The Church’s Guidelines for Food Storage

Every time I go to a food storage class, I get overwhelmed. There is SO much that a person can do to be prepared for a number of scary situations: loss of job, natural disaster, zombie apocalypse, you name it. There are many good members of the Church with lots of food storage lining their shelves and under their beds. I am not one of those people yet. However, I want to invite you, if you’re ready, for the challenge of undertaking the long term food supply. The Church actually gives pretty simple guidelines to follow.

Key Components of Food Storage

To summarize what lds.org says we need in our food storage (http://www.lds.org/topics/food-storage):

1. Three-month supply. (Check!) If you’ve been following this blog, you could easily have one by now. If you don’t, then don’t go anywhere yet. The three-month supply is probably the cheapest and easiest to establish, no matter how little space or money you have. That’s why I tackled it first.
2. Drinking water. I won’t be writing about this one since it’s pretty self-explanatory. Here’s the full page about drinking water:
   https://www.lds.org/topics/food-storage/drinking-water-guidelines?lang=eng&old=true
3. Financial reserve. Again, self-explanatory. Read here for the full page about finances: http://www.lds.org/topics/finances?lang=eng
4. Longer-term food supply: foods that have a 30-year shelf life and will keep us alive. Read the full page here:
   https://www.lds.org/topics/food-storage/longer-term-food-supply?lang=eng&old=true

Don’t I Need More?

Isn’t this list short, sweet, and to the point? There are a multitude of things NOT mentioned. It doesn’t mean that they aren’t great to have, but the Church does NOT require it of us. Here’s why:

We encourage members worldwide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings. We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve.

All is Safely Gathered In

It’s going to take lots of planning, time, and money to get a long-term supply. That’s okay. I hope that anyone who reads my next posts will be able to take courage that this is a possible feat even if it takes a long time to accomplish.

Update in 2019: We spent a few years building up our financial reserve and now have our long term storage! See posts under the label “long term storage” for more information.