Transcript:

Getting Started in Emergency Preparedness

7 Food Groups for Food Storage

Basics of water

This video is probably the most important one on our site.  It will build the foundation for the rest of the lessons and everything we do on this web site.  Please watch this carefully, maybe a few times.  

The purpose of this video is to give you an overview of a well-designed food storage program and how this web site will help you build it. First of all, don't think you have to get everything right now or know everything right now.  You don't.  The important thing is to build a plan and then start walking through that plan. Recently, my wife and I moved with our two children. The move required us to essentially start all over in our food storage.  We have been following the process that we are teaching here, and within less than a year, we are approaching a full year's supply of food that we enjoy eating. Not only that, but our food budget has decreased during the same time. It only decreases more as we approach a full year's supply. So, I know from personal experience that you can quickly achieve several months storage.

What's the secret?

Well, there are two very important concepts to achieve this:   Number 1, you must NOT think of your food storage as separate from your regular food pantry; they must become the same. I'm going to say that again.  You must NOT think of your food storage as separate from your regular food; they must become the same. You have heard the adage, "store what you eat and eat what you store."  This is critical to success. You must consider your food storage as part of the food you eat on a regular basis. Most of us know that we should store wheat and beans, but almost none of the people I speak with really know how to use either wheat or beans outside of the bare minimum. You may be an exception.  However, on this website, especially in the membership area, Anitra will teach you so many different ways to use wheat (and other grains) and beans and powdered dairy and other products that you have probably never even imagined.  

That leads us to concept number 2. Although you will continue to eat much of the same prepared foods from the groceries as you now do, you will learn to cook with whole foods and make your own mixes (yes, really!). Doing that brings amazing differences.  Your food bill will go down, the flavor of your food will go up, your meals will be more healthy.  But most importantly, your food storage will be increasing and when you need it, there will be no adjustments to your diets. Truly, you will never need to be concerned about a food shortage.

This is what we want to teach you.

So what makes up a good food storage program?

The short-term answer is this: exactly what you eat now!  We are counseled to begin to store what we eat now. If you eat cans of chili, then get a few extra cans or cases of chile.  The same would be true for boxes of prepared rice dinners or spaghetti.

You might ask, how much should I store?  Anitra's Lesson 1 in the Food Storage Lessons will walk you through that process. Also, we have a spreadsheet that you can download or you can use an online program at a website called www.TrackMyFoodStorage.com. Anitra's method, however, is truly the simplest method that I have found.   

Now, let's talk about what most of think of when we begin to talk "food storage": If you eliminate all other cans or bottles or boxes of food in your pantry, there are seven categories of whole foods plus water, which will provide you with ALL of the nutrition that you need to last a lifetime.  And with a little bit of knowledge, will provide you with delicious and varied meals every day.  We call this our seven plus one chart.

You can get a textual version of this discussion called "Seven Plus One: Categories of Food Storage" in the articles section of SimplyLivingSmart.com.

Water:
This is the first thing you MUST have in your food storage.  Every guide I have read, from government publications to church guidelines suggest 1 gallon per person per day for two weeks. That means 14 gallons per person in the household.  PLUS you need the knowledge and ability to clarify and purify more.  See our Emergency Preparedness lesson on Water.  You cannot survive without water.  Within hours of an emergency, water will become critical.  So, on our 7 plus 1 chart, Water is the PLUS one, right in the center.

Wheat and Grains:
Wheat is the King of grains. It is amazingly versatile. Most people think of bread, but wheat can be used for tortillas and rolls, crackers, cakes, cookies, and pies.  But, it can also be prepared as an alternative to meat and as a sweetner.  With appropriate spices, wheat can "become" just about anything. But Wheat is only one of the grains. The other grains provide wonderful taste alternatives to wheat in many recipes.  Also, for those who are gluten intolerant, many of the other grains can be substitued. Please see our article "Summary of Grains and their Uses". Experiment with various other grains as your experience increases.

Legumes:
Beans are the natural complement to Wheat and grains. Separately, neither wheat nor grain contains a complete protein because one or more of the eight essential amino acids are missing or in short supply. However, mixing grains, seeds, and legumes provide all of the essential amino acids to build complete protein.

