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The Seven Major Mistakes in Food Storage
By Vickie Tate
A month or two ago I met a cute little gal who was talking to me about her newly begun food storage. "You know," she
began, "I've dreaded doing my food storage for years, its seems so blah, but the way national events are going my husband and I decided we couldn't put it off anymore. And, do you know, it really hasn't been hard. We just bought 20 bags of wheat, my husband found a place to get 60 pound cans of honey, and now all we have to do is get a couple of cases of powdered milk. Could you tell me where to get the milk?" After I suggested several distributors, I asked, "Do you know how to cook with your wheat?" "Oh," she laughed, "if we ever need it I'll learn how. My kids only like white bread and I don't have a wheat grinder." She had just made every major mistake in storing food (other than not storing anything at all.) But she's not alone. Through 14 years of helping people prepare, I found most people's storage starts out looking just like hers. So what's wrong with this storage plan? There are seven serious problems that may occur trying to live on these basics:
1.) VARIETY - Most people don't have enough variety in their storage. 95% of the people I've worked with only
stored the 4 basic items we mentioned earlier: wheat, milk, honey, and salt. Statistics show most of us won't survive on
such a diet for several reasons. a.) Many people are allergic to wheat and may not be aware of it until they are eating it
meal after meal. b.) Wheat is too harsh for young children. They can tolerate it in small amounts but not as their main
staple. c.) We get tired of eating the same foods over and over and many times prefer not to eat than to sample that
particular food again. This is called appetite fatigue. Young children and older people are particularly susceptible to it.
Store less wheat than is generally suggest and put the difference into a variety of other grains, particularly ones your family
likes to eat. Also store a variety of beans. This will add variety of color, texture and flavor. Variety is the key to a
successful storage program. It is essential that you store flavorings such as tomato, bouilion, cheese, and onion.
Also, include a good supply of the spices you like to cook with. These flavorings and spices allow you to do many
creative things with your grains and beans. Without them you are severely limited. One of the best suggestions I can give
you is buy a good food storage cookbook. Go through it and see what your family would really eat. Notice the
ingredients as you do it. This will help you more than anything else to know what items to store.
2.) EXTENDED STAPLES - Few people get beyond storing the four basic items, but it is extemely important that
you do so. Never put all your eggs in one basket. Store dehydrated and/or freeze-dried foods as well as home canned
and store bought canned goods. Make sure you add cooking oil, shortening, baking powder, soda, yeast and powdered
eggs. You can't cook even the most basic receipes without these items. Because of limited space I won't list all the items
that should be included in a well-balanced storage program. They are all included in the The New Cookin With Home
Storage cookbook, as well as information on how much to store, and where to purchase it.
3.) VITAMINS - Vitamins are important, especially if you have children, since children do not store body reserves of
nutrients as adults do. A good quality multi-vitamin and vitamin C are the most vital. Others may be added as your budget
permits.
4.) QUICK AND EASY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FOODS - Quick and easy foods help you through times when you
are psychologically or physically unable to prepare your basic storage items. No cook foods such as freeze-dried are
wonderful since they require little preparation. MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat), such as many prepardness outlets carry,
canned goods, etc. are also very good. Psycological Foods are the goodies - Jello, pudding, candy, etc. - you should add to your storage. These may sound frivolous, but through the years I've talked with many people who have lived entirely on their storage for extended periods of time. Nearly all of them say these were the most helpful items in their storage to normalize their situations and make it more bearable. These are especially important if you have children.
5.) BALANCE - Time and time again I've seen families buy all of their wheat, then buy all of another item, and so on.
Don't do that. It's important to keep well-balanced as you build your storage. Buy several items, rather than a large
quantity of one item. If something happens and you have to live on your present storage, you''ll fare much better having a
one-month supply of a variety of items than a year's supply of two to three items.
