In recent years, numerous individuals have faced challenges such as a pandemic, natural disasters, and shortages throughout the nation. Presently, it is crucial for people from diverse backgrounds to contemplate methods of gaining authority over their food provisions.
In the context of long-term food storage, there is no singular solution that fits every situation.
There are numerous factors to consider before embarking on the complex task of storing food for an extended period. Achieving success in long-term food storage begins with careful planning and ideally culminates in a fully stocked pantry.
Why Store a Year’s Worth of Food
If you are unsure about why you want to begin storing food for a long time, here are a few reasons to help you make a decision. Everyone has their own reasons for choosing to stock their pantries for an extended period.
- Save Time – Storing food whether it be for a week, a month or a year will help save you time in the long run. Having food stored on hand will minimize the time you spend at stores, and in some cases minimize the time it takes to prepare meals.
- Save Money – When you buy items in bulk you are saving money because most times the price per unit is lower than when purchased individually. Growing your own produce can save money as well, you are paying for the cost of seeds or transplants.
- Emergencies – Emergencies can be natural disasters, a pandemic, the loss of a job, or a major injury. Many things can fall into this category. Having your food stored long-term means that you will have less to worry about at the time something like this occurs.
- Environmental Friendly – Buying things in bulk and preserving uses less packaging and causes less waste. Canning jars can be used over and over again, and there are now reusable lid alternatives.
Where to Begin When Storing a Year’s Worth of Food
If you have made the choice to assume responsibility for your food security and want to try storing food for an extended period, I recommend starting with a small-scale approach. Numerous individuals make the error of diving headfirst into long-term food storage, only to find themselves overwhelmed and dealing with wasted food.
Tips Before You Start Storing Food:
- Don’t try storing an entire year’s worth of food from scratch. Start small: plan for 1 month of storage and then build from there.
- Keep track of your inventory and storage space.
- Buying in bulk can save you time and money.
- Store a few key ingredients at a time in bulk, and then move on to a different one.
- If you have never preserved your own food, ease into it. Don’t depend on home-preserved food entirely until you have learned the ins and outs.
- If buying fresh produce in bulk, buy in-season to help reduce the cost.
- Have a Plan! Figure out what food you will store, how much you will need, and how you will store it.
How to Create a Customized Plan to Store a Year’s Worth of Food
Prior to purchasing or organizing your storage items, it is important to begin with a plan. Having a plan will assist you in getting organized and avoiding feeling overwhelmed. Take a pencil and paper, and dedicate some time to writing down all the necessary details.
Creating Your Customized Food Storage Plan:
To initiate a successful plan, begin by establishing achievable goals and gaining a clear understanding of the desired outcome. Commence by documenting your immediate and future objectives, as well as identifying the driving force behind your actions.
1) Begin by documenting your family’s eating habits and take note of what recipes and foods they consume most frequently. The objective is to prioritize the storage of items that align with your family’s preferences.
(3) You need to consider the amount of storage space available to you in order to store a year’s worth of food. Additionally, you should determine if additional storage space can be created if necessary.
Begin the food storage process by first examining the contents of your pantry, freezer, and root cellar (if applicable) to determine what items are currently available. Remove all items from these storage areas, evaluate which ones you regularly use, and identify any that can be discarded. After organizing your pantry and freezer, create a simple inventory sheet, using a lined piece of paper, to record the items you have and those you still need.
When planning, one should determine whether they will grow their own produce, raise meat, preserve food themselves, or purchase everything from a store. It is possible to do all of these things or choose only a few. If one can only raise chickens but desires farm-fresh produce, they can visit a farmers’ market. The variety of combinations and options available emphasizes the importance of customizing the plan to suit one’s specific situation.
Organizing and Creating Your Long-term Storage Space
In order to ensure you have enough storage space for your food in the long run, it is important to prioritize this before considering what and how much to store. As part of your planning, you should have compiled a list of available storage areas and assessed your current inventory. Now it is time to proceed with constructing, tidying, and arranging these spaces.
You don’t have to stick to the usual when considering storage space; instead, make use of what you already have and tap into your creativity. Still skeptical? Take a look at the different storage spots in my home featured in the above YouTube video.
