This is Food Storage Lesson #1 in my step-by-step instructions on organizing and gathering food storage. I will be listing these lessons on the sidebar of my blog.
Lesson #1
It's important to understand the New 2007 LDS Church Home Storage Guidelines. As I've been reading preparedness books (can you believe four right now!) I have discovered that many of them have wonderful ideas, but they follow the old food storage counsel - getting your year supply of long-term foods. Nothing is said about a 3-month supply. It's important to stay current on the LDS Church guidelines. I am grateful for a church that is helping each of us catch the vision of food and home storage. So your assignment is to digest the following:
After digesting these resources, you will understand the fourstep approach to building your home storage. From the March 2009 Ensign we read:
1. Gradually build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet until it is sufficient for three months.
[What’s the difference between the three-month and longer-term supply items? "Three-month supply items are foods that you normally eat, including canned and commercially packaged foods. Longer-term supply items are basic food items like grains and beans that have very low moisture content (about 10% or less), can be stored for long periods of time (20–30 years), and would sustain life if nothing else were available to eat. A portion of longer-term supply items may be rotated into the three-month supply.] ProvidentLiving.org
2. Store drinking water.
3. Establish a financial reserve by setting aside a little
money each week, and gradually increase it to a reasonable
amount.
4. Once families have achieved the first three objectives,
they are counseled to expand their efforts, as circumstances
allow, into a supply of long-term basic foods such
as grains, legumes, and other staples."
(I've added emphasis on some of the words.)
More from the article -
“This new program is within everyone’s grasp,” explains
Bishop Burton. “The first step is to begin. The second is to
continue. It doesn’t matter how fast we get there so much as
that we begin and continue according to our abilities.”
It's a wonderful program that will help our families in so many ways. Don't get overwhelmed with it. Stay focused on gathering your 3-month supply first. Good luck with this lesson!
