Why You Need Food Storage

Today is a great day to talk about why you need food storage. We all know what is going on in the world as it relates to supply chain bottlenecks all over the world. If you aren’t fully aware of the challenges of getting food and other products right now then you need to turn on your TV, listen to podcasts, or read some articles from reliable sources about what is causing the shortages and how to respond. If you need proof, go to your local grocery store and look at empty shelves in every food aisle. I have a friend who is an Emergency Preparedness leader in her neighborhood and surrounding areas for her church right here in Northern Utah. She is expected to get her fellow members up to speed and prepared as best she can.

I wish more people would understand the need to store food, have a pantry full, or even partially full. My friend mentioned some of her church leaders won’t respond to her emails requesting help to get the word out about food storage or emergency preparedness.

She’s frustrated because she sincerely understands why we all need to better prepare our families for things that are unexpected. She gets it, as do many of my readers. The last comment she received was not to instill fear in her fellow church members. Mark reminded me of a famous quote from President Franklin D. Roosevelt: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

President Roosevelt was trying to encourage all American citizens to look ahead, to face the Great Depression with hope, and to work together so we all can come through the challenges as a stronger nation.

Here’s the deal my friends, we need to somehow get people to understand they must have food storage, not because we are afraid of what’s happening, or could happen, but because we want the confident knowledge that we are ready to face those unforeseen situations because we used common sense and prepared in advance.

Check out my book for many great ideas:

“Prepare Your Family For Survival” by Linda Loosli

Is Faith All We Need?

Do we hide under a rock and think everything is okay if we just have faith? Are people thinking the government, FEMA, The American Red Cross, or their church will deliver food and other badly needed items to their doorstep as if these organizations or agencies have the resources to help everyone? That certainly isn’t realistic, even in the best of times.

Will they expect their neighbors to share all that they have in their pantry? Do they think the restaurants and fast food drive-throughs will be open after a disaster? We all know that isn’t going to be the case in many situations.

I feel like I’m on a soapbox today, and I guess I am. My heart tells me that you as my readers and friends understand the need to be self-reliant. But, I see so many people that don’t catch the vision of the importance to prepare for any disaster or unforeseen emergency.

Are they naive? They can’t use the excuse being prepared isn’t in their budget. Mark and I grew up with very little means, but our families understood the need to take care of themselves. We always had food in the pantry, it was not fancy but we knew what to do with it.

We grew up cooking from scratch, making bread, sewing our own clothes, and taking care of ourselves. I would love to say I have a freezer full of meat, or a cow I could slaughter, but I don’t. But I can cook many meals with what I do have.

When it comes to taking care of your family after a disaster, a job loss, a death, or an unforeseen emergency we must be prepared to do it. Read below about Mark’s personal experiences regarding unforeseen emergencies and how it affected his family growing up.

Why You Need Food Storage

Why You Need Food Storage

If in fact, the food chain continues to be disrupted year after year, we must be prepared to cook from scratch. Cooking from scratch is not throwing a piece of meat on the barbecue, and making a salad.

We must know how to stretch meals with rice, lentils, and beans. Another option is cooked wheat. I grew up on cooked wheat cereal, this is how I make mine.

Cooked Wheat Is A Great Filler

You only need one cup of whole wheat berries, three cups of water, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. The first thing you need to do is rinse the wheat with a very fine mesh strainer. Hard White Wheat

Drain the wheat and dump them in the slow cooker, add the three cups of water and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Put the lid on and turn it to low for 8-10 hours.

Or, you can add the rinsed wheat and salt to 3 cups of boiling water and cook uncovered for one hour, and then drain.

One more way is to use your electric pressure cooker: one cup wheat berries, three cups water, 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook on high for 30 minutes and you will use the natural release technique (this means you let the pressure come down naturally on its own).

This is how they look after cooking for ten hours on low in the slow cooker. The time will vary with your slow cooker brand due to wattage. I had very little liquid (water) to drain off.

What kind of emergencies should I try to prepare for?

Most people tend to think of disasters or emergencies as things like floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. Mark reminded me of two situations in his own family that changed the lives of his siblings and their families forever.

Mark had a sister with a lot of kids whose husband got sick and went to the hospital. Although the visit to the hospital wasn’t related to his brother-in-law’s previous heart problems, the sickness brought those heart issues to the forefront. It was determined that long-postponed surgery was the only option. Although the doctors did all they could, he passed away as a result of the surgery and the weakened condition of his body.

The moral of this story is, be prepared since you never know when you can get sick, have a serious accident, or another unexpected turn in your life. Thousands of families are dealing with that right now, as we all know.

Mark had an older brother who did lots of things with his kids. His son was going away for church service for a couple of years, so he decided to take that son out on ATVs for the day. They hadn’t been gone long when Mark’s brother lost control of the unit, or it had a blowout, no one seems to know. The accident caused him to land on his head, fracturing some vertebrae in his neck. His brother spent weeks in the hospital and then months in rehab.

Who would have thought that a day that started so innocently could turn into a lifelong series of challenges as the family lost their breadwinner?

Life often deals us some tragic cards. We can lose a job due to no fault of our own as companies decide to cut back. We can get sick or have a life-changing accident. There could be drought causing shortages of food and livestock. There can be floods that happen thousands of miles away, but affect the food supply where we live. There can be a series of hurricanes in Florida that wipe out this year’s supply of oranges and other fruits we rely on. And there can be a disruption in the supply chain for everything we use and eat each and every day.

There are so many reasons to prepare. Please don’t be the one who thinks: “This won’t happen to me.” Any of the above could prove to be your reality!

Final Word

It’s critical to understand why you need food storage. We must be diligent now, this is no secret for those of us who understand the need to stock food storage. Please keep stocking up, we must, we know what is going on all around us. May God Bless this world, Linda

Copyright Images: Beans Lentils in Jars Depositphotos_37988837_S