Overcoming your food storage fears

President Ezra Taft Benson said, "The revelation to store food may be as essential to our temporal salvation today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah...For the righteous, the gospel provides a warning before a calamity, a program for the crises, a refuge for each disaster.  The Lord has...warned us of famines, but the righteous will have listened to prophets and stored at least a year's supply of survival food."

The Lord declared in D&C 82:10 that if we obey Him, He is bound to bless us. 
And in 1 Nephi 3:7, that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them. 

Elder Vaughn J Featherstone adds, "The Lord will make it possible, if we make a firm commitment, for every Latter-Day Saint family to have a year supply of food reserves...All we have to do is to decide, commit to do it, and then keep a commitment.  Miracles will take place; the way will be opened."

So what are your delays? What are your excuses? 

You don't have space?
store it under your bed!  In the corners of your closets (we all have a little free floor space!) 

You don't know where to start?

1. ONE CAN AT A TIME! seriously! just get one can of something you can use! Eggs, Powdered Milk, whole wheat, dehydrated veggìes...and start using it in your everyday cooking! Or buy a can of rice and a can of beans and store them somewhere.  Seriously!  Start with one can.  you will be amazed how quickly your supply grows. 
2. The church pamphlet "All is safely gathered in" says start with a simple 3 month supply
1. idea: come up with a few simple meals that your family could live off - a week or two.  maintain a 3 month supply of ingredients and continually rotate them! 
2. (hint: incorporating your "longer term" items into your 3 month supply makes it easier to rotate) 
3. then water.  2 weeks worth.  1 gallon per day per person FOR DRINKING! (you need more for cleaning or cooking.) 
1. store cases of water bottles with your food supply.  stick one under your bathroom sinks.  stick one in the back of your food cupboard in your kitchen.  Keep a few in the garage and rotate them out regularly. 
4. then a sufficient reserve of $ 
5. then focus on the longer term food

If you are anything like me, keeping track of your food storage while "rotating" things into your everyday use gets complicated! I use a spreadsheet I found at http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2009/03/09/long-term-food-storage-calculator/

You can download it, put in the number of people in your family and the number of months of long term storage items you are aiming for and it calculates how much you need.  I update it every 6 months (around conference time) when i'm doing my 72 hr kit and emergency binder updates.  It works for me. :)

PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO WITH FOOD STORAGE IS START!
find a system that works for you and just start building your storage.  if you have already started and aren't good at keeping track, try the spreadsheet.  if keeping track seems like too much and you have nothing in your supply, pick a few items and a place to store them and do it.  If you have no water stored, go get some.  Just take one step and you will see the Lord's promises made sure in your life. :)


Below are some of the questions asked in relief society and their answers. 

1. What is the shelf life of different foods? opened/unopened etc...
I found a link on the food storage made easy website.  a super simple chart that you could print up and keep with your food storage.  The link is:
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2009/04/26/food-storage-shelf-life-2/

2. What are the food storage "necessities" vs "extras"
I found the following information online.  (http://www.countrysurvival.com/basic-food-storage/) This info was the best sum up of why the basics are the "necessities," so i'm leaving it in the author's own words:
The basic food storage is the absolute necessities. It is composed of life-sustaining foods that store well for long periods. A year’s supply of garden seeds for planting should be stored so that the diet may be supplemented with fresh vegetables. Basic food storage for one year per person (2400 calories per day) should include the following: 

400 pounds of grains (wheat, barely, rice, oats)
60 pounds of dry beans and legumes
20 pounds of fats and oils
60 pounds of honey and sugars
75 pounds of dry milk
5 pounds of salt 

Although people prepare with a much more diverse supply, the basics will provide a foundation of food for the following reasons:
a. LONG SHELF LIFE - except for powdered milk, unrefined basic storage foods will store indefinitely when kept dry, dark, airtight, and at 70 degrees or below. Higher temperatures shorten shelf life, but foods will still last longer than canned goods stored the same way.
b. THEY ARE THE LEAST EXPENSIVE FOODS – a year’s supply of basic foods for an adult can cost as little as $200 to $250. A year’s supply of any other kind or combination of foods costs $700 to $4000 for each adult.
c. THEY PROVIDE THE MOST NUTRITION FOR THE VOLUME – basic foods are dry foods except for the fats and oils. Water is necessary for many of them to be cooked and/or eaten. Therefore, the space necessary for storage is much less than canned goods which have liquid in addition to the food.
d. THEY PROVIDE ALL BUT VITAMINS A & C – even these vitamins can be provided by unusual grains such as amaranth. Sprouting can also provide small amounts. It is best, though, to store vitamins and/or garden seeds for fresh vegetables until a supply of canned fruits and vegetables can be maintained.
e. THEY ARE THE BASIS OF A HEALTHY DISEASE PREVENTION DIET – nutrition and health research indicates that the healthiest diets are low fat, high fiber, high complex carbohydrate diets. Whole grains, legumes, and low-fat milk are all a part of this diet.

Most freeze dried/dehydrated foods are supplemental...either for ease of cooking or taste, but also to add variety to your cooking options and to allow for different nutrtients.

3.  How do i store it?
The ideal storage environment for food storage is: 

75 degrees or lower
low light
sealed from oxygen - there are many options for repackaging once the original seal is broken (here are a few examples...)
use a vacuum packing tool and special packaging
use a mylar bag and an oxygen absorber
use a mason jar and an oxygen absorber, then store in a dark cupboard or a paper bag 

**random info:  coconut oil has a much longer shelf life than most other oils and is better for you in many ways, so that may be an option for storing "oils and fats." check the packaging of the coconut oil for official numbers. :)


4.  How much water is needed for dehydrated/freeze dried food?
I found that there is an avg 1/1 ratio. 1 cup water to one cup food. so you will need to check the quantities on your food to be specific, but the amount would be significant in order to eat it. 
we are counseled to keep AT LEAST a 2 week supply of water.  that's 1 gallon per person per day for drinking (not cleaning or cooking...so you would have to adjust if you were incorporating only freeze dried/dehydrated into your food supply)

*Thanks to Kim Kunz for putting this together