Food Storage Styles

[UrbanHunter]

When you say OUR LDS churches, do you mean all the LDS churches in America or the world? If you think this, I can tell you this: My friend has said there is no food in the building and there is no food owned by the churches. She plans to take her one plus years supply to her church whenever SHTF and there is no food to be had in the stores. This might have changed since I last visited with her about it. The thing is, the people who are members, and not interested in doing food storage, would just expect to have the local church feed them. I think it would not be a bad idea for each of their churches to have a stash of food storage for their members, but then the whole world would become a Mormon if the SHTF. How many people believe that all Mormons have food storage? I know some do. And how many Mormons have a typical American pantry? Many!

Today I got to thinking, I read someplace that each of the LDS Bishop's wherehouses holds enough food to feed about 2500 families for a year, that a lot of food(me thinks). Then I read that in North America the LDS church has about 100 Bishop's wherehouses... Hum... say each family is about 4 people, so the LDS church has stock piled enough food (in North America) to feed about 1,000,000 people for a year, and the LDS church has about 7,000,000 members in North America, so the LDS Church could feed about 14% of it's members for a year or all of it's members for 2 months if they ever had to rely on their reserves.

I have seen surveys that indicate that less than 50% of the LDS Church membership has a 6 month supply of food, the numbers drop to near zero as you approach 1 year. Back around 2006, LDS leaders were encouraging their members strive to develop food storage for up to 3 month (Lot less than a year).

The point behind this long drawn out story is that even the LDS Membership would be hard pressed to cover their bases for a year, in a real SHTF event. Anyone thinking that there is a 7 year supply of grain waiting in hiding would be sadly surprised (No Joseph in Egypt today).

Food storage is a very personal thing, it is private, but if you are ever truly exposed to a SHTF event you will know.

I think of the guy in Buffalo NY during the 12/2022 snow storm, he was stranded, he went door to door looking for shelter but was refused. He finally broke into a school to find shelter, then he went back into the storm to retrieve other stranded travelers.
If he waited for a good Samaritan to open up their door and invite him in he would have been found frozen in the gutter... That is a preview of what we can expect during a SHTF event.... no room at the Inn.

 

[Dani]

Today I got to thinking, I read someplace that each of the LDS Bishop's wherehouses holds enough food to feed about 2500 families for a year, that a lot of food(me thinks). Then I read that in North America the LDS church has about 100 Bishop's wherehouses... Hum... say each family is about 4 people, so the LDS church has stock piled enough food (in North America) to feed about 1,000,000 people for a year, and the LDS church has about 7,000,000 members in North America, so the LDS Church could feed about 14% of it's members for a year or all of it's members for 2 months if they ever had to rely on their reserves.

I have seen surveys that indicate that less than 50% of the LDS Church membership has a 6 month supply of food, the numbers drop to near zero as you approach 1 year. Back around 2006, LDS leaders were encouraging their members strive to develop food storage for up to 3 month (Lot less than a year).

The point behind this long drawn out story is that even the LDS Membership would be hard pressed to cover their bases for a year, in a real SHTF event. Anyone thinking that there is a 7 year supply of grain waiting in hiding would be sadly surprised (No Joseph in Egypt today).

Food storage is a very personal thing, it is private, but if you are ever truly exposed to a SHTF event you will know.

I think of the guy in Buffalo NY during the 12/2022 snow storm, he was stranded, he went door to door looking for shelter but was refused. He finally broke into a school to find shelter, then he went back into the storm to retrieve other stranded travelers.
If he waited for a good Samaritan to open up their door and invite him in he would have been found frozen in the gutter... That is a preview of what we can expect during a SHTF event.... no room at the Inn.

That Buffalo guy was the true HERO!

 

[Weedygarden]

The LDS church has an area called Welfare Square in downtown SLC where there are warehouses and huge grain silos visible from the freeway.

Isn't Welfare Square fairly close to the Family History Library? I was there almost 40 years ago.

There are grain silos by LDS property in Aurora, Colorado. One time when I was at the Bishop's Storehouse, I asked about it, how much wheat was in it? I was told that there is no wheat in the silos! I know that things are always changing. It makes me wonder where the LDS wheat farms are located if these silos are in Aurora, Colorado?

 

[Weedygarden]

I read someplace that each of the LDS Bishop's wherehouses holds enough food to feed about 2500 families for a year, that a lot of food(me thinks).

