My Survival List

Survival Food Storage – Why You Need to Prepare

Aug 22

BillFood Storage checklist, food, home No Comments

Every survival list should include food at the top of the list, or within the top three items.

When we think of survival food storage, we often think of someone eating MREs or canned goods in the middle of a room  with dozens of empties scattered throughout the living area. This person is totally prepared for the climactic “end of the world” and now gets to take advantage of the items that have been stored for just this occasion. They appear to be almost happy that they finally get to use their survival items, regardless of the reason.

In a general sense, this is probably what many people picture when they think of survival. However, let’s take a look at this from a preparedness point and not just a survival issue. We often think of survival being due to a major disaster, but there can be many reasons why we need to have a food storage plan. Possible reasons other than a natural disaster could include wide spread food scares from contamination, like mad cow disease or salmonella.  Shortages could also be caused by simple factors such as limited supplies, bad crop production, high prices or import issues.  Even as I write this, there is nation wide recall on eggs due to potential salmonella contamination.

Now let’s take this one step further and think about a disaster striking many people these days, unemployment. Imagine how nice it would be to have weeks or even months of food already available and paid for in this type of situation. Being able to feed your family during trying times would definitely be called survival.

One of the most important things to keep in mind when beginning your initial food storage is to store what you eat. If you store items that you don’t normally cook with or even know how to prepare, you won’t be doing yourself any favors. A crisis is not the time to start learning a new recipe or cooking technique. This just adds to the stress level and weakens your whole survival plan.

To maximize the full potential of any survival food storage plan, you will have to learn to rotate and use the items you are storing. This constant rotation assures that you are storing the items you eat and automatically keeps the expiration date extended as far as possible. The most basic rotation method is to place newer items at the back and move the older ones to the front of your pantry or shelf, pulling from the front as needed. This is the same way your local grocery store helps keep items rotated in their store.

You may think that you have a good supply of food in your freezer and pantry right now, but how long would it last? Most people have less than one week of food on hand in a normal situation. Not sure you need to consider stocking up? Think about how often you go to the grocery store in a typical week.

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