Plan Your Pantry

Food storage is any food that you have set aside for later, whether that's for one day, one week, one month or one year. Personally, I recommend getting at least three months worth of food.

Why? For many reasons. Having food at hand gives you peace of mind that, if there is a shortage or rationing (remember rice and flour last Spring?) you will be able to provide for your family without lacking anything. If prices go up, you'll be saving yourself quite a bit of money. Having several months worth of food in the cupboard will allow you to make up for cut hours, loss of work or for helping out friends or family who need some extra help. These times are difficult for many of us, and knowing that you have the basics of food in your kitchen and a roof over your head, is certainly a comforting thought.

So how to get started? You could buy prepackaged emergency foods through an online distributor: a year's worth for one person usually runs you about $2,000, which is a very expensive option. The food will usually
just sit there until it's past its date and then gets thrown away, it is by all means "emergency food". Or you could adopt the LDS church's program (called "The Mormon 4", consisting of large amounts of flour, salt, honey and milk powder) but all your meals would be a combination of any of these items. Not something I want to face every day!

I chose to do neither one, but just focused on what foods I was buying already. Get up and look in your pantry or cupboards. What do you have stored that your family, or you, eats on a regular basis? I'm going to guess pasta, crackers, sugar, spaghetti sauce, canned vegetables, soups, canned fruits. That's great, and it's a good start! During emergencies, stressful times or otherwise challenging situations, it's best to have as little changes as possible. If all of a sudden you find yourself having to eat the 50 cans of tuna you've stashed away for an emergency but nobody in your family likes fish, it's just going to add more stress. Not good!:-)

Take 5 minutes right now, grab a piece of paper and a pen and jot down meals and snacks that you and your family enjoy eating, sorting them by category: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. For example: spaghetti, pancakes, chicken noodle soup, chili, oatmeal, mashed potatoes, tuna casserole, apple sauce, barbeque pork, popcorn....... This will be different for everybody. Don't stress if you can't think of anything right now. Try to do a mental review of what you've eaten in the last several days, or what you had for dinner tonight. You could also keep the list on the fridge and fill it out as you go.

Write about six foods of each on your list. This is a great start! Now, when you shop for your usual items, you can add one or two extra cans to your purchases. Instead of buying one jar of your favorite spaghetti
sauce, buy two more and put them on the shelf, buy an extra box of oatmeal, a spare couple of cans of beef stew, or whatever you usually eat. It'll be the least invasive way budget-wise, and because it's foods you usually eat, you will be sure that they will get used. Do make sure you check expiration dates on the cans and rotate them accordingly.