Storing Food: How much is enough?

So how big of a food cache do you need? That falls back to one of the original questions asked to all interested in long term food storage. What exactly are you preparing for? This answer directly relates to the quantity of food and and supplies in your cache and covers all supplies needed. If you fall prey to a miserable snowstorm that prevents you from making it to the grocery store you probably do not need more than a weeks supply of food to manage the short term interruption. Something larger in scale like an oil crisis or terrorist attack on the food supply could cause food shortages lasting weeks or even months. So once again, what are you preparing for?

You obviously need to draw a line in the sand. You can’t prepare for everything. You can follow the path of the diehard prepper that expects the end of the world as we know it (TEOFWAWKI) with extreme food stores but with that you must also consider the possibility of such events as well as the cost the accompanies it.  This website however pushes a more practical and moderate agenda. You can’t take on the world.

They say that when it comes to food stores a reasonable plan would be to keep a 30 day supply of food at all times. I do NOT think that is enough to make me sleep sound at night.  At the same time a 10 year cache might be a little too extreme. To stockpile that much food may be impractical, unnecessary and absolutely wasteful if not handled right.  I am not opposed to this line of storage just understand a few things.  The average American consumes an average of  2,000 pounds of food each year.  Can you fathom storing food for four for duration of 10 years? 80,000 pounds of food. Thats 40 tons.  Can you store 40 tons in your home? Maybe in a basement if the structure is sound. God forbid it needs to be used within 10 years and you don’t care for it properly.  Imagine the time and physical labor needed to rotate and keep it from being ruined by rodents and spoilage. Good luck..

I would hate to waste any quantity of food especially large portions that I paid a premium for.  Ask yourself again, which disasters would require such a large food cache? Go back to our breakdown of disaster. Do any of those require a massive food cache? Out of all the disaster scenarios listed  only a few  would require you to own more than a 30 day supply of food.  World wars, asteroid strikes and massive famines causes come to mind.

Personal note: Once again the recommended 30 day supply really doesn’t make me feel comfortable. I would still prefer 1 to 2 years of food with the longest shelf life possible. Many freeze dried foods can last a quarter century or more making an ideal choice. And when it comes to choices this entire plan is up to you. If you require more than a months supply or even a years so be it. Just keep waste in mind and avoid it if possible.

Refresh this page in a few days time. I am presently working on a food storage calculator to aid our readers. It should be of use.

If  you get bored check out our food section of our survival store here. Also I wrote about LDS storehouses here and  how they are excellent starting places to introduce long term food storage (as well as save a pretty penny) to your family members and friends.

Image via greatnorthernprepper.com