6.) CONTAINERS - Always store your bulk foods in food storage containers. I have seen literally tons and tons of
food thrown away because they were left in sacks, where they became highly susceptible to moisture, insects and rodents.If you are using plastic buckets make sure they are lined with a food grade plastic liner available from companies that carry packaging supplies. Never use trash can liners as these are treated with pesticides. Don't stack them too high. In an earthquake they may topple, the lids pop open, or they may crack. A better container is the #10 tin can which most
prepardness companies use when they package their foods.
7.) USE YOUR STORAGE - In all the years I've worked with prepardness one of the biggest problems I've seen is
people storing food and not knowing what to do with it. It's vital that you and your family become familiar with the things
you are storing. You need to know how to prepare these foods. This is not something you want to learn under stress. Your family needs to be used to eating these foods. A stressful period is not a good time to totally change your diet. Get a food storage cookbook and learn to use these foods! It's easy to solve these food storage problems once you know what they are. The lady I talked about at the first of the article left realizing what she had stored was a good beginning, but not enough. As she said, "It's better to find out the mistakes I've made now while there's still time to make corrections." This makes a lot more sense. If you're one who needs to make some adjustments, that's okay. Look at these suggestions and add the things you're missing. It's easy to take a basic storage and add the essentials to make it liveable, but it needs to be done. As I did the research for my cookbook I wanted to include receipes that gave help to families no matter what they had stored. As I put the material together it was fascinating to discover what the pioneers ate is the type of things we store. But if you have stored only the 4 basics, there's very, very little you can do with it. By adding even just a few things it greatly increases your options, and the prospect ofyour family surviving on it. As I studied how the pioneers lived and ate, my whole feeling for food changed. I realized our storage is what most of the world has always lived on. If it's put together the right way we'll be returning to good basic living with a few goodies thrown in.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vickie Tate is the author of the popular cookbook, COOKING WITH HOME STORAGE. She has also lectured for
many years on prepardness subjects. For further information or to order your copy call (801) 835-8283; or write to
her at 302 E 200 N, Manti, UT 84642.
By Vickie Tate
A month or two ago I met a cute little gal who was talking to me about her newly begun food storage. "You know," she
began, "I've dreaded doing my food storage for years, its seems so blah, but the way national events are going my husband and I decided we couldn't put it off anymore. And, do you know, it really hasn't been hard. We just bought 20 bags of wheat, my husband found a place to get 60 pound cans of honey, and now all we have to do is get a couple of cases of powdered milk. Could you tell me where to get the milk?" After I suggested several distributors, I asked, "Do you know how to cook with your wheat?" "Oh," she laughed, "if we ever need it I'll learn how. My kids only like white bread and I don't have a wheat grinder." She had just made every major mistake in storing food (other than not storing anything at all.) But she's not alone. Through 14 years of helping people prepare, I found most people's storage starts out looking just like hers. So what's wrong with this storage plan? There are seven serious problems that may occur trying to live on these basics:
1.) VARIETY - Most people don't have enough variety in their storage. 95% of the people I've worked with only
stored the 4 basic items we mentioned earlier: wheat, milk, honey, and salt. Statistics show most of us won't survive on
such a diet for several reasons. a.) Many people are allergic to wheat and may not be aware of it until they are eating it
meal after meal. b.) Wheat is too harsh for young children. They can tolerate it in small amounts but not as their main
staple. c.) We get tired of eating the same foods over and over and many times prefer not to eat than to sample that
particular food again. This is called appetite fatigue. Young children and older people are particularly susceptible to it.
Store less wheat than is generally suggest and put the difference into a variety of other grains, particularly ones your family
likes to eat. Also store a variety of beans. This will add variety of color, texture and flavor. Variety is the key to a
successful storage program. It is essential that you store flavorings such as tomato, bouilion, cheese, and onion.
Also, include a good supply of the spices you like to cook with. These flavorings and spices allow you to do many
creative things with your grains and beans. Without them you are severely limited. One of the best suggestions I can give
you is buy a good food storage cookbook. Go through it and see what your family would really eat. Notice the
ingredients as you do it. This will help you more than anything else to know what items to store.
