enzyme’s of the fresh food.
Now, that you understand the differences between the different types of food storage, you’ll better be able to choose which is the best option for your family. Comment below with any questions or concerns that you might have.
what works best for us is to just have the basics. Freeze dried fruits, veggies, meats, dairy and other necessary items for cooking. It’s best to think thru your meals so you will have everything you need including spices. So, If you like to mix sausage with your hamburger for meatballs make sure you have some on hand. We haven’t gone for the (freeze dried) premixed food yet. We have too many particular eaters. The key is to try to eat as you normally would. So far; we have been so surprised at how good the freeze dried foods are.
July 1st, 2010 at 8:08 pmThe problem I see with freeze dried is you need water to reconstitute it into a decent meal. Eating “raw” freeze dried is pretty awful. At least with canned food you can eat most canned goods out of the tin with decent taste and texture.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:43 pmWe don’t purchase the premixed meals. Last year I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and had to give away tons of food. I still have some (preparedness) food storage that I cannot eat myself, but I am hoping to trade with some family members for items I can eat. Finding survival food that is clearly marked Gluten Free is challenging. I am hoping that more manufacturers will recognize the need to produce more wheat free/gluten free products. So, we purchase items like fruit, veggies, rice, etc. Also, I agree with the comment about reconstituting the dehydrated foods. I think the key is to get a variety. Also, cooking/heating food could be a concern even if you have the water.
July 4th, 2010 at 11:55 pmWe retired to a survival retreat in 1979. I was a trained Nuclear Disaster Shelter Manager from the downtown los Angeles Civic Center during the 1960′s when we expected an attack from Russia. We took 3,000 lbs of wheat, other grains and beans, years of Sam Andy dehydrated foods and years of GI rations. We have 44 acres of forest for lifetimes of firewood. Springs and 2 water wells.
Also was a Police Ammunition Manufacturer, Police rangemaster and Firearms instructor. Was a Pistol Grip company, Distributor of ammunition reloading tools and bullet casting tools. We bartered weapons for bulldozing, road building grading, rocking, drainage systems, power lines, building material, chainsaws, backhoe and dump truck.
We make our own granola from quick, rolled oats, and honey. For breakfast we have a scoop plus a scoop of sugar free cereal like bite sized shredded wheat or cheerios, two Tbs of wheat germ, 2 Tbs of fresh ground flax seed plus some of our canned fruit and milk from our goats. We make our own fresh ground wheat bread, cookies and zucchini bread, We have made hundreds of quarts of canned fruits and tomatoes, frozen veggies and fruit from our trees and veggies from our garden.
We have lived on survival foods for decades.
Our grown kids live at the retreat now and we are in a retirement community doing the same things minus the goats and use soy milk and cheese instead. We buy freeze dried products and store monolithic water, filters, purification material and have been doing this for 30 years now. Have been a moderator of the reloading section of several shooting sports lists.
The Old Survivalists
July 5th, 2010 at 7:35 amI find a combination of all of these works best. I keep store bought canned goods, which I rotate, dried bulk items (beans, sugar, and flour – which we use regularly), and freeze dried meals, veggies, and fruits. I keep increasing my freeze dried supply. I also grow my own vegetables,and I planted fruit trees last year. I had a well dug three years ago. I live in a city on a quarter acre lot.
At first glance, it seems too costly to buy freeze dried – but I started thinking of it as an insurance plan where I’ll actually get something back for my premiums. If I lose my job, I won’t have to worry about putting food on the table for some time. A lot of people have been out of work for over a year now. That could happen to any of us luckily enough to still have jobs.
July 5th, 2010 at 8:07 amSome good info an advice here. Best to start out with canned goods and staples you can buy at your local store. Then add to it as your able.
Always buy foods you eat everyday, because in a stressfull emergency situation makes for one less problem to deal with.
We can some meats an vegetables plus have two well stocked freezers with smoked meats an other items. Yes if the power were to go off long term we would have to use it up quickly, but would be able to trade the food for other items with nieghbors.
We also have an old well on the property that we are goin to restore to use, have the water checked and rebuild the pump. During the flood two years ago, water became gold. Folks who didn’t have access to water simply had to do without or depend on FEMA for water and that took 3 days. Remember water storage is one of the most important items, always overplan on water storage. A mixture of large and small containers is a good idea. We were fortunate in that we own a motorhome, so during the disaster we were able to obtain water from my spouse’s work an continue to live a mostly normal life. Another reason for having and keeping the RV.
We appreciate the information on this site. Good information here.
