12 Food Storage Myths Debunked

My dad, was a farm kid, born in 1923. He used to marvel at how manufacturers determined “Best Buy” dates. He used to say honey that’s sh*+, and don’t believe a word of it! He simply said “IF it smells or looks bad, DON’T EAT IT! Lol Milk is a great example. He taught me to put a pinch of salt in ANY dairy product to preserve it wayyyyy past its “due date”!

For many years, my husband worked for the same government contracting job. In 2020, this company lost the contract that my husband and I were working on. We, along with 30 other co-workers, were laid off in September of 2020. I was soooooo thankful that I had a freezer full of meat and a pantry full of canned goods. Also, I've grown a garden for about 15 years. We were able to survive on what we had on hand for over a year. The only thing we had to buy was milk, eggs, fresh fruit etc.

Anyone with children would be in such a world of hurt during a crisis without food in the pantry. Thinking of a young child with nothing to eat should be enough to motivate anyone to stock up on a little food insurance.

I find people have forgotten how to cook from scratch. I’m so thankful I’ve ALWAYS cooked from scratch, and never have enjoyed eating out. I can, preserve, make my own bread, and home baked items.

I had enough for a couple years until my sister moved in. She gave it to people without my knowledge, and has been cooking with it , for the past year. Now she's leaving it's definitely gonna cost $$$$ to restock. She just never understood. I've lost over 70 lbs. Prepping myself for when shft. Better health now in 20 years ago. But drop the users. They'll leave when you're starving 😢

I find food storage hedges our bets against inflation. I bought many things when they were cheaper, vs now they’re more expensive, I’ve saved money overall.

My goal is to have enough food in storage to provide for my entire family for one year. I’m still far from that. I say prepping is like fight club. The first rule of prepping is you don’t tell ANYONE what you have for preps. Not even family members outside of your household.

The old myth that has now been proven true that I bought into: "Considering how fast inflation is increasing, food storage is a better investment than anything else." Color-coded Excel worksheets rock!! Good for you Jonathan! An interesting fact, we have completely changed the way we eat in recent years, so I'm not rotating that inventory but keep it for possible barter or desperation. Good bread is my favorite comfort food but chocolate is a close second. I do after Halloween and Easter sales like most people do Black Friday.

When I was raising my kids I had very limited funds so I found a store that gave me a discount if I bought cases. So I would save up and buy one case of something we ate a lot and did this as often as I could. It helped my budget a lot. Something to look into. A person could go in with another family and buy cases and divide them.

“Listen o the Spirit”, “we are going to go through hard times, but the best is yet to come”. I needed to hear that so badly today. I’ve been so stressed and overwhelmed trying to do everything I think I have to. THANK YOU!

You guys make my day! We don't watch the news. We don't listen to the 'stuff". Leave everything outside the door. I want to have 3 months of food...Just to have 3 months of food. We are used to prepping because of hurricane season. This year, rather than do the week of shopping for just in case. I'm shopping so there is no just in case...That is peace!

In Utah you're only a target if you don't have food storage. A target of everyone else worrying about you!

#2 drives me batty; people don't think for themselves anymore. I was raised to know how to fed my family from on year to the next; one harvest to the next; one hog killing to the next. It seems like so many of the younger generations have made it the be all and end all to make a lot of money and buy anything they need. I can't even begin to say how bad that idea is.

Canning in a pressure cooker is one of the best ways to save food. I have beef stew, jerky, all vegetables, salsa, apple butter,jams,etc. Canned and stored on shelf in the cellar. My grandma started teaching me how to work a garden and harvest when I was 3 years old. I make everything from scratch also most of the time. I recently made chopped BBQ with fixings and fed over 250 people in my community. I had less than $100 in it. I think it is awesome you all fed 11 children on 1 income. It can be done. I extreme coupon and stock up on everything.

When I was a child my mother always kept a few cans and dry goods and those were the days when nothing had date stamps - if things didn't smell right they were binned -

In 2020 I started stocking up and only spent $5.00 every week. Mostly beans and rice. I like lima beans and chickpeas and my husband likes pinto and navy beans. I like brown rice and he likes the white. So we have a variety. He likes spam and potted meats. I like chicken and tuna and salmon. I cook from scratch as well. I built up quite a pantry. It served us well. In 2022 my husband had a stroke and lost his job. We couldn't get any help because he made too much the year before and in the first 3 months of 2022. The freezer was full too. We ate off of that for 8 months. I did buy fresh vegetables and bread each month.

I bought a month supply from a big name company that came in a brown tote. Never again! What a huge waste of money. It was full of white rice and fake smelling strawberry cream of wheat, instant pancake batter and other gross stuff. I could have used that same amount of money and bought shelf stable real food and probably tripled my storage. Lesson learned.

When I started I bought lots of dry corn. Really don't eat much corn so it is rotated through the chickens. Used to buy through the LDS store in Columbia, SC and they were wonderful, helpful , giving people. NEVER pushed religion but would answer questions when asked in a respectful way. Thanks for all you do.

I have gotten to a point now I have a stock and now if I use one and take from my stock I buy a new one. For example, say I have a stock of 10 ketchup bottles and I use one I buy one to always have a stock of 10 bottles rotating out of course

I literally have a spare bedroom that I lovingly call "the grocery store." It has shelves and is stocjed like a grocery store with several cans of one item, in order of expiration. All separated by veggies, fruits, meats, condiments, snacks, beans, pastas & rice. Whenever anything in my kitchen gets low I "go to the store" and get whatever I need from the "grocery store" and put it in the kitchen. Every so often I go into my "grocery store, see what's low, and go to the REAL grocery store to stock up on it. Everything gets rotated out. Also, I write the expiration date on the front of all items in large numbers with a sharpy cuz sometimes I can't read the can very well. Also, if there are items that will expire soon, I bring those into the kitchen and plan my meLs around those items. Keep in mind, I also have a veggie garden that's producing so..... I've got a LOT of food.