An Emergency Food Storage Plan: Getting Started

Have you thought about gathering an emergency food storage stash in your home? In the case of a job layoff, natural disaster, crop shortage, power outage or other crisis, having thought ahead could make a huge difference for your family and allow you to continue to eat well even with limited funds or lessened food availability.

I've been reading Making the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook and it's an excellent resource. If you feel overwhelmed, start with the LDS food storage calculator, which is very simple. However, the amounts seem to be a bit less than the recommendations in Making the Best of Basics.

With the rising price of grain, building an emergency food storage is more expensive than it used to be, but possibly cheaper than it will be for some time. The key is to buy whole natural foods, in bulk, at the best price you can find. My mother-in-law bought my wheat in Kentucky because it is $10 cheaper per 50-lb. bag there than it is where I live. I found bulk peanut butter online, and bought it at $2.20/lb. before finding it at Trader Joe's for $1.69/lb.

I found bulk coconut oil and other natural products at Wilderness Family Naturals, which I recommend. Definitely go for a quality oil rather than cheap soybean oil which will NOT nourish your family. The five-gallon expeller pressed coconut oil is an excellent buy. Shop around and build your reserves up; you'll never know when you might need it most.

Want to get started on your own emergency food storage? Here's an in-depth primer: How to Store Food for Long-Term Survival.

Staying Healthy with Raw Milk

It's almost December, and thankfully, none of the five of us -- two adults and three children under age 5 -- has even had a cold yet.

The secret is the raw, organic milk.

Kevin has a bit of a runny nose, but he gets that when he's teething. Otherwise, we are blessed with robust health that I do not take for granted.

We drink six gallons of raw milk each week. If money were no object, we'd consume eight or nine... maybe make yogurt out of some of it, but probably drink it before I would have the chance, if I know my family.

Megan likes to flex her little arms and say "I'm SOOOO strong! 'Cause I drink raw milk!" The funniest part is that she is naturally very petite, so to hear her say that she is getting "So HUGE!" from consuming the delicious superfood makes me smile. I don't disapoint her, however, as I reply that she is so big, she's going to be taller than Mama soon.

Minimally Processed Meals? Local Food Sources? What a Concept!

By Maria August 2nd, 2007
I noticed this online article while checking my email the other day:Faux Food: Is It Still Cheese? A decent article in the mainstream media … people are catching on. While it lacks depth, it does present a springboard for the average consumer. I doubt it would in any way enlighten Nourished magazine’s readers, but it could be a good link to share with those who still eat processed grocery store foods. Unfortunately, the article still considers juice an OK beverage, even though it is empty calories–basically zil nutrition.
On the positive side, they give some very basic, good advice:~ Look for foods around the perimeter of the supermarket: fresh and frozen produce, fish, meats, dairy products.~ Avoid foods with “partially hydrogenated oil”
Linked from this article was one on Sources for Local Food — buying directly from farmers — how exciting to see this concept making inroads in the general population! The article suggests visiting local farms and farmer’s market, a concept that may be new to many mainstream readers.
Later today, I will be taking the children down to the orchard a few miles outside our town for an afternoon of peach-picking. This tradition is always part of our summer and they look forward to the ripe, juicy fruit. It’s wonderful for them to see the fruit come from its natural enticing environment and not the austere grocery shelves. We will talk with the family that has run the farm for the last 100 years and connect with our food producers directly. If only all of our food came to us this way.

Introduction

By Maria
June 17th, 2007
Hello! I am an at-home mother of three beautiful children. My husband and I were both raised on farms for a portion of our childhoods, but our own journey to a more natural way of life began when we had our first child at a birthing center and in ernest about a year ago when we read Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions and began drinking raw milk.
We are currently reading “Deep Economy” “Little House on a Small Planet” and several other books that continue to challenge our philosophies and inspire our way of life.We are renovating a cabin in the Shenandoah Valley area, which is smaller than our current home, and hope to move in the Spring. We look forward to embarking on a more simple lifestyle and eventually, owning a farm and growing our own food.
(Note: I am moving my first few posts over from my old blog site, thus the different dates.)