There are quite a few myths out there about Food Storage. In this article we’ll try to cover 10 of the myths and what you can do to get prepared.
10- If you don’t have your food storage by now, it’s too late.
Storing food and other necessities is not an event; it’s a process. It means spending just a little more on groceries every month, either at the store or on “emergency” food supplies. Month after month, year after year, and then one day, you realize you really do have enough food to get you through some tough times.
9- Food storage means bulk supplies.
Just because your parents have two tons of wheat in the basement does not sentence you a similar fate. There is nothing wrong with having some bulk foods in storage, but the smart way to store food is what I call a layered approach. You want some fresh food that you are “storing” for a few days, canned and packaged foods that should be rotated every several months to a couple of years, then finally staples and packaged emergency foods that have a shelf life of many years. This will give you a well-rounded and more enjoyable supply of food for the short and long term.
8- Food storage is only for true disasters.
A few years ago, I used a good chunk of my food storage for a different kind of emergency. I was between jobs, and what little money we had was going to keep the homestead out of foreclosure. Having groceries already on the shelves helped keep a tough time from becoming a real disaster. When I got a job, I went back to making a few extra food purchases every month, and now my supply is almost fully stocked again.
7-If there ever is a disaster, I’ll have to share!
No, you will have the opportunity to share. Assuming you have prepared properly, you will have not just enough for your family, but enough that you can bless the lives of those around.
6-My idea of gourmet cooking is slicing the lid on a microwave dinner.
Many of today’s foods specifically made for food storage are prepared by adding to boiling water and either letting it simmer or just removing it from heat to rehydrate. There are also cookbooks specifically designed to help you prepare foods you would commonly have in storage.
5- I only cook fresh. None of that processed packaged stuff for me.
It’s true. The tastiest food is just a few days removed from the soil. But unless you live on a farm, you are dependent on others to make it available to you. If you really, truly only plan to use food storage during an emergency, you need food that is available and actually tastes good. SurvivalBased.com offers the best food that tastes as good as fresh, but will last for a very long time. If you still want the fresh option, plant a garden, but understand that won’t help you in the middle of February.
4-Why worry? How bad can it get?
It’s nice to be optimistic, but think of your kids, your spouse, your parents, and close friends. One need only think back to Hurricane Katrina to tell you just how bad it can get. In these times, if you don’t take the steps to start building up your food storage, they suffer as well.
3. I will just use frozen food-I have a portable generator.
For short-term situations where you are without power, they come in handy. But they also burn a lot of gas. Many cities will have a problem with large amounts of gasoline being stored in a residential setting. But the longer the emergency state of affairs continues the less practical this option becomes, and all that frozen food will quickly spoil.
2. Other people have food that I can use in case of an emergency.
So you don’t believe in taking responsibility for yourself and your family? When the delivery system that brings food to you breaks down, food that is 50 miles away might as well be in Mongolia. And as for your nutcase survivalist neighbor, that dude probably has a bazooka, and knows how to use it.
1. I don’t have the money, I don’t have the room, I don’t know how to get started, I don’t like the taste, I’m not an end-times fanatic, etc…
A very smart man once said to me “No excuse is too small”. The details are not all that important, what is important is that you get started. And there is no time like the present.