Food Storage

Stock Your Pantry

The first place to start is to stock your pantry with enough food to get you through a crisis.  These should be foods that you use on a regular basis so you can keep them rotated for freshness.  How much is enough?  There’s no right answer to this question and it usually depends on how much space you have in your pantry and around your home.  A good first goal is to store enough food for at least three months and build on that.  You can achieve this fairly quickly if you simply buy a few extra items every time you go to the store.  

You must consider the shelf life of some of your items and your ability to use and rotate them but, it’s important to note that the “best if used by:” date on packaged foods is NOT an expiration date.  These dates have a lot less to do with food safety than it does giving you the impression of freshness.  In fact, the FDA does not require that expiration dates be placed on most food products and it is not illegal to sell foods that are past their “best if used by” date.  As far as canned foods are concerned, they last long after the “best if used by” date and are generally still good as long as the integrity of the can is intact not leaking or bulging.  This can be years after the date.  If when opened, it smells bad, looks bad or tastes bad then throw it out.  Otherwise, it’s safe to eat. 

Don’t forget about your pet’s needs.  Put away some extra food and supplies for your pets.  You certainly don’t want them to be forced to fend for themselves if things go bad.

Dry Goods, Vacuum Sealing and Canning

Taking your food storage efforts to the next level involves storing some dry goods, canning and vacuum sealing some items to extend shelf life.  Of course, if you don’t have the time or desire to vacuum seal foods, pack buckets of dry goods or get into canning, you can skip this step and go directly to purchasing dehydrated and freeze-dried foods for long-term storage.

There are several types of dry goods, with long shelf life, that you can purchase at your local supermarket. It’s important to note that there are a couple of factors that determine shelf life of dry goods.  The first is that they stay dry and as free from oxygen as possible.  This is where vacuum sealing is important.  Vacuum sealing foods and proper storage can dramatically increase the shelf life of certain foods.    Another important factor is the temperature at which they are stored.  Pasta, for example can last from 8 – 10 years if vacuum sealed and stored at a temperature of 70 degrees F.  The storage life is directly proportionate to the temperature at which it is stored.  Here’s a chart to give you a general idea about the relationship between storage temperature and storage life:

Note: This chart does not apply to a specific food but helps to illustrate the relationship between temperature and food storage life.  According to the USDA, each 10.08 F drop in temperature doubles the storage life, but this is noa a hard and fast rule. 

Many of the commercial dehydrated foods that you can purchase come in a #10 can that is sealed and contains an oxygen absorber. These oxygen absorbers remove the oxygen in the air and create a nitrogen environment for long-term food storage.  They must be used in containers that are completely airtight.   Because they absorb oxygen, they create a slight vacuum.  Not as much as a vacuum sealer but the vacuum created will try to draw outside air in and render the absorber useless. 

If you want a pretty pantry with lots of visible foods, you can store your dry goods in class jars, drop an oxygen absorber in and seal it up tight.  You should store these containers in a dark, cool place to increase longevity.  However, it is far more practical to store some long-term dry goods by vacuum sealing and placing the bags in plastic buckets with lids.  This method can easily increase the shelf life of dry goods to 10 years or more, depending on temperature. The whole package is much more durable than glass jars and you can stack the buckets without shelving to conserve space.

What kind of dry goods should you stock up on?  Some are better than others in terms of longevity.  For example, white rice can easily last for 30 years while brown rice will only last about 6 months.  This is because brown rice is coated in oils that become rancid over time.  Make sure that you store dry goods that have less than 10% moisture content and you will be happy when you have to break into your supplies, and they are still as good as when you packed them.  Here are some good dry goods to store:

·         White Rice

·         Rolled Oats

·        Pasta

·         Dried Beans, Lentils and Peas

·        Pancake Mix

·         Cornbread Mix

·         Hash Brown Potatoes

·         Various Hard Grains

·         Flour

Canning

If you’re into canning, then you already know how far ahead you are.  Especially if you’re gardening and canning your crops. If not, and if you want to take the time, it’s easy to learn and not too expensive to start.  There’s a ton of information and videos on the internet so you won’t have to take a class.  Garden vegetables are not the only things you worth canning. You can put up many of your favorite meals like soups, chili and stews.  Canning meat is also a great way to preserve much needed protein. You can easily use and rotate your stock since it makes quick meals so convenient.  You can find more information about canning and other food preservation at the National Center for Home Food Preservation website.   

Freeze Dried and Dehydrated Foods

If you’re not up for spending your weekends packaging foods for storage, the simplest option is to purchase your freeze dried and dehydrated foods from a reputable dealer. They have complete meals and you can buy single meals or food packages that give you all the food you need for several years.  The best thing about these foods is that they taste good and they last for up to 25 years on the shelf so you will never have to worry about being able to feed your family.  They can be a considerable investment but will be well worth it when you need them.

Renewable food sources

The ultimate in disaster preparedness is to be completely self-sufficient like living on a farm or secluded off-the-grid property where you can grow your own food and raise your own livestock but, realistically, not many of us are in a position to make that kind of commitment.  However, there are some things that we can all do to ensure that we will have a renewable source of food if faced with a life changing extended crisis.

·         Store some heirloom seeds with your supplies.  Be sure to stock a well-rounded package of vegetables that will grow in your area.  Be sure that they are heirloom seeds so you can harvest seeds for the future.  Some genetically altered seeds do not reproduce for future crops.

·        Consider starting a garden now so you will be used to the process and you can reap the benefits of home grown crops even in the absence of a disaster.

·         If you don’t have a place for a garden, scope out a place or method that you can use when the time comes.  You might want to store some containers, fertilizers and tools so you can put up a portable garden in limited space.   

Planting a garden is an option but you may have to go up to a year before you can reap the benefits of your efforts so, be sure you have enough other food stored to last until then.  Added to this is the need to preserve you crops through the winter so storing some canning materials is also a necessity.

Final Words

Some people think that storing food and other supplies only needs to be done if you do not have confidence in our system of government and/or commerce. But there are any number of scenarios that can cause a food shortage in your area or maybe just your home.  Of course, we often consider natural disasters, terrorists attacks and all the other things that could go wrong, but what if you lost your job or got injured and couldn’t work for a while?  Having some extra supplies will help you through the hard times and buys peace of mind.