Vital Foods Guide? – Master Gardner Dennis Adamson

By Alan on Nov 23 in Blog tagged canner, Dennis Adamson, disasters, emergincy preparedness, food storage, insects, LDS, long term, master gardner, moisture, MRE, PETE, rodents, temperature, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vital foods | Comments Off

Week 47: 37 Vital Foods Guide?

This is another emergency topic that Alan suggested.  I did a Google search and the only way that you can find out what the 37 Vital Foods for Survival are is to buy a book called, 37 Food Items Sold Out After a Crisis. The author has apparently come up with 37 vital foods that he feels you will need to survive a crisis that shuts down the grocery stores or causes these foods to fly off the shelves during a crisis before you get to the grocery store.  I tried to find reviews on the book and seemed to only find those that tried to get you to buy the book.  I finally found the following at:  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2738803/posts This reviewer says, “I took a look at it and it looks like the same information you can get through any prepper web-site for free. Nothing on that list of contents that I haven’t seen covered on those sites.”

It is also not available through any of the major book selling websites either new or used.  It can only be purchased through the author’s website.  That is why I put a (?) mark at the end of the article title.  I don’t feel that I should be endorsing books that don’t give you any information other than the title and scare tactics to get you to buy the book.  Since I am not going to purchase this book, I can’t tell you what the 37 vital foods are.  Look up the book and decide for yourself.  What I will do is give you some basic recommendations if you want to pursue any emergency food storage.  If you google food storage books you can go to Amazon and get all 3 of their top selling Emergency food storage/survival/disaster preparedness books for less than the price of the other book.

Early in our marriage we were living in western Nebraska.  We had a late season blizzard that put the area at a standstill for several days.  We were living about a mile out of town surrounded by wheat fields.  We quickly ran out of some food items, one of them being milk.  I heard on the radio that one of the grocery stores had opened for business.  The problem was that the roads weren’t open.  I bundled up and trekked the mile to and and a mile back to get some much needed items.  Since then we have had some form of food storage.  Because we moved frequently and ofter had limited storage space, we purchased freeze dried foods.

During the economic downturn of the last few years I have know several people that have made use of the one year food supply that our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has recommended for many decades.  (Some Google sites will state that it is a 2 year supply, but this is incorrect.)  Their food storage supply provided them with a buffer until they could get themselves financially back on track.  I have know of other that have used their food supplies to help other family members and friends during emergencies or in times of financial crisis.

Members of our church have been given the following counsel:

“We encourage Church members worldwide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings.”

“We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve.”

“We realize that some of you may not have financial resources or space for such storage. Some of you may be prohibited by law from storing large amounts of food. We encourage you to store as much as circumstances allow.”

Their latest council on how to accomplish this is: “Build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet. One way to do this is to purchase a few extra items each week to build a one-week supply of food. Then you can gradually increase your supply until it is sufficient for three months. These items should be rotated regularly to avoid spoilage.”

Their recommendations for longer term food storage is: “gradually build a supply with food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive, such as wheat, white rice, and beans.”

http://lds.org/family/family-well-being/home-storage/longer-term-food-supply?lang=eng#1has the following :

“Properly packaged, low-moisture foods stored at room temperature or cooler (24°C/75°F or lower) remain nutritious and edible much longer than previously thought, according to findings of recent scientific studies. Estimated shelf life for many products has increased to 30 years or more.”

“Previous estimates of longevity were based on “best-if-used-by” recommendations and experience. Though not studied, sugar, salt, baking soda, and vitamin C in tablet form also store well long-term. Some basic foods do need more frequent rotation, such as vegetable oil every 1 to 2 years.”

“While there is a decline in nutritional quality and taste over time, depending on the original quality of food and how it was processed, packaged, and stored, the studies show that even after being stored long-term, the food will help sustain life in an emergency.”

They list the “Life-Sustaining” food items, that when properly prepared, that will store for 30+ years: wheat, white rice, corn & sugar; those that should last 30 years: pinto beans, pasta, potato flakes & apple slices; those that should last 20 years: non-fat powdered milk & dehydrated carrots.  (I am sure that other dehydrated foods will last a similarly long period of time.)

Honey will last indefinitely, and even though it will crystalize, it can be heated up back to its liquid form.  I was watching an episode of ‘Life After People’ where they showed a family eating a fruit cake that an ancestor had baked and then died right after taking it out of the oven.  It was 130 years old. They said the density of the mix and the alcohol content may allow fruitcake to be edible for approximately 250 years.  I am sorry, but I am not going to store fruitcake.  This show also claimed that Twinkies would last 25 years on the shelf.  That should make my Dad happy since he is a big Twinkies fan and took them in his lunch for over 35 years.  I don’t plan on having a years supply of Twinkies either.

Also on the lds.org site they give the suggested amounts for one adult for one month as 25 lbs of wheat, white rice, corn and other grains and 5 lbs for beans.

Storage recommendations from this site are:

Temperature: Store products at a temperature of 75°F/24°C or lower whenever possible. If storage temperatures are higher, rotate products as needed to maintain quality. (We have a storage area that stays below 65F even during the summer and cooler in the winter.

Moisture: Keep storage areas dry.It is best to keep containers off of the floor to allow for air circulation.

Light: Protect cooking oil and products stored in PETE bottles from light.

Insects and rodents: Protect products stored in foil pouches and PETE bottles from rodent and insect damage. (When I was deployed during Desert Shield/Desert Storm we had to keep our Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) plastic packages off of the ground.  Those with cheese foil packets inside the heavy plastic MRE package were routinely chewed into by the desert rats.  I would have thought that they wouldn’t have been able to smell the cheese through both layers, but it seems they could.)

