I’ve heard a lot of talk about food storage these days and was thinking to myself that it might not be a bad idea to create a little surplus for the family. I’ve read stories of families that have stored and when an unexpected job loss or emergency occured they were able to sustain their family with their storage for several months. Remember this post I shared last year about a family that did a years worth of food storage. They have the most amazing pantry storage area! I’m not saying that everybody needs to store up for 6 months to a year, you do what you feel is right for you. I do think it is a good idea to try and a get at least a couple of months supply on hand..
While investigating in this whole food storage idea, which is not really a new idea, especially for our grandparents. I came across a really informative blog by two ladies named Jodi and Julie :). You can find them by clicking this link www.foodstoragemadeeasy.net They have a really informative blog and a great video series that walks you through the long term food storage world. The series is called Baby Steps, and believe me that is exactly what I needed since I was so new to personally doing a long term storage plan… 
The first Baby Steps emailed guide is more about preparing an Emergency Plan. They recommend people get a basic Emergency Plan in place before they really dive into the food storage concepts. If you have a 72 hour kit of food, water, and supplies you will be better off in an emergency than 95% of the country. This list may feel like a lot, so feel free to spread out the tasks over more than two weeks if you need to. The rest of the checklists will be much less intense.
The following is just a sampling of what they sent me in my first baby steps email.
Print out the Emergency Preparedness Plan(available in either pdf version or excel version)
You may wish to add these to the front of your Emergency Binder (see below)
FAMILY PLAN: Review this section with your family and fill out “contact info” sheet
DISASTER KIT: Inventory and gather what you already have for supplies
DISASTER KIT: Compile/copy the documents for your Emergency Binder
View our Emergency Binder post for detailed instructions
EVACUATION LIST: Fill out your Grab List in order of priority
DISASTER KIT: Purchase/make your 72 Hour Food Kits including water
Check out Jodi’s post and video instructions for some great ideas
Take a peek at Jodi’s 72 hour kit outtake video for a good laugh
Or look at our list of more 72 hour kit food ideas and compile your own kit
DISASTER KIT: Purchase any remaining supplies that you did not have on hand
Put all Disaster Kit items purchased or gathered into backpacks or totes near an exit
sign up with them to receive the rest of their baby steps in food storage info, above is just a snipet of info.
I’m thinking about focusing on storage and recipes on Saturday’s and Sunday’s. We can help each other with great tips and ideas.If you sign up for the baby steps program let me know and we can focus on different steps each week. If no one else is interested in the baby steps or talking about this topic I’ll just stick to the plan myself….. which is what I am doing right now anyway 🙂 Some of you might have your own plan already, which is great too 🙂
This has been on our minds a lot lately. We have even cleaned out an area in our shop to start this process. I would be very interested in hearing more about this!
Our pantry actually ended up sustaining us for over a year, and even though our income has continued to decrease each year (we are now making 70% less than we made in 2006; last year, though my husband worked 10-14 hours 6 days a week, he made less all year than he did in 2007 when we went 8 months without income), our pantry has been a great blessing to us.
Right now we are not making enough to buy food, but we are eating still 🙂 I fed my family for .70 a person last year AND built back up a great deal of my pantry at the same time (thankfully, or we would have nothing to eat now).
Housing prices (and hence commissions) have continued to drop (about 65% here, actually), so it only makes sense that our income is lower.
Having a pantry that can sustain your family is an old-fashioned thing that can be a real blessing! Good luck in your endeavor, and thanks for linking to my site!
I’ve been doing the babysteps from that website also the past few weeks (on step 3 now). Putting the emergency binder together was very satisfying, as a lot of that information had been scattered in files and safety deposit boxes, etc. — now I have copies all in one easy to find place. The hardest part has been wrapping my brain around things like canned soup and powdered drink mixes and such, because we just don’t eat that way. But I try to keep in mind it’s for emergencies, and I guess rather than eat it in rotation, I could donate to the food bank. I’m looking forward to reading about your progress and experience.
Thank you all for your comments!! Thank you Prudent Homemaker for your added information! What a blessing your pantry has been for you and your family! Wow, we can sure learn a lot from you!!
Diana, maybe we can talk about the steps together. I am suppose to be on step 5 but I am behind. Haven I’m going to try and share about storage on the weekends. This week-end I think I’ll focus on step 1. I hope we can all be an encouragement to each other with this storage process 🙂