FAQ

CANNED FOOD STORAGE

Sealed canned goods, such as fruit and vegetables will store up 10-15 years, depending on the type of food it is and if stored properly. Canned meats will store for less time, typically 5 years. Periodically check your cans to see if they are bubbling on the top. This is a sure sign that they are expired. Store bought cans will also come with an expiration date on the top. Make sure you write down all expiration dates and cycle the food once they have expired.

Our cans are larger than the ones in the stores. They store enough to feed a medium size family for a day. Once opened, we suggest all leftovers go into a different store device like a glass or plastic container. This will ensure a long life of the food after opening.

Wet food will last a very nominal time once opening, especially if you can't refrigerate after opening.

DEHYDRATED MILK

Milk will be very important if you are ever in need of using your food storage, you might try adding dry milk to your fresh milk now in small amounts so help your family get used to the taste.

There are also flavored dry milk products that they may like better.

Types of dry milk are:

Nonfat Dry Milk
This is pasteurized skim milk reduced to a powdered concentrate. It can be found in two forms, regular and instant. They are both made from milk in a spray-drying process, but the instant variety has been given further processing to make it more easily soluble in water than regular dry milk. Both types have the same nutrient composition. The regular variety is more compact and requires less storage space than the instantized variety, but it is more difficult to reconstitute. The most easily found variety is the instant, available in nearly any grocery store. The regular variety has to be sought out from baking and restaurant suppliers and storage food dealers.
It takes about 3 tablespoons of instant nonfat dry milk added to 8 ozs of water to make 1 cup of milk you can drink or cook with just like fresh milk, albeit with a considerable flavor difference. Combine the dry milk with water at least several hours before you plan to use it to give it time to dissolve fully and to develop a fresher flavor. Shaking the fluid milk vigorously will incorporate air and will also help to improve flavor. I don't care for the stuff to drink, but instead add the powder to baked goods, gravies, smoothies, hot cereals, casseroles and meat loaf as a nutrition booster. It can also be used to make yogurt, cheese and most any cultured dairy product that does not require a high fat content.
Flavored Nonfat Dry Milk
This may be found packaged in a variety of forms from a low calorie diet drink (artificially sweetened) to the other end of the scale, as cocoa mix or malted milk. The key ingredient is the dry milk so buy and store these products accordingly.
Dry Whole Milk
This dry milk has a higher fat content and therefore a shorter shelf life than nonfat. Other than that, it can be used in exactly the same way. Dry whole milk is difficult to find, but can sometimes be found where camping and outback supplies are sold.
Dry Buttermilk
Dry buttermilk is for use in recipes calling for buttermilk. Since it has a slightly higher fat content than nonfat dry milk, it generally does not keep as long.

FOOD STORAGE GRADE CONTAINERS

What makes a bucket or plastic bag "food grade"? And where can I find them?

Plastic films and containers of food grade quality are made from polycarbonate, polyester or polyethylene. Their characteristics in terms of density, permeability and strength vary. To limit permeability to moisture and oxygen, films of the above plastics are sometimes laminated together, frequently with a metallic layer. Military food packaged in just such a metallized polyester, polyethylene wrap has a long shelf life (5+ years) if kept cool.

You are in luck! We carry these contaniers and a lot more. Click here to browse our extensive inventory of food storage containers.

GENERAL FOOD STORAGE TIPS

Emergencies are filled with unexpected circumstances. If you don't prepare you will inevitably fall victim to a disaster and it will be your own undoing. If you take certain precautions prior to these tragedies your survival chances will be increased substantially.

USA Food Storage has prepared this article in hopes that it may help in building awareness to communities and families nationwide. We have prepared a small check list that will help you begin your emergency preparations. This list is NOT meant to be the end all of you plan but should be thought of as a kick in the pants. We encourage everyone to look further in to it and create a customized solution that fits your family or household.

Stock up on Emergency Food - MRE packages or Freeze Dried Pouches
Buy a flashlight for each bedroom and one for an emergency kit
Buy 1 gallon of water per person and store it with an emergency kit
Buy a tent and sleeping bag for enough to accommodate the household.
Package all of the emergency food, tools and equipment in a light-weight duffle bag in a hall or kitchen closet
Create a household evacuation plan

FOOD STORAGE GRAINS

One of the most important decisions in planning your long term food storage are the kinds of grains you are going to store. Too many people do not give this adequate thought, and just buy however much wheat they think is necessary to meet their needs and leave it at that. Others rely upon pre-packaged plans made for them by the storage food retailer who put together the food package they've purchased. For many, either decision could be a major mistake.

There are any number of food storage plans to be found by those who take the time to look. Many of them are based on the so-called "Mormon Four" of wheat, milk, honey and salt, with as many additional foods as the planner finds to be desirable. Back in the thirties, when I believe this plan first got its start, this may have been OK, but we've learned a great deal since then. An unfortunate number of people in our society have developed allergies to one kind of food or another. One of the more common food allergens is wheat. Even more unfortunate is the fact that of those with an allergy to this most common of grains, many of them are not even aware of it. They won't become aware of it until they try to live with wheat as a large part of their diet. This is the reason you should store what you eat and eat what you store: So that ugly surprises such as this don't come up when it's too late to easily avoid them.

A second reason to think about providing a variety of grains in your food storage is appetite fatigue. There are many people who think providing variety in the diet is relatively unimportant and that if and when the time comes they'll eat what they've got and that will be that. For healthy, well-adjusted adults under ordinary circumstances this might be possible without too much difficulty. However, the entire reason for having a long term food storage program is for when circumstances aren't ordinary. Times of crisis produce stress -- possibly physical, but always mental. If you are suddenly forced to eat a diet that is both alien and monotonous, it is going to add just that much more stress on top of what you are already dealing with. If your planning includes the elderly, young children and infants they might just quit eating or refuse to eat sufficient amounts and become unable to survive. This is not a trivial problem and should be given serious consideration. Consider the positive aspects of adding some "comfort foods".

In his book, Making the Best of Basics, James Stevens mentions a post WWII study by Dr. Norman Wright, of the British Food Ministry, which found that people in England and Europe were more likely to reject unfamiliar or distasteful foods during times of stress than under normal conditions. When it's wheat, day in and day out, then wheat's going to start becoming distasteful pretty fast. Far better to have a variety of foods on hand to forestall appetite fatigue and, more importantly, to use those storable foods in your everyday diet so that you'll be accustomed to them.