3 Month Food Storage

Do you have your 3 month food storage?

I know you plan on eating rice, beans or wheat and will make it by, if you have to stay in your home for three months. Well, lets take a look at this way of thinking.

1# Do you have the water to cook your food?

If you are quarantined to your home...so will the water treatment plants employees and more importantly so will the electrical workers. No electricity=no water. (read more about this in my water blog...this information came from a city of Mesa water employee...Do not think I am making this up!) http://rureadyoasisverdeward.blogspot.com/2009/08/water-storage-and-purification.html

#2 How do you plan on cooking your food?

Do you have propane? Solar Oven? Dutch oven with charcoal? Do you have enough for 3 months? Do you have enough to heat water to clean you cooking pots and utensils? Sanitary conditions will be extremely important...you do not want to make everyone sick.

#3 Are you eating these foods daily now?

If you are not eating these types of foods now in your daily diet you will be in distress if you have to start eating them 3 times a day for months. I have nothing against beans, rice or whole wheat...we eat them everyday. In fact we ate beans in everyone of our meals last week. Beans are a cheap and great way to stretch your food budget.

#4 Do you have other ingredients to add to these items?

Have you heard of appetite fatigue? This is real! When a person is required to eat the something over and over they can become tried of eating it. So much so in fact, that they may stop eating all together. In the stress of a situation where you do not have access to your normal meals, activities, and basic electricity and water-do not set yourself up to make matters even more difficult for your family by choosing to eat one or two foods. A simple 7 day food rotation plan is better. Keep it simple, but do plan to eat more than one type of food.

#5 You will need protein to keep your body functioning.

Eating straight rice will not provide the protein you need. Rice and Beans or rice and corn make up a whole protein.

#6 How old is your food storage?

If you never check on your food storage it may be too old to use or it will taste funny. Please evaluate and inventory your long term food storage. Even canned foods need to be rotated. Canned tomatoes are usually only good for 1 year before the cans bulge. Throw away any cans that are bulging- they can make you very, very sick! I have opened two year old white rice only to find it rusted. If the oxygen packets that you originally canned with are not good then your canned items may not be any good. Please check your items at least every year and rotate!

#7 If you think you do not need to do anything to be prepared because you feel nothing is ever going to happen. Please evaluate your thinking! Prophets have told us for years to get our food storage. It started out as a 7-year, then 2 year, then 1 year and more recently they have urged us to get a 3 month supply of food and water. Just because we do not live on tornado ally or have other environmental factors knocking at our door does not mean we are excluded from being prepared. We have just as much to lose if we face storms of loss of income, severe illness, truckers strikes-stores only have 2 days of food on their shelves, at the most, -if something happens you will not be able to feed your children if you are not already prepared!

Please think about it! E-mail me or call me if you need help! sage1211@msn.com 380-9732