FOOD STORAGE

WEEK 1 FOOD STORAGE (REPORT)

Long-Term Food Storage Basics

Food storage is often one of the first
means of preparedness for the newbie
prepper – and for good reason! Having a
supply of food on hand for emergencies is
one of the most important ways to prepare
yourself and your family for tough times.

Whether you’re prepping for potential nat-

ural disasters or more ominous conditions
like societal collapse, we all need food to
stay alive – there’s wisdom in keeping
supplies in your home.

Food storage is an ongoing process – not

a project you can tackle in a weekend.
Here, we’ll talk about how to get started, with tips on how you can get a big jump start
on your stockpile without breaking the bank. Getting a good start on storing food will
help you build momentum toward your goal, and you’ll learn a lot about what works for
you and what doesn’t along the way.

What types of food should you store?

As you’re probably aware, certain foods are better than others for food storage. You’ll
want to focus on those that have the longest shelf life. There are several categories to
consider here. One thing to think about right away is what foods do you already eat on
a regular basis? Your tastes won’t suddenly change in an emergency situation, so don’t
store foods you don’t enjoy! While some of your favorite foods might not be ideal for
food storage, you can likely find several options in each category that you already eat
frequently.
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Be sure to plan for a well-rounded approach to storing food. Choose items from each
food group every time you shop for your stockpile. You’ll end up with a much more var-
ied list of foods on hand, which is important nutritionally and will be more pleasant in
the event that you’re eating from it for an extended period of time!

Grains
Grains are inexpensive, easy to store, and
are pretty easy to find in bulk. Provided
you don’t have any dietary restrictions, a
foundation of high quality grains is very
cost effective. Grains include foods like:

• Wheat flour or wheat berries

• Oats
• Rice
• Quinoa
• Pasta
• Corn

Grains are typically sold in bags or sacks, though you’ll want to transfer them to food
grade buckets or vacuum seal them for long-term storage.

Legumes
Legumes are also very affordable and are a valuable source of protein and nutrients.
Dried legumes are particularly easy to store and include foods like:

• Beans of all varieties; black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, etc.
• Black eyed peas
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• Split peas
• Edamame (soybeans)
• Lentils

Legumes and grains are an ideal foundation for

your food storage – many items can last de-
cades if stored properly and they are easy to
cook in even the most primitive situations. If you
can boil water, you can cook grains and legumes.
Rice and beans, for example, combine to form a
complex protein-packed meal that is dirt-cheap
and very nutritious.

Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds are another very nutritious bulk food item to
consider for your food storage. Almonds, peanuts, walnuts, pe-
cans and other nuts are a healthy, high-calorie, high-fat source
of energy.

Nuts and seeds can be frozen or stored like bulk grains and le-
gumes. You will not want to keep nuts or seeds in their original
packaging for long-term storage, as they are high in fat and can become rancid. Keep-
ing them in a cool area is essential.

Canned Foods
There is an endless variety of the types of canned goods you
can add to your food storage to add diversity to your stockpile.
Meats, fruits, and vegetables are all good choices to start with.
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Meats

• Chicken
• Tuna, salmon, and other fish
• Beef
• Hearty chilis and stews

Fruits

• Pears
• Peaches
• Apples, applesauce
• Berries
• Fruit cocktail
• Jams, jellies

Vegetables

• Diced tomatoes, tomato sauce,

stewed tomatoes, salsa
• Green beans
• Corn
• Mixed vegetables
• Mushrooms

Think about your unique situation when adding

canned goods to your food storage – you want to focus on those foods you won’t have
access too in troubled times. For example, if you have an apple tree in your yard, there’s
no need to stock up on applesauce! Use your space wisely.
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Don’t forget – you can also can your own food -whether you grow it or
stock up on in-season food when it’s on sale. Even if you don’t garden or
have a desire to do this, canning is a very worthwhile skill to learn. In the
event that you are ever forced to grow your own foods, you’ll want as many
means of preservation at your disposal as possible. Canning seems com-
plicated at first glance, but it’s pretty simple once you get the hang of it.

Other Grocery Items

There are a few other pantry items that are good to stock up on. Most pantry items have
a long life when stored properly and will allow you to make more nutritious and better
tasting food.

Sweeteners: cane sugar, honey, pure ma-

ple syrup
Baking items: yeast, baking powder &
soda, cocoa
Spices: salt, pepper, garlic, etc.
Oils: olive oil, coconut oil, sesame oil,
etc.
Condiments: dressings, ketchup, mus-
tard, soy sauce – whatever you like!

Be intentional about adding varied foods to your storage over time. If you focus only on
grains, you’ll have a nutritionally lacking stockpile. And again, choose foods you like!
You should definitely store beans, but don’t buy 50 pounds of navy beans if you like red
or black beans better. In the event that you do live off your stockpile, you’ll be glad you
selected your favorite foods (or at least foods you don’t hate!).
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How to Build Your Food Storage

Little by Little
Building your food storage little by little will be a
lot more effective in the long run – which is good
news for your sanity and your wallet. You don’t
have to go out and buy a year’s worth of food to
get started!

By building your food storage in small incre-

ments, you can just add a small amount to your
budget each time you do your regular grocery
shopping. By doing this, you’ll be able to take ad-
vantage of sales you come across and be more likely to buy food you actually like since
you’re simply buying extra food.

As you’re probably aware, bulk items are cheaper in the long run with a lower per-unit
cost, but are certainly more of an investment up front. If you’re not able to start buying
everything in bulk today, that’s alright! You can simply buy one or two bulk items each
time you shop (or whatever your budget allows) to build your stockpile. Maybe it’s a 25
pound bag of rice this week, and a 50 pound bag of oats next time.

If you’re able to grow a garden or any indoor plants, you can add a ton of food to your
storage at a very low cost! Tomatoes, berries, carrots, and peas, for example, are all
fairly simple for beginning gardeners and are easy to preserve by canning, dehydrating,
or freezing.

Even if you’re not able to grow your own food, you can still save a lot of money by buy-
ing produce while it’s in season and preserving it yourself. Be sure to add up the cost of
doing so, since it is usually more inexpensive than buying food that is already canned/
frozen/etc…. but not always.
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Finally, you can often find free food to add to your stockpile by checking out sites like
Craigslist and Freecycle. Often, people with gardens or fruit trees find themselves with
an abundance that they don’t want to process or use themselves and will let others
come and pick food for free in order to avoid letting it go to waste! Even if you can’t
find anyone advertising their overabundance, it’s worth asking around your family and
friends, too. Then it’s simply a matter of canning or otherwise preserving this food for
your stockpile.

A good way to plan your grocery shopping trips around adding to your stockpile is to be-
gin meal planning if you don’t already do so. For example, say you go grocery shopping
once every two weeks. Before you sit down to put together your meal plan, go through
and see what food you already have on hand that needs to be used up and plan the first
few meals around these items. Then plan out your meals for the remaining days, includ-
ing breakfast, lunch, and snacks if you eat them. Don’t forget to factor in leftovers if you
usually have any!

You don’t need to get fancy here and come up with a bunch of new, complex meals. Just
plan it out based on the meals your family already eats regularly and enjoys!
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Now, take a look at your meal plan and put together your shopping list to include every-
thing you’ll need to make these meals. From now on, however, you’ll be buying as many
items as possible in bulk and stocking up on multiple items when they go on sale – as
much as your budget allows.

Say you have a budget of $100 per month to build your food storage. This would allow
you $50 per bi-weekly grocery trip to buy bulk items or stock up on things you find on
sale. This might not seem like a lot, but with careful planning, you can make this amount
(or whatever amount of money you can use) go a long way.

If you are on a pretty tight budget, consider planning a season of very simple meals
while you build your food storage. Much of the world lives on rice and beans! You can
too, and by adding spices, fats, and vegetables – it’s pretty good eating.

Storage Systems
There are a number of food storage systems and packaging options to choose from to
suit your space and preference. You can simply purchase certain containers or get cre-
ative and repurpose certain items.

An important consideration for most of us is space. Adequate shelving is often over-

looked but is tremendously helpful for maximizing whatever space you have to work
with – don’t waste that precious vertical space!

Let’s take a look at some of the most helpful items in starting

your food storage…

Food grade buckets. You’ll need food-grade buckets to store

bulk grains long-term, but they can also be helpful for contain-
ing smaller packaged items in order to keep them fresh for a
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longer period of time.

You can buy food grade buckets, and while they may seem a bit pricey at first, they are
absolutely a good investment since you can usually use them indefinitely. There are a
few sources to consider for cheaper or possibly free used food grade buckets, however.

For example, local restaurants and bakeries might have plenty of these buckets simply
laying around. They are often happy to get rid of these and will give them to you for free.
Frosting and pickle buckets are prepper favorites. Some places may charge for them,
but it’s usually a minimal cost. Don’t be afraid to call around your local businesses and
ask if they have any on hand or are willing to save them
for you.

Canning jars. Glass canning jars and lids are also in-
valuable for storing dried foods and grains, and of course,
for canning! They are pretty inexpensive to buy new, but
you can also find them at thrift shops and garage sales
– though you will want to purchase new lids if you are
buying used jars.

Mylar bags & vacuum sealing equipment. You can

extend the life of your grains and legumes by vacuum
sealing in mylar bags. You’ll want to be sure to do this
if you plan on storing grains for several years. You can
get by without this equipment when you’re first starting
out with food storage, but plan for it if you’re aiming for a
longer-term food stockpile.
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There are three primary types of food storage:

• Canned Goods
• Dry Bulk Foods
• Freeze Dried Foods

Canned Goods: Cheap, wide variety, and excellent for trading (if you find yourself in
need of other supplies.. Depending on what type of food, they have a shelf life of 2-7
years (according to studies).

Dry Bulk Foods: Take less space than canned goods, last longer, lightweight, but cost
more and loses up to 25% of its taste and nutrition.

Freeze dried: Longest lasting shelf life, retains almost all of its taste and nutrients, but
the equipment for freeze drying bumps up upfront costs quite a ways.

Misc. Tips and Frequently Asked Questions

How much food should I store?

Food storage is usually measured in time. “1 month food supply” “1 year food supply”
and so on. The amount of time you want to stockpile for is a highly personal decision
that will differ depending on a few personal convictions. As you decide how much food
you’d like to store, consider these questions:

How much space do I have?

What potential emergencies or situations do I want to be ready for?
Is the ability to trade in an economic collapse important to me?
Will my household continue to grow or take in additional people?
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Space is a concern for most of us. If you are aiming for a shorter term stockpile, you
can get away with stocking items that are less efficient in terms of storage space, but
if you are trying to create a long-term stockpile with very limited space, you’ll want to
consider alternative methods of nourishment. For example, storing more seeds so that
you’ll be able to grow more food if needed and learning skills like hunting, trapping and
fishing so that you can get by with storing fewer protein and produce items.

People have many different reasons for prepping – yours will

help you decide how much food to keep in your home. If you
want to be prepared for a blizzard, 2 weeks or 1 month’s worth
of food is likely enough for you. If you are preparing for the worst
– economic or societal collapse or disability, you may be inter-
ested in storing a year’s worth of food or more.

If societal or economic collapse is your concern, you may also

wish to store more items that will be useful in a trade economy.
These will include the more “luxury” items, such as sugar, coffee, cocoa, spices, and
even non-food items like cigarettes, lighters, toilet paper, or candles.

Most government agencies cite 3 days of food storage as a minimum, but most families
probably have that around most of the time without even thinking about it. It’s good to
start with a short-term goal to get started. Plan around starting a 2-week or 1-month
supply of food. You may choose to extend that when you
get there, but it’s a great start and very simple to work
with. Most of us can easily think about how much food
our family would consume in 2 weeks or in a month.

Don’t overlook water! Store at least 1 gallon per person,

per day and more if you live in a hot climate or have very
limited or no access to a natural water source.
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How can I protect my food from going bad?

Do what the grocery stores do: rotate your stock. First in, first out: when you add items,
add them to the back of the heap so that your older food is in front.

Make sure that you label all items with dates to prevent loss of food due to spoilage.
This is another reason it’s so important (beyond future joyful eating) to store foods that
you actually eat on a regular basis, so that you will find it easy to incorporate items into
your meal plan before they expire.

It’s odd, but people often buy foods they don’t even really
like if they are a good price simply to build their stockpile
more quickly. Don’t make this mistake – you will not have
saved any money if you end up throwing that food out!

Protecting from bugs, temperature changes, and mold

is also important. Proper food storage will prevent a lot
of this. Keep your stockpile in a cool area of your home
where the temperature doesn’t fluctuate frequently. If
you are lucky enough to have a root cellar, that is ideal.
Basements can be okay, provided they are not too damp.

Keeping bugs out of your grains is a legitimate concern. If you place the bag of grains in
a freezer (or outside in the winter) for a day, the cold will kill any eggs so you can safely
transfer the grains to your buckets or vacuum seal it.

What non-food items should I store?

We all buy a variety of items as we “grocery shop” that aren’t food at all – we can’t
overlook these in our storage planning! In the same way that you should simply store
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foods you already eat regularly, a good way to determine what personal and household
items to stockpile is to look at your regular shopping list and buy extra or bulk versions
of whatever you can. A few items to consider:

• Toilet paper
• Matches or lighters
• Candles
• Razors
• Toiletries – shampoo, soap, lotion, etc.
• Diapers & wipes (consider cloth for long-term prepping)
• Vitamins, medicines
• Notebooks
• Feminine hygiene products
• Condoms
• Ziploc bags
• Cleaning supplies
• Pet food

Isn’t it easier to just buy a pre-assembled “food storage

supply” kit?
It is probably easier, but it’s not cost effective at all. You can use the same amount of
money to buy so much more food and put it up yourself. You’ll also likely be able to get
a higher quality of food and make sure that you’re only storing foods you actually like
to eat.

What is the difference between food grade buckets and

non-food-grade?
You’ll want to be sure to use food grade buckets for storing food, since they are made
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out of a sturdier plastic that holds up better over time. Non-food-grade buckets are
typically made out of a lower quality plastic that breaks down more easily, allowing
moisture inside and potentially leaking weird chemicals into your food.