When determining the amount of space you have to store a year’s worth of food, take into account various places where you can store your food items.
Different Storage Space Ideas to Consider:
- Cupboards
- Pantry /Larder
- Root Cellar
- Closets
- Basements
- Extra Refrigerator
- Freezer
- Outbuildings
To ensure clear organization in the future, it is important to label your containers when breaking down larger storage areas into smaller ones.
Containers to Help Organize Your Storage Space:
- Baskets
- Crates
- Totes
- Boxes
- Shelves
- Glass Jars
- Food Grade Buckets
After determining the exact amount of space available for storage, it is necessary to determine the quantity of food that your family needs to store. Is the storage space adequate for the required amount of food? Let’s ascertain that!
What Food Should You Store for Your Family?
When storing food for a long time, one common mistake that people often make is obtaining non-perishable items without considering whether they will be consumed. As previously stated, it is crucial to prioritize storing food that your family will consume, as this will help avoid wastage of food in the future.
After documenting your plan as mentioned earlier, you jotted down preferred recipes and examined the foods that your family regularly consumes. Presently, it is necessary to dissect these recipes and create simplified lists of ingredients. By doing so, you will be prepared for future purchases or preservation needs.
If you are purchasing most of your food supplies, it is important to prioritize items with a lengthy shelf-life such as canned goods, pasta, rice, and dried beans. It is undesirable to accumulate perishable items that might spoil quickly.
TIPS FOR STORING DRY FOOD
CLEAN, DRY, COOL, AND DARK
Oxygen, light, humidity, and heat are the primary causes for the spoilage of dry food.
To maintain food freshness for a longer period, it is recommended to keep it within the temperature range of 50-70 degrees F.
Situations to avoid include having a pantry located near an oven and placing glass jars on an open shelf in close proximity to a window.
It may seem obvious, but ensuring that your storage area is free from dust and pests is crucial to keeping your stored food safe for an extended period of time.
KEEP IT AIRTIGHT
For long-term dry storage, it is advisable to use airtight containers. The duration of the food’s preservation increases as its exposure to oxygen decreases.
Glass containers or Tupperware plastic containers are ideal for frequently consumed food and smaller items like seeds or nuts. It is important to ensure that the lids are properly closed or tightened.
Mylar bags or pail containers are great choices for preserving bulk foods such as beans, grains, and flour for an extended period. They offer effective protection against oxygen, light, moisture, and insects.
When you open your pail containers, you can use a gamma seal lid to make it easier to access the contents while still keeping the bucket sealed.
AN EXTRA LAYER OF PROTECTION
The purpose of using oxygen absorbers is to eliminate oxygen from a sealed space, thereby establishing a nitrogen environment for extended food preservation.
Dry foods are protected from insect damage and their quality is preserved by them.
If there were any remaining eggs, to prevent infestations, you can add a scoop of Perma-Guard’s Diatomaceous Earth, a natural insecticide, to your stored food.
This ingredient, found in nature, has the ability to instantly eliminate any insects and may also assist in mold prevention.
STORE WHAT YOU EAT & PRACTICE FIFO
Purchasing in large quantities can be both a significant time-saving method and a cost-effective solution. However, it is also unwise to invest in vast quantities of wheat berries if it is not a product that you consume frequently.
Make sure to have a good supply of the foods that your family frequently consumes and make note of the items you possess.
In order to maintain the same meaning, practice the FIFO concept by placing products that have been newly purchased at the back and finishing the oldest containers first.
DAVID, OUR FOOD STORAGE EXPERT, EXPLAINS IT ALL
DRY FOODS SHELF LIFE
The given time frames are the typical shelf life for different dry pantry goods, but they may vary based on storage conditions and circumstances. By purchasing and utilizing airtight containers, certain items such as beans and rice can remain edible for several years if not opened.
BEANS & LENTILS
If stored properly in airtight containers and under optimal conditions, most dried beans and lentils can last indefinitely without spoiling.
Beans and legumes have the advantage of retaining their protein and mineral value over time. Nevertheless, their vitamin properties may diminish after a period of two years.
