A Three Month Supply of Food You Use on a Regular Basis
This council comes from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You can find it here on their provident living website. It has been in the All is Safely Gathered In pamphlet for more than ten years. Having a three month supply of food you use regularly and rotate does not replace a year’s supply of basics! It is in addition to your year’s supply.
Who is this council for?
~Those who want to be prepared for a time of need
~Those who desire the peace and blessings that come with obedience
Why This Three Month Thing?
- Times have changed. A lot of people no longer bake bread, can, garden, raise chickens, or cook from scratch. While there are basics that can sustain life, there are many different needs and diets and what you store should be customized to your family.
- A crisis is not time to start cooking from scratch right off the bat if you aren’t used to and equipped to do so.
- After most natural disasters people are able to get back on their feet and food supplies can be reestablished within three months’ time. A job loss is the same. This supply is a nice cushion to work into using a long-term backup supply as needed for something more serious.
- Many people live in smaller spaces like apartments or condos now. Space and finances are often limited, so it is more practical to have a complete supply of things needed for 90 days and the bare-bone-basics to sustain life for a year.
What exactly is a three month supply and how is that different than the year’s supply or long term storage we have been asked to have for years?
A Short term supply should be made up of foods that are shelf-stable. They don’t require refrigeration unless they are opened. These foods should be able to last at least 1-2 years when stored properly. In contrast, long term items should last 20 years when stored properly like rice, milk, salt, and beans. *You can use things that last 6 months if you are careful to keep them current.
There is a lot greater variety of food that can be eaten for short term storage, making it more like the things you might eat from day to day. Here are some examples of things that can be used as short term food storage that would not be appropriate for long-term storage. (pictures through this section)
- Canned goods like meats, fruits, vegetables, milk and beans,
- Baking goods like nuts, chips, cocoa, brown sugar, mixes, spices and herbs, gelatin, coconut, dried fruits, and oil
- Sauces, dressings, pickles, vinegar, soy sauce, and condiments,
- Pet foods
- Some grains like regular corn that have a higher oil content than wheat
- Jars of foods like peanut butter, salsa, cheese spread, jam,
- Many breakfast cereals, shelf stable alternate milks, syrups and herbal teas will store, but it is wise to watch expiration dates on these things as well as other things.
*Baked or fried goods like cookies, crackers, and chips are not suitable for storage. Usually that is because they have high oil contents and will go rancid or stale too quickly.
* Special tip – Small packages and containers are better for storage than big ones so that they can be used up when opened in case there is no refrigeration. The cost of small containers may be better than the cost of wasted food, and left over food will invite trouble.
I love short term storage. It can be easy, convenient, varied
It’s like having a mini grocery store in your house. I know that I can care for myself and family even if something happens and I am not able to get out and go to the store or “pick up dinner” and there’s nothing in the fridge.
How Do You Do This?
Most of the diet recommendations today focus on eating fresh meat, produce, and whole grains. (picture of magazines) These things don’t store well. People want to be healthy. That is where the questions arise…or…we live in a time where it is easy to eat out or use things that are ready to just cook or heat, and people don’t want to cook.
What can be done to have the best of both worlds?
The answers may take a little work, but they are easier than you might think.
- You can make cooking from scratch with home storage items a lifestyle so you do it all the time.
- You can buy a bunch of items during a case lot sale and put them in storage. Then forget about them and throw them out because they get too old to use or donate them to food drives when they hit expiration. * Most emergency food falls in this category.
- You can store emergency freeze-dried meals and change your lifestyle to eat them on a regular basis.
- Ignore the counsel, and hope nothing happens. Then if it does you can mooch off your neighbors who did prepare and they can suffer along with you when their supply runs out, or you can starve to death.
- You can plan ahead to establish a 3 month supply and incorporate the meals you have planned into the way you regularly eat throughout the year while replacing what you use.
The last choice seems the wisest to me, so I will focus on how to do that here on this site.
Provident Particulars 