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The Simple Bare-Minimum Food Storage Plan
The average person eats one ton of food each year. If you''re not into storing large amounts of food, have on hand at least the bare minimum to get you through a crisis and to remain independent from the bureaucratic and logistical nightmare that will envelop those who failed to have reserve food supplies available. At minimum, your family should have a two- to four-week supply of food on hand at all times. This food should require little or no cooking and meet all of your nutritional needs. It should be easy to access, portable in a pinch, and require the bare minimum of preparation and fuss. To implement this type of food storage program, simply buy more food from the store than you normally would, and when you get down to the emergency two- to four-week supply, make a trip to the store. In your mind, your home should be "out of food" when you reach your two- to four week stock. If you bite into this stock from laziness or whatever, replace it as soon as possible. This extra food should not sit in the closet for months. It should be a part of your regular meal plan and ROTATED normally. In truth, it is not "stored" food at all, simply extra food that you have on hand as part of your regular fare in the kitchen.
I can''t emphasize enough that you keep this extra food as simple as possible concerning its preparation. On my outdoor courses, I state in writing that clients should bring simple foods that require NO COOKING. Regardless of this, many still do. Because they didn''t pay attention to the instructions, we are at times forced to create a heat source to cook their dinner. This heat source usually takes the form of a campfire, which requires a safe area to build the fire, dry fuel, an ignition source, knowledge of how to make a fire, the constant adding and adjustment of the fuel, hassling with rocks or berms of dirt to suspend a fireproof cooking container that someone happened to pack, water, and lots of time. While the rest of us have eaten our bagels and trail mix or tuna with crackers, the food cookers are still trying to get their water to boil. Don''t underestimate how tedious cooking over a campfire can be (assuming you have the materials and know-how to do so), especially under the physical, mental, and emotional strain of an emergency. There are many down and dirty foods that are ready to eat on the spot. For most families, canned foods will be the cat''s meow as they are widely available, durable and portable, cheap, store well for up to two years, and are easy to open and eat, in the can with a stick if necessary, with zero preparation.
Food Storage Rules of Thumb
1. There is no perfect food storage plan for every family as there are far too many variables to contend with, from personal dietary preferences and restrictions to global climates affecting storage. Many people waste much of their food storage supply by failing to obey a few simple rules of thumb regarding purchasing and storing food in bulk. Almost everyone interested in the storage of food will agree upon the following rules.
2. Store only what your family will eat. This sounds straightforward yet many families buy food, especially bulk items, based solely on price rather than what the family actually eats. It doesn''t matter if you get a good deal on lima beans if your family hates them or has never had them. They will surely eat them if they get hungry enough, but why go through the hassle and the dirty looks? In addition, an emergency is not the time to find out that someone in your family is allergic to the new food you just introduced them to.
3. Faithfully ROTATE what you store. Depending on what you store and how it''s stored, you must continually rotate your food stock. Seasoned food storage junkies frequently refer to the concept of "first in, first out," abbreviated as FIFO. If not already possessing dates from the factory, all containers should be dated as to when they were purchased to easily distinguish the can of corn that''s two weeks old from the one that''s two years old.
4. Keep foods stored in the best possible conditions for maximum shelf life. Heat, light, moisture, and excess oxygen are not friendly toward stored food. A following section will delve more deeply into details. Keep all stored food off the ground. Concrete floors can "sweat" moisture during temperature fluctuations when in direct contact with storage containers so put containers on thin wooden slates instead.
5. Foods stored in moisture (canned or bottled) should not be stored longer than two years. After this time these foods will rapidly lose their nutritional value.
6. Use only food-grade storage containers. Food-grade containers won''t transfer potentially toxic substances from the container itself into the food. If a container does not specifically state that it is FDA approved for storing food, you should contact the manufacturer, especially if the container is plastic. Specify the characteristics of the food you''re storing, whether it''s alkaline, acidic, wet or dry, etc., as these qualities may affect the container. Ideally these containers will protect the contents from light, moisture, insects, rodents, excess heat, and air infiltration. Check wholesale food companies for containers such as food-grade plastic buckets, Mylar bags, or metal containers such as #10 cans with lids. I have picked up several used three- to five-gallon plastic food containers from restaurants or school cafeterias for free, so be creative. Grocery stores carry a variety of plastic containers designed to store food. Glass jars with tight-fitting lids may also be used.
7. Keep it simple! Human beings can complicate anything. Looking at food storage plans in books, on the Internet, and elsewhere will prove that people are bound and determined to have just as many culinary choices after a disaster as they enjoy now. Feel free to indulge your quest for variety as you see fit, but the main intention of variety in your emergency diet should be the assurance of necessary balanced nutrition for optimal health, not to titillate your taste buds. The more elaborate and complicated your meal plan is, the more time, money, and effort you''ll need to spend to satiate your self-created complexities. If you insist on having steak at every dinner, you will need to plan ahead more than the average Joe or Jane in order to make that happen during an emergency. To combat the ramifications of a major catastrophe, I stressed at the beginning of this chapter the importance of treating your stored food as survival rations instead of regular meals. After reading earlier in this chapter of what people have eaten in times of famine, you might just decide that having beans every night for a month could be acceptable, appetite fatigue or not. If that''s not going to work for your family, that''s fine, but don''t let your wants interfere with your needs. If you reject the idea of storing food at all because it''s too time consuming, expensive, or (add your excuse here)___________, your whining and whimsy are destroying your priorities for survival! In times of hunger, you will gladly trade your wishfully thought of blackened salmon with baby peas for my bought, stored, and very real plain rice.
