Jim:
Excellent information on storing dry goods for long-term. I have just a bit of advice to all out there: use foods from you stores in your every-day life. I’m not advocating depleting your stores; rather consuming and replacing them as part of your daily life, thus rotating your stock as well. (This is recommended, however, ONLY after you have acquired your long-term goal (i.e.one year supply, two, etc.). You will benefit in at least four distinct ways from this:1.) your stores will always have a maximum useful shelf-life, as they will constantly be rotated; 2.) you will probably experience better health as you will be eating better quality, more healthful food (look at labels: there’s no food in most food!); 3.) you will almost certainly save money on your weekly food budget (fresh-baked baguettes from home ground flour costs me about $.35 /loaf, and it’s as good or better than anything available at ten times the cost!); 4.) lastly, but certainly not least, preparing and eating food from you stores will become part of your lifestyle. It will not require a transition to eating “that stuff” and you will have dealt with the learning curve now, while you can afford to, instead of wasting you (future) limited food supplies. Also, not to be overlooked, this food will be your “comfort-food”, that which will be familiar and welcome to you and your family, something not to be taken lightly in a high-stress situation. When I was eighteen, the fall after high school, I worked nights at a lumber mill and ran a trap-line during the day. Well, I got laid-off, so I asked a family friend if I could stay in an old cabin on their ranch, which was about two miles from the nearest road, and right off the Clearwater River [in Northwestern Montana]
Two Letters Re: Do It Yourself Bulk Food Storage
