How to Start Your Emergency Long-Term Food Storage

Are you looking to start building up an emergency food storage? Because long term food storage is a great way to prepare for emergencies like natural disasters, supply chain interruptions or any reason you need to be home for long periods of time and might not have the ability to purchase more food. 

If the last couple of years have taught us anything, it is that emergencies can happen anytime, anywhere and everywhere. Am I right? From global pandemics to wildfires, to hurricanes, floods, tornados and even job losses or reductions, having some emergency long term food storage is now a household essential.

As homesteaders and homemakers we are naturally inclined to store food away for a later purpose. We know the value of canning, freezing, drying, fermenting etc. as we tend to do this as a natural progression of wanting to preserve our garden harvest.

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And all that is wonderful but what about those pantry items we just can’t grow or make ourselves? I know for our mini homestead, we only have one acre to produce food and that just isn’t enough to grow our own grains or meat etc.

Here are some easy tips for gradually building your emergency food storage.

Build Your Emergency Long-Term Food Storage Slowly

It can be tempting to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on food for emergencies like MRE’s etc, but this isn’t helpful or practical. You want to start slow, build it up just a little at a time and make sure that you are storing foods that your family really eats. One of the easiest ways to start working on your emergency food storage is just to buy a little extra, every time you go grocery shopping, of certain types of food or even bottled water. 

If you are on a budget, buy one package of ground beef for tacos one week, buy 2 packages of ground beef instead. Or, consider going straight to the source and ordering a half a cow or pig from a local farmer. Grab an extra box of bottled water when it is on sale, or slowly add more items to your pantry that you know will last for a long time. If Baking powder is on sale one week, grab 2 or even 3 that week and there you go, you have enough baking powder for 6 months (or more!) worth of baking.

Make Water Your Priority

Having clean drinking water and water that can be used for other things should be your number one priority when it comes to emergency food storage. Water is the best thing you can have in your home, and the most important since it comes in handy in so many different emergency situations. You can use it as clean drinking water, for cooking, brushing your teeth, bathing, cleaning, and so much more. 

Try to stock up on bottled water either in the pantry or in other areas of your home, like storing it in your garage or basement. Or if you have none of those places, do what we do and store it in your linen closet or under beds. Just be aware even bottled water has expiration dates.

More Emergency Food Storage Tips

Here are a few more tips to follow when you are putting your emergency food storage together. 

Stock up on more non-perishable food items. Yes, even the processed ones! These are going to come in handy in an emergency. This should include canned and jarred foods, freeze-dried and dehydrated snacks, and anything that is pantry safe, like nut butters, granola bars, and other processed snacks.

Get vegetables in cans, not frozen. While frozen vegetables are great for normal daily cooking, in emergencies, the power often goes out. Stocking up on frozen vegetables isn’t going to help you much in those situations. Get or make plenty of veggies and meats like chicken and tuna in cans for emergencies.

Be smart about where food is stored. For example, if there is a flood in your area, keeping all that food on the ground level of your home is only going to get it ruined. Make sure you choose an area higher up above the ground, and store it in containers that will protect it.

I think we have all learned over that last few years how important long-term emergency food storage is and I hope these tips can help you on your journey of accomplishing your food storage goals.

Related Posts:

• Food Storage and Safety at Home
• Storing the Harvest: Best Ways To Preserve Food
• The Most Important Aspect of Preparedness NOW~ A Year Without the Grocery Store.com
• How to Keep your Food Pantry Organized
• Putting Together an Emergency Survival Kit for your Home
• How to be Prepared for Emergencies around the Homestead part 1
• Being Prepared for Emergencies Part 2
• Creating an Emergency Survival Kit for your Vehicle
• Canning Basics for the Homestead
• How to Dehydrate Apple Slices

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