Food Storage

Food storage. Is it important? Yes. Does it take time, effort, and planning? Yes. Is it do-able? Yes.

Over and over again, we are encouraged, and commanded, to have food storage. I don't know about anyone else, but the concept of having a one year supply of food is financially, emotionally, and spacially overwhelming. Especially when we lived in a small apartment with limited storage and financial resources and a small child who got into everything.

Then as we moved to larger living spaces we still had the financial restraints. How were we suppose to build up our food storage if we didn't have the money to do so? I'll tell you how, by having faith and acting on that faith.

In one of the main lectures and presentations we have heard about food storage, I finally heard soemthing useful that applied to use in our situation. What was that advice? Buy a little more each time you go to the store.

Wow! What a concept! I didn't have to go buy a year's supply of food tomorrow. I could do it a little bit at a time. I could start with small goals like enough food to last for one month since I usually bought enough food to last two weeks. This made an amazing difference for us.

Instead of buying one bottle of jam, I would buy two. Instead of two or three boxes of cereal, I would buy four or five. I would watch for case lot sales, save for them, and buy cases of things we use on a regular basis. Instead of buying cans of things we don't eat or know how to use just to store because we needed to have 'food storage' I buy things that store well for long periods of time that we actually eat. I look for ways to use food storage items like powdered milk, learned how to can fruits, and planted a garden. We also bought a freezer so we could keep more meats and frozen vegetables on hand. I have also practiced rotating food and using food before the expiration dates so that the money spent on the food does not go wasted.

What did I do about limited space to store food? I got creative. I bought inexpensive wire shelves that can be rearranged into different configurations instead of expensive metal shelves, and put them in a storage closet or a corner of my kitchen. I used my 18 gallon Rubbermaid totes to store flour, sugar, and other such items, in because they were air tight and stack nicely and look neat when stacked in a corner. I used rooms that company does not go into to stack and store food. If you are the only one who sees it, who cares what it looks like? I also used less visible corners in other rooms to store the canned goods. Like under a built in desk that was behind a shelf or entertainment center.

Do we have our 1 year food storage? No, not yet. Are we closer? Yes. Have we learned a lot about food storage, planning ahead, and budgeting? Yes.

I started building up our food storage about 4 years ago. It has been a slow process due to some financial set backs and changes, but it is still a process. We are moving forward and we continue to have faith that we can do it a little bit at a time. It is amazing to me to look at where we are now and reflect on where we were even a few months ago. We have truly been able to accomplish the goal of building up our food storage. The Lord will truly bless those who move forward in faith even if they do not know if what they set out to is possible. With the Lord's help, anything is possible.

To sum this post up, buy a little extra of what you get at the store each time you go and you will be surprised at how fast your food storage can build up and grow. It is possible!