Long-Term Guidelines
Learning store food for long-term use is essential for surviving natural catastrophes, financial and political crises, and other uncontrollable events. Preparing a well-stocked storage or cold room requires a lot of planning and commitment. By practicing store food long-term will help you become self-sufficient during times of emergency.
Where and Stock Food
Begin by making a detailed list of what you will need to buy and store. Check your pantry to make an inventory. Canvass different groceries, supermarkets, and wholesale stores to research the availability and prices of items needed. Include the best locations for purchasing in your list. Your storage area should be a cool and dry location. Examples of great places to serve as larders include root cellars, basements and crawl spaces. Ideally, the storage room should be a very accessible area for you to easily execute rotation for the food items. After determining what you need to purchase and where to get them, continually update your list for other supplies required for your larder. Prepare your storage room by making sure shelves are sturdy. Creating labels with their corresponding dates is also a great tool in storing.
Purchasing Staples in Bulk
Purchase staples in bulk because they will come cheaper that way. More importantly, these staples have a long shelf life. You can easily survive many years on these items alone. Examples include beans, wheat and corn. Other grains you should load up on include oats, milled rice, rye, barley and even pasta. For water, store at least 14 gallons per adult. This should last for two weeks. Rotate water products because water only has a shelf life of one year at the most. You may also install a hand water pump, water filters and treatment systems for a steady supply.
Shelf Life of Foods
Here are some guidelines for food shelf life in order for you to keep track of their quality.
Boxed powdered milk, dried fruit and crackers sealed in metal cans, potatoes, cooking oil and nuts should be consumed within six months. Canned meat and vegetable soup, canned fruits, vegetable and fruit juices, instant and uncooked cereals stored in metal packaging, jelly, peanut butter, chocolate bars, and hard candies should be a year. Corn, wheat, soybeans, vegetable oils, cocoa, instant coffee, tea, salt, dry pasta, powdered milk, baking powder, white rice and vitamin C have an indefinite shelf life but typically should be consumed within two to three years. These products, however, must be stored in airtight containers and in cool and dry conditions.
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