Over the last five or ten years that I’ve been prepping I’ve noticed a few different trends in how people have looked at food storage. Food storage for emergency situations is always a popular topic in the prepping community and I’ve seen a lot of attitudes change over the years. Early on I remember a lot of people approaching the topic with much less thought and planning than they seem to today. A few years back things seemed to quiet down and to my mind become more reasonable. Lately I’m seeing a refreshing combination of thoughtfulness, science, and practicality in discussions around food storage. Let’s take a look at what I consider to be the three big trends in food storage.
Part 1, The Early Years. It’s tough to say when exactly I first got into prepping. I’ve always been a cautious type of person and like to feel grounded and secure with long term plans. But I guess it was about ten years ago that I really got serious about my preps. So, I hit the internet and started reading up. What did I find? A lot of people suggesting large stockpiles of “foods you don’t really like”. Why? The feeling at the time seemed to be that if you stocked up on foods you commonly ate the temptation to dig into your emergency stash every time you were out of tuna or whatever would deplete your stockpile. Lots of people were talking about storing Spam, sardines, MREs and other food that while high in calories and protein were not that appealing to most folks. Even though it was the prevailing trend at the time I never adopted this method.
Part 2, The High Tech Approach. Suddenly several companies popped up offering freeze dried meals that lasted forever and were pretty tasty. This made a little more sense to me but at the time was a pretty expensive approach if you wanted to have at least a few months supply of food for a family of four or five. I have a couple of friends that are flush with cash and they decided the easiest route for them was to write a big check and have a pallet of freeze dried meals delivered and stored in their basements. Actually not a bad way to go if you’re in that position and have the money, alas I am not and do not.
Part 3, A Prudent Approach To Food Storage. Over the last couple of years people seem to be moving more towards what we here at Prep-Blog would see as the Prudent and Reasonable approach to Emergency Preparedness. Just within the last few months I’ve seen many articles and blog posts that lean more towards storing foods that you like, that your family eats on a regular basis. I’ve seen this combined with a more scientific approach to calculating not only calories needed but also a balance of protein, carbs, vitamins, and minerals. Thoreau has done extensive research in this area and I think has some of the best tools out there to help people plan and track their food storage needs and progress.
It is this prudent approach that I myself have adopted. While I still have a fair amount of freeze dried meals I like to stock up on dry goods that will last a long time along with canned goods that my family likes. I throw in protein bars that we like and snacks of different types along with vitamin and mineral supplements as well. Admittedly this approach takes more thought and effort than simply ordering up a ton of freeze dried meals but for me it is the right solution.
In employing this method there is really no need for a large output of cash at any one time. You simply start buying a little extra of the things you normally buy (that store well) whenever you’re shopping and have a few extra dollars to spend. A more structured approach would be to buy X amount of days worth of meals on a regular schedule so you know when you’ve reached your goal. Depending on where you live and what common emergencies you face that goal could be anywhere from two weeks of food all the way up to a year supply. Personally I think it’s crazy to have anything less than two weeks of food stored, even though they say the average American household has only a few days of food on hand at any given time. For me somewhere between three and six months is the right amount given where I live and the other preps and plans I have built up over the years.
What’s in your pantry?
~Butch
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