Food storage needs to be started now for you to survive in the future. Start canning, buying and generally storing for the future. Let’s look at some food storage tips to keep all of your food safe for you to eat in the future.
Not all foods can be stored long-term. But, there are many that can. If you store certain foods properly, they will last you for years. Becoming self-sufficient is your long-term goal here.
We are going to a few foods that will be easy to buy and great for storing in the future:
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- Beans – You can purchase beans in bulk quantity or purchase them in smaller bags at your supermarket. Beans provide a basic need: protein.
- Grains – Be sure to stock up on brown/white rice, flour-white/wheat, oats, cornmeal, rye, barley and wheat.
- Canned Meats
- Sugar
- Honey (if you don’t have your own bees)
- Tea
- Dried Corn
- Coffee
- Nuts,
- Peanut Butter
- Seeds
- Salt and Canned Goods
- Powdered Milk
- Fruit (Freeze Dried or Dried—anything you can reconstitute by adding water).
Foods that won’t last as long as the above but are definitely good to have on hand for short-term survival:
- Pasta
- Oils – Olive Oil and Fats like Lard
- Formula (if you have a baby)
- Canned goods
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You need to do some research on how to store the food once you have it. Some foods are sensitive to oxygen and others are sensitive to light. How much moisture is your food going to be exposed to? How much light? Make sure temperature changes are not extreme on your food—especially heat.
Learn where there is a cool place in your home to store the food. You want to look for a place that this less than 60 degrees all the time. Do you have a cool closet or storage area under the stairs? Do you have a cool closet somewhere in your home?
When storing foods like rice and flour you can buy buckets at your local home improvement store. Purchase Mylar bags and a sealer to store these items. Another way to help keep the food fresh is to purchase silicone gel packs or salt into the containers.
After sealing the Mylar bag, make sure that you put the date on it somewhere so you will know how fresh the food is when you go back to use it. The Mylar bag and container used together helps to preserve the food and helps to keep anything from destroying it.
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Be sure to rotate out the food that is good only for short-term use. When items are going to expire soon, be sure to eat the items so as not to waste any food. Rotating your food will ensure you have a healthy supply of food when it is really needed.
We have only covered a few food storage tips here. Take the time now to do some research to find out more great ways to store food!
