Food Storage That Works

If you are interested in storing food as a preparedness measure, chances are someone has told you, "Just buy what you use," given you tips on buying a few items a week or recommendations on how many pounds of this or that you will need. Although this kind of information can be useful, it can also be very confusing and leave you with only a vague feeling of what your actual needs may be. Here are some tips on how to acquire and maintain a workable food storage with minimal effort and maximum benefits of cost, food quality, and information about your stored food.

What to Buy

The kinds of things you will want to purchase as food storage will depend greatly on your purpose for storing them. Do you find it difficult to make it to the store on a regular basis because you have young children or a busy life in general? Are you hedging against possible personal or widespread calamity? How long do you want your food storage to last? Do you want to have additional food storage to share with others or barter in the case of a widespread disaster? Once you have established the type and quantity of food storage you want, you can decide what kinds of things you want to stock up on.

If you are planning for a short-term situation such as a month or two of possible job loss, or you just want to make sure you always have something for dinner on hand, the buy-what-you-use approach is probably good for you. If possible, create an area in your home where you can have some pantry shelves to store additional reserves. Before purchasing, you might want to note your buying and cooking habits for a few weeks to give you an idea of what and how much to buy. Also consider your family's favorite recipes. Group like items together on shelves and keep older items up front for proper rotation.

If you would like a bigger reserve for a long term, buying what you use might not be the best approach for you. Consider the case of a one-year supply of food. Most off-the-shelf food products, especially those in boxes, bags or plastic containers expire only a year from the date of manufacture. Chances are that it's taken at least a month or two for the food to get to your shopping cart, so at best you have ten months to use it. Many canned goods are still only good for one to three years. If you have a year's worth of this type of food, in order to minimize having to throw out old items, you are constantly having to use items that are near or just past their expiration dates. Of course, foods don't necessarily go bad instantly on these dates, but their packaging isn't designed for the long term and the adage "when in doubt, throw it out" definitely applies. Also, in order to not have to throw out a good portion of your food storage annually, you will need to eat from your food storage most of the time; whenever you eat out or eat fresh items, it means food you already have is not being used.

Fortunately, there is another option for this type of food storage. Dry food packed in containers designed for long-term food storage can be good anywhere from around five years to thirty years or more, depending on factors like oil and moisture content. Metal cans and pouches and thicker food-grade plastic containers can be used in combination with oxygen-reducing techniques such as nitro packing or the use of packets of oxygen absorbers to maximize the shelf life of food products. Staples like rice, beans, and even properly processed items like powdered milk and freeze dried items can easily be good for ten years or more. In this situation, you only need to rotate 10% of your food storage annually to keep your storage current and prevent waste.

How to Determine Quantities and Inventory as You Go

Once you begin to purchase food storage items, how do you know how much you have? Chances are, it's not as much as you might think. How do you know if you have the proper ratio of items? You may have seen lists that say things like "400 lbs. wheat for one adult for one year", but what do you do if you want some variety? If you purchase part of your grains as barley, you have a bit of a problem because barley isn't as dense in calories as wheat and has a higher fat content. Fortunately, if you are reading this, chances are you have access to the internet. You can use freely available spreadsheet software at http://docs.google.com to create your own personal food storage inventory that you can access from any connected computer. You can even view a sample spreadsheet at http://tinyurl.com/czu5xs

First, you will need to determine the daily caloric needs of your family. The USDA recommends that the average adult consume 2000 calories a day. You can either use this figure or find an online calculator to estimate your daily caloric needs based on your age, sex, weight, and activity level. If you have calculated this number, it is a simple matter of division to find how many days your food storage will last if you have created an inventory spreadsheet to track total caloric content of your food storage. You can find this information in the teal box on the sample spreadsheet.

Next, you will want to determine what other attributes of your food storage you want to track. In addition to total calories, the example spreadsheet includes columns for grams of fat, carbohydrates, fiber, and protein along with columns for the total weight of the food, the category it belongs in, what kind of container it is packed in, and location. It also includes the recommendations for one person and percentages of your goal along the top. If, after reading this article, you have any questions about the example spreadsheet, feel free to contact the author.

Once your food storage inventory spreadsheet is ready, you can create a plan for entering data and maintaining your list. Whatever system you prefer is fine if you stick to it. One way to do it is to enter things as you acquire and find a place for them (also be sure to write purchase dates on containers with a permanent marker when storing), then remove items from your inventory list and move them to your main pantry when you open them. This way, you won't have to worry about partial containers or changes in integrity of food items due to opening them. At any time, you will be able to look at your food storage inventory and know exactly what you have and how long it will last if rationed properly.

As you purchase items specially packed for food storage, you might notice items you are unfamiliar with. It is recommended that you purchase one container of these unfamiliar items to try before you invest in several packages. Of special interest are powdered and canned oils. Since most conventional oils have a short shelf life, it is a good idea to become familiar with long-term options and seek out recipes that use them. Some options for long-term oils are canned butter, cheese, and shortening and powdered eggs, butter, margarine, shortening, and cheese. Crisco was once a great, cheap option to boost the ratio of oils in your food storage, but now is packaged in foil-covered cardboard containers rather than metal cans. Be sure that your oils are specifically intended for long-term storage as rancid oils are especially unhealthy to consume.

How to Store Your Food

Ideally, you would have a special area of your home dedicated to food storage with easily accessible shelves and good lighting, but often a setup like this is not feasible. One thing that is necessary in having an organizational system that works is being able to see and access what you have. However, if you have an inventory, you can essentially see what you have by perusing your list. If you are storing for the long term, it is okay to have most of it in out-of-the-reach places as long as they are cool, dark, and dry because you know where your food is if you need it. Even if you do decide to store your food in out-of-the-way corners, it is a good idea to keep 10% accessible for rotation and do a yearly reassessment of your food storage. Check your storage areas often for flooding or high moisture content as this can compromise the shelf life of long-term containers. Also, keeping items up off the floor is a good idea if rodents are a possibility.

With properly packaged foods and a good inventory system, having reliable food storage can be relatively easy and require little maintenance and can provide great peace of mind. The best way to begin a food storage is to initially invest a little time planning and then jump right in with purchasing and placing food in your home. Whether you buy it all at once or a little at a time really doesn't matter if you have a good system and stick to it. If you have a great food storage, you can ensure your family will survive and thrive through crises minor and major.

Sources:
http://providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,7798-1-4224-1,00.html
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/