If you are reading this, you either think I'm nuts or are interested in building (or continuing to build) your home storage. Unless you are in the category that thinks I'm nuts, congrats on your forward thinking!
There's many reasons to have a food storage program at home. Depending on the extent of your preparations, having a storage program gives you peace of mind and room to breathe should you lose your income, suffer a natural disaster or some other catastrophic event. Being able to feed yourself and your family will keep you alive no mater what else happens around you.
When getting started, this first thing most people ask is "what and how much"? I've been there too. There are a billion websites with a billion different answers to that question, but I like and use the LDS calculator http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm. Of course, this is going to give you a years supply, but if you just divide it up you can see what you need by each area. I recommend working for a one month goal, then three, then six, then nine, and finally to twelve. You can always work passed this, but personally, even with only two of us in the household, a twelve month supply is about all I can adequately store. If you have a bigger family, even this might be difficult.
In any event, the calculator is just a tool. There are some things you may feel you just don't need that much of, such as rice (we don't each much of it, so we don't store much of it). Also, you may not be comfortable with storing and using wheat. In all honesty, I don't. If things continue to get worse in our country I may rethink that and buy a few buckets of sealed wheat and a wheat grinder, but right now it's impractical and takes time that I quite frankly don't have. The other thing you'll find with the calculator is that there is no mention of fruits, vegetables or meats.
**If you are a prepper or starting prepper that has convinced yourself to just store some seeds and you'll grow your own veggies, or that you'll hunt to provide all of your family's meat needs, please STOP RIGHT THERE!!! This is the worst, most impractical thought you could have. Not only that, but you are betting with your life! Personally, that's not something I'd care to gamble with. In a worst case scenario, gardening and hunting may become impossible or impractical. You are better off to be prepared with an adequate storage program and SUPPLEMENT with growing and hunting.**
At a prepping seminar we were told once that for vegetables, you should store one can per person, per day, fruits should be the same, and if you are utilizing your dried beans then you should store one can of meat per person, for every two days. I think this is an excellent rule of thumb and it's what we do here.
So should your food storage be made up of commercially canned goods? Home canned goods? Bags or buckets or beans and rice? #10 cans? And what about dried or freeze dried items?
My answer - a good storage is made of all of the above!
As a homesteader my first go to is to grow, then can or dry as much of my own as I can. This is not just veggies and fruit, this is also my philosophy for meats as well. With home canned goods you know what's in them and you know how they have been prepared. When things are falling apart around you this little peace of mind can be priceless.
However, there are things that I just can't grow but do enjoy, such as pineapple. Sure, I could buy fresh pineapple and can it, but the cost and time involved just doesn't make much sense. Also, if I've had a bad year and not gotten the yields I'd hoped for, supplementing with commercially canned goods are a good way to round out our storage needs.
For things like flour, sugar, beans, rice and pasta, invest in some good food storage buckets, lids, and liners. If packed up right they'll last for years, so even if you don't use all those kidney beans in the next year, they'll still be good.
And now I'll talk about #10 cans. Some of what I see in those big cans is just ridiculous. Please don't spend $10 on a can of salt and then pay to ship it to you. You can get a 4lb box of salt at Sam's for $2. If you are worried about keeping it dry, put it in jars and vacuum seal it. Or in a food safe bucket. Either way, there are just some things that are silly. Dried beans are another example of this.
I'm not saying you should have no #10 cans in your pantry. I certainly have some. Most of your dried milk powders, dehydrated cheeses, etc come in these cans. I also buy some fruits and vegetables in these when they go on sale. Unlike a true prepper that just keeps these in a storage forever waiting on the "apocalypse", I use mine. I like using the freeze dried fruits to add to homemade granola or homemade ice cream, and the vegetables are great to use in casseroles or sauces to thicken them up without thickeners (the dried vegetables soak up the extra liquids).
As for dehydrated vs. freeze dried? Well, this depends on you. Freeze dried will store longer, but dehydrated you can do on your own. Freeze drying does preserve more nutrients, but keep in mind that the price tag is higher. I recommend experimenting and seeing what you like. I keep some of both, depending on what the item is and what I intend to use it for.
I think we all should have at least something stored away. Living in a hurricane and tornado area regularly drives that point home, but even if you don't, the ever rising food prices and the instability of the world around us should make us all a little concerned.
At the end of the day though, do what you heart tells you to do.
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