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Getting the Most out of Your Food Storage: Part #1
How we store food has changed quite a bit over the years. It used to be that food storage was done only by a small set of people that were looked at as extreme or on the fringes. Today, that perception has completely changed. Storing food in your home is not only widely accepted but is considered to be a very wise and prudent choice. In my own house growing up, we had a large storage room under our garage where we kept all kinds of food and other supplies for the family. My mom loved it because it was like she could go “shopping” in her own home and I thought it was cool that we had all of this food. My friends on the other hand thought it was a little crazy. Times have definitely changed.
I want to talk to you about how we can get the best value out of our food storage investment. I believe in keeping it simple. With our current economy we need to stretch every dollar to take care of our families. So, let’s keep it simple and focus on the following topics:
- Defining short term and long term food storage
- What should I get first?
- Filling out your food storage: identifying gaps and filling them.
Divide your food storage into two categories: short term and long term. Almost everybody has some amount of short term food storage. Short term food storage is food that will store for 2 years or less. Typically, this is food that you purchased at your local grocer and already have in your pantry. It includes items such as canned food, dry prepared foods and cooking basics. Pretty much everything in your pantry will store for at least 2 years. This constitutes your short term food storage.
You should have at least a 2 week supply of short term food storage. This food you rotate regularly because you are eating it every day. Most of the mistakes people make with their short term food storage are a result of confusing long term food storage with short term food storage. Here are the common mistakes people make with their short term food storage or food in their pantry:
1. They don’t buy what they eat – People end up buying what is on sale and not considering what their family actually eats. With your short term food items, it is especially important to make sure you buy food that your family will eat because it doesn’t store for very long. If you don’t use a lot of Cream of Celery soup when you cook, then don’t go out and buy a couple of cases of it. It is money that you could be using in other areas of your food storage.
2. They buy too much of one thing – Nalley Chili or Pasta Roni is on sale so you go out and buy cases of the stuff only to have it sit on your shelf for years. Be careful not to overbuy. Give yourself variety.
3. They don’t know what they have – Keep your short term food storage organized so you can see what you have. It is easy to make mistake #2 if you don’t know what is in the pantry.
So, bottom line with short term food storage is:
- Have at least a 2 week supply of food
- Buy what you eat
- Don’t buy too much of one thing
- Keep it organized
There is a phrase that I really believe in when it comes to life and food storage: “Know Thyself”. In order to get the most out of our food storage, we need to know how we use our food on a daily basis. If you rarely or never cook food from scratch, then you should take that into consideration when you store food. Some people can turn a bowl of flour into something delicious and some people (like me!) can’t. So, be honest with yourself on how you cook and how you would cook during an emergency. Don’t try to store food like your neighbor does, if you don’t cook like your neighbor does.
With that in mind, here are points to remember with your long term food storage:
- Store food based on how you cook – a 50 lb. bag of wheat is great, but you have to know how to turn it into food. That is why I really like the freeze-dried prepared meals like Mountain House and Saratoga Farms.
- Store food with the longest shelf life possible – To get the most out of your food storage investment, you will need to buy foods that will store for the longest time possible. Look at your food storage as an annual cost. If you spend 1,000 on food that will store for 10 years, your annual cost is $100/year. If you spend the same amount on food that will store for 30 years, your annual cost is $33/year. A big savings. It also means you have to rotate your food a lot less. Which means you will be able to use the food when you need it.
- Store a variety of foods – You should have prepared meals (like Mountain House) and fruits, vegetables and other staples (like Saratoga Farms) in all varieties in your long term food storage. The more variety, the better the nutrition will be and the healthier your food storage will be.
- Work towards at least a 3 month supply for everyone in your family – Having a 3 month supply of long term food storage will give you a good buffer against whatever emergency you may face. After you have built it up to that point, than move to 6 months, then 9 months and then a year.
- Store foods that are easy to prepare – Simplicity goes a long way in your food storage. Don’t store complicated foods or meals. You don’t know what resources will be available to you when you will need to use the food. That is another reason I like Saratoga Farms and Mountain House. You just add hot water and stir. No cooking is required.
Next time we will talk about how to get started with your food storage.
Good comments. Really like the Mountain Home. Excellent shelf life.
May 18th, 2009 at 3:23 pmI’ve begun to wonder about the long term use of dehydrated/freeze dried foods. What is the quality of enzymes and fiber? And vitamin content? And mineral content? Am I going to need a truckload of Immodium AD or EXLAX to keep my system normal? Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not trying to debunk or deflect from the use of these preparedness products. I’m just coming to the realization that there may be side effects. And being forwarned may be a critical issue in my overall plans.
May 18th, 2009 at 4:19 pmI am interested in your food products. What concerns me is
May 18th, 2009 at 5:05 pmhow long does your food stay fresh and usable once a can has been opened. How much does a #10 can hold? Is that a
dry amount or a prepared amount? I pretty much have a 3-4 week amout of food in my home at all times. I am giving serious consideration to starting a long term storage plan.
How about storage containers? I would like to see something like the 15 or 55 gallon plastic water drums with a screw-on lid so dry goods might be stored in one drum – does anyone have a lead on containers of this type?
May 18th, 2009 at 5:49 pminformative,interesting,will wait for new info to arive.
May 18th, 2009 at 6:32 pmthanks ed.
