A long term food storage plan can give you peace of mind and strengthen your food security whether you are preparing for inflation, food shortages, disasters, economic instability, or a long, dark winter.
Freezers fail. Power outages happen. Some of your long term food storage should be food that is shelf stable and can be stored at room temperature.
But, even shelf stable food degrades over time. Dried beans take longer to reconstitute. Rice and wheat lose some of their flavor and nutrients.
Canned food has a shelf life of around a year to 2 years. (Seals are only guaranteed for 2 years) Home dried food 2 to 3 years. Dried fruit generally lasts longer in food storage than dried veggies, as the natural sugars in the fruit act as a preservative.
Freeze dried food can last up to 25 years if properly stored.
HOW LONG DO YOU NEED YOUR DRIED FOOD TO LAST?
If you are planning for short term emergency use, simply rotate the food you are already buying so that you keep the freshest food at the back. And use the older food first. If you plan to preserve your garden for winter, plan to diversify your food preservation methods this year, so that some of it can be relied on for long term storage. If you need food security ideas beyond storage, check out these solutions to food insecurity too.
The following is for planning long term food storage beyond the typical one to two year shelf life of canned or dried food.
VACUUM SEAL AND USE OXYGEN ABSORBERS
To increase the storage life of dried or freeze dried food store in vacuum sealed bags or cans with an oxygen absorber. Store the vacuum sealed bags in a bin, bucket, or can to protect from insects and vermin. This alone can increase the shelf life of properly dried foods for up to 10 years.
Oxygen absorbers prevent oxidization by absorbing the oxygen in a sealed storage container. Use 300 cc for up to 1 gallon of food. Use 2000 cc for a 5 gallon bucket. When using oxygen absorbers, food should be stored in a sealed container or a sealed bag. Reseal your oxygen absorber bag each time you removed an oxygen absorber, to keep them viable. Once used, they cannot be reused.
PLAN YOUR FOOD STORAGE
When planning, rather than storing 25 pounds of beans in one bucket or bin and 50 pounds of rice in another, put smaller portions of beans and smaller portions of rice (for instance) along with veggies, fruit, spices, and salt in each can or bucket, so you don’t have to hunt for your food in an emergency (less stress). Food that you plan to use within 2 years can be vacuum sealed in glass jars with an oxygen absorber. (My preferred method). For longer term storage you’ll want to use mylar bags and oxygen absorbers.
When stored properly with oxygen absorbers, in a cool dry place, food can last 15 to 25 years.
Beans become harder to reconstitute over time. Seeds, like wheat, may no longer sprout. But both can be eaten safely. For best results, plan to rotate your long term food storage, eating some of it and replacing it over time.
STORE WHAT YOU EAT
Only store what your family actually eats. Plan to store staples like dried rice and beans rather than Kraft dinner and rice-a-roni type food. Learn to cook from scratch, if you don’t already. Practice using what you store, so that in an emergency you don’t feel lost in the kitchen.
Be sure to store herbs and spices so that you can make delicious food that your family loves. These too, can be stored in small mylar bags or vacuum sealed with oxygen absorbers in glass jars.
Use a mineral rich salt like Celtic sea salt or Himalayan pink salt. Salt and sugar need no special treatment. They are already shelf stable.
DON’T BUY PREPACKAGED EMERGENCY FOODS
Beware of freeze dried food companies that try to sell you a year’s supply of food for huge amounts of money. In most cases the “meat” is texturized vegetable protein (made from soy and/or wheat gluten and a lot of chemicals). The one year long term food storage contains a lot of sugary drink mixes, and other non-nutrient filler calories to boost the calorie ration to 2000 calories per person per day.
Most of the food in these is not freeze dried but rather dehydrated. What you are paying for is for someone else to do the planning and preparation for you and then can it in #10 tins.
Once the tin is opened the food needs to be used within a few months or repackaged with fresh oxygen absorbers in glass jars or mylar bags.
You can find real chicken and beef, freeze dried in #10 cans at Costco. It is expensive but not as expensive as the aforementioned food packages.
To can meat, poultry, or fish you must use a pressure canner. Shelf life is 2 years, due to the possibility of the seals failing.
Lean meat can be freeze dried at home for long term food storage if you own a freeze drier.
MAKE ORGANIC FOOD A PRIORITY
For long term food storage choose organic foods if possible. Non organic will contain pesticides and herbicide residues that break down overtime into toxic byproducts, many of which are xenoestrogens and endocrine disruptors, which are carcinogenic.
Organic food is just less chemicals, an already stressed body needs to deal with.
MEDICINAL HERBS
Medicinal herbs should be part of your long term food storage plan. Dried herbs generally have a 1 year shelf life, though it does vary depending on the herb. Herbs can be freeze dried, dried, or tinctured in alcohol for long term storage. Tinctures last indefinitely if stored in colored glass bottles, and protected from light and heat.
(Infused oils have the shelf life of the oil used for the infusion. To extend the shelf life of infused oils, use an oil with a longer shelf life, such as jojoba.)
The shelf life of dried herbs can be extended by storing in vacuum sealed glass jars or Mylar bags with an oxygen absorber. Store herbs in smaller portions because once the bag is open the herbs will begin to degrade. A rule of thumb, if the color is still vibrant and the herb smells fresh, it is medicinally active.
Planned resilience
There is evidence of supply chain break downs and weather events that are signalling a decreased harvest this year in many parts of the world. But your local area will likely continue to have fresh fruits, veggies, and staples for a few more months as the farm harvests come in. Take advantage of these local sources of food now, and preserve for winter. And for food security, make some of your winter food storage shelf stable and suitable for long term food storage.
Thanks for the ideas and tips! In my area are some Amish. One family we are getting to know said they can almost everything. But this Amish community is allowed to use gas generators for a few thing, so they also dehydrate some things, and I’m sure they probably have a root cellar for apples, potatoes, carrots, etc.