It’s true: you will probably miss fresh fruits and veggies while living on food storage. However, that’s no reason not to have some alternatives stored up. It’s still entirely possible to eat 2-3 servings of fruit a day, even with nothing fresh available. Though there aren’t any fruits that will keep for 3 months in the fridge, have no fear! Storing fruit is pretty easy because of all the options.
Frozen
I don’t have the freezer space for 3 months of smoothie materials, but I do have the space for a big bag of frozen strawberries and some bananas. That, plus some yogurt, is all I need for a good smoothie. Frozen strawberries and smoothie medleys are the cheapest frozen fruits out there.
Canned
I recommend choosing your 3 favorite fruits that come canned. Ours are peaches, pears, and pineapple. (I keep fruit cocktail too but I don’t like it at all.) I get fruit canned in juice where possible. My kids actually enjoy drinking the juice, so I save it. Update in 2019: I also store applesauce that I canned myself. Family and neighbors gave us apples for free. Applesauce is great for both eating and baking.
Juice
All I have are a little bottle of lime juice and a big bottle of lemon. We don’t drink any juice, and storing it in the freezer takes up valuable space. Even if you drink juice on a normal basis, I would recommend against storing 3 months of it in your freezer or pantry.
Dried
These are pretty shelf-stable. We only have raisins, but dried apples are pretty cheap as well. Everything else costs a fortune. Remember that only a few tablespoons of dried fruit is a serving of fruit. I most enjoy raisins when mixed in with granola. In the future, you may have an option of drying your own fruit. It always tastes better, but it’s only cheaper if you got some really cheap fruit to begin with (like picking it straight from your yard or an orchard.)
