Hopefully in the time since General Conference you have been considering what you need to do to be better prepared temporally as well as spiritually.

“…I gave unto him commandment, but no temporal commandment gave I unto him, for my commandments are spiritual….”D&C 29:35

When beginning or continuing your food storage journey, there are a few pitfalls I would like help you avoid.

Anyone who tells you to guess or estimate what you need to store or how much to store. RUN. You can know exactly what you need to store. You are the expert for your family. You know how big portion sizes are for your gang and you can plan your food storage based your own knowledge. Be aware portion sizes on cans are not the amount needed for the day but just a portion for a meal. I’m sure we have all read “serves four” on a label only to open the package and realize it really only serves two. Remember during a time of crisis you will need more calories and you will want everyone to eat enough to feel satisfied. You can know how much to store based on your own family needs, allergies, food preferences, etc. Too many people waste money storing foods that will spoil before they can be rotated because they are items your family does not use often.What about ketchup and TP? You do not have to guess. Guessing leads to buying too much and not having cash for other items or buying too little and running out. To get a better idea of what you need, become a detective. When you open anything, mayo to laundry detergent, write the date opened on the container. When the container is empty you know how long that item lasted. Some things like ketchup may be used more often during grilling season so plan for that. To determine TP needs, for two or three weeks save the cardboard roll in a drawer as it is emptied. You can do the same with soap wrappers. At the end count and you will understand what is needed for three months. Remember during the summer months when the kids are home every day, you will need more.Determine how many of each item you need from your non-food list and add some extra, just in case the disaster lasts longer or there is someone who needs help from you. I was so grateful I was able to share N95 masks with the hospital and our son-in-law’s dental office during COVID, and yeast with friends.

Dehydrated and freeze-dried foods. These have a place in a great food storage plan but if anyone tries to sell you a year’s worth of food and it is all dehydrated or freeze dried, again, RUN. Foods such as onions, peppers, butter and other ingredients make for a great food storage. However, why do I feel this way? If you are not using these foods every day in your meal prep you will not understand how to use them during an emergency. If your emergency is a natural disaster, EMP or other crisis that takes down the power grid, or a terrorist attack which affects the water supply, water will be very limited. Consuming dehydrated or freeze-dried foods before reconstituting will cause dehydration and can make you very ill and even cause death.
Just the basics. No, no, during a crisis I need my chocolate! Every good food storage plan must include the ingredients to make desserts and snacks. This is absolutely essential if you have children in your home. Children have a difficult time following a disaster. Your disaster may be a very personal one such as a job loss, unexpected bill, or a huge jump in grocery store prices. It may not be a huge natural disaster, but whatever the cause, children will feel the stress and they need familiar foods to help calm their fears. Children may imagine their lives are about to take a dramatic change and having those comfort foods will reassure them that mom and dad have things under control.
Plans on the internet. I understand people who publish these lists are trying to help but what you end up with is food that does not meet all the nutritional needs required to remain healthy. These lists are very limited and contain very little protein, fruit or vegetables. Please trust yourself not someone with a generic plan.
Choose 7 meals. I don’t care if you are advised to choose 7 or 10 or more meals, and then to purchase the ingredients for those meals times 12 so you have 12 weeks of meals, it is a bad idea. Food fatigue is a real thing and eating the same menu over and over will become tedious. Children and seniors are especially susceptible and will quickly stop eating enough to maintain good health. Instead consider the ingredients in your favorite foods and store those, including spices, enabling you to make a larger variety of familiar dishes.
Let’s run out and get 100 pounds of rice. It is much wiser to begin food storage by accumulating a one-week supply of everything, all food groups, and then expanding to a month and then two months and so on. Remember each food group provides different vitamins and minerals, all of which are needed to remain healthy. What if your disaster happens three weeks from now and all you have is rice? If you have followed a plan of stocking a complete diet you will have meat and veggies and spices to make that rice a dozen different ways.The one exception to this is free food! If you have a neighbor or friend who offers you free fruit and veggies from their garden by all means take it. Can it, freeze it or just eat it but never turn down food. If you preserve 50 jars of peaches and have no other fruit that’s great. You can add variety later.

The church or an agency will take care of me. As I have interviewed disaster survivors, it is clear this is not the case. Think about all the disasters in just the last month. It is not possible for any church, government agency or relief group to be everywhere and meet all needs. Just this week I was informed of a town that had a horrible fire last year followed by terrible flood and most of the aid that arrived was used by the city and never reached the survivors. If we all prepare, there will be plenty to share and meet the needs of all who have lost everything.
Ignoring skills. If your disaster results in losing your home, you may lose your food storage but no one can take away the skills you have mastered. Can you prepare a meal, keep your family warm or cool during an extended power outage? We saw how valuable sewing skills were in the early days of the pandemic when masks were needed and unavailable. Can you grow a garden to feed your family? Skills are essential when dealing with job loss or bills due to medical emergencies.
Ignoring non-food items. Do you really want to be without pain meds while dealing with a disaster? Recently I was ready to do the laundry, reached for the detergent and it was empty. I did have back up, but it reminded me I now need to replace the backup and maybe I need more than one, just in case. I want to be prepared to share if the need arises. Think about non-food items: cleaning supplies, medications, hygiene, pest and rodent control (they are looking for new homes following a disaster), sunscreen, and much more. Open cabinet doors in the bathroom, laundry room under the sink, and make a list.

Number one! If this is number one, why is it last? For emphasis, so it will be remembered.

I am so sick of hearing,” You are a fear monger” or “you are just plain nuts”! No, I am not crazy and neither are any of you. I hear this all the time, but it puzzles me how anyone can still have these thoughts and not been converted to becoming self-reliant after a pandemic and horrific weather disasters and fires.

Along the same lines, I’m tired of being accused of being a hoarder and denying others. There is a huge difference between hoarding and preparing. Do you remember several years ago there was a TV show about prepping? I was invited to participate on the show but I am so glad I did not because it showed preppers as being a little eccentric or maybe very eccentric. That is not us.

Hoarding is stocking up on things you could never use them all in several years or maybe a lifetime. It is seeing a deal and purchasing every item on the shelf leaving none for anyone else, even during a time of crisis.

Preparing is purchasing what you and your family and extended family would realistically use during a crisis. It is purchasing and adding to the General Store in your home in an organized and ongoing manner and using them every day. Those who store food are the wise among us. Where else could I have made 8% on my investment as prices rose in 2023-24? During that time, we were eating stored foods purchased before the increases.

Now is the time to ignore all the negative and to believe in yourself. You can do this! Trust the Lord, pray for His help and move forward.

“And Jesus looking upon them saith, with men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible” Mark10:27

For help with your preparedness needs visit https://www.facebook.com/TotallyReady and send a message. If you would like her 52 week food storage guide just send your email to Carolyn through messenger.