Bug out bag. Try to take foods that do not take water to prepare, I see so many bug out
May 18th, 2009 at 7:50 pmbags with things like, instant oatmeal, hot chocolate & soups. The water should be for
drinking & take vitamins & protein bars. I also take a bottle of fiber, not only is
fiber needed but it also swells for a full feeling. I came across what is called
Lifecaps. They are a capsule that has everything needed to survive without food with
the exception of water. It is full of vitamins & minerals plus Iodine. Anyway, you take
three of them a day & drink water. I can actually take enough food in one backpack to
last 6 months because of these little Lifecaps, protein bars, fiber & water. I will run
out of water in a week so I do carry a small filter & a couple of those straw water
filters that filter the water as you suck.
You do not always have the ability or time to heat water to make soup or oatmeal. Anyway,
after I bought 25 bottles I found a coupon code & bought 75 bottles more. The coupon code
is… healthcap It will get you 33% off. There are also sites that have those filter straws
that are cheaper than any of the stores around here. (SLC) I think they are a really good
idea along with some purification pills. I cannot remember the sites off the top of my head
but you can Google for aquamira filter straw. Aquamira is the manufacture but do not buy
off there site because I have found them for almost 1/2 what they want on their own site
on other sites. Good luck, Gods speed & get serious about your bug out bag!
Being able to use what you have stored is extremely important. To that end I have compiled in my survival storage several different types of food as well as several different ways to prepare it. For instance:
May 18th, 2009 at 10:00 pm1 While MREs can be eaten cold, that would not be appealing long term, especially when the weather is cold. To that end you should purchase at least some of the MRE meal heaters if they were not included with your MREs when purchased.
2 It is nice to have a propane stove but why waste propane in a survival situation if you can prepare your meal in a solar oven or a solar hot pot. There will be enough days when that is not an option so why not cook that pot of beans in the sun using none of your valuable fuel when you can. I was skeptical about solar powered cooking until I tried it. I have cooked roast and potatoes in my solar oven right in the back yard in Ohio in April and it was delicious. I have cooked rice and beans in my solar hot pot that were just as good as what I do in my kitchen.
3 I recently purchased a volcano 3 fuel stove and love it. It can be used with charcoal (I keep a large supply on hand) or propane (you can do alot of cooking with a 20 pound tank) or wood (the dead wood and small sticks that fall out of my neighbors tree into my yard gives me alot of cooking fuel)
4 Also available are single burner camp stoves that use unleaded gasoline. These are the same type of system that the old coleman stove operated on. You put a pint of gasoline in the tank – pump the pressurizing plunger a few times and light the burner.
Essentially, having several options available to cook with gives you more options on what you can realistically use in an emergency situation. In such a situation my families plan is to make use of the shorter term storage items first and then fall back on our MREs. If the situation persists we will then use our freeze dried and dehydrated fruits, vegetabes and entrees. Either way we have taken your advise and tried to store things that we enjoy and normally eat.
Thank you for all of your great tips on preparedness.
These are really good questions and ones we get quite a bit. Overall nutrition of the food is vital especially when you may be using the food for multiple months or up to a year. One of the reasons that I really like freeze-dried food over dehydrated is the improved nutritional value of the food. Because the process of freeze-drying is so gentle on the food, it retains all of the vitamins, minerals, fiber and nutritional value of the fresh food. I have been told that you may lose some of the active enzymes in the drying process, but not all. I have personally visited the major freeze-dryers in the United States to inspect the facilities and understand how they process food. Freeze-drying is as close to fresh food as you can get. I wouldn’t have any concern about eating freeze-dried food over long periods of time. As a matter of fact, at our facility, our staff (including myself) eats it everyday of the week and loves it. This food is much more nutritious than your average store bought prepared food or certainly fast food. Good questions. Thank you.
May 19th, 2009 at 6:06 amHow long the food stays fresh after opening depends on the food and how you store it. If you keep the food in the can and use the plastic lid to keep oxygen and moisture away from the food, you can expect the following: Freeze-dried vegetables will stay fresh for up to 2 years after opening the can, fruits up to 1 year and entrees at least 1 month. It is important to keep the lid on the can as much as possible.
May 19th, 2009 at 6:09 amWe sell 15 and 30 gallon food grade water containers. You could certainly put wheat or other food stuffs in the container. Getting the food out might be a problem. Your best bet is to use a 5 gallon bucket with a gamma seal lid to preserve freshness.
May 19th, 2009 at 6:12 amAllow me to address a frequently used phrase– Store what you eat, and eat what you store. A lot of people aren’t keeping a storage because you can’t store fast food, or raw food, or something else and THAT IS WHAT THEY EAT. It’s the second half of that phrase that counts. You need to store what will most support life and Learn to Eat It! Eventually,nothing more than Big Mac’s will kill you. Thank Goodness you can’t store them. If that is your major diet now, begin changing that. So silly for modern people to not know what to do with a cup of wheat. With this technological wonder of the internet at our fingertips (literally) there’s no reason to not know anything. Learn to eat what can be stored. Learn to home can your favs. God gave us the ability to learn for a reason.
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:31 pmGreat information and advice. What I really like is the idea of knowing one’s self … as you said … a 50 lb. bag of flour may be wonderful for some but if it just sits, is never used and only collects bugs … not such a great deal.
Thanks for sharing your ideas!
April 16th, 2010 at 12:51 pmHey djloml, very interesting post, it really got me thinking. Thank you. 4vee5
November 26th, 2010 at 4:01 am