Letter Re: Food Storage Calculations

James,
I came across a website advertising a food storage calculator for $18. Here’s a free one from the LDS Church.
http://www.providentliving.org/emergencyprep/calculator/0,11242,2008-1,00.html
It invites you to identify the gender/ages of family members to produce the custom report. By reading carefully, you will note you can manually change the suggested quantities to reflect your family’s preferences. It’s pretty complete and lets you calculate quantities by quarters (3 months, 6 months, all the way out to 3 years). One thing for sure: it will make you realize that money and proper storage area are important issues to deal with. Maybe most folks would be starting with a 3-month’s supply and then adding as money and storage shelves etc. become available. OBTW, I think the water amount in a “family report” from the LDS Food Storage Calculator is only for preparing these foods. The amount of water at a gallon/day/person would quickly become impossible to store. So, a running water source is crucial, as you have regularly counseled. Better get started now. Remember the mantra: beans, then bullets. – B.B.