Survival In Your Own Home

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If you store food on a long-term basis, therefore, you should cultivate a taste for the things you put aside a good while before it becomes essential to eat them . . . and it's a sensible idea to plan that stockpile around your present eating habits.

I suggest that you start now to write down everything your family eats. List the name (and quantity) of each morsel of food you consume . . . day by day by day. Do this for three months and then multiply by four, and you'll have a fair estimate of an average yearly food supply for your household. Or you can actually keep your records for a full year . . . or for as short a period as just one month (and then multiply by 12).

And be sure to keep track of everything. . . not just the items you purchase in the supermarket. If you can or keep home-grown vegetables in a root cellar—or put food by in any other way—such stores should also be logged. And don't forget to tally up the seeds you use if you're a sprouter. When you put aside a year's supply of food, you'll want to make sure it's a real years supply.

Once you actually start setting items aside, you'll run into two more problems: Where and how do I store my stock, and how long will it last? The answers will depend on how you answered questions [2] and [3] above. If you've chosen to store provisions for one year and replace the stock as you use it, your regular storage area will in all probability be adequate . . . except possibly for size. Consider just one comfort item: toilet paper. Even if you put by only enough toilet paper for 12 months—and the recommended amount is 50 rolls per person per year—it will take space.

Toilet paper is an easy example because it needs only to be kept reasonably dry. Food storage, though, brings up the whole question of temperature and moisture control: an important point, because improper conditions can mean the loss of your investment.

Most items, as we all know, are supposed to be kept "in a cool, dry place". What does "cool" mean? Common sense tells us that the correct level can't be as low as the freezing point (jars bust, thawing will occur when the weather warms up, etc.). On the other hand, all I've read on the subject says that "at 48° F most insects become active" (which means that any eggs or dormant beasties need at least that much warmth to hatch or do their dirty work on your provisions). "Cool", then, could probably be considered as the range from 35° to 45° F . . . though it's hard to keep an exact temperature in the garage, basement or backroom, and many foods don't need to be kept that cold anyhow.

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