A Few Thoughts on Food Storage

I just had to share this passage from Peggy Layton's book, "Food Storage 101."

"There are many reasons for stockpiling a one-year supply of food. the value of food commodities generally increases at the same rate as inflation. Money in the bank doesn't do that. Investing in five hundred cans of tuna fish in your basement is a better bet than putting $350.00 in the bank.


The most important reason to store food is that it comes in handy in a crisis of any kind. Whether it be a large emergency such as an earthquake, flood, volcano eruption, war, strike, economic crash, or as personal as being laid off work, moving, helping other family members that are down and out or when cash is short. It is comforting to know that you can use your home grocery store to help buffer lean money times. If you had to live on what you had in your basement for an extended period of time, you would wish you had a well-rounded supply of food."

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has long counseled its members to store at least a year's worth of food. Recently, with the natural disasters in the news and the economic crisis here in the United States, the wisdom of that counsel is more readily understood. Skeptics of food storage think that it is silly to stockpile food and supplies for the "apocalypse," but I bet that they would change their tune if their stomachs were empty.

Few people in America have not been affected by the recent economic downturn. I have heard several people share their experiences of how living off of their food storage has helped them get through hard financial times. This year, as you see good sales, buy a couple of extra items. I don't recommend buying 500 cans of tuna, but if you stay within your monthly grocery budget and manage to stock a few extra items in your pantry, you will enjoy greater peace of mind.