Beans
Beans can stay fresh for up to 3 years when stored in a pantry or airtight containers such as mason jars. In the freezer, their freshness is indefinite. It is important to label your storage containers or freezer bags with the initial stored date regardless of which option you select.
If you cook beans for longer, they will lose their moisture after 2 years. To make them softer, you can add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda to every 500 grams of beans while cooking.
Lentils
Lentils can remain in their original packaging for a maximum of 1 year, in airtight containers for 3 years, and indefinitely when frozen. Similar to beans, the lentils will experience a decrease in their vitamin content with time, but their carbohydrate and protein values will remain intact.
RICE, PASTA & FLOUR
When stored correctly and kept dry, grains such as rice, oats, wheat, barley, and cornmeal can last you a good while and are some of the best staples to have in your pantry.
Rice
Brown and wild rice can be stored in your pantry for a period of 6-8 months, and in the fridge for 8-12 months. In contrast, white rice has a longer shelf life, lasting 3 to 5 years.
Oats
If you transfer oats from their cardboard box to an airtight container, they can last up to 3 years. To prevent mold problems, add silica gel packets or oxygen absorbers to your containers if you reside in a humid region.
Quinoa
When stored correctly, it can last up to 3 years in the pantry or fridge.
Pasta
Dry pasta, spaghetti, and macaroni do not have an expiration date, but they will deteriorate in quality as time passes.
If stored in airtight containers in a pantry, unopened dried pasta can remain usable for up to 2 years, while opened dried pasta can last for up to 1 year. The storage temperature in the fridge or freezer does not affect the durability of dried pasta.
Flour
Flour has a maximum shelf life of 6 months in the pantry if kept in its original paper bag. However, transferring it to airtight containers can extend its freshness for 6-10 months.
By freezing them, all grains such as oats, flour, and rice can be preserved indefinitely, and any insect eggs that may cause potential infestations will also be eliminated.
NUTS, SEEDS & DRIED FRUIT
Nuts
Except for pecans, pistachios, and walnuts, which will stay fresh for between 3-6 months, most nuts can last up to 9 months in the pantry if stored correctly.
Nuts, when stored in the refrigerator, can remain fresh for a period of one year, and if frozen, can last for up to two years. It is worth noting that whole, raw, and unshelled nuts generally have a longer shelf life.
It’s advisable to keep your nuts separate from strong-smelling foods like onions, cabbage, and seafood as nuts have a tendency to take on the odors of their surroundings.
Chia seeds
Chia seeds can be stored in the pantry for 2+ years or in the fridge or freezer for 4+ years and remain in good condition.
Flax seeds
You can store it in an airtight container in your pantry for 6-12 months, or in the fridge or freezer for 1+ years.
Sunflower seeds
Raw nuts can be stored in your pantry for a period of 3 months, while roasted nuts can last for up to 5 months. If desired, you may also store them in the fridge or freezer for the duration of 1 year.
Dried fruit
When stored correctly, dried fruits can stay fresh for up to 1 year in your pantry. By keeping them in the refrigerator, their freshness can be extended for up to 2 years, and if frozen, dried fruits can remain fresh indefinitely.
HERBS, SPICES, AND CANNED GOODS
Herbs & spices
If stored in an airtight container, in a cool dark place, away from heat and moisture, ground or powdered spices have a lifespan of approximately 2 to 3 years, while dried herbs can last for about 1 to 2 years.
To ensure the quality of your dish and to avoid mold issues, refrain from adding herbs and spices directly over food while cooking. Instead, sprinkle them onto your hands and then transfer them onto the dish.
Homemade canning recipes
Foods that are highly acidic, like tomatoes and fruit, have the ability to be stored in the pantry for a duration of 12-18 months.
Food items with lower acidity levels, like meat and vegetables, have a shelf life of 2-4 years.
In order for the following to hold true, it is essential that the canning process is executed perfectly and the canned items are stored in a cool and dry location.
Canned/ tin foods
If canned foods are properly stored and remain undented, undamaged, and unrusted, they can have an indefinite shelf life. Nonetheless, after 10 years, they may experience a decline in nutritional value and a potential decrease in taste quality.
The statement regarding acidic and non-acidic canned foods remains valid.
