Mar 09 2009
Disappearing Survival Food Storage
Utah State University has a classic food storage advice document on it’s website.
The document titled “Food Storage in the Home” set the standard for food storage advice for years to come. Published by Charlotte P. Brennand, PhD, and Deloy G. Hendricks, PhD of the Department of Nutrition & Food Sciences, “Food Storage in the Home” focuses on “Reducing Waste and Maintaining the Quality of Stored Food”
They analyzed over 10,000 food storage systems in Utah in their research.
The concise 20 page pdf file covers what food to store, the storage area, and storage life. A surprising observation I found in this document regarding how much food to store was;
If you were to sample most Utah family food storage programs in November, about 45 percent would have adequate stores of food for one year. If the same families were resampled in May only 20 percent would still have a years supply on hand. Families which did not have a years supply in May had used food from storage and had no garden or orchard to replenish the supply during the winter months.
They go on to recommend you have a long term food storage that has a peak 18 months supply if you are planning to always have a years supply. This makes sense if you are utilizing a garden approach to supplement your food supply.
What was even more shocking though was this finding on page six;
Families that were resampled and still had a years supply in May did so because they never used food from their storage system. We have analyzed over 10,000 food storage systems in Utah and found that many people are under the illusion that food lasts forever. Their food storage systems are designed so that a years supply is purchased and stored until needed. Consequently they have some stored food that is 10, 20, and 25 years old. In view of what is known about shelf-life, these systems are quite wasteful and inefficient.
Under this illusion what people thought they had, a years supply, disappeared when they went to use it. Not a comforting thought. They had solved the problem by not drawing on their reserve but in the end they had no reserve, the food was inedible.
This would not be the case with freeze dried food however. Having freeze dried food that is 10, 20, and 25 years old in a food storage area means the food is still good and delicious to eat.
How many people who start something are able to follow thru and stick to the plan for months or years to come?
Published under Economic food preparedness, Emergency Preparedness Advice, Freeze Dried Food, Survival Food, Survival Food Reserves, food storage, preparedness
Yes, I’ve seen research that indicates that many families that are confident they have a year’s worth of food storage only had 90 days worth!
http://preparednesspro.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/are-you-living-with-a-false-sense-of-security/
It’s important to use your food storage and then replenish it along the way.