| |
You can't start preparing after a disaster strikes
It takes considerable planning and we are happy to help you.
To help you plan quantities we
will need to know how many people you will be storing food for and their ages
and sex (i.e. if you have 18 year old son it makes a big difference to the needs
of an 80 year mother). We can also help by suggesting and supplying items you
require during emergency events.
With stored food most of your worries are eliminated.
The
best way to start is to start small with what you feel you can comfortably
afford and store foods that produce a well balanced diet. Don’t get a large
quantity of
just
a few foods. Don't assume you will get more variety later when you have
some extra cash. It is better to be properly nourished for a few months then to
be poorly nourished for a year because you may not last long enough to eat it.
If your food supply isn't complete and nutritionally balanced, it isn't really a food
supply. Its just a temporary peace of mind.
Some of the foods will need to be re-hydrated and cooked; some you just
re-hydrated and eaten; others can be eaten as is.
It is important to have a good mix of foods
- some that need preparation and some that
are complete meals,
such as Beef Stroganoff or Macaroni & Cheese -
for those times when you are weary and having a tough time,
and
feel like you just cannot bring yourself to prepare a meal from scratch.
The basics:
-
Continuously store a good supply of regular grocery store foods
and rotate your stock. These will be the first foods you dip into if there is
an emergency or disaster. Only after you have exhausted that supply and cannot
replenish these, should you go into your long term supply. At this point
you will be in a situation that this food will save your life. You
also have to look after your mental health. In a dire situation,
if you don't have foods that give you a good variety, and some nice “comfort”
foods, you will get depressed and may give up. Survival depends on a strong mind & body.
-
Keep lots of small bills to buy things, if you can, from local
merchants. You will not likely be able to use an ATM or credit card if there
is an act of terrorism or if the electronic infrastructure is compromised.
-
Make sure to have lots of water available, stored both for
drinking and re-hydrating your foods. Public water supply may become
contaminated by disaster or terrorism so it is important to store and have a
way of purifying water. Purification can be an elaborate system in your
house or a simple portable system like the SweetWater filter system we sell.
-
Store lots of sprouting seeds so you can either
eat the sprouts or grow fresh
veggies and salad stuff in your garden. If it becomes impossible to grow
outside, you can grow them inside with our sprouting screens. (I actually use
mine all the time for fresh sprouts in salad etc). We sell sprouting seeds
that also come packed in nitrogen for long term storage.
Make sure the seeds are not "hybrid". Avoid GE products for the garden
as they frequently do not produce viable seeds for following
years.
-
Be prepared to COOK! You will have to make bread etc from your
stored flour or you may have to grind the wheat into flour. We have an
amazing “Millennium Mill” that is hand made with normal household parts so it
can be easily repaired without buying special parts. We also have the
wheat and flour in long term cans. It is good to have a supply of flour
in the long term cans but be sure to also have large bags of flour & sugar
from the grocery store. There is no need to specially can and seal sugar
– as long as you keep it dry it will last.
-
Be sure to protect the “store bought” foods from pests and keep
them dry and away from heat as much as possible. Use food grade sealable
pails. I swear that a mouse or squirrel can smell through a tough
food grade pail. You would be surprised how fast they can chew though
them. If the stuff inside doesn't smell appealing they'll likely not give it a
second thought. You
can deter pests with layers of bay leafs packed throughout.
-
Keep an adequate supply of medications, especially if you take prescription
drugs, and rotate the supply.
Also have first aid supplies, pain pills, decongestants, antibiotic creams (such
as Polysporin).
-
You may want to get some Potassium Iodate pills in case of radiation exposure.
-
How will you keep warm? Blankets aren't enough in winter!
We
also sell generators, in every size and configuration you can think of, with
any accessory you can imagine).
-
Consider purchasing a solar powered or windup radio; they're not expensive.
-
Candles, provide heat and light. Purchase long-burning 50
hr candles.
Don't Wait to Start Practicing:
For example; If you never or very
rarely bake bread the time to start practicing is now, not when supply is short.
There's no magic to it, however, if a batch goes wrong when supplies
are low the waste is so much more egregious. Treat yourself to home baked bread
now. If you don't have experience in preparing this food and if your
family won't or can't eat it the investment you made in your food supply is
at risk.
Note
that anything that sounds like meat is actually flavoured
TVP (textured vegetable protein) and is more nutritious than meat. It takes on
the flavour of whatever it is put with, and stores very well long term.
|
