Survival Preparedness Food Preps, Ingredients versus Prepared Foods
August 22, 2011, Submitted by: Ken Tweet
“When the emergency is upon us, the time of preparation has passed.”
As part of your survival plan, you need to start stocking food. You can do a lot if you start early. Unfortunately, “early” might have been yesterday. Now we’re way past early, and you need a reasonable plan to get food supplies that will store well and don’t cost too much.
Buy extra, use FIFO (first-in, first-out). Go ahead and buy more food than normal when you are out grocery shopping, and set it aside as your preparedness stock. Use the “first in, first out” rule to eat your older supplies first. Keep rotating your supplies so you never abandon food “way in the back.”
There are two basic techniques or philosophies as to how best go about building your preparedness food storage preps.
One, to buy pre-made foods (canned foods, packaged foods, food survival kits ready-to-eat, and typical grocery store items).
Two, to buy the raw ingredients that are used to make food meals (wheat, beans, etc…).
Three (there’s always a ‘three’), to buy a combination of both.
For me personally, I prefer method three, and have a variety of both pre-made foods and raw food ingredients.
Buying food pre-made (method one) or pre-packaged is simple, easy, fast, and doesn’t require particular skills during the disaster in order to eat. For someone who is behind in prepping, you can quickly catch up buy purchasing foods this way.
Buying food ingredients (method two) may be cost-friendly and perhaps easier to buy large quantities which will last a significant period of time, but the method will require a deeper commitment, food storage skills, cooking skills, cooking tools, and ‘know-how’ in order to prepare meals.
As most preppers have probably heard, the Latter Day Saints (LDS) who are big into preparedness, recommends buying ‘ingredients’, while knowing how to use them, and to have at least a one year supply of food per person.
From the LDS Preparedness manual, they say, “Buy ingredients, not prepared foods. Ingredients such as salt, honey, oatmeal and wheat will last a lot longer than prepared foods like TV dinners, cereals, and food mixes. Naturally, as you purchase food ingredients, you’ll want to practice actually using them! And remember the basics. For example, if you purchase a bag of wheat, how exactly do you plan to make flour out of it?”
List of Recommended Preparedness Food Ingredients
Grains
Beans and Legumes
Milk and Dairy products
Meats and Meat substitutes
Fats and Oils
Sugars
Fruits and Vegetables
Auxiliary foods, flavors
I thought it would be insightful to post their recommended ingredients list, to give you something to consider. I am not discounting other food storage methods, and in fact, for many people, purchasing food kits and/or pre-made foods is the best thing to do (given their circumstances). How about a little of both methods…
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You might be interested to know that the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) changed their storage recommendations in 2007 to resemble more of your option three. Their current recommendations are for:
1) A Three-Month Supply of foods that you regularly eat.
2) Water.
3) Financial Reserve.
4) Longer Term Supply (no longer one-year supply).
The current instructions for a longer-term supply state:
The following suggested amounts are for an adult.
Per Month:
25 lbs. Wheat, white rice, corn, and other grains 30+ years
5 lbs. Dry beans 30+ years
You may also want to add other items to your longer-term storage such as sugar, nonfat dry milk, salt, baking soda, and cooking oil. To meet nutritional needs, also store foods containing Vitamin C and other essential nutrients.
Sources: http://www.providentliving.org/channel/0,11677,1706-1,00.html
http://www.providentliving.org/fhs/pdf/WE_FamilyResourcesGuide_International_04008_000.pdf
I tend to lean toward ingredients myself. I’ve also been blessed to know a few LDS neighbors as well and have picked up a few tips along the way. Here is my favorite list of ingredients that can provide you with numerous recepies and you won’t starve. These are , right now, easy to find and purchase, and all store shelf stable at room temp. fairly well.
Sugar
Flour
Oil
Rice
Beans
Baking Powder
Yeast
Baking Soda
Honey
Oatmeal
Vinegar
Instant potato flakes
Tea
Coffee
Powder Milk
Pasta
Peanut Butter
Black pepper, garlic powder, onion flakes, cinnamon
You can add canned goods to this and fresh and frozen foods as well. This
is just a basic starting point to build on.
Start Shopping……….
Know how to cook. Find recipes you like now when recipe failures are easier to manage. Every cookbook I have has only a handful of top notch (to me) recipes. For a survival situation, look for recipes that use a minimum of bowls/pans/utensils (less to clean).
Brenda has a good list. But knowing how to cook will allow you to substitute one kind of yeast for another. Some bean substitutions are better than others. Don’t buy a hundred pounds of one type of bean and check that off the list.
Thanks David, I did forget one more important item……powdered cocoa !!!
A good cook can make several yummy chocolate treats from the above list if she has a big stash of cocoa…….
I couldn’t agree more. It only makes sense to have BOTH foods that you can readily consume and from which you can create meals.
There is also a free 2011 edition preparedness manual available that covers more than just food storage.
Ken adds: @Mama Bear, Your link unfortunately didn’t work, so I inserted an Amazon link to the book you are referring to:
LDS Preparedness Manual
I have found this to be an invaluable resource!
my grandparents and mom came up during depression. as a youngster i was taught to can/preserve foods for later. i also have galvanized 5 gal containers for dry storage. prevents moisture and infestation. alredi have all the items u listed and then some. non-hybrid seeds are invaluable. powdered milk is also a great item to have on hand. so glad to have found this site. thanks and keep great ideas coming.