Have you ever been in one their storehouses? Like everything, things keep changing. I remember when I used to go and can my own foods. There was a large room where the workers stayed, and then a canning room. I have been there a few times when they had excess that they were selling. I have purchased jellies, canned tomatoes, canned pears, canned tomato and cream of mushroom soup. They kept these things in a different room. They have a lot of space at the warehouse in Aurora, CO. Those rooms are not always in a line of sight or rooms that you can go into. When I went to the warehouse in 2022, they were located in a totally different part of the building. It may be that rooms are full of food, or completely empty due to demands.

They also have a grocery store of sorts. You and I cannot go in there to go shopping, although I have been in the store a few times looking for help. This store is set up for people who are in dire need of food and get written permission from their local leader, called a bishop.

 

[Pearl]

Have you ever been in one their storehouses? Like everything, things keep changing. I remember when I used to go and can my own foods. There was a large room where the workers stayed, and then a canning room. I have been there a few times when they had excess that they were selling. I have purchased jellies, canned tomatoes, canned pears, canned tomato and cream of mushroom soup. They kept these things in a different room. They have a lot of space at the warehouse in Aurora, CO. Those rooms are not always in a line of sight or rooms that you can go into. When I went to the warehouse in 2022, they were located in a totally different part of the building. It may be that rooms are full of food, or completely empty due to demands.

They also have a grocery store of sorts. You and I cannot go in there to go shopping, although I have been in the store a few times looking for help. This store is set up for people who are in dire need of food and get written permission from their local leader, called a bishop.

Wow, very interesting!!

 

[Weedygarden]

Food storage is a very personal thing, it is private, but if you are ever truly exposed to a SHTF event you will know.

We can see by the comments of people in this group that food storage is personal and private. What and how people store food is individual. How much people want to store is individual. Ask people to share photos of their food storage and people will joke about it, but few will show photos.

And then there are those who do not believe in it.

 

[joel]

My Grandmother had a smoke house, canned food in jars & dried food.
My Mother had a smokehouse, canned food in Jars & froze food.
My Wife cans foods & has a Dehydrator & freeze foods.
We have a smoker also.

 

[montanabill]

We have some connection with LDS on a interesting level. Things are not always what they seem. How many average americans would or could survive on wheat, honey, powdered milk and just a few basics.

 

[Amish Heart]

Most people wouldn't know what to do with a bag of flour.

 

[Weedygarden]

There was a large room where the workers stayed, and then a canning room.

I called it a canning room. They had two kinds of canning areas. In the canning room that I referred to, I canned dry products that are on their list. This was things like wheat, beans, rice, powdered milk, etc.

They used to have a wet pack canning section as well, and you could sign to assist with the canning and then purchase a certain amount of the food. I tried many times to sign up to do that, but the list was always full for the times that were available when I was off work.

Both of these canning options are now closed at local levels and I believe that the equipment has been centralized in Utah or has been sold off.

We have some connection with LDS on a interesting level. Things are not always what they seem. How many average americans would or could survive on wheat, honey, powdered milk and just a few basics.

Most wouldn't or couldn't. I once heard a young woman say she was never going to have food storage because she didn't want to deal with all of that wheat. How I see it is that having things like wheat, beans, rice, is that I could potentially supplement it with fresh produce from the garden, or canned vegetables, etc. Having things like wheat, corn, etc. can be used to make bread. Bread can be used to extend many things. My grandfather regularly had a second course of bread that he tore into bite sized pieces and ate with gravy.

Most people wouldn't know what to do with a bag of flour.

Truth! They don't have the kitchen tools or equipment to cook either. Kitchen equipment is minimal for some people. I have a friend who tells me that she never cooks. When I asked her what she eats, she told me that she buys freezer foods and meals that she heats up in the microwave or oven. If you look at the store, you can see how this is a section that keeps growing. I remember during the pandemic that the pizza section was always empty.

 

[SLADE]

Storing cabbage was always hit or miss for us.
This year we pulled our cabbage roots and all and buried them upside down in our hoop house.
Let the roots and some of the stem stick up above the soil.
We buried them middle of Oct and I dug one up Jan 1.
That cabbage was as fresh and crisp as the day I buried it.

