Emergency Preparedness and Provident Living Newsletter

                                                                    February 2024

2024 Church of Jesus Christ Home Storage Center Price Lists

Find a Home Storage Center near you and their hours on this page.  https://providentliving.churchofjesuschrist.org/food-storage/home-storage-center-locations-map?lang=eng

Home Storage Center Order Form 2024  (U.S. English version.)   https://providentliving.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/providentliving/content/Home-Storage-Center/2024%20Home%20Storage%20Order%20Form%20USA-Locked.pdf

You can order food storage online for home delivery https://store.churchofjesuschrist.org/new-category/food-storage/food-storage/5637169327.c

Food Storage Companies and Resources List

These are resources in addition to the Church of Jesus Christ Home Storage Centers. I am not affiliated with any of them and do not benefit from sharing this information.

Costco and Sam's Club and Restaurant Supply companies that are open to the public

Amish and Mennonite Stores

Ethnic grocery stores such as Hispanic and Asian groceries

Winco grocery stores sell many bulk items

Use an app for your local grocery stores and clip their digital coupons and shop their sales each week.

www.azurestandard.com now delivers by semi to most states along major highways.

Www.beprepared.com sells both Emergency Essentials and Augason Farms products

www.amazon.com sells Augason Farms products and posts daily specials

www.wisefoodstorage.com

www.nutrientsurvival.com

www.mypatriotsupply.com

www.thrivefreezefoods.com

www.readywise.com

www.products.4patriots.com

The 8 Enemies of Food Storage

In order for us to make our foods last longer, we need to know the 8 enemies of food storage and how to

combat them. Once we know these basics, we will be much more successful in storing healthy foods.

The enemies to foods that you are storing are, Air, specifically oxygen, chemical contamination, Insects,

rodents, moisture, light, temperature and time. Here is a really good introductory video on this topic

posted by my friends at The Provident Prepper  https://youtu.be/UY1AH7zOMD4?si=Gt4ZDTTSt0e1Pa_u

As you consider storage containers or methods, keep these enemies in mind and make sure you are

keeping as many of these enemies out as possible.

Packaging Long-term Food Storage, how to do it right  https://youtu.be/9J31WXxAEwY?si=RySy9zaGeS-rqIfR

Newbie Prepper Food Storage Questions Answered  https://youtu.be/0geZG0epLT8?si=e7dyoRIeXJrenm7_.

Don't Overthink How to Build Your Food Storage

The following information to meant to help people who feel overwhelmed or stuck and do not know where to start or if they are doing things correctly. As someone who is in several online groups and helps Admin many of those groups, I see many questions from people who are new to preparedness or food storage. Quite often I see questions or posts that show the person is overthinking how to store food or how to preserve some foods and many times they are making more work for themselves than is needed. I wanted to cover this topic at the beginning of a new year to help people. If you have a friend, neighbor or relative that is stuck, please share these newsletters or even share the videos and channels that I often highlight.

#1 Please do not think you MUST have a fancy list that someone created for you to know what to buy. Itis ok if you want one, but I would not worry about it too much. Do not overthink what to buy for your 3 month supply of everyday foods. You in most cases are the main grocery shopper in the home. Write down the meals you make often. What are the common ingredients that you buy often? This is  where you start. Buy what you eat, and eat what you buy! Work up to a 3 month supply. This is just the start! You really want to work up to 1 year, eventually.

#2 Stock up on basic toiletries, medications and cleaners too. Don't forget feminine hygiene items and baby items etc. Concentrate on needs of those in the family. Stick to basics.

#3 Decide if you want to work on long-term foods such as many dry goods right away while you build up your 3 month supply, or if you want to get the 3 month supply first and then get some long-term. This will depend on your budget and space.

#4 Take advantage of sales and coupons. I have never shopped using a list that I found online. Those rarely match up with what is on sale. I shop the sale items of the week that my family uses. I try as much as possible to use coupons on top of the sales. Buy seasonal fruits and vegetables while on sale. Preserve them in various ways.

#5 People often get stuck on how to use “food storage” foods. ANY food you have in your home at the moment is food storage. Do not overthink how to use preserved foods.

If something has been canned, either cook the food in the liquid, or drain and then heat and heat or use in a soup or casserole.

If something has been dehydrated, simply put in a bowl and add warm water to it and let it sit until the food is soft. Some foods will rehydrate faster than others. Even if some things never get completely soft, they will still be edible and offer nutrition.