Most people think only of cooked beans in their whole form. And many, including myself before I learned more, didn't really care for beans.  I like chile, but I'm not a whole bean fan. But, by grinding beans into a flour, you can use them in your recipes. Anitra will show you some marvelous recipes. We now use beans nearly every day, in breads, in smoothies, in gravy . . . in almost every way you can imagine. And no, you don't get the gas you might otherwise get and no, your foods don't taste like lima beans. Learning how to use beans is one of the most remarkeable "secrets" about food storage.

Powdered Dairy:
Powdered Dairy is the next "secret" that you should know about. And you guessed it.  Anitra has many lessons on this topic. You might be thinking, "Powdered milk?  I hate powdered milk."  You know what.  So do I, almost. I grew up milking cows and drinking whole milk. I know what real milk tastes like.  I can often tell the difference between the breed of cow and what the cow ate. I have found one or two brands of powdered milk that I don't mind drinking. Nevertheless, I still prefer not to drink powdered milk.

But I'm talking abot MORE than powdered milk.  I'm talking about powdered butter, powdered shortening, powdered eggs and egg whites, and powdered cheese. Of course you're not going to spread powdered butter on you bread. But you could use powdered butter in your cakes. Wow!  All of a sudden you can now store all of the ingredients you need for cake mixes, soup mixes (yes, like those you buy, but without the preservatives), caserole and dinner mixes that can be quickly combined to make dinners in literally minutes instead of hours. Powdered Dairy is one of the powerful additions to a food storage plan.

Sprouts:
When I learned about sprouts, my whole perspective on foods storage changed. Sprouts multiply the vitamins and nutrients in seeds and nuts. By learning to sprout a few different variety of seeds and nuts, you can acquire ALL of the vitamins and essential nutrition that you need. Anitra uses a variety of sprouts throughout her lessons. The health benefits have been well researched and documented.

Honey and Sweetners:
There are a variety of sweetners to store in your food storage.  Honey is natural and the most healthy. But most of us will also store processed sugar.  Also consider molasses and maple. We don't have lessons specifically devoted to sweetners, but nearly all recipes call for one or another. Again, you can use our spreadsheet or www.trackmyfoodstorage.com to determine the amounts that you might need to store. In general, 60lbs per person per year is necessary.

Salt and Seasonings:
You should include 8 pounds of salt per person per year.  But the seasonings is up to you.

What do we mean by seasonings?  This would include spices, seasonings, bulion cubes or powder (make sure it does not contain MSG), cocoa powder, vanilla, flavorings. etc. I mean every type of seasoning that you would use. The more the variety that you have, the more variety you will have in your dinners.  Learn to use a variety. After you establish the basics in seasonings and spices, you can begin to add pudding mixes, drink mixes, and other enhancements.  We highly recommend buying your seasonings and spices in bulk. Antira will teach lessons on finding excellent prices on bulk spices and how to organize them.

Oils:
Most sources recommend 10 quarts per person per year. This would include cooking oil, peanut butter, shortening, butter, etc. Remember, that you can get powdered shortening and powdered butter and margarine. This extends the storage life from months to years.  Plus, you gain the advantage of making your own mixes which can be used for quick meals.

These are the basic ingredients of a complete food storage. You could easily live off these foods with amazing variety. Nevertheless, these are only the basics.

You will also want to consider storing foods with these methods.  We will add more and more articles and videos to these topics in the future:
commercially canned foods (buying at case-lot sales)
home-canning or bottled foods (basic processes and equipment)
dehydrating, including commercially freeze dried and open sun drying
gardening (including square foot and indoor gardening)
textured vegetable protein (TVP)
root storage principles
freezing

So how do you get started?

1. Calculate what you use now or will need. Lesson 1 under Food Storage Lessons will help you get started.
2. Learn new methods to use whole foods and mix them into your current foods. Each lesson teaches a new concept or gives a unique recipe.
3. Learn the most efficient ways to purchase bulk foods. At the end of each lesson or video, we'll point you to vendors who we have found have the best deals on foods.

Most importantly, we think you will become more and more excited as you learn new concepts.  Food storage is NOT just a can of wheat in your basement or closet. It is part of your pantry. We'll try to guide you through the process. Remember, you can visit the forum and ask questions. If you need a lesson on a certain topic, please submit your topic.

It is also important that we build a strong online community. The stronger we build our online community, the better pricing and discounts that we can all get. Therefore it is important to work together to share this information. Did you know that we have created rewards program for helping us build the SimplyLivingSmart membership community? Visit our rewards page for helping us build this online community.

Again, we thank you for your support of this site.  We promise to do all we can to help you become more prepared for difficult personal times or any disaster.