GARLAND 4th WARD PREPARE NOW NEWSLETTER
Issue 5
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“With revelation and prophecy
as our guide, I think….we have hardly enough time to prepare! We teach
self-reliance as a principle of life, that we ought to provide for ourselves,
and take care of our own needs. And so we encourage our people to plan ahead,
keep food on hand, and to establish a savings account, if possible, against a
rainy day.”
President Gordon B.
Hinckely: Ensign, November 1996, pg 50
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Seven Major Mistakes in Food
Storage
By Vicki Tate There are seven serious problems that may occur trying
to live on the basics: 1. Variety - Most people don't have enough
variety in their storage. 95% of people have only stored the four: wheat, milk,
honey, and salt. Statistics show most of us won't survive on such a diet for
several reasons. a. Many people are allergic to wheat and may not be
aware of it until they are eating it meal after meal. b. Wheat is too
harsh for young children. They can tolerate it in small amounts but not as a
main staple. c. We get tired of eating the same foods over & over
& we prefer to not eat, than to sample that particular food again. This is
appetite fatigue. Store less wheat than is suggested & put the difference
into a variety of other grains, like ones your family likes to eat. Store a
variety of beans. This adds color, texture & flavor. Variety is key to a
successful storage program. Store flavorings such as tomato, bouillon, cheese,
& onion. Include a supply of spices you like to cook with. These flavorings
& spices allow you to do many creative things with your grains and beans.
Without them you are severely limited.
2. Extended Staples - Few people get beyond storing the four basic items
but it's extremely important that you do so. Never put "all your eggs in
one basket." Store dehydrated and/or freeze dried foods as well as home
canned & "store bought" canned goods. Be sure to add cooking oil,
shortening, baking powder, soda, yeast & powdered eggs. You can't cook even
the most basic recipes w/out these. Items that should be included in a well-balanced
storage program are included in the "The New Cookin With Home
Storage" cookbook.
3. Vitamins - Vitamins are important, especially if you have
children, since children don’t store body reserves of nutrients as adults do. A
good quality multi-vitamin & vitamin C most vital. Others might be added as
your budget permits. 4. Quick and Easy and "Psychological Foods"
- Quick & easy foods help you through times when you are physically/
psychologically unable to prepare your basic storage items. "No cook"
foods such as freeze-dried are wonderful since they require little preparation.
MRE's (Meal Ready to Eat), like many preparedness outlets carry, canned goods,
etc. are also very good. "Psychological Foods" are the 'goodies' like
Jello, pudding, candy, etc. you should add to your storage. These may sound
frivolous, but through the years many people who have lived entirely on their
storage for extended periods of time say these were the most helpful items in
their storage to "normalize" their situations and make it more bearable.
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several items, rather than
large quantities of one item. You’ll fare much
better having one month supply
of a variety of items than a year's supply
of two or three items.
6. Containers: Always store bulk foods in food storage containers.
Tons
and tons of food has been
thrown away because they were left in sacks,
where they are highly
susceptible to moisture, insects, and rodents. If you
are using plastic buckets make
sure they are lined with a food grade plastic
liner available from companies that carry packaging
supplies. Never use
trash can liners. These are
treated w/pesticides. Don't stack too high. In an
earthquake they may topple,
lids pop open, or crack. A better container is
the #10 tin.
7. Use Your Storage - One of the biggest problems is people storing
food & not knowing what to
do w/it. It's vital that you & your family
become familiar with the things
you are storing. You need to know how
to prepare these foods. You
don’t want to have to learn this under stress.
Your family needs to be used to
eating these foods. A stressful period is
not a good time to totally
change your diet. Get a good food storage
cookbook and learn to use these
foods! It's easy to solve the food storage
problems
once you know what they are.