Preparedness Part 3 - How much do I get?

So the book Food Storage in a Nutshell will answer this for you.  There's this nifty little chart that takes each item and then tells you the amount you need for 1 person, for 2 people, for 3 people and so on. And there's lot more info than that.  I pretty much think it's the Bible of Food Storage.  Easy peesie, lemon squeezie (that's the family quote now from Addie's 1st grade teacher). 

But what you may not realize . . . did you know that the recommendations for amounts that the church used to give were the amounts that you could SURVIVE on.  Not live on, but survive on. 

Big difference! 

So, of course you need a place to start, but make sure it's where you start and not where you end. 

First things first . . . Inventory.  It's not just an accounting word or just an accounting theory.  You need to go look at what you have, look at the dates, and write it down.  This will do 2 things:  1) Give you a place to start, and 2) maybe it will make you realize (like it did me) that you're pathetically unprepared. 

I went to the cannery and dropped a whole $100 every other month  . . . or was it actually once or twice a year.  I thought I was staying focused on my food storage and moving along okay.  We would not have lasted 1 month and no joke we would have been chewing on wheat kernels and inhaling a few horribly uncared for and thus really bad tasting cans of dried milk.  

And next second suggestion . . . Involve your Husband and here's why. 

1)  Every time I sent Ansen to the store he came home with a huge bucket of banana chips, or 742 servings of blueberry pancake mix.  I was focused and this was not on my list.  BUT, he brought the variety that I wasn't thinking about.  You can get food exhaustion from eating the same thing over and over so variety is good.   He's also helped me fill up our 3-month with a good variety "stuff" (my nice word for mostly junk food - but we still seem to need it).  

2)  You need help because this is a lot of work and it requires a lot of focus.  I gathered mine pretty quick so it was literally a part time job for me and I thought about it all the time.  If I didn't have Ansen doing some shipping, helping me can and carrying my big boxes around I would have died (literally - I was pregnant).

3)  The finances of food storage is easier when you're on the same page, you both understand the importance, and you're both working towards a family long tern goal. 

Prepardness: Part Two - The Mindset for LT Food

Okay, so preparedness again.

One year of preparedness is SOOO overwhelming. Seriously where do you start? I thought I would share how I decided to look at it, think it through and organize it. My way is for sure not the best or only way, but it’s a way that made sense for me and maybe it will to you too.

I decided to start divide things up into “smaller” tasks. Then I would concentrate on one thing at a time and never even let my mind worry about the category I was not working on. I know there’s the theory that you should start collecting a little of everything so you would maybe not have it all, but you’d be well diversified in an emergency. My brain couldn’t handle that, it made me anxious and overwhelmed.

Here’s how I divided it (in no particular order):

1. Long Term Food – 1 year of the more basics

2. More Long Term Food – 1 year of the extras (dried fruits and vegetables, seasonings, etc.)

3. Cooking and Heating

4. 72 Hour Kits

5. Personal Items – 1 Year or something close (Toothpaste, Shampoo, TP, deodorant, etc.)

6. Short Term Food – 3 month rotating supply

7. Water (at least 14 gallons per person)

I’m sure there’s more, but I’ll think of those after I finish these.

My 3 month was pretty good, so I decided to start with the 1 year Long Term Food Storage.

So first, my friend, Jenny (I’ll give her a name so I can refer to her), became my sounding board, reference and guide in many ways. She told me to get a book called . . . Food Storage in a Nutshell. It’s the Bible of Long Term Food Storage and I have lived and died by it. I kept it in my purse, in my car, and on the kitchen counter top for 10 months because I was constantly referring to it.

Second, I decided that since most of the Long Term food storage can be stored for 30 years, I was going to get it and not touch it for at least 25 years. I never want to have to think and worry about it again unless we HAD to use it and then it is there and that’s what it’s for. So, I am not concerned with rotating my food storage right now.

Third, I decided in a pinch I will learn what to cook with it (or hope someone else will help me). As for now, I DO NOT care what recipes go with what food. I do not care that I can make fudge out of pinto beans, I do not care that we don’t eat barley in our current normal diet, I do not care that I’m not sure how to mill whole corn kernels in to corn mill right now – you get the point. I will get the food that will fulfill our nutritional needs and I will figure out how to cook it later.

Fourth, I am not going to try to predict the kind of emergency or situation that will make it necessary to live on this food. We may in “tent city,” I might be living as usual in my house, I may not even use it in my life time. I’m just going to obey and not worry about it.

As I have started to work through these things one at a time I have been able to start looking beyond these things, at the next level. Recipes, cooking, incorporating things into your diet, etc. look like they might become manageable.

Preparedness: Part One - The Decision

Do you know I’ve been crazy about food

storage and preparedness for the last 2 years?!

Well I have.

About 2 years ago I started having these moments of panic about the politics, the economy, job security, my family, and our future, which lead to thoughts about the last days. I kept wrestling with the thoughts of - how am I going to protect our family? How will I keep my family safe? How can I prepare my family for the uncertain future? Politics, the economy, the attitude of this rising generation (me, mine, now), national debt and things like that are all completely out of my hands. So, seriously how could I protect my family?

I have to admit, it wasn’t obvious and it didn’t come quickly, but I finally pieced together this thought . . .

Follow the Prophet.

I know, how profound.

I zeroed in on the things that would protect us from the failing; sad economy and I came up with these:

1) Get an education

2) Stay out of debt

3) Get your year’s supply

So walk through this simple thought was me . . . The Lord warns us and protects us, so if I listen to the prophet I’ll know what to do. The prophets have been telling us these things for a century, soooo maybe I better do it. I decided that if I could do my best to do what the Lord said would protect us, then I could just stop worrying.

Upon evaluation, I realized I was seriously lacking in the food storage and preparedness department.

At the time, we were saving to put carpet in the basement. Our basement had been sitting finished (less carpet) for over a year while we were saving and dying to have it done. I kept pushing this thought out of my mind - I should use all my carpet money to buy my food storage. But I just wanted carpet so bad I had a hard time entertaining that thought for too long. (Ahhh, the natural man!)

I was talking to my neighbor (and good friend) about all this one day and little did I know, she had just gone crazy too and got all of her food storage. I was telling her my mental debate and I can’t remember everything she said, but I went home with the decision made and the resolve to get my full year of food storage and forget my carpet until a later date.

I have NEVER looked back, I have NEVER regretted that resolve and I would not be the same person without the lessons that I quickly learned about obedience and the blessings we received.

I don’t want to be an “in your face” person about food storage because everyone has to work at their own pace and on their own understanding, I get that. BUT, I have decided that I have to share what I learned and how I did it because isn’t that what we’re suppose to do . . . share our testimony.

My Powdered Milk Project

I'm an "all or nothing" person, which means I do it 150% or I don't do it at all. Which also means sometimes I'm crazy and most of the time I don't get a lot done. Anyway, I'm working on my food storage (for probably the next 5 years at the rate I'm going) and my main focus right now is milk. My first thought is powdered milk is not good no matter what, so go cheap. Then I found some great tasting powdered milk, but quite expensive. After shopping around a bit I realized that no #10 can is created the same and they all vary quite drastically in weight, number of gallons each makes, storage space needed, price, nutrient value, etc. Hoping I could justify the expensive milk I started a comparison spreadsheet, which eventually led to me buying several different kinds and then hosting a milk sampling day at my house for my ward. Macey's is having a huge food storage sale this week (through at least the 20th) and 2 of the "good" milks are on sale there so I wanted to share my research results.

First, my neighbor recommended this awesome book . . . Food Storage in a Nutshell . . . which is where a lot of my information comes from. The church recommends 16 pounds of dried milk per person for a year and this book recommends quite a bit more. The difference is the church recommends the amount you could survive off and the book recommends the amount you more likely need and/or use. So, all of my calculations go off the assumption that you need an average of 3 cups of milk per day (realizing you probably won't have yogurt, as much cheese, etc.).

I'm not claiming to be an expert and I only tested 4 of the milks I've most heard about, but I hope this helps. I also have a nice spreadsheet (remember, I'm an accountant) with my calculations that I can e-mail if anyone is interested. Here's my results:

COUNTRY CREAM POWDER: (Granda's Country Store, 386 West 9400 South, Sandy)
4.03 lbs, $13.99, 14 cans/person/year, $196/person/year, $2.80/gallon

**TASTES 2ND BEST, BUT VERY COMPARABLE TO THE COUNTRY FRESH FARMS AND MORNING MOOS, COMES IN CHOCOLATE ALSO

MORNING MOOS: (Macey's)
4 lbs, $13.99, 16 cans/person/year, $224/person/year, $3.29/gallon
On sale at Macey's in Cans: $8.88, $142/person/year, $2.09/gallon
On sale at Macey's in Buckets: 37 lbs/$57.99, 1.75 buckets/person/year, $102/person/year, $1.48/gallon
Powder in Cans $82.14=Powder is Buckets $57.99

** This is a milk alternative so it's not pure dried milk. Everyone has their opinion about this. But I compared the nutrient values and my opinion is that my family still gets the nutrients we'll need and it's cheap-er.

** TASTES 3RD BEST, BUT VERY COMPARABLE TO THE COUNTRY FRESH FARMS AND COUNTRY CREAM POWDER (some people noted they could tell is was an alternative, but only after I said it was), COMES IN CHOCOLATE ALSO

COUNTRY FRESH FARMS: (Macey's)
2.06 lbs, $13.99, 30 cans/person/year, $420/person/year, $3.29/gallon
On sale at Macey's in Cans: $5.99/ $180/person/year, $2.66/gallon

**PROBABLY TASTES THE BEST, BUT VERY COMPARABLE TO THE MORNING MOOS AND COUNTRY CREAM POWDER

CHURCH CANNERY:
$8.40 (fluctuates), 19 cans/person/year, $160/person/year, $2.32/gallon

**DOES NOT TASTE GOOD, ACTUALLY IT'S HORRIBLE WHEN SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO THE OTHER CHOICES

The church published a new shelf life list this summer and powdered milk is 20 years, but some of the cans even say 25. A bucket I've been told should last the same, but once it's opened then it needs to be used. So the buckets are not good for rotating, but are good for a long term storage and then used at some unknown time.