Last night I attended a presentation on food storage given by our local WELL (Willits Economic Localization) group in conjunction with the LDS church (who are well know for their practices of food storage and preparedness).
It was so uplifting to see these two groups in come together in an effort toward sustainablility, traditional teaching, self reliance and community. I thought I would share with you all what I learned.
Suggested Amounts of Basic Foods for Home Storage Per Adult for One Year
- Grains ( wheat, barely, spelt, rice, oats, etc) 400 lbs
- Legumes (dry beans, split peas, lentils, etc.) 60 lbs
- Powdered Milk 16 lbs
- Nutritional Yeast (non-leavening) 6 lbs
- Cooking Oil ( vegetable oils, shortening 10 qts
- Sugar, Honey, Molasses 60 qts
- Salt 8 lbs
- Water (for two weeks) 14 gallons
If you want more specific guidlines you can use this calculator here
Why Food Storage and Local Agriculture?
For true food security we must not rely on our food to be trucked in to our area. We must grow and store it ourselves. Your local grocery store probably carries only about 3 days worth of food for the area it serves.
The first step in this process is to begin growing our own fruits and veggies. Fruits and veggies are high in water weight and thus heavier to transport. This means they are trucked in using a lot of fuel. The average fruits and veggie at our local Safeway come from over 1,500 miles away!
Of course fruits and veggies are not where most of our calories come from so it's a good idea to store grains and dried beans for emergencies and system collapses. Then at least you have a good supply while you find a way to grow your own grains.
The best way to begin this process is to put away a little food at a time and to not go into to debt to do it.
Grains and Beans
Purchase food grade storage buckets, black if you can find them, white if you can't and a poly bucket wrench will make them easier to open and close.
Fill these buckets with dry beans and hard winter wheat. The next item you'll want to purchase is a stone or metal mill for grinding your grains. You want to always be rotating your foods, so in a few years when you pull out a bucket to use up and refill you're going to want to soak your beans first in some distilled water, if possible, and then cook them over night in a crock pot - this helps them get nice and moist for eating and they'll taste just like new beans, not 20 year old beans LOL
White rice stores better than brown but both store very well, if kept cool, dark and dry (keep all our food storage cool, dark and dry) Rice will keep up to 15 years.
To keep pests (i.e. bugs) out of your food storage be sure to rinse the grains or beans first with some sharp, not processed, Diatomaceous earth.
When using your mill either in emergencies or when you're rotating food, be sure not to processes corn or things with oil, just dry grains. Once the grains are milled into flour they will go rancid more quickly so keep this in mind.
When rotating your buckets, bring one up from storage, use it up, refill and seal it and place it back in storage, then bring up another bucket.
If you want to store raw veggies that will retain enzymes you can simply put them in a jar of apple cider vinegar and they will keep for a really long time. You can also dehydrate them, grind them into a powder and store the powder for soups, breads and sauces.
Canning Your Home Grown Food
You can can just about any food, potatoes, beans, nectarines even nuts.
To can nuts place the dry nuts in a jar leaving a half inch at the top, put the lids on, place the jars in a cake pan with about an inch and a half of water, place them in the oven at 225 for an hour. Check the seals on the jars and make sure they're good and tight when they cool and viola! Stored nuts :)
Don't keep jarred food more than 5 years accept for acidic foods like fruit, they will last up to 8 years or more.
When you are using your canned beans be sure to reboil them for 15 minutes after opening them up. Never eat straight beans from the jar. Use a pressure cooker to can when possible, it's safer.
Be sure to wrap your jars and store them in a low place in case of an earthquake or other disturbance. Always store your food a few different ways and in a few different places.
Never hord food, always be willing to share.