2.) EXTENDED STAPLES - Few people get beyond storing the four basic items, but it is extemely important that
you do so. Never put all your eggs in one basket. Store dehydrated and/or freeze-dried foods as well as home canned
and store bought canned goods. Make sure you add cooking oil, shortening, baking powder, soda, yeast and powdered
eggs. You can't cook even the most basic receipes without these items. Because of limited space I won't list all the items
that should be included in a well-balanced storage program. They are all included in the The New Cookin With Home
Storage cookbook, as well as information on how much to store, and where to purchase it.
3.) VITAMINS - Vitamins are important, especially if you have children, since children do not store body reserves of
nutrients as adults do. A good quality multi-vitamin and vitamin C are the most vital. Others may be added as your budget
permits.
4.) QUICK AND EASY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FOODS - Quick and easy foods help you through times when you
are psychologically or physically unable to prepare your basic storage items. No cook foods such as freeze-dried are
wonderful since they require little preparation. MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat), such as many prepardness outlets carry,
canned goods, etc. are also very good. Psycological Foods are the goodies - Jello, pudding, candy, etc. - you should add to your storage. These may sound frivolous, but through the years I've talked with many people who have lived entirely on their storage for extended periods of time. Nearly all of them say these were the most helpful items in their storage to normalize their situations and make it more bearable. These are especially important if you have children.
5.) BALANCE - Time and time again I've seen families buy all of their wheat, then buy all of another item, and so on.
Don't do that. It's important to keep well-balanced as you build your storage. Buy several items, rather than a large
quantity of one item. If something happens and you have to live on your present storage, you''ll fare much better having a
one-month supply of a variety of items than a year's supply of two to three items.
6.) CONTAINERS - Always store your bulk foods in food storage containers. I have seen literally tons and tons of
food thrown away because they were left in sacks, where they became highly susceptible to moisture, insects and rodents.If you are using plastic buckets make sure they are lined with a food grade plastic liner available from companies that carry packaging supplies. Never use trash can liners as these are treated with pesticides. Don't stack them too high. In an earthquake they may topple, the lids pop open, or they may crack. A better container is the #10 tin can which most
prepardness companies use when they package their foods.
7.) USE YOUR STORAGE - In all the years I've worked with prepardness one of the biggest problems I've seen is
people storing food and not knowing what to do with it. It's vital that you and your family become familiar with the things
you are storing. You need to know how to prepare these foods. This is not something you want to learn under stress. Your family needs to be used to eating these foods. A stressful period is not a good time to totally change your diet. Get a food storage cookbook and learn to use these foods! It's easy to solve these food storage problems once you know what they are. The lady I talked about at the first of the article left realizing what she had stored was a good beginning, but not enough. As she said, "It's better to find out the mistakes I've made now while there's still time to make corrections." This makes a lot more sense. If you're one who needs to make some adjustments, that's okay. Look at these suggestions and add the things you're missing. It's easy to take a basic storage and add the essentials to make it liveable, but it needs to be done. As I did the research for my cookbook I wanted to include receipes that gave help to families no matter what they had stored. As I put the material together it was fascinating to discover what the pioneers ate is the type of things we store. But if you have stored only the 4 basics, there's very, very little you can do with it. By adding even just a few things it greatly increases your options, and the prospect ofyour family surviving on it. As I studied how the pioneers lived and ate, my whole feeling for food changed. I realized our storage is what most of the world has always lived on. If it's put together the right way we'll be returning to good basic living with a few goodies thrown in.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vickie Tate is the author of the popular cookbook, COOKING WITH HOME STORAGE. She has also lectured for
many years on prepardness subjects. For further information or to order your copy call (801) 835-8283; or write to
her at 302 E 200 N, Manti, UT 84642.
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