With being so close to taking possession of our new mini-farm the one thing that is foremost on our minds is completing our emergency food storage requirements. Our goal for the remainder of this year is to increase our supply once again to a year's level. Over the years I have stressed to all the people that I meet of the importance of properly accumulating a sufficient supply of food for emergency purposes. Usually when I suggest this to a friend I am questioned on what to store up on.

Canning Supplies

Initially a family should store up on a two week supply of water as well as a years worth of food as a bare minimum. Add to these storage supplies the necessary clothing for each member and enough fuel for your home to last for one full year. Don't forget a well stocked first aid kit which can be a life saver in the event of a disaster. When storing up on foods always stock up on those groceries which you eat and never simply take the advice of others as to the needs for your family.

Canning Supplies

In order to start your emergency storage supplies begin with the immediate necessities than slowly increase your supplies as your funds allow. Concentrate upon the essential foods necessary to survive such as your grains, cooking oils, legumes, dairy products, sugar and salts.

Many people think that a year's supply of food is nothing short of an overkill but think in terms of not merely being prepared for a natural disaster but also the possibility that you may lose your current means of support. In our loose economy anything is possible and frequently situations like this are likely to occur. In addition, over a period of weeks you will be amazed at how quickly with little effort your supply of food starts to increase.

To prepare our family we have been placing much of our bulk supplies in secure quart jars in order to prevent damage from rodents or insects. We use a combination of oxygen absorbers and bay leaves for this purpose. As an example, my wife just finished opening and properly storing a twenty-five pound bag of sugar. To do so she cleaned a dozen canning jars and after they had dried she filled each full of sugar. Next the lids were tightened onto the jar. Keep in mind that with any types of sugar neither oxygen absorbers nor bay leaves are necessary. Our goal for a family of three for one complete year is as follows:

In the way of grains we plan for the following amounts to hold us over.

Wheat - 450 lbs Flour - 75 lbs Corn Meal - 75 lbs Oats - 75 lbs Rice - 150 lbs Pasta - 75 lbs

In all total we will end up with approximately 900 pounds of Grain products. In our case however we have increasing our stored supply of flour, rice and pasta while still maintaining the same overall figure.

The same principle holds true of your cooking oils as well.

Shortening - 12 lbs Vegetable Oil - 6 gal Mayonnaise - 6 qts Salad Dressing - 3 qts Peanut Butter - 12 lbs

Here we come up with a total of 39 pounds. As we did above we modified these figures to account for our family's tastes and desires. We substituted olive oil for vegetable oil for two reasons. One, we prefer the later and the olive oil has a much longer life expectancy. Additionally, we will likely increase our peanut butter count since it is an excellent source of protein.

Now let's discus the legumes, these are pretty much universal and are fairly inexpensive for a family to start storing.

Beans, dry - 90 lbs Lima Beans - 15 lbs Soy Beans - 30 lbs Split Peas - 15 lbs Lentils - 15 lbs Dry Soup Mix - 15 lbs

These figures provide us with a total of 180 pounds of legumes. Since we are not big fans of soy beans these would naturally be replaced with other selections. Additionally we would prefer to create our own soup mixes.

On the topic of sugars we find the following potential selections at our disposal.

Honey - 9 lbs Sugar - 120 lbs Brown Sugar - 9 lbs Molasses - 3 lbs Corn Syrup - 9 lbs Jams - 9 lbs Fruit drink powdered - 18 lbs Coffee and Tea - 30 lbs Flavored Gelatin - 3 lbs

We calculate a total of 210 pounds for this category. Within this group of foods we encounter the powdered fruit drinks and the caffeine products. Since we are a coffee and tea drinking family we have include extras in this area.

For dairy products we have:

Dry Milk - 180 lbs Cheeses - 10 lbs Other - 39 lbs

In the above listing the category of other includes such nice to haves as sour cream, butter, etc. We have several powdered cheeses such as yellow and white. Combined with pasta these cheeses do well for a macaroni and cheese meal.

Your cooking essentials are listed below.

Baking Powder - 3 lbs Baking Soda - 3 lbs Yeast - 15 lbs Salt - 15 lbs Vinegar - 1.5 gal

I would like to say a few words on the essentials listed above. We have personally increased the amount of vinegar which we store and the salt. Both can be excellent preservatives when used the right way. Don't forget to add spices of your choice to the list also. Lastly, we have water and bleach. 42 gallons of water would be the least amount that you would want to store for a two week use while 6 to 10 gallons of bleach should be adequate for one year.

There you have a great start for your food storage needs. You can personalize the list as you see fit. Good luck and keep prepping.

By Joseph Parish