The Most Frequently Asked Questions about Home Production and Storage
What is a good way of knowing what you have on hand?
Inventories are most important when a family has a complete food storage program that includes rotation. First, tabulate what the family needs. Often the foods are labeled by date and arranged into categories such as those that supply mainly calories (e.g., fats and sugars), those that supply mainly protein (e.g., meats, eggs, and cheese), and those that supply vitamins and minerals (e.g., fruits and vegetables). Second, when a category has been partially depleted through rotation, it may be replaced with a different food that serves the same general function. This type of flexibility lets a family take advantage of seasonal fluctuations in price and availability.
Taking inventory is a good way of inspecting the quality of the food. It also makes the food storage program a living, flexible program that can change with the needs and likes of the family.
What is the best method of storing seeds? How long do they last?
How can we store needed medicines?
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What are the common problems in storing powdered milk, and how do you avoid them?
Powdered milk must be rotated, even if you package and store it correctly. Powdered milk will store well at 70 ° F. for twelve months and at 40 ° F. for twenty-four months—but only for three months at 90° F. The short storage time is due to a chemical reaction involving certain amino acids in the milk protein (lysine and arginine) which react with the milk sugar, lactose. This reaction reduces the protein quality. Lowering the storage temperature slows this chemical reaction and preserves the protein quality longer.
Powdered milk tends to absorb moisture from the air and become lumpy. If the moisture content of the milk is too high, the flavor and odor will change. Consequently, it should be stored in a moisture-proof container.
Powdered milk will store for extended periods of time in a vacuum or in a nitrogen atmosphere, but we don’t know exactly how long it will be good. That depends on the moisture and oxygen in the sealed can. These factors, in turn, depend on the techniques used in sealing the can.
Powdered milk may be purchased in both instant and regular forms. Both forms are processed in the same manner, but the instant powdered milk receives an additional step known as agglomeration. According to USDA Handbook No. 456, Nutritive Value of American Foods, there is no nutritional difference between the two products. If both forms are stored in moisture-proof containers, the storage life would be equivalent.
What should you do if your wheat is infested with insects? How do you guard against insect infestation?
I have heard that wheat should not be stored in chemically treated garbage bags. Is it true that they’re dangerous?
What is the best kind of wheat to store and the best method of storing it?
Hard wheat is best for making bread, and it should contain 12 to 15 percent protein. Soft wheat contains only 6 to 10 percent protein, but it will make a tender, cakey bread and other food products. Whatever kind you purchase, it should be clean and dry (10 percent moisture or less). The supplier should be willing to verify low moisture, protein content, cleanliness, and absence of living insects.
After purchase, the wheat should be placed in a sturdy, moisture-proof container. Since there may already be insect eggs present that will hatch in due time, the stored wheat should be checked periodically for signs of insects. Wheat should be stored in a cool, dry place.
How can I dry my own fruit?
Good drying fruits are apples, peaches, apricots, pears, plums, prunes, cherries, figs, grapes, and berries (except strawberries). Apples, pears, and peaches are usually peeled, cored, and/or pitted and sliced.
Apricots, plums, and prunes are pitted and cut in half, and cherries are just pitted. Berries should be steamed and grapes (use only seedless varieties) blanched before drying. Fruits can be sulfured or dipped in a sodium bisulfate solution (1 1/2 tablespoons sodium bisulfate per gallon of water) to preserve the color. Fruits may be dried in (1) sunlight; (2) the oven, at 150° F.; or (3) a dehydrator. After sun drying, products should be placed one-inch deep in a tray and heated in an oven at 175° F. for fifteen minutes. After drying, fruits should be sealed in containers and stored in a cool, dry area.
Detailed information on drying fruits and vegetables can be obtained from local sources, such as universities and government agencies.
How do you test the quality of sealed storage foods you would like to purchase?
Are dehydrated foods acceptable?
What are good substitutes for those who live in tropical or semitropical climates?
What are the basic food storage items, and how much of each of them is needed to last the average person a year?
Why is there so much emphasis on home gardening and production? These things are so time-consuming and troublesome. Hasn’t mass production proved to be cheaper and much more efficient?
There are several reasons.
First, from the time that the early Saints moved West right down to the present, home production has been encouraged in the spirit of our knowing how to be self-reliant. The issue is not purely economics or preparation for emergencies, either; it reaches deeper into life than that. There are a great many satisfactions in self-reliance and provident living.
First, from the time that the early Saints moved West right down to the present, home production has been encouraged in the spirit of our knowing how to be self-reliant. The issue is not purely economics or preparation for emergencies, either; it reaches deeper into life than that. There are a great many satisfactions in self-reliance and provident living.
Second, although it may cost more in terms of time, effort, and sometimes even money to produce certain necessities, it is cheaper in the long run because it is the beginning of self-reliance and independence. It will enable us to help ourselves and our neighbors during times of trouble.
