Four-Step Home Storage Approach
In 2007, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints modified their food storage guidelines to include a 3-month supply, emergency water, financial reserve and long-term foods. Hence, home storage and food storage combined. As you study preparedness books, you’ll see that many focus on old school ideas such as get your years supply or live on a farm. I’m so excited that the LDS church is helping us prepare for short-term emergencies too.
So digest the following to stay current:
- All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage, 2007
- Family Home Storage: A New Message, Ensign, March 2009
- Watch “Lay Up In Store” by Bishop Keith B. McMullin
After studying these resources, you will understand the Four-Step Home Storage Approachand realize you CAN do this!
STEP 1: 3-Month Supply
Gradually build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet until it is sufficient for three months
STEP 2: Drinking Water
Store drinking water for circumstances in which the water supply may be polluted or disrupted.
STEP 3: Finacial Reserve (Emergency Savings)
Establish a financial reserve by setting aside a little money each week, and gradually increase it to a reasonable amount
STEP 4: Longer-Term Supply
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.”
“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.” Bishop H. David Burton
Just begin!
Lorrie: I agree that you may store a portion of long-term foods in your 3-month supply (I do), but they are technically not part of it. If you cook with them your family can get accustomed to eating them.However one of the Frequently Asked Questions from the LDS Church website ProvidentLiving.org states this: “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.”I just wanted to clarify. I think the goal is to get your 3-month supply first, then work on long-term foods as the Ensign article states.
It is due to the LDS Church’s program that our family has an emergency food storage set up. I am glad that they have made it a little easier for people getting started. Putting aside a whole year’s worth of food can seem a pretty daunting task.We began by adding 1 or 2 extra of each canned or dried good on our list every time we shopped (depending on the money available). Items such as grains and lentils should actually be a part of our regular foods and so could be added along with the canned goods, etc. right from the start.The most important point to remember is that you need to start NOW!!