The Food Storage Calculator

[maric]

Gives you an idea on how much food you need to have for your family.

http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm

[Domdabears]

Wow. Pretty cool.
I need a little over 1000 LBS for different grains!
That is a lot!
For one year? Seems a little too much.

[Echo2]

Those will generally scare the hell out of most folks....

[maric]

Those will generally scare the hell out of most folks....

Yeah, it did me the first time I saw it too.. I like Domdabears, had grain concerns...still am a little weary of all the rice and grain, how to store and use it... Im getting there though..
BUT, my purpose is to show people- they think they have enough food, but realize that their not close... :)

[Echo2]

Until you hit one of those calculators.....you never really think about the volume of food you eat in a year.....

1 lb of food a day....which isn't much....equates to 365 lbs a year....and that doesn't take in to account water.

[maric]

Until you hit one of those calculators.....you never really think about the volume of food you eat in a year.....

1 lb of food a day....which isn't much....equates to 365 lbs a year....and that doesn't take in to account water.

I know, its so overwhelming at times! I have to consider more water!! We live by the river, BUT I can not completely count on it as a water source. AND not to mention how much of my food preps would need water to be consumable. I have really tried to cut back on purchasing those, unless, I accompany with more water storage... I dunno, Im learning..

[Echo2]

If you are next to a river....and plan on staying put.....you should just get a good filter and have a method for moving water....buckets or hand pumps of some type.

[maric]

If you are next to a river....and plan on staying put.....you should just get a good filter and have a method for moving water....buckets or hand pumps of some type.

It just depends on the situation. Ideally, we have a few backup plans. Staying here is last resort. Our potential BOL is about 60 miles away. SO, lets say Mr is deployed, can I make that long of a dangerous haul, with 4 kids? Probably not.. we just have different scenarios we look at. Staying here would be great for the resources, but beyond that river, not too far away, the fine city has a "housing" community, if you know what I mean.. Thats way to f-ing close for my comfort! Were too close to the city, so ideally, Id like to get outta dodge.. You know what the city will look like in a desperate situation... BUT, back to what you were saying, we have drafted some ideas.. played around a little.. we have tons of buckets, looking to find a hand pump regardless..just learning water filtration.. started looking at backpack water filtration, led to more larger complex thoughts.

[Echo2]

It just depends on the situation. Ideally, we have a few backup plans. Staying here is last resort. Our potential BOL is about 60 miles away. SO, lets say Mr is deployed, can I make that long of a dangerous haul, with 4 kids? Probably not.. we just have different scenarios we look at. Staying here would be great for the resources, but beyond that river, not too far away, the fine city has a "housing" community, if you know what I mean.. Thats way to f-ing close for my comfort! Were too close to the city, so ideally, Id like to get outta dodge.. You know what the city will look like in a desperate situation... BUT, back to what you were saying, we have drafted some ideas.. played around a little.. we have tons of buckets, looking to find a hand pump regardless..just learning water filtration.. started looking at backpack water filtration, led to more larger complex thoughts.

How far from your house is the river....also how much elevation?

[jennieB]

I'm just curious, why do you need to calculate the food storage? It sounds strange.

[Echo2]

If you want to store food for a long time.....you'er not going to want 365 days of the same thing. Also you will need to make sure that you have the caloric intake on a daily basis that you need to function.

if you have 1500 to 200o cals a day for normal stuff.....in a SHTF situation....you will be working much harder....and will require more cals per day.

I personally find the calculators a bit off....just because every family is different.

You should look at what you eat now....and start to build on that...unless you eat nothing but frozen prepackaged stuff.

Think about it like this...if you eat a pound of food a day...which ain't much....for a year...that's 365lbs....and it dosen't include water.....so the calculators help in some regards.

E

[Skyowl's Wife]

I'm just curious, why do you need to calculate the food storage? It sounds strange.

Assume the store is empty and you want a loaf of bread a day to help feed your 2 kids, you and your husband. How much grain do you need to accomplish that? Haven't a clue? Neither did I until I asked a Mormon friend (about 8 years ago and the only people I know who routinely stored lots of food), "How MUCH do I need?" and they referred me to this calculator.

Maric? How to store it? Stacks like this



I used the calculator for basics, made substitutes for things we won't eat (lima beans, soy beans, split peas) with other types of beans, and then started adding stuff like some dessert mixes and lots of meat. This calculator assumes that all of your protein is vegetable, we like some fat in our food (flavor, flavor, flavor!) so we started canning meat and buying Spam.

From the garden, I dehydrate veggies, so I can use very small space to store a LOT of vegetables, a couple of tablespoons of this and a couple of that, thrown into a pot with one of the pints or quarts of meat and you have a rich healthy soup. Add a little flour and you've got stew. Bisquits or bread from the ground wheat (I've shown you pics of doing that), and you are well-fed.

[Iron mike]

thank you for the caculator it shows I have a lot to do with 3 kids and all

[Scottishblacksmith]

WOW !!! does make me think I am WAY UNDER prepared LOL just purchased some of the granular pool sanitizer ( read that in small amounts will make fresh clorine bleach for disinfecting water ) but need to talk to daughter as she can line me up with plastic food grade 55 gallon drums for FREE. I only have food for 180 days by the food guides! OUCH !!

[Echo2]

WOW !!! does make me think I am WAY UNDER prepared LOL just purchased some of the granular pool sanitizer ( read that in small amounts will make fresh clorine bleach for disinfecting water ) but need to talk to daughter as she can line me up with plastic food grade 55 gallon drums for FREE. I only have food for 180 days by the food guides! OUCH !!

Then you are way ahead of the curve....:)