Lesson Four: Exactly why is it so important to have variety in your food storage? Yes, storing grains and powdered milk will be all you need to stay alive but that is not good enough. We want to be able to thrive during a crisis and to have the strength to care for all of our family’s needs. Beside that, all those foods need water to prepare. That may not always be possible. As far as nutrients are concerned, consider the following.
Why Fruits and Vegetables? Colorful fruits and vegetables provide the wide range of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and chemicals your body uses to maintain energy levels, protect against the effects of aging, reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease, maintain good vision, build strong bones, keep the heart healthy, maintain a healthy immune system, and improve memory function.
Why Protein? No other nutrient plays as many different roles in keeping you healthy as protein. Protein is important for the growth and repair of your muscles, bones, skin, tendons, ligaments, hair, eyes, metabolism, and digestion.
Protein helps create the antibodies your immune system needs to fight disease. If you are injured or ill, you may need more protein. Often when people are dieting or just in a hurry they will skip protein. If you develop a headache, muscle cramps or shaking you can’t control, you may need to consume protein.
Easy sources of protein include meat, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, and dairy foods. Besides meat, beans, peas and nuts have the most protein, but they are incomplete proteins. To achieve a more complete protein serving, you must combine them with grain, fruits and vegetables.
Why Grains? When we speak of grain we are really talking about carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of fuel and are easily used by the body for energy. Carbohydrates are needed for the central nervous system, kidneys, brain, and muscles to function properly.
The best source of carbohydrates is grains – whole wheat, wheat flour, bulgar, oatmeal, cornmeal, rice (white, brown and wild), buckwheat, popcorn, rye flour, barley, pasta, pretzels, couscous, amaranth, millet, quinoa, sorghum, and triticale. You can also count muffin, corn bread and pancake mixes when calculating your grain requirements for your food storage plan.
For a three-month supply, you should store only the grains you use or are learning to use. If you would like to expand your horizons, purchase a small amount of a new grain, try a few recipes and then purchase more once you know your family will eat it and you can properly prepare it. If you don’t know how to prepare grains such as wheat, ask for cooking lessons for Christmas!
Why Dairy? Diets rich in milk and other dairy products help build and maintain bone mass, reduce the risk of osteoporosis, build teeth, and help maintain a healthy blood pressure.
Evaporated milk contains milk fats which powdered milk does not. Evaporated milk is great to use in ice cream, cream sauces and soups and is also much better for children 3 and under. For every 10 cans of evaporated milk, eliminate 1 pound of powdered milk in your storage plan.
Food Storage Shopping Day
That’s right, today is the day to shop. You have your list of favorite foods and you have checked out the grocery ads. You have set a budget and now it is time to shop. If several items on your ingredient list are on sale this week those are the items you want to purchase. Remember the goal is to have a well rounded supply of food.
Our first step is to have a one week supply of everything you need to eat and care for your hygiene needs. Once you have that we will build to a month’s supply of everything. So go forth and shop. Purchase a variety of things on sale unless only one or two items on your list are on sale this week. You will need to decide whether or not to spend all of your budget or to save part for when more of your necessary items are available at a reduced price.
Save money and plan your trip around school pick up or other errands. When you get home leave the storage items in the bags.
Get out your permanent marker. You need to decide if you want to mark
your cans with purchase dates or expiration dates. I prefer to use the date I
purchase foods.
Every manufacturer has a different method of
dating their products. Some date them as they are produced, some with a pull
date, some with an expiration date and some with a best if used by date. All
mean something different. Therefore, I prefer to use the date I purchase an
item and I use the foods in that order, oldest first. Because I rotate my
storage I never have a problem with foods spoiling.When I bring an item home I note the month and year on the packaging. For example, if you look in my storage areas you will see cans with a 48 on the lid. Translated that means I purchased it in April of 2008. Decide on a method that works for you and mark those packages of food you purchased yesterday. Then place them in the storage area you prepared.
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