 

[Magpie]

Today I got to thinking, I read someplace that each of the LDS Bishop's wherehouses holds enough food to feed about 2500 families for a year, that a lot of food(me thinks). Then I read that in North America the LDS church has about 100 Bishop's wherehouses... Hum... say each family is about 4 people, so the LDS church has stock piled enough food (in North America) to feed about 1,000,000 people for a year, and the LDS church has about 7,000,000 members in North America, so the LDS Church could feed about 14% of it's members for a year or all of it's members for 2 months if they ever had to rely on their reserves.

I have seen surveys that indicate that less than 50% of the LDS Church membership has a 6 month supply of food, the numbers drop to near zero as you approach 1 year. Back around 2006, LDS leaders were encouraging their members strive to develop food storage for up to 3 month (Lot less than a year).

The point behind this long drawn out story is that even the LDS Membership would be hard pressed to cover their bases for a year, in a real SHTF event. Anyone thinking that there is a 7 year supply of grain waiting in hiding would be sadly surprised (No Joseph in Egypt today).

Food storage is a very personal thing, it is private, but if you are ever truly exposed to a SHTF event you will know.

I think of the guy in Buffalo NY during the 12/2022 snow storm, he was stranded, he went door to door looking for shelter but was refused. He finally broke into a school to find shelter, then he went back into the storm to retrieve other stranded travelers.
If he waited for a good Samaritan to open up their door and invite him in he would have been found frozen in the gutter... That is a preview of what we can expect during a SHTF event.... no room at the Inn.

Never heard of that man over here, thought the storm was well covered by the news. I can't believe he was turned away, and wonder why. Were they afraid of him or just mean, I wonder?

 

[Weedygarden]

Never heard of that man over here, thought the storm was well covered by the news. I can't believe he was turned away, and wonder why. Were they afraid of him or just mean, I wonder?

Fear and because of what other people have done and how they have behaved.

 

[Weedygarden]

A different Wendy DeWitt video that I had never seen before. This is not as much about how much to store, etc., but more about the mechanics of it: canning, rotating, sun oven, etc. Still good information.

 

[UrbanHunter]

A different Wendy DeWitt video that I had never seen before. This is not as much about how much to store, etc., but more about the mechanics of it: canning, rotating, sun oven, etc. Still good information.

Wow! This is a real important message to watch! Her system is a little simplistic and is not long term sustainable. But, don't get me wrong, this is still a very worthwhile watch. I looked up a link for the booklet PDF.

https://allaboutfoodstorage.com/wp-content/uploads/EVERYTHING-UNDER-THE-SUN-2010-word.pdf
The wife said she couldn't live like that, she hates having something more than twice a month. To be honest I have 16 different shelf stable lunches in my stable. But for a newbee Prepper type I think that her method would move them from thinking about or planning to actually having something ready to go. Perfect Tomorrow is always going to trump Good Enough Today, unless you need it now that is....

 

[Weedygarden]

Wow! This is a real important message to watch! Her system is a little simplistic and is not long term sustainable. But, don't get me wrong, this is still a very worthwhile watch. I looked up a link for the booklet PDF.

https://allaboutfoodstorage.com/wp-content/uploads/EVERYTHING-UNDER-THE-SUN-2010-word.pdf
The wife said she couldn't live like that, she hates having something more than twice a month. To be honest I have 16 different shelf stable lunches in my stable. But for a newbee Prepper type I think that her method would move them from thinking about or planning to actually having something ready to go. Perfect Tomorrow is always going to trump Good Enough Today, unless you need it now that is....

I so agree. Her information is excellent for a beginning prepper and for long term preppers. Some people have figured out some things that can work for most, if not all of us and share that information, like she does.

I need a sun oven as she recommends in this last video. We all need at least one.

 

[Weedygarden]

We have some connection with LDS on a interesting level. Things are not always what they seem. How many average americans would or could survive on wheat, honey, powdered milk and just a few basics.

Most people wouldn't know what to do with a bag of flour.

I have had a really busy few months, always on the go, working, sometimes with up to 7 appointments a day leaving home before 7 and getting home after 6 some days. I was house sitting and away from home more than half of the summer.

When I stay at other people's homes, I try not to make a mess in the kitchen, so taking freezer foods that I made previously helps. I often take foods that I have cooked and packaged into meal sized potions in my freezer. This past weekend I ate black-eyed peas