From cayoung01@earthlink.net Fri Aug 03 06:03:06 2001 To: Subject: [PracticalSurvival] The Seven Major Mistakes in Food Storage From: "Chris Young" Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2001 08:03:06 -0400 Cc: -------- > >The Seven Major Mistakes in Food Storage >---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >By Vickie Tate >---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >A month or two ago I met a cute little gal who was talking to me >about her newly begun food storage. "You know," she began, "I've >dreaded doing my food storage for years, its seems so blah, but the >way national events are going my husband and I decided we couldn't >put it off anymore. And, do you know, it really hasn't been hard. We >just bought 20 bags of wheat, my husband found a place to get 60 >pound cans of honey, and now all we have to do is get a couple of >cases of powdered milk. Could you tell me where to get the milk?" >After I suggested several distributors, I asked, "Do you know how to >cook with your wheat?" "Oh," she laughed, "if we ever need it I'll >learn how. My kids only like white bread and I don't have a wheat >grinder." She had just made every major mistake in storing food >(other than not storing anything at all.) But she's not alone. >Through 14 years of helping people prepare, I found most people's >storage starts out looking just like hers. So what's wrong with this >storage plan? There are seven serious problems that may occur trying >to live on these basics: >1.) VARIETY - Most people don't have enough variety in their storage. >95% of the people I've worked with only stored the 4 basic items we >mentioned earlier: wheat, milk, honey, and salt. Statistics show most >of us won't survive on such a diet for several reasons. a.) Many >people are allergic to wheat and may not be aware of it until they >are eating it meal after meal. b.) Wheat is too harsh for young >children. They can tolerate it in small amounts but not as their main >staple. c.) We get tired of eating the same foods over and over and >many times prefer not to eat than to sample that particular food >again. This is called appetite fatigue. Young children and older >people are particularly susceptible to it. Store less wheat than is >generally suggest and put the difference into a variety of other >grains, particularly ones your family likes to eat. Also store a >variety of beans. This will add variety of color, texture and flavor. >Variety is the key to a successful storage program. It is essential >that you store flavorings such as tomato, bouilion, cheese, and onion. > >Also, include a good supply of the spices you like to cook with. >These flavorings and spices allow you to do many creative things with >your grains and beans. Without them you are severely limited. One of >the best suggestions I can give you is buy a good food storage >cookbook. Go through it and see what your family would really eat. >Notice the ingredients as you do it. This will help you more than >anything else to know what items to store. > >2.) EXTENDED STAPLES - Few people get beyond storing the four basic >items, but it is extemely important that you do so. Never put all >your eggs in one basket. Store dehydrated and/or freeze-dried foods >as well as home canned and store bought canned goods. Make sure you >add cooking oil, shortening, baking powder, soda, yeast and powdered >eggs. You can't cook even the most basic receipes without these >items. Because of limited space I won't list all the items that >should be included in a well-balanced storage program. They are all >included in the The New Cookin With Home Storage cookbook, as well as >information on how much to store, and where to purchase it. > >3.) VITAMINS - Vitamins are important, especially if you have >children, since children do not store body reserves of nutrients as >adults do. A good quality multi-vitamin and vitamin C are the most >vital. Others may be added as your budget permits. > >4.) QUICK AND EASY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FOODS - Quick and easy foods >help you through times when you are psychologically or physically >unable to prepare your basic storage items. No cook foods such as >freeze-dried are wonderful since they require little preparation. >MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat), such as many prepardness outlets carry, >canned goods, etc. are also very good. Psycological Foods are the >goodies - Jello, pudding, candy, etc. - you should add to your >storage. > >These may sound frivolous, but through the years I've talked with >many people who have lived entirely on their storage for extended >periods of time. Nearly all of them say these were the most helpful >items in their storage to normalize their situations and make it more >bearable. These are especially important if you have children. > >5.) BALANCE - Time and time again I've seen families buy all of their >wheat, then buy all of another item, and so on. Don't do that. It's >important to keep well-balanced as you build your storage. Buy >several items, rather than a large quantity of one item. If something >happens and you have to live on your present storage, you''ll fare >much better having a one-month supply of a variety of items than a >year's supply of two to three items. > >6.) CONTAINERS - Always store your bulk foods in food storage >containers. I have seen literally tons and tons of food thrown away >because they were left in sacks, where they became highly susceptible >to moisture, insects and rodents. If you are using plastic buckets >make sure they are lined with a food grade plastic liner available >from companies that carry packaging supplies. Never use trash can >liners as these are treated with pesticides. Don't stack them too >high. In an earthquake they may topple, the lids pop open, or they >may crack. A better container is the #10 tin can which most >prepardness companies use when they package their foods. > >7.) USE YOUR STORAGE - In all the years I've worked with prepardness >one of the biggest problems I've seen is people storing food and not >knowing what to do with it. It's vital that you and your family >become familiar with the things you are storing. You need to know how >to prepare these foods. This is not something you want to learn under >stress. Your family needs to be used to eating these foods. A >stressful period is not a good time to totally change your diet. Get >a food storage cookbook and learn to use these foods! > >It's easy to solve these food storage problems once you know what >they are. The lady I talked about at the first of the article left >realizing what she had stored was a good beginning, but not enough. >As she said, "It's better to find out the mistakes I've made now >while there's still time to make corrections." This makes a lot more >sense. > >If you're one who needs to make some adjustments, that's okay. Look >at these suggestions and add the things you're missing. It's easy to >take a basic storage and add the essentials to make it liveable, but >it needs to be done. As I did the research for my cookbook I wanted >to include receipes that gave help to families no matter what they >had stored. As I put the material together it was fascinating to >discover what the pioneers ate is the type of things we store. But if >you have stored only the 4 basics, there's very, very little you can >do with it. By adding even just a few things it greatly increases >your options, and the prospect ofyour family surviving on it. As I >studied how the pioneers lived and ate, my whole feeling for food >changed. I realized our storage is what most of the world has always >lived on. If it's put together the right way we'll be returning to >good basic living with a few goodies thrown in. > > > > -------- Attachment 9.0 KBytes --------