How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It - James Wesley Rawles [30]
What to Keep in Your Larder
Your larder should consist of three basic categories: dried foods, canned foods, and supplementary foods. For canned goods, consistently use FIFO (First In, First Out) rotation. Always place the newest cans at the back of the shelf and move the older cans forward. Eat the oldest foods first. It’s a good idea date all of your storage foods. I use a medium-point Sharpie pen. If you have a lot of canned goods to mark, then use a date stamp. To stay current, keep a multi-year rotation calendar.
In addition to the items mentioned in Chapter 2, here are a few more things you’ll want in your larder:
• Canning lids and rings. Buy plenty of extras for barter.
• Salt. Stock up in quantity, particularly if your retreat is more than thirty miles inland.
• Sulfur for drying fruit
• Vinegar. Buy a couple of cases of one-gallon bottles.
• Spices
• Baking soda
• Yeast
• Food-storage (freezer and vacuum) bags
• Aluminum foil. Buy lots—there are 101 uses, including making improvised solar ovens.
• Deer bags
The Top Ten Essentials
1. Salt: Salt is important to store, both for flavoring and preserving food and as a practical means to attract wild game. In many locales, natural salt licks are off-limits to hunters, since hunting there is too easy and hence not considered sporting. That ought to tell you something. I recommend that you store several times more salt than you think you’ll ever need.
Unless you live next to a salt lick or salt marsh, I cannot overemphasize the importance of storing salt. Salt is cheap and plentiful now, but in the event of TEOTWAWKI it will be a scarce and valuable commodity in most inland regions. Salt also has a virtually unlimited shelf life. Do some research on natural salt deposits near your intended retreat. That could be quite valuable knowledge in the event of TEOTWAWKI.
Lay in a supply of ten pounds of salt per member of your family. This figure may sound high, but, again, it includes extra for attracting wild game. The portion for cooking and table salt should be iodized.
2. Rice: I prefer brown rice for its nutritional benefits, even though its storage life is shorter than that of white rice. The combined weight should be about thirty pounds per adult, per year. Storage life is around eight years.
3. Wheat (or substitute grains, for celiacs): Grain storage is a crucial aspect of family preparedness. Grain may soon no longer be cheap or plentiful, so stock up. Buy 220 pounds per adult, per year. (Part of this can be in the form of pasta.) Storage life is thirty or more years. I also recommend buying plenty of extra for barter and charity.
I do not recommend storing flour, since it keeps for only two or three years. Whole wheat stores for thirty-plus years, maintaining 80 percent or more of its nutritional value. Buy whole grains and a hand wheat grinder.
Don’t overlook the easiest preparation method of all: soaked wheat berries. By simply soaking for twenty-four to thirty-six hours, whole grain wheat plumps and softens into “berries.” When then heated, wheat berries make a nutritious breakfast cereal.
4. Corn: Whole corn stores much longer than cracked corn or cornmeal, so store whole corn and grind your own. Get fifty pounds per adult, per year. The storage life of whole corn is eight to twelve years, but cracked or ground corn stores only eighteen to thirty-six months.
5. Oats: Lay in a supply of twenty pounds per adult, per year. The storage life of oats is three to seven years, depending on variety and packing method.
6. Fats and Oils: I recommend storing primarily olive oil (frozen, in plastic bottles), mayonnaise, canned butter, and peanut butter. The combined weight of these should be about ninety-six pounds per adult, per year. (Four gallons is about twenty-four pounds.) The canned products must be continuously rotated,