Blog Volume 61




As you can see I was able to make some well needed updates to the site. The software used on this site was kind of a PITB to use with Internet Explorer. I've since switched browsers and it's made the updates much easier. If you knew  the hoops I have had to jump through for the last 8 months getting updates put up..... Yeah, it was fun, like rolling around in broken glass and then jumping into an rubbing alcohol bath kinda fun... LOL

This edition we will continue on with the coverage of the D.I.Y. food storage topic. Regular readers know that I am very big on food storage. Food shortages follow basically ALL disasters that have been recorded in human history. Therefore it's always been my #1 priority to see that I can feed my family during a disaster. The last few years our emphasis has been on working towards getting self-sufficient with our food supplies. By self-sufficient I do NOT mean a room full of #10 cans and buckets. I mean the ongoing ability to grow and raise most of your own food. See, we actually practice what we preach. We don't do this for bragging rights, we do this for EXPERIENCE. I pity the folks that think when the time comes they will just "drop some seeds in the ground" and have a bountiful garden that will feed them. The biggest benefit we have received from actually living at our retreat and working towards self-sufficiency is the education and experience. Education by itself- a.k.a. book knowledge- doesn't always pull you through. Only experience proves what works for YOU, in your climate and under YOUR growing conditions, etc.

Long story short, don't plan on feeding yourself from a couple packets of seeds after the "pockey'clips" if you do not have REGULAR experience doing it now. Instead, add another year or two to your food storage supplies. This will at least give you a larger window with which to gain experience and make mistakes. I've covered this before but it's worth stating again- When all your food storage is gone and your down to just a few handfuls of seeds, ANY MISTAKES YOU MAKE COULD MEAN YOUR DEATH.

Do you really want it to come down to that?

Email questions-
"Thanks for the great site. I like the depth that you cover each topic. What supplies would you recommend stocking with the items you mentioned in 59 and 60? I watched the videos they are great. Is that you?"

Editor's Response-  No that's not me, that's "Dave from Idaho" a close friend of ours.
The videos he is referring to are listed here-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW7_cTn6YpE&feature=related

We will answer some of your questions below.


Food storage basics part III copyright 2008 Robert Henry

Last time we covered a basic supply consisting of whole grains, legumes, salt, sugar, cooking oil and multivitamins. This basic supply (see blog "Volume 60") WILL sustain life and is able at this time (mid Feb 2008) to be put together for around $.70 cents a day. At that price absolutely NO ONE has an excuse why not to have food storage, that's right NO ONE.

After this basic supply is put away, it's important to look at ways to round out the supply. My advice is to first round out this basic supply, then after a more comprehensive year supply is acquired, add another year or two of the basic grains.

Why another year or two of basic grains? Growing vegetables is possible even with limited land,  fruit trees are easily kept with a small amount of annual maintenance, but growing grains on a scale that is necessary to feed a decent size family takes a LOT of land. In our experience it isn't entirely impossible to grow and put up a year's worth of fruits and vegetables, but the grains are a challenge. Here again, I'm talking about the next step- growing and preserving enough of your own food to make it from year to year.

THAT should be the ultimate goal of every survivalist with a decent amount of land.

Our "basic" supply we've already outlined is going to be deficient in two main areas- protein and fresh foods. Now you can sprout the wheat and lentils for fresh foods and vitamin C. You can also make gluten steaks from the wheat for a protein. Also the combination of the grains and legumes make a complete protein, but that protein is not in large enough levels needed for the body. In other words, you'd have to eat 5 lbs or more a day of rice and beans to get a sufficient amount of protein from it.

Clearly, additional protein sources should be considered for your basic supply.

Several options exist here for additional protein sources- dry milk, whole eggs, protein powder, peanut butter powder, Textured vegetable proteins (TVP's), freeze dried real meats and MRE meat products.


Starting off with our add ons- dehydrated milk would be my #1 concern. I've tried many times over the last 20 years to put up my own dry milk from the grocery store. The results are usually very disappointing and definitely not something that will store long term. Certain products like powdered milk, tomato powder, butter powder, cheese powder, etc. are very hydroscopic. They almost "suck" the moisture out of the air.

For this reason I suggest you put up dry milk that's only been commercially packed in #10 cans. Ditto with tomato powder, cheese powders, butter and margarine powder, any product that is reduced to a powder form ought to be purchased already pre-packed in #10 cans.

A minimum to consider would be one case (six #10 cans) of dry milk per person per year. Again, these are minimums, personally I would double that even though as a family we don't drink much milk.

There's a lot of arguments regarding milk in general but also the nutritional merits of dry milk. I weaned myself off of regular milk drinking about 12 years ago now. These are personal decisions you have to make, I can't make them for you.  Even if you were totally against milk, I would keep some on hand for baking use.

Besides the long term storage options for dry milk, there is a another option. In the Mexican section of most grocery stores now you will find "Nido" brand dry milk in 2 1/2 size cans. We've tried a fair amount of this milk in the last year and find it to be good tasting (keep in mind we are used to dry milk). This would be a good local option for obtaining dry milk, but plan on rotating it within 3-5 years.

One of the best uses of dry milk is to mix protein powders in with it. This is a great way to add protein to a mostly vegetarian diet. Here again, we aren't here to debate which one is the "best" just to give you recommendations for things to store.

Having lived on a near meatless diet for a considerable amount of time I can tell you that it IS possible, provided you use common sense. These protein items we will discuss can help you with that.

Dehydrated eggs are still relatively inexpensive when you consider the amount of eggs per can. I generally recommend WHOLE EGGS versus egg whites or scrambling egg mix. Scrambling egg mix usually contains some milk product. I've never understood this because milk is not essential in making scrambled eggs. I guess if you like runny scrambled eggs, you would probably appreciate some milk in with the eggs. Whole eggs can be scrambled or used in recipes requiring eggs. Here again, buying these pre-packed in #10 cans is the only way to go for long term storage.

Something like this package would be a great add on-

http://www.jrhenterprises.com/product.sc?categoryId=16&productId=190


Texturized vegetable protein products, commonly called TVP's, offer yet another way to inexpensive get protein into your food storage. Most people cringe at the thought of this, not having a lot of experience with this sort of food. TVP is a soy based meat substitute. You've probably experienced this food before in "Bacon Bits" or when it's added in with regular meat at fast food restaurants to cut there expenses.

Now some people do have real and legitimate allergies to TVP. Other than that, by far most of the complaints you hear about TVP are non-sense. We use various types of TVP on a daily basis at our home. Usually when we are making our rice some TVP is added into the water before the rice is put in. Even a small serving adds in a considerable amount of protein and a fair amount of extra calories. The oil adds calories to the rice also.

The problem most people have is that they are too used to real meat. Americans want to eat a huge slab of meat at nearly every meal. Why? So when they hear something is a "meat substitute" they expect it to take the place of a 20 oz. sirloin! We regularly use Bacon and Taco tvp at home and have for the better part of a decade. The imitation/generic Bacon bits you can buy at walmart will store for a few years in there original packaging. For true long term storage, I would consider at least 1-2 cans of TVP per person per year.

To get "true" meats in your long term storage you have essentially two options: Freeze dried real meats or retort packed meal ready to eat type meal products.

Mountain House offers freeze dried real meats to include beef, chicken, pork and even seafood items. These can be expensive to purchase but it's necessary to consider the FUTURE VALUE of these products when you rotate them 10 or 15 years from now. I can remember "treating myself" 15 years ago by buying a New York Strip steak at the grocery store for about $4.00  I happened to look at similiar steaks about a year ago and had sticker shock from the price, it had more than doubled! So keep in mind with these long term storage products that you are also paying for the LONGEVITY of the product. How much will that meat be worth 20 years from now when environmentalists require a $500. permit to slaughter an animal? Stupider things have happened.....





Currently (March 08) there is a MAJOR rush going on with long term storage foods, both dehydrated and freeze dried. Therefore it's imperative that you understand that prices are and likely will continue to increase. Lead times for factory fresh food will increase also. If you waited this long to order food, you have no reason to complain about lead times, you should have done this long ago. Grain prices have increased on average about 30% in the last year. This will affect not only the price you pay for wheat, it will also eventually affect the price you pay for eggs, dairy products and meat. Therefore it would be my priority to purchase in that order- grains- eggs- dairy products- meat items.

We will cover more add ons next go around, suffice to say I hope, take that back, I PRAY that if you have no serious food stocks for your family, that you are taking this information seriously and most importantly ACTING ON IT. Remember forward motion lends itself to more forward motion. Doing something is always better than doing nothing. "Plans", "research" and dreams of winning the lottery are NOT going to feed your family. Only your concerted effort to put up a quantity of food is going to do that. PLEASE do it today.

RH