Now you are wondering what grains should I start with? Wheat, Rice, Barley,Oats?

To answer that I would need to know what grains do you know how to prepare and what you normally eat.

 If you want to store wheat you may want to check and see if you have a wheat grinder. Boiled whole wheat is not very fun to eat. If you are not used to eating it you are very likely to have a serious bout of diarrhea. Yes, a change in food will make your bowels move quickly. Wheat is most often ground into flower then made into bread or pasta. Not many people have had 100% whole wheat anything. The flavor is much different than that found in the store. The prep time is quite long. To make bread by hand is an all day process. So unless you have a wheat grinder and time to make the bread, I would suggest some other grain. To start with.

White rice is easy to prepare. All it takes is to steam or boil it. Most common is 1 cup of rice in 2 cups boiling water. Boil till the rice is soft. White rice stores well and may last several years. White rice has few vitamins or minerals and is not nearly as healthy a food a brown rice or wheat. Brown rice will spoil much more quickly because of the high moisture content. Brown rice is also prone to insect infestations. I keep the brown rice in the freezer until I'm ready to use it.

Pearled barley stores well for several years at a time. It has a fair nutritional value and is also easy to prepare. You can add it to soup or cook it the same way you do rice. It can be mixed with rice to give the meal more variety.

Oats are a good food source. they are very nutritious. Rolled oats(oat meal) is very easy to cook, just add boiling water  and mix till it is the thickness you like.

There are several other grains, but this is the ones I use frequently. If you are just starting a food storage program I would have you buy white rice in a large bag 15 to 20 pounds. It is easy to prepare and can be used in more than one meal each week. The second one is rolled oats. This is easy to make into oat meal or added to other cooked dishes. I would buy 2 to 5 large packages of this. You can use it as a breakfast food as often as you like.

Storing wheat is very important. If you are going to store wheat be sure you also have a way to grind it. You can use 2 stones, a hammer and an anvil if you want. It is much quicker if you have a hand wheat grinder and, or an electric wheat grinder. Wheat is very nutritious food. Of all the grains it is the best to store, but the hardest to prepare.