The Best 1 Year Food Storage Calculator I Have Seen

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

This is by far the best Food Storage Calculator I have ever seen. Being LDS, I have seen quite a few.

http://www.thefoodguys.com/foodcalc.html

[JGex]

You haven't found one that includes hemp seeds and goji berries, have ya? I be danged if I can find one that includes some stuff we eat.....

[MisFitFarm]

Originally Posted by YuccaFlatsRanch

This is by far the best Food Storage Calculator I have ever seen. Being LDS, I have seen quite a few.

http://www.thefoodguys.com/foodcalc.html

I hope I don't offend anyone by asking this, but why does the LDS Church publish this? I don't know anything about your Church, so I was wondering if this is required. Thanks for any information! Plus, thanks for the link, it's very interesting!

[Windy in Kansas]

Just to clarify, the LDS Church did not publish that web site information, however it is based on their recommendations for preparedness.

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

The LDS church's leaders have prophesied that all members should store 1 year of food. Not all LDS members have the capability of doing the storage, but all should try. It has proven very important for many many LDS families over the years. To assist in this effort and to help out the LDS Bishops storehouses (each ward of the church has a bishop heading it up). He has access to church storehouses of food, clothing, furniture, etc that is run centrally by the church to assist members in times of crisis. LDS members GO FIRST to their families for help and then to their ward for help. LDS wards pay for members rent sometimes, provide food if necessary, etc. This is all paid for by tithe paying members in the form of monthly Fast Offerings. Each LDS family is encouraged if health permits to fast 1 Sunday each month and they donate the money that would have been spent for these meals in the form of a fast offering. It is not by any means MANDATORY, but most members find great solace in this and know that they are helping other members who may be in trouble.

For instance in July 2002 our town got 52 inches of rain in 5 days. Many members were flooded out of their homes. Within a week, new furniture, clothing, food, appliances, etc were distributed out of Salt Lake City on trucks for the members who suffered losses. Cost to them - NOTHING, most had more than paid for it through their fast offerings, and no there is no record kept of who paid and who didn't, it is just what the LDS church does for its members.

Food storage is not required, but is a really good thing to do. Mormons have been doing it for at least 50 years - long before our Federal Government came up with the idea. The Mormon CHurch (LDS) runs canneries in most major cities for members to go, purchase, and can Food Storage Items. For instance in San Antonio I can can either my own purchased foods, or I can get the foods at the cannery and can them there. Here is a link for what is currently available to LDS members through the cannery -

http://providentliving.org/pfw/multi...Dec007_pdf.pdf

[MisFitFarm]

Thank you so much for the information, that was very interesting. I like the way you help each other. And, I bookmarked the site for future reference.

One more thing, do you stock up at the first of every year? Or buy different things at different times of the year?

[BeltieBandit]

CookieCow and I are also LDS. There are many really good strategies that people use. Most have a rotation strategy that they follow. Most think that your food supply should be what you eat from day to day. We could just go out and buy a years worth of energy bars, but that really isn't practical. One of the biggest benefits that I have seen of this lifestyle, is that it helps you to be more frugal in nature. You buy things in bulk, you eat more home prepared meals, and most importantly, you feel more self sufficient. While there have been lots of times during a disaster when the food supplies have helped, there have been many more times when personal disaster (loss of income, surprise expense, etc) have had their impact lowered, because that family had food to eat at least.

[Landshark]

I have to say, that is one of the best ways that I have heard anyone explain the concept of fast offerings and tithes. We actually just moved to Utah about a year ago. Due to the number of moves lately we have not beenn able to build up a good storage. We could go about 3 months by our calculations.

One thing I have done well is stock up the freezer with meat. An elk can go a long way as long as we keep power.

Thanks for the post.

[Callieslamb]

That is a good food storage calculator. So many of the calculators now are way too basic. It is up to each of us to add our gojo berries!

The LDS church also owns many farms and ranches across the country to produce the food. Often, retired couples, manage the farms as "service missionaries." When we lived in Texas, our ward was often asked to provide volunteers at the cannery, which made peanutbutter. That peanutbutter was then distributed through the Bishop's Storehouses, which is how the church keeps the prices so low. Volunteers.

[cindy-e]

Thank you, that is very helpful.

Cindyc.

[highlands]

Part of the strategy we follow is that much of our food is still alive, on the hoof and most of the year gaining in size and number. Don't consider just what you have dried and canned. Food on the hoof keeps even better as well as reproducing.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org

Originally Posted by highlands

Part of the strategy we follow is that much of our food is still alive, on the hoof and most of the year gaining in size and number. Don't consider just what you have dried and canned. Food on the hoof keeps even better as well as reproducing.

This is true. My hens are certainly considered a part of my food storage program.

But that brings the matter of feed storage up for a lot of us. If we're not producing our own feed then storing some up in case the feed store closes its doors becomes important.

.....Alan.

[SquashNut]

We have our rabbits, but with feed going up so high, we are already talking about which ones would be kept if we had to scrounge for them.

[jadedhkr]

thanks for the link, very helpful!

[BeltieBandit]

We also consider our live animals as part of our food supply, but yes, you do have to consider what your feed supply is. Without hay and grain, we could not keep the number of animals we have. Chickens can free range for food, and fish can feed themselves, but cattle and horses will have problems. We could plant some of our land in hay, and then harvest it by hand, but that wouldn't support very many animals. I guess from my perspective, TEOTWAWKI isn't the most likely scenario, and if it were to happen, we would need to barter for feed. I think the more likely scenario is more food/meat recalls like we have had, or other problems with the food/water chain. Obviously you can not be totally protected without bringing about your own personal EOTWAWKI and going back 150 years in your lifestyle. We really like being able to KNOW that headlines like the meat recall don't apply to us, other than if friends or family were affected by it, and just sadness in general over the state of affairs in that particular industry, Especially since we are part of the industry.

[tailwagging]

How cool! Thanks!!

[JDigital]

I just built one for free that calculates, keeps track of what you have, and shows you via bar graph how close you are to reaching your goal (which can be changed on the fly- from 1 month to 2, 3 9, 12, however many months you can afford. You can now build up your storage slowly. This works for those on a budget... (like myself )

Check out this brand new food storage calculator:

http://www.stockupfood.com

PLEASE post suggestions!!

[soulsurvivor]

Very helpful links and thank you all for posting these. I still have a ways to go with our food storage, but I'm closer to having the recommended minimum totals than I thought I would be. It's good to know I had estimated close to total needed. I'm making copies for all my family members *hint* so they can start working on their own supplies.

[Jerngen]

I would like to find a program like those above except where you can delete the items you DON'T use, and add items you DO feel are important and wish to keep track of.

[Ohio dreamer]

Nice site, seems a bit light on some things to me. But it's a great starting point!