Food Storage 101

Tia McCracken and Rebecca Blatnick shared their thoughts and tips on food storage at a recent R.S. activity. Here is some of what they had to say:

“We can begin ever so modestly. We can begin with one week’s food supply and gradually build it to a month and then to three months. I am speaking now of food to cover basic needs. As all of you recognize, this counsel is not new. But I fear that so many feel that a long-term food supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no effort at all. Begin in a small way and gradually build toward a reasonable objective.” –Gordon B. Hinckley (CR, Oct. 2002, 65)

Food storage is like eating an elephant. It seems impossible, but you can do it if you eat it one bite at a time.

The first attachment is the 72 hour kit checklist. The only thing I added was that you need a backpack or a duffle bag to put your stuff in so if you need to leave your home in the case of an emergency you can grab it quickly. The next part is the 3-month-supply. I attached a document listing common food items for a 3-month-supply, but you don’t have to base your 3-month-supply off of that. Here’s some things I included: You likely won’t use fresh produce, milk, or long term storage foods for your 3-month supply, but the option is yours. Start by adding a few storable items that you typically eat. The website www.foodstoragemadeeasy.net developed an Excel spreadsheet where you come up with a month’s meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks) and then you triple that to determine how much you would need for a 3-month-supply. They have a tutorial if you open the 3^rd attachment on the top of the excel spreadsheet on how to do it. It is really helpful. The spreadsheet has tabs on the bottom with the list of the suggested foods for the 3 month supply, instructions, and an example. This site will let you use this for free. You might want to mention that you can sign up for e-mails from the same website that include weekly baby steps checklists of what to do to get your food storage ready. It’s pretty sweet. Just sayin’.

Next is the long term storage which might be difficult to swing with our small apartments, but here it is anyway.

• It is not prudent to go to extremes or go into debt to establish your home storage all at once. Gradually build reserves over time as financial resources and space permit.
• Longer-term supply items are basic food items like grains and beans that have very low moisture content (about 10% or less), can be stored for long periods of time (20–30 years), and would sustain life if nothing else were available to eat. A portion of longer-term supply items may be rotated into the three-month supply.
• Types: Dehydrated-Loses flavor over time, but is much cheaper. Freeze dried-Everything that is dehydrated comes in freeze dried. The food just goes through a different process. Freeze-dried food will keep the quality of its taste longer than the dehydrated will, but it is more expensive.
• The same website (www.foodstoragemadeeasy.net) that had the 3-month-storage has a calculator and inventory sheet for long term food storage. calculator and inventory sheet. Here is the link to the excel spreadsheet and tutorial or you can just use attachment #4:
• http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2009/03/09/long-term-food-storage-calculator/
• This works really well because you can determine how many people you need to store for and you can enter the amount of months you want to store for (it can even be one month to begin with if you’d like) and it automatically calculates it for you. Super easy!

• The important thing is to use a method that works for you for gathering your long term food storage
• This website: www.trackmyfoodstorage.com also helps identify how much food you need.

Attachment #5 is the information you need about water storage, the cannery, finding the order form (which you can enter in information and it updates it automatically for you), and other food storage resources.

Attachment #6 is storage options. It shows a variety from cardboard rolling shelves to your high quality rolling shelves with prices included.

Here is the book and website Rebecca showed that has ideas for cooking with your food storage and making your powdered milk taste better.

• “I Can’t Believe its Food Storage”-Kristal Godfrey (www.everydayfoodstorage.net)
• another site to check out is www.IDareYouToEatIt.com