Dooms day preppers.
There are a lot of groups who are planning for various dooms day events. They are afraid the end of the world as we know it is near. As a result they are making preparations to live through the bad times. They fear the eruptions of the Yellow Stone Caldera, Astroid impacts war and financial collapse from poor government. The fear is this will lead to a melt down of the social system we live in. Chances of this happening is not very great.
I’m not very worried about a sudden collapse of society. It could happen, but it is not as likely as more personal problems. Loss of a job, sickness or death of a primary bread winner or other personal losses. This is what we need to be ready for. If we are ready for the personal losses we will be ready for any major catastrophe that may also occur.
Food Storage.
For many years the church has advised its members to have food storage. This is a good hedge against shortages and personal troubles. It is financially prudent. Having a supply of food on hand gives you the option to purchase food or not each time you may want to go shopping. If you have food stored you can wait for the better deals, sales and bargains. This can save hundreds of dollars each year. Buying food in bulk saves money and gives you stability.
I like to break food storage into 3 parts.
Part 1 is hard storage.
part 2 is moderate storage.
Part 3 is soft storage.
Hard storage.
Hard storage is the storing of things that last for many years or even decades. Most often this means storing grain. I have made bread that was very good with wheat that was over 40 years old.
The first choice for hard storage is wheat. Many people do not know how to use whole wheat. But they know it is the best for storage. So we all store it.
Wheat is an excellent food. It has much of the protein and nutrients we need to live. However all wheat is not the same. There are 2 main categories of wheat Hard and soft. Hard wheats are higher in gluten and protein and are the best for making bread. Soft wheats are lower in gluten and used for pastries, cakes, biscuits and crackers. For the most part for home use they are pretty much interchangeable. There are also sub categories of red and white. Red wheats have a stronger flavor than the white.
I am often asked how much wheat should I store? You should store 150 pounds of wheat for an adult for each year of storage. This will come to about 0.4 pounds per day. Children under 8 years should have 75 pounds for a year. Remember children grow so plan for their future if you are able.
Be sure you can prepare your food. If you store wheat you need to be able to use it. Wheat can be ground, popped or cracked. It is not very easy to eat whole. If you plan to store wheat it is a very good idea to have a wheat grinder. Flour is more useful than popped or cracked wheat.
If you are not able to eat gluten, or want an easier grain to cook you may want to pick rice.
White rice will store for many years. Brown rice tends to spoil because it has a higher water content. Rice is easy to prepare. 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water and boil.
Pearled barley is also easy to store and prepare. You can boil it the same as you do rice.
Because white rice and pearled barley have been milled they do not have as much nutrition as unmilled grains.
Other grains have different storage life's and preparation be sure you know how to store them..
Moderate storage
The moderate storage items are the canned and boxed goods that are bought from the store. They have an expiration or best used by date. Most of the time this date is 2 to 3 years in the future.
When storing canned and boxed goods be sure to look at the expiration date at the time you buy them. Some retailers will place food on sale that is near the expiration date. Do not buy more of a product than you will use before the expiration date.
The best way to determine how much canned goods you should have to buy. Is by the number of meals you will eat. If you have tuna sandwiches 2 times a week, you need to have enough tuna to make the sandwiches. If you use one can of tuna each time you will need 104 cans for one year. To determine how many meals are in a box or can check the serving size. You may be surprised at how small the serving size is. If you are use to eating a can of soup for a meal buy the amount you eat. Many cans have 2 or more servings in them.
The food that has passed the date may still be good but it tends to have less food value. Once the food is passed the expiration date it should only be used with caution. Leaking, swollen, or bulged cans are not safe to eat. To avoid loss of your food supply be sure to rotate what you buy. Use the old first and place new behind it. I have seen a lot of wasted storage because people bought food that they put away and never used or rotated.
Moderate storage items should include all the things you and your family regularly eat. Do not buy things you do not use on a regular basis because they will eventually expire and spoil. Then you will have to put them in the garbage and it will have been a wast of money.
Soft storage is perishable food on hand.
This is the food in your refrigerator, freezer and fresh bakery items. You should not have more than a week or so of these items. They are for consumption when they are fresh. Keeping them over time increases the risk of spoilage and increases the chance that harmful bacteria or mold may grow on them. This could make you sick and even cause death.
Renewable foods.
This is food you can produce on your own. It includes fruits, nuts, vegetables and any farm animals you may be able to keep.
Having fruit and nut trees and a garden can provide additional food for your family. Fresh fruit and vegetables are more flavorful and nutritious than that purchased in a store. Not having to buy fresh produce will significantly decrease your grocery bill.
Getting started with food storage:
The simplest way to start food storage is to buy a few extra meals with each shopping trip. They can be more expensive products like canned meats or they can be cheap things like Top Raman noodles 24 meals for $4:00. It is up to you to determine what fits into your budget.
If you have extra money come in like a tax return or gifts you can buy additional storage items. If you save a little money out of each pay check you can wait for a sale and stock up when things are less expensive.
Provident living.
The idea of provident living is to make your food storage, garden and shopping habits work for you.
First take stock of what you have. Count your meals and check how much grains you have. This will let you know how much more you may need to reach your food storage goal. A year supply is the most common goal.
Next think of the meals you most often eat at your home. Then with your next shopping trip buy the things you generally eat. Be sure to pick up a few extra for storage.
If you have wheat stored do not buy flour, you will want to grind some of the wheat into flour. This will help to rotate your food supply.
Begin to add things into your families diet that are from your food storage. Have meals with rice, beans and canned goods from storage each week. Make pancakes, bread and cookies from scratch. You will find the flavor is better and it will save you some cash if you make your own.
Plant your garden with foods your family generally eats. Plan your garden so some produce is being produced throughout the growing season. Plant some fruit trees or nut trees.
Plant a variety of fruits if you have room. Choose trees so some of the fruit ripens throughout the summer and fall. Then do home canning so you can enjoy your produce all year. It may take a few years to get your first crop, but the trees will produce for many years. The fresh foods will increase your nutrition. Not having to buy fresh food will save you money.
The money you save by provident living can be used for other needs or to increase your food supply.
When you plan your meals you will begin to plan by not what you need to buy but by what you already have.
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