July 5th, 2010 at 8:33 am@ fellow prepper; those are essentially the guidelines I use as well. I have a grab-n-go plan as well as a shelter-in-place plan. Both of those plans are then broken down into “length of time”, short term, medium term, and long term storage. The foods are also broken down by wet and dry. The majority of my short term, shelter-in-place storage is “wet” or canned. The benefit of canned is that in addition to the foods already being hyrated, you can drink the canning liquid. I know; green bean juice doesn’t sound great, but it is liquid. You could also use it as a soup stock or to recontitute your dehydrated foods.
While I really like the idea of the freeze dried or just simply, dried foods for long term storage, the lack of water can always become an issue, and your food supply won’t mean anything if you have no water to drink or no way to reconstitute it. This week I added the canned water to my long term storage. I just do a little at a time, as I can afford it.
July 5th, 2010 at 8:45 amI agree with the blog… the necessity of “prioritising” food stores so they are most useful and appropriate for a wide variety of circumstances, from immediate to extenuating. In survival situations, your specific location/situation will determine the types and quantities of supplies required, so Take Time to Take Stock & Take Heed of YOUR particular circumstances! (i.e. It makes no sense to hoard tons of supplies at a beachfront home where hurricane evacuations are commonplace! And it makes no sense to have an empty storm cellar, or winter cabin either!)
That said, constantly building up (and consuming) your “stores” as part of your normal lifestyle is ideal; this ensures a smooth transition during emergencies, facilitates regular food rotation/replacement, and provides hands-on experience with survival ingredients, quality, quantity, measures, variety, brands, etc.). It is also very important that all/several family members have food preparation experience, and they particiapte in the storing and rotating of foodsuffs. Relying on one person (i.e Mom) to manage the entire Kitchen by herself is not a good idea (it is a potential disaster, and detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the entire family!)
Being prepared for emergencies and disasters is responsible and prudent, thus ideal! But emergencies are not regular occurances, so beware of getting “stuck in in survival mode” and worrying about “disasters” so much that you forgo living a normal life! Being a knowledgeable, experienced and prepared “survivalist” is prudent and very beneficial, but living in fear and aprehension, (just waiting “for the shoe to drop”) is not healthy for mind, body or spirit! Do your preps, so you can live a full, confident, and rewarding life knowing you are prepared IF disaster comes your way! (And please be prepared to help a few others that may come your way as well!)
PS: Never forget the Golden Rule! And dont forget to add several rolls of TP and high quality can openers to your list! (And do learn to open a can with a flat stone; and learn which leaves not to wipe your butt with! LOL)
July 5th, 2010 at 10:59 ami need information on how to can and freeze dry meats.i am from new england and have no clue on this.i would like my family to be prepared for an emergency.please reply to my email address.thanks
July 5th, 2010 at 1:13 pmKathleen – Canning veggies and fruits is pretty easy. Lots of descriptions and videos on line, books in stores etc. But home canning meat can be dangerous. Too easy to get Botulism. I wouldn’t try it.
If meat is properly curred. dried and stored you shouldn’t need to can it too.
July 5th, 2010 at 8:23 pmI’m not a great cook, so the freeze-dried option is best for me.
My plan is to buy about a 3 month supply of freeze-dried food each year and gradually build up a large stockpile. The fact that I won’t have to start rotating out expired stock for a few decades is great!
I also have the standard pantry items, enough for a month, but I’m going freeze-dried for anything long term. Be sure to sample some before buying a lot if you plan to go this route.
Water is my weakest link. I have a 6 of the 5 gallon stackable containers, so there is at least that. Plus, I have a small filter system if I need to use stream water, but I would like to get more water storage and treatment stuff.
July 6th, 2010 at 8:25 amI appreciate the information provided in this article, however I found the incorrect spelling and poor grammar to be a huge distraction from the content. I found myself re-reading sentences to make sure I followed what was being said.
Can you please initiate some type of proofing for this blog? I enjoy the information but I will pass if I have to assume I am understanding what the writer is trying to say.
July 6th, 2010 at 1:09 pmI am disabled, and on a fixed income (but without any debt other than house payment, insurance, and basic expenses). I am fortunate enough to have a walk-in pantry/laundry room with built-in shelves for storage. I have made it a practice to buy a little extra canned and dried food every time I shop. Not only has this already helped me through unexpected hard times (such as medical expenses), but it is a wise and painless practice. I use disposable plastic bottles to save water in. I live in a small town and, since the municipal water supply is already chlorinated, I only have to add a few drops of chlorine bleach for long-term, safe storage. I live on a 1/4 acre lot with a garden area, with lots of sun. My next major project is to dig an emergency shelter, and then take advantage of the depth to dig a well INSIDE the shelter! Once the shelter is properly lined and secured, it should keep out pests that could get into the well, or the separate, in-shelter food supply.
July 9th, 2010 at 4:04 pmFantastic article.Thanks Again. Really Cool.
December 22nd, 2012 at 1:14 pm