Variety is the spice of life
When building your food storage supply, DO NOT put all your eggs in one basket. By that I mean don’t simply go out and buy bags of beans and rice and call it good. Although many good emergency food supplies contain a healthy proportion of foods like beans and rice, it is somewhat difficult and requires a good bit of thought to ensure that you include lots of variety. Think of all the food groups. Pay special attention to spices and the things you add to food to make them taste better. Don’t forget the deserts, sweets, and drink mixes, as these are ‘happy’ foods which could ease hard times during disaster.
Healthy foods maintain peak energy and immunity
You shouldn’t count solely on cases of Ramen getting you through a period of disaster, the same as you shouldn’t count on jars of peanut butter getting you through. Sure, they’re loaded with calories but the overall nutritional value isn’t there to stand on its own. The healthy food concept sort of goes hand in hand with having a variety of foods, to balance out your nutritional needs. Consider keeping enough vegetables. Canned, dehydrated, and freeze-dried are all acceptable and easy ways to maintain storage of nutritional foods. Keep a supply of multivitamins too. Keeping your body healthy and your immune system charged is essential during times of disaster and stress.
Foods you like are foods you eat
While considering your variety of emergency food, it’s probably best not to procure foods that you don’t like to eat… because… you won’t eat them or rotate them! Stick with foods that you normally eat, and more importantly, ROTATE your food storage. In other words, don’t just buy your extra food and store it away. Instead, eat it and replace it. Rotate so that you’re eating the oldest first, which will optimize your food storage.
Having enough not worry
How much food do you need to have stashed on your shelves so that you no longer feel you’re vulnerable to the system? What is your comfort zone? This will vary widely depending on your interpretation of the risks in today’s world, but even so, it is easy to build up long term food storage and it is great life insurance to have. Personally I believe that a 3-month supply is totally doable while at the same time it is within reach of most everyone to easily procure a 1-year supply. It’s not terribly expensive when compared to other ‘luxuries’ that we spend on ourselves, luxuries that would be useless during disaster. Don’t stop at a few weeks or a month’s worth. Keep going until you feel good about it.
