Basic Supply to Sustain Life

Here is my first post to help people get excited about food storage and emergency preparedness. I hope you like it, feel free to comment on the pros and cons of these posts.

Here is the plan per month;

wk 1 - Tips about food storage and financial preparedness
wk 2 - Challenge to get items for food storage
wk 3 - Recipes
wk 4 - Emergency Preparation tips

I hope those will be a good start. So every week, on Tuesdays, I will post something about food storage and preparedness according to the plan of the week.

I decided that I needed to start with the basics and give you the list of foods that are good to store and has a long shelf life. These foods will guarantee a healthy survival in times of crisis and not so costly to acquire. But remember, do not go into debt to get your food storage. If you plan carefully you can be successful in gathering what you need and staying in budget.

Basic Food Storage per person, per year -

400 lbs - Wheat/Grain = Wheat, Rice, Oats, Flour, Pasta

2.5 gallons - Oil = Vegetable Oil, Shortening, Peanut Butter, Mayonnaise, Salad Dressing (mayonnaise type only) 4 gallons = 24 lbs of oil, 1 quart mayo = 1.5 lbs of oil, 1 quart salad dressing = 1 lb of oil, and 1 lb peanut butter = .5 lb of oil

60 lbs - Beans/Legumes = Beans (dry, lima, soy), Peas (split), Lentils, Dry Soup Mix

16 lbs - Powdered Milk = Milk, Nonfat Dry, Evaporated ( 6 cans = 1lb)

60 lbs - Sugar = Sugar ; granulated, brown; Molasses, Honey, Jams, Preserves, Jellies, Corn Syrup, Fruit Drink (powdered), Flavored Gelatin

8 lbs - Salt (store in original containers)

14 gallons for 2 weeks - Water (just for drinking), more for other purposes such as cooking and cleaning

So these are the basics and will get you through tough times, which seem to be coming our way if you're not already there. It's better to be prepared before tough times hit and they always do, and you never know when that could be. As the Boy Scouts say, "Be Prepared."

It looks like a lot of stuff but the good thing is we can do this little by little and have a variety of items to choose from if we have to use it. Its never a waste of time or money to do this because if you are blessed enough to never have to use it then it can be used to help others which is what we are required to do per the scriptures. Jesus tells us several times that we are to take care of the poor and needy, this gives us the opportunity to do so, if we don't use it to sustain our own families.

It is recommended that these foods be rotated out every 2 years even though most have a 20 year shelf life, loss of vitamin and nutrients happen over time. The oil should be rotated every year.
These are just the basics, later we can talk about storing tasty stuff.

Well, that's my tips for today. Next week, I plan to start challenging you to buy your food storage, one item at a time.