Packaging recommendations, using oxygen absorbers,  are #10 sealable cans,  foil pouches, canning jars with metal lids with sealing gaskets  and PETE bottles for dry products.

They give the following warning: “Botulism poisoning may result if moist products are stored in packaging that reduces oxygen. When stored in airtight containers with oxygen absorbers, products must be dry (about 10% or less moisture content).”

PETE bottles are by far the least expensive and easiest to procure.  Just save soda and juice bottle or have neighbors and friends save theirs for you.  PETE or PET bottles are Polyethylene terephthalate. This is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family.  Because it is a good barrier material it is often used for soda and juice bottles.  You can tell if they are PETE bottles by looking on or near the bottom for the recycling triangle symbol.  It should have a #1 in the triangle and PETE below it.   I found that soda (pop) bottles seem to have it on the side near the bottom and the PETE may be difficult to see.  The juice bottle had it on the bottom of the bottle.  I found the following site to be very instructive on using PETE bottles and oxygen absorbers for food storage: http://www.instructables.com/id/Storing-Bulk-Dry-Foods-in-PETE-Bottles-using-Oxyge/

By clicking on the pictures near the top of the article you can go through the 5 steps of using PETE bottles for food storage plus additional information. 

I found one comment at the bottom of these instructions, from grandpajoe,  to be interesting:  “If you are storing grain, the following “rule of thumb” might help: Put a kernel of grain on a white piece of paper, on concrete. Hit it with a hammer. If it shatters, it is probably dry enough to store. If it does not shatter, but rather smashes flat, it is definitely too moist. If the impact of the grain leaves an oily spot on the paper, it is too high in oil content.”

The lds.org site has the following recommendations for using PETE bottles:

1. Use PETE bottles that have screw-on lids with plastic or rubber lid seals. You can verify that the lid seal will not leak by placing a sealed empty bottle under water and pressing on it. If you see bubbles escape from the bottle, it will leak.

2. Clean used bottles with dish soap, and rinse them thoroughly to remove any residue. Drain out the water, and allow the bottles to dry completely before you use them for packaging food products.

3. Place an oxygen absorber in each bottle. The absorbers can be used with containers of up to one-gallon capacity (4 liters).

4. Fill bottles with wheat, corn, or dry beans.

5. Wipe top sealing edge of each bottle clean with a dry cloth and screw lid on tightly.

6. Store the products in a cool, dry location, away from light.

7. Protect the stored products from rodents.

8. Use a new oxygen absorber each time you refill a bottle for storage.

Foil pouches should be made of multilayer laminated plastic and aluminum. The material should be 7 mils thick (178 microns) and protects food against moisture and insects.  (photo foils pouches) These are available at LDS home storage centers, at Distribution Services, and online at: store.lds.org.  They need to be sealed by an impulse sealer and not by using an iron or home heat sealer.  The pouches are not rodent proof.

The lds.org site also advises not to use the following in long-term food storage: jerky or other dried meats, nuts, pearled barley, dried eggs, whole wheat flour, brown rice, brown sugar, milled grains other than rolled oats, granola and vegetables and fruits unless they are dry enough through the center to snap when you bend them.

For more detailed information, on the above and on use of plastic sealable pails  with dry ice, go to lds.org listed above.

There are several basic recommendations that can be found on the web for short and long-term food storage.  One such site recommended, with no distinction between short-term or long-term storage:

wheat (both hard and soft), rice (white and brown, although brown has a shorter shelf life), salt
various varieties of beans, sugar, honey, spices, herbs and seasonings (according to preferences)
dried milk, peanut butter, powdered beverage packets, including coffee & hot chocolate, canned soups, vegetables, fruits, etc., rolled oats, baking powder, baking soda, oil, shortening, breakfast cereals, you also might want to consider some desert mixes and candies for an occasional treat.  Freeze-dried meals, vegetables and deserts usually found in camping sections and are great for the 72 hour kits recommended by Homeland Security and (CERT) Community Emergency Response Teams.

I googled ‘the top ten foods to store’ and got such varied recommendations as:

Site 1 …………………………………….Site 2

Salt	Honey
Rice	Nutritional Yeast
Wheat	Wheat
Corn	Sunflower Seeds
Oats	Chia Seeds
Fats/Oils	Sardines/Herring
Canned Fruit/Vegetables	Lentils/Pinto & Black Beans
Canned Meats	Peanut Butter
Sugars	Cheyenne Powder
Powdered Milk	MREs

One thing, that you want to remember when storing wheat and corn, you will need something to grind them before you can use them.  You could always use the old Indian way of a mano (flat stone) and metate (grinding mortar).   Otherwise you will need a mechanical or electrical grinder specifically made for grains.   It will also take your body a while to adjust to a diet of only “life-sustaining” foods if you have to resort to them.

Even though I had recently seen a spate of programs on worldwide cataclysms from the Mayan Calendar,  Hopi prophesies, Nostradamus, historic sun flares, etc.,  I am not much of a believer that civilization, as we know it, is going to end in December of 2012.  Remember the Y2K disaster that was predicted and didn’t occur?  What I do know is that economic problems, local and regional disasters occur all of the time.  This I why I would advise considering food storage of some type.

“And again, verily I say unto you, that every man…is obliged to provide for his own family…” D&C 75: 28

.

Dennis Adamson
For The Family

adamsond@juno.com Any Questions? Send Dennis an email!

Next week: 72 hour kits!