What Types Of Food Should You Store?

I have been all over this country speaking at preparedness events. I am often asked about the basics of storing food.  One of the most important questions I am asked is…”What kind of food should I store?”  I hear this question a lot and I usually answer it with a return question of my own – “What kind of food do you like to eat?”

Once you have made the decision to build food storage you must know it will do you little good if it is something you and/or your family doesn’t like to eat. Food storage should be much more than a stack of boxes in a corner collecting dust.  I recommend everybody use their food storage and integrate it into their lives at least periodically.  Experience tells us this is such a more productive approach to take.  So, the first rule of food storage is “store what you eat and eat what you store.”  If you and/or your family doesn’t like it then why would you store it?

Now, that I got that off my chest, let’s look at some options for your family. I will discuss three categories to consider.  Staples, basics and long term storable meals.

A good first step is to look at the things you use regularly. Sugar, oil, flour, salt, etc. These are staples which have proven to be highly valuable as scarcity increases.  They also are highly usable in everyday life.  If you do any cooking/baking then you can always use these things so you should definitely consider them.  Whether planning for an emergency or not these are valuable to have in your pantry.  Borrowing a cup of sugar from your neighbor just proves how much we use these things and may take them for granted.

Expanding from staples we get into basics like rice and beans. These have also been core ingredients in many diets and people can live off them if necessary.  In America we don’t typically make a steady diet of rice and beans but you might be surprised to realize how much you use them in one way or another.  Also, rice makes a FANTASTIC addition to so many recipes and meals.  If you have a pot of chili then adding rice is a simple and cheap way to make it last longer and add nutrition.  The same can be said of beans.  And, they are very economical.

There is a whole industry of long term storable foods to choose from. As you probably know, my family operates one of them – NuManna Foods.  The meals we make, and the other companies like ours, are simple to prepare, easy to store and transportable.  If you can boil water you can have a complete meal in 15 or so minutes.  Being able to make a complete meal, probably similar to your current diet, has high value.  Late for baseball practice…these meals are perfect for your family.  Teenager home alone and hungry – you can have confidence they can feed themselves.  Tornado forces you to leave your home – you can easily bring buckets of these meals to wherever you go.  This type of food may cost more than basics but have irreplaceable qualities which justify the increased cost.

Until now we have discussed three levels of food storage. All have their pluses and minuses, but all of them have a place to consider in your pantry.  After you have thought about foods/ingredients you would like to eat or use on a regular basis you must now consider shelf life.  How will these things be stored?  How will I be able to rotate them?  With some planning staples and basics can have an extended shelf life.  Long term storable meals are designed and packaged for extreme shelf life.

You should also consider using your store under varied circumstances. In my article WHY STORE FOOD we discuss some of these scenarios. Going through these mental exercises will help make some of these decisions for you.  From a wealth of experience I suggest variety, using stores at least semi-regularly and involving the whole family in your decisions.  A closet full of macaroni does little good if nobody in the house will eat it.  And on the flip side, a well thought out, balanced food storage pantry makes life easier and surprisingly more secure.  Not to mention saving money.  It is your food storage so make it fun and make it your own.

Here is a snapshot of my own family’s modern “root cellar”:

Our food storage is really in two stages.

Stage 1:

                We have at least 3 month supply of things like salt, sugar and pepper.  We like Himalayan salt so that is what we store.  We also use quite a bit of spices in our cooking.  Cayenne Pepper is a family favorite so we store it.  As we use the oldest supply in our kitchen cupboards we then replace them at the store.  It did not take very long to build up on these staples and really not that expensive if you just buy double for a while.  In addition to spices, etc. we have a double supply of bagged rice, some beans and other canned goods we like.  My wife finds life a heck of a lot easier if we don’t have to run to the store every other day because we are out of things we use all the time.  In this Stage you will have to consider expiration dates and be sure to rotate accordingly.

Stage 2:

                This stage is made up of food packaged to have a very long shelf life we don’t have to worry about it and we use it much less often than Stage 1 of our pantry. We have more rice, lima beans, etc.  They are sealed in number 10 cans with an oxygen absorber which allows them to store for a really long time.  Of course we also have a large supply of long term GMO Free, easy to fix meals.  The flexibility, simplicity and overall quality make this the back bone of our family storage.  The long term meals mix well with most of the ingredients we store.  This way everything works together and we are able to feed ourselves quality food that actually tastes good and we can do it without going to the store for a significant amount of time.

Whether we are snowed in for a weekend…need a quick meal on the go…want to have easy meals for camping…or, God forbid, ever face a more serious disaster, our family has a very nice supply for all our needs.   The key word being OUR needs.  You undoubtedly have your own wants and needs you will look to meet and that is what will make it special for you.

In this article I have given a simple breakdown of the way our family stores with some useful hints. Hopefully it is helpful for you.  Use it, change it, make improvements to it but just do it!  From experience I know you will be rewarded financially, mentally and physically when you do.

Daniel Brigman grew up in the south.  His grandparents instilled lessons from earlier generations and helped create his love for gardening and self-sufficiency.  After college he found the girl who changed everything.  They are married with 2 small children.  Daniel has been involved in the business world for most of his adult life and started NuManna over four years ago.  Since then he has dedicated his time to chasing his children around and making the best storable food possible.  He is an expert in food storage and overall preparedness.