If something has been freeze-dried, you can eat dry, or put it in a moist casserole, in a soup or simply rehydrate it in a bowl with water. They will rehydrate quickly. Use as if it was fresh or frozen.

If something has been frozen, simply thaw and then heat and eat.

#6 You don't know how to use DRY FOODS? Get some cookbooks that focus on cooking with basics. There are many food storage cookbooks on the market. Some food storage books just focus on one type of food such as dried beans, grains, powdered milk etc. You can also buy basic baking books, and  ethnic cookbooks. You can find many books at thrift stores. It may not be possible to rely on the internet in the future for recipes. You will need to have books in your home.

#7 (Freeze drying only section). You don't know how to freeze dry certain foods? I often see people asking about how to freeze-dry things like coffee, cocoa, milk, dry beans etc. Keep freeze drying simple!

If you have a food item that is already in a very dry form...most likely it will keep just as it is.  Coffee, tea, cocoa, milk and drink mix powders will keep for a long time as they are. Just store in an airtight container, out of light in a cool, dry location. As for milk, personally I would just buy and store powdered milk. It has a long shelf-life if stored properly. Many people are focused on freeze drying whole slices of pies, cakes, pancakes and breads. Think about what will reconstitute well. How will you reconstitute these items without them turning to mush? These are poor candidates for freeze drying. Let's talk about pumpkin pie for example, I freeze dry the pumpkin. Then I powder the pumpkin. In the future I can rehydrate the pumpkin powder into a puree. Then I will use my stored milk, egg powder, sugar and spices to make a fresh pumpkin pie. Doesn't that sound more appetizing? Candy? Hard candy already has a very long shelf-life. Store it in an airtight container. Dry beans, peas or lentils if stored in an airtight container, in a can, bucket or glass jar will keep for many years. If you want to be able to rotate through them and use them often, I really like to pressure can them in jars and they are ready to eat out of the jar.

Honey and jams? Those should not be freeze-dried! This is stated in the machine booklet and on the Harvest Right website. Besides, these will store for a long time just as they are.

#8 I prefer to store single item foods in containers. For example, I have fruits, vegetables, meats, grains etc, usually stored individually, not as a meal. This makes it easy for me to preserve these foods and allows me to combine them as desired with other foods when cooking. It is nice and convenient to have a few things ready to eat as a meal like chili, canned soups or Ravioli but most of our stored foods are single ingredients. Do what works for your family.

#9 Some foods are considered “forever foods”. These include things like honey, maple syrup, whole wheat, salt, sugar and many other things. You do not have to do anything fancy to store these. Here are  a couple good videos on these foods.

https://youtu.be/iYTbhqOBWJA?si=CHwPndOqYZsKiuSrby Prepsteaders

https://youtu.be/Zu5gscdCEjQ?si=pXRFXTbcwe_-QY11 by Alaska Granny

#10 If you want to learn how to preserve certain foods, I suggest you go to YouTube and watch reputable channels and watch several of them to get a consensus on proper methods of preserving.

Unfortunately, there are many people in online groups who give out terrible advice. I saw one such video in the past week that was being shared on Facebook showing how to preserve dry rice in a soda bottle using several things that will only ruin the food. Many people thought it was great. But those of us who have been doing these things for many years could immediately see several problems with the video.

The person who created the video had in one way, over-thought how to preserve something that needs no special treatment to be good for decades. At the same time, he did not use any common sense and in trying to preserve the food, actually ruined it.

Be cautious and use common sense and invest in good books such as the Ball Blue Book of Preserving and look up County Extension Offices such as Utah State University Extension office. There are other State Extension offices that are really good. I believe one is Ohio State.

#11 Do not worry or even try to store every food in the same way. For instance, I see many people posting about using Mylar bags for nearly everything. You DO NOT want to store all foods in the same way. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. Never store “All your eggs in one basket”. Use a variety of preservation methods. What containers and supplies can you get? How much space do you have? What is your budget?

Parting advice: Pray about what you should store and to be guided in how to store things properly. Use the knowledge that you already have. Be humble and willing to learn new things from those who have a lot of experience. If in doubt, watch videos from several sources to see if there is something that everyone agrees on. Invest in quality books and keep learning. I wish everyone the best in the year 2024.  Keep Prayed up and Prepped up! Happy New Year!