FOOD STORAGE

Every year sometime during January we take an inventory of our food storage. Luckily we have a room in our basement where we can put our long term food storage. I can predict almost verbatim what Brent may say: “There is no way we have enough food!” or “This wouldn’t last us a month!” or possibly “We need to make a trip to Costco right now!” Granted, he is a man, and we all know men tend to think through their stomachs. I’ll admit that when casting a casual glance over the room, it doesn’t seem like we have much there. However, we have been pretty faithful about following the counsel of our church leaders to accumulate one year’s supply of the basic food items and it is full of tubs, buckets and 10 lb. cans. We have the typical wheat, dry milk, rice, beans, sugars, oils, water, etc., etc. The Provident Living website by the Church is great for figuring out the recommended amounts.

After our inventory we realized we needed to replenish a few things such as sugar, flour, pasta and oatmeal. Also, it never hurts to stock up on other “necessities” like brownie mix, chocolate chips, spaghetti sauce and salad dressing. Now that we don’t have a house full of kids, the amount of food we actually need for just 2 is considerably less. In fact my challenge now is learning how to cook for only 2. I still buy and cook way too much—luckily we have no problem eating leftovers. Additionally, Brent reminds me that we are asked to be charitable and think of our neighbors and friends in times of possible crisis. We also realize that if it were necessary, we would somehow figure out a way to keep our children and grandchildren fed. This is actually his rationale for his snowmobiles and our boat—he claims that they are really just “fuel storage containers” and if we needed a bunch of fuel (he keeps them full) to drive emergency supplies to our kids we’re set! That logic wins the award for creative justification, don’t you think?

My philosophy on food storage is really twofold: (1) Food storage is kind of like insurance—you hope you don’t have to use it, but when it’s needed, it’s so well worth it, and (2) Food storage food is not regular food. Most of the items good for long term storage are not something that we choose to eat daily, and if/when it comes to having to live off of food storage, I'm pretty sure all of us will be considerably less picky. Yes, we keep frequently used canned goods and staples around as well, and I always buy our favorite things in multiples if they are on sale, but quite honestly, I hope to NEVER have to use that powdered milk we have. I’m also reminded of the time Brent went to the church cannery and came home with a dozen 10 lb. cans of chopped onions! Who on earth needs that many dried minced onions? We could feed the whole town on onion soup for a long time. If our food storage consisted of the things we eat almost daily, we would have a room full of cheese, crackers, bananas, Cheerios, Quaker Oat Squares, some type of a crispy cookie and diet soda!

The directive to be prepared, both spiritually and temporarily, is constant counsel from the Prophet. The simple fact that the Church has a whole website geared toward provident living and preparedness ought to tell us that this counsel isn’t casual. I’m glad that Brent is my “kick in the pants” to keep current with our temporal preparation. He does a great job as the Patriarch and Priesthood leader in our family and I appreciate that in him. So, when that time comes where we all will be “shopping” in our food storage, if you find yourself hungry and can figure out a way to Spokane, you’re welcome to drop by for a glass of dry milk and some onion soup!