Long Term Food Storage

Food preservation has become a lost art.  It used to be a way of life, but with the advance of modern technology, transportation, and supermarkets – most Americans don’t give any thought to food storage. Many run to the grocery store between meals.  But what happens when technology fails.  Natural disasters strike and the supermarket shelves are bare within hours. The result is that families find themselves in a crisis.

It’s ironic that in this technological age we could find ourselves so vulnerable in the most basic needs of life. One hundred years ago interruptions in the grocery business would have been of much less consequence than now. Food storage was normal practice, and a year’s supply was common.

Now, there is growing interest in food storage. This is partly due to a growing awareness of our vulnerabilities to disasters – both natural and man made. There is also an increasing desire among many to return to a more simple, self sufficient way of life.  More and more people are turning to gardening and learning to grow their own food. Long Term Food storage makes it possible to provide for our needs outside of the growing season.

There various ways to store food, depending upon the type of food under consideration.  Highly perishable foods like fruit can be canned or dehydrated.  Vegetables can be dehydrated or canned as well. Grains can be stored for long periods of time if they are kept cool and dry, and in air tight containers. While freezing is also an option, we will not focus much on that approach as it is electricity dependent. Methods of preservation and storage which are independent of modern technology are the best.

One of the techniques used in the past, but long since forgotten is the use of a root cellar.  While many might not consider this an option, it’s worth taking a second look at.  In the book Root Cellaring by Mike and Nancy Bubel, you can learn how to store fruits and vegetables safely and naturally in a cool dark space (even a closet)  by following their step by step plan.

In future posts, we’ll look at various methods of long term food storage and more of the reasons to perfect this valuable skill.

More reading on this topic:

• INSTANT SURVIVAL TIP: Store What You Eat – Hard-core survivalists could probably get by long-term on a diet of rice and beans, but I know my family would revolt after a day! In an emergency situation, your family will be stressed out enough without, suddenly, being subjected to …

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