STORING FOOD
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NOTE: THESE PAGES HAVE BEEN DRAMATICALLY UPDATED
IN
DARE TO PREPARE — 6th EDITION




WHAT ELSE SHOULD YOU CONSIDER STORING?

A scenario to factor in is water shortage. Rather than keeping all dried foods which require water for reconstituting or cooking, keep an equal amount of canned food. Canned items should include meats, fruits, soups, juices and vegetables. Not only do canned goodss require little or no cooking or water, they provide a change in texture and taste, and supply some liquid to the body.

In times of disaster, it's important to keep food and beverage choices as normal as possible. If your diet consisted of lots of Italian food, stock up on stewed tomatoes, pasta, grated cheese and spices. This is not a time for a lot of experimentation.

When purchasing items to be stockpiled, make sure you know how to prepare these foods. If you're including new items, become familiar these products before disaster strikes. We won't need the added stress of fixing/digesting unfamiliar foods. If you've stored large quantities of legumes because it's convenient and economical, and later find out you can't look another bean in the face, it's best to discover this in advance. Practice making entire meals with only selections from your stored foods. You may find certain items have been omitted for preparation. It will also give you confidence cooking this food when you're already stressed.

Disasters are a time to be kind to yourself. If you're a big fan of Snickers, include some with your stored items. If you really like bananas, try dried banana chips. They're lightweight, a good source of potassium, sweet and last longer than their fresh counterpart.THE KEY to any good storage plan IS purchase high quality foods, store foods you like and always ROTATE YOUR GOODS. As they near expiration, rotate them into your regular meals and replenish your stored supply. Common sense will go a long way to help plan food selections.

If the expiration date is missing, mark the top of each can or package with the date of purchase. Consult the Shelf Life Table for suggested expiration dates. Extending the shelf life will stretch your food storage $$.

The most basic food plan is the Mormon Basic Four from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints'. You may want to use it as a starting point and build from there since it is the backbone of numerous other survival programs.

4 items

MORMON TABLE OF FOUR - ONE PERSON

FOOD MIN/MAX IN
POUNDS
MIN/MAX IN
KILOS
SHELF LIFE COMMENTS
Wheat 200-365
91-166
Indefinite
Hard Red, packed in nitrogen
Powdered Milk 60-100
27-45
1-5 yrs.
None
Sugar or honey 35-100
16-45
Indefinite
Keep sugar dry and pest free
Salt 1-12
.5-5.4
Indefinite
More is needed for preserving

These four will NOT make a good diet nor a very interesting one, but it will keep you alive. At a minimum, vitamins and mineral supplements as well as a source of fat and oil should be added.

The Mormon 4 was created to provide one year of food at low cost with a very long shelf life. Part of the Mormon faith stipulates that all families should have at least one year's food supply in storage. The next page lists their suggestions in more detail.



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