Third, these activities keep alive the skills necessary for our survival in times of emergency. By and large we are no longer an agrarian society that could turn back to the soil and begin right away to make a living for ourselves. Many, many beginners in home gardening, for example, can testify to that! Learning these skills once again is very reassuring, as well as satisfying.
Finally, President Kimball recently said, “I remember when the sisters used to say, ‘Well, but we could buy it at the store a lot cheaper than we can put it up.’ But that isn’t quite the answer, is it? … Because there will come a time when there isn’t any store.” (April 1974 Welfare Session.)
Should students or those who move around a lot or those who live in small apartments try to store food and other supplies?
What can members of the Church do in countries where food storage is unlawful?
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Why do we need a year’s supply? Doesn’t the Church have production projects to take care of its members?
A year’s supply costs a lot of money—money I don’t have right now. Since it is important that my family does have a year’s supply, should I borrow enough money to get it right now?
What exactly are our responsibilities in the area of home production and storage?
Responsibility for the well-being of members of the Church lies first with the individual, then with the family, and last of all with the Church. In keeping with this principle, our families should seek to become self-reliant and independent in home production and storage by:
1. Producing food on our own property, and also producing appropriate nonfood necessities of life wherever that is practical.
2. Learning the best methods of preserving that which we produce.
3. Properly storing whatever we have, using the methods that are best suited to our areas. The Church recommends that we store at least a year’s supply of food and clothing, and, where possible, fuel. A supply of water is also important. The food we store should be appropriate to our diets, beginning with the basics and adding what we are able to from there. (See Ensign, May 1976, pp. 116–18; November 1976, pp. 121–22.)4. Using what we have in an appropriate manner, practicing thrift and avoiding waste.
How much would the Church be able to help its members in case of widespread disaster or economic collapse? Would the bishops storehouses be able to take care of everybody?
How does home production and storage fit into the Church’s personal and family preparedness program?
Like all other major programs of the Church, preparedness is centered in the individual and the family. Its central concept is one of provident living, not just reaction to emergencies. Home production is one of six important elements of the personal and family preparedness program (see diagram):
1. Literacy and Education.
The prepared person reads, writes, and does basic mathematics; regularly studies the scriptures and other good books; and uses local resources to teach these skills and habits to all family members. Parents and children should take advantage of public and other educational opportunities.
The prepared person reads, writes, and does basic mathematics; regularly studies the scriptures and other good books; and uses local resources to teach these skills and habits to all family members. Parents and children should take advantage of public and other educational opportunities.
2. Career Development
Each head of a household should select a suitable vocation or profession and pursue appropriate training. Each young person should receive counsel to help him select a career that will satisfy family economic needs and provide personal satisfaction.
3. Financial and Resource Management.
The prepared person should establish financial goals, pay tithes and offerings, avoid debt, wisely use and preserve economic resources, and save during times of production for times of nonproduction.4. Home Production and Storage.
Each person or family should produce as much as possible through gardening, and as much as appropriate through sewing and making household items. Each person and family should learn techniques of home canning, freezing, and drying foods, and where legally permitted should store and save a one-year supply of food, clothing, and, if possible, fuel.
Each person or family should produce as much as possible through gardening, and as much as appropriate through sewing and making household items. Each person and family should learn techniques of home canning, freezing, and drying foods, and where legally permitted should store and save a one-year supply of food, clothing, and, if possible, fuel.
5. Physical Health.
Every member should obey the Word of Wisdom and practice sound principles of nutrition, physical fitness, weight control, immunization, environmental quality and sanitation, mother and child health, accident prevention, dental health, and medical care. In addition, each member should acquire appropriate health-related skills in first aid and safety, home nursing, and food selection and preparation
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Every member should obey the Word of Wisdom and practice sound principles of nutrition, physical fitness, weight control, immunization, environmental quality and sanitation, mother and child health, accident prevention, dental health, and medical care. In addition, each member should acquire appropriate health-related skills in first aid and safety, home nursing, and food selection and preparation
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6. Social-Emotional and Spiritual Strength.
Each person should build spiritual strength to meet life’s challenges and stresses with confidence and stability by learning to love God and communicate with him in personal prayer, by learning to love and serve his neighbor, and by learning to love and respect himself through righteous living and self-mastery. Each family should understand that social and emotional strength is a blessing that results from spiritual growth through obedience to revealed principles of family living.
Each person should build spiritual strength to meet life’s challenges and stresses with confidence and stability by learning to love God and communicate with him in personal prayer, by learning to love and serve his neighbor, and by learning to love and respect himself through righteous living and self-mastery. Each family should understand that social and emotional strength is a blessing that results from spiritual growth through obedience to revealed principles of family living.
If fathers and mothers will actively plan and prepare their families in all these areas, great strength in the proper balance can result—for the Church as well as the family. Families will not only be prepared for emergencies, but their ability to husband resources, to exercise wise stewardship, to prevent problems, and to make the best of everyday living will also be enhanced.
Personal and family preparedness is the key to self-reliance and family integrity in the Church’s total welfare program.
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