Short Term vs. Long Term Preparedness

Long-term food storage refers to the shelf life of pantry edibles, not the amount of time you can survive on them (unless you’ve got 10 years’ worth of wheat and #10 cans in your root cellar, and really, who does?). We suggest storing food for emergencies that may last a day, a week, months or even a year, and because you never know when that need will arise, it’s important to stock foods with a long shelf life.

Foods for Short-Term Emergencies

Some preppers store foods that they won’t touch until the need arises. They derive peace of mind from having their long-term survival food storage, and know how to use it when the time comes. This works fine for many folks, but a more practical approach is to simply eat what you store and store what you eat, as much as possible.

Of course, this doesn’t work for fresh fruits and vegetables, but you can store their alternatives: freeze dried veggies, homemade fruit leather, dehydrated fruits, garlic and onions hanging on nails in a dry cellar.

Our family stores (and uses):

·   Grains: wheat, oats, millet, rye

·   Rice, whole grain

·   Dried beans and legumes

·   Dried fruit (mostly raisins)

·   Sugar, salt, honey, baking soda/ powder

·   Coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil

·   Dehydrated whole milk powder

·   Pasta

·   Canned sauces, beans

·   Jarred pickles, olives, artichokes

·   Freeze-dried fruits, vegetables

·   Freeze-dried meats (not the TVP!)

·   Freeze-dried entrees

Beyond the one-year standard many LDS church families and preppers (we’re in the second crowd) aim for with their food stockpiles, it’s very important to have the skills and assets necessary for self-sufficiency.

Skills and Assets for Long-Term Survival

While a hurricane or devastating weather event may not disrupt the food supply for more than a month, other scenarios might: economic collapse, global famine, nuclear attack, world war, civil unrest or civil war. Maybe some of these scenarios are unlikely, but remember that they have all happened in the past and could happen again.

How would you survive in a world where large-scale commerce was limited or un-affordable?

What if you had:

1.   Land

2.   Farm animals

3.   Garden plots

4.   Farm Equipment

5.   Heirloom Seeds

These assets are going to be critical in the kind of Long Emergency many people are preparing for. If you have no means of acquiring them now, or live in a city, you can develop your skills and knowledge so that you could barter or work for those who do have these assets. 

What if you could:

·   Provide medical knowledge and service (stitch wounds, set bones, deliver babies, diagnose illness)

·   Butcher animals and process the meat properly

·   Preserve meats: smoke sausages, cure hams, make jerky and pemmican

·   Build fences, barns, sheds, cabins from raw materials (trees)

·   Offer security and protection for farms and communities

·   Properly prepare grains through sourdough and soaking processes that make them digestible and more nutritious

·   Safely preserve and can vegetables and fruits

·   Teach people these necessary skills

Knowledge and abilities such as those listed above will be as valuable as food and assets when they are necessary for personal survival and that of whole communities. Learn everything you can now — and don’t just read a book. Read, watch, do.

In addition to storing food for short-term needs, what are you doing to increase your readiness for the long haul? Lean More: https://survivalfoodoutlet.com/blogs/news/long-term-emergency-food-versus-store-bought-food