Survival Food Storage
You want to stockpile food while there’s still time. The stuff that you get from the grocery store isn’t going to last forever, but there are ways you can store food so that it keeps for several years and helps you and your family survive.
If you start now, you can have your supply onhand before there’s a rush on grocery stores and the supplies you want are gone. The way that you store food will determine if it will make it for the long haul or not.
Food can keep in dry, cool storage for many years – even beyond the expiration date labeled on the product. Extreme temperatures and moisture are culprits that cause food to begin to break down and makes it inedible.
Store foods that have a long shelf life
These are foods like beans and grains. Meats may not be as plentiful during a pandemic, so beans will give you protein and grains will help you feel fuller.
The best kinds of grains to store are ones like cornmeal, flour, wheat and brown rice. Since dairy may be an issue if you don’t have a cow that produces milk, you’ll want to lay aside a supply of powdered milk.
This is a product that can safely keep for decades before being used. Always get your staples first. You can survive a long time with just staples and while it might not be a fancy feast, it will keep you from going hungry.
So if you have to financially choose where to start, begin by stockpiling your staples. This is how people in the olden days managed to make it year after year on very few items purchased from the general stores.
The foods you want to start with are foods like flour, peanut butter, sugar, seeds, honey, tea, lard, oils, coffee and canned goods. While some people don’t necessarily think of canned goods as staples, when it comes to surviving, they are.
Stock can goods
Canned goods are foods that have one of the longest shelf lives and can also last for many years. Make sure that if you have small children or an infant, that you take into account their nutritional needs such as if you need baby formula.
The powered cans of formula can also last for many years – long enough for a child to be weaned. The place you keep your food should have a temperature of right around 50-58 degrees for maximum storage length.
There are containers that you can buy specifically to store the food. You’ll want to do this to protect foods that come in bags because rodents can gnaw through the bags.
Place the foods into the container and seal them up. Always label every container in your storage area so that you don’t have to open them to find out what’s inside.
Avoid frozen foods
Oxygen is not a friend to your stored food and will quickly spoil your supply. Don’t rely too much on freezer foods because you never know how long you may or may not have electricity to keep your refrigerator and freezer in working condition.
Even in the event of a pandemic, you might have power outages because the people running the grids will be susceptible to disease, too – and there may not be enough people to keep things running smoothly.
