Prepare: Food Storage FAQ

This question has come up before and with winter full on, food storage for tough times is on everyone's mind.

First, go read Allen Hagen's definitive work on food storage - Food Storage FAQ.
There is no reason for me to attempt to do this subject justice as Allen has before with authority. Best of all, Hagen has shared this information with the world for free. That's a life save these days.

Yes, there are good books online for sale like Carla Emery's Encyclopedia of Country Living and Talmidge's Making the Best of Basics. But if yot are just getting started, research on the internet first before spending money which can be spent on food later.

Before starting a food storage program, look at what you eat. The old "Store what you eat, eat what you store" rule applies, but there is more to it.

For instance, what do you normally eat for lunch or dinner? Let's say its a piece of meat or maybe chicken, some sort of carb like potatoes or rice, vegtable or two, some bread and maybe a piece of cake or pie for dessert.

In the post-SHTF world, that probably won't be on the menu. You may be able to cook, but power will be out or on short availability. Forget running the electric oven or microwave.

Also meat will be a treat served in a different manner than an eight ounce slab on a plate. Meat will be used to flavor a larger dish like stew or soup. Or maybe cooked to make a gravy to go over rice or noodles. Vegtables will be fresh in the summer and pickled in the winter.

The staple for most meals will be a filling carbohydrate like rice, pasta, grain or bread. A gravy, soup or stew will be poured over it. Bread, baked in multiple loves a couple of times a week, will be the scrape/dunk tool to eat with meals. Fruit will be rare and served as a dessert or treat.

Besides the information from Allen Hagens' site, you should stock up on some things he does not mention. For instance..

Canned goods - Get plenty of the canned foods you do like to eat. Watch the dates! Some expire in one year, while others in more than three.

Dried pasta - Spaghetti, noodles, all of it. Watch the per pound price at the store.

Canning supplies - when the garden comes in, you can't eat everything and you don't want to waste it. Remember, a case of jars is only 12 and that won't last very long. Try and pick up as many jars and rings, rings, rings as you can. And salt and sugar for preseving.

Dried goods - which brings up another. Yes, Hagen recommends whole wheat grains, but I always suggest that food storage means getting regular flour as well. And get the aforementioned sugar, salt, baking soda, powder, yeast and other dried goods needed.

The thought of your family going hungry should bother any parent or spouse. Start a food storage program today and don't wait for hunger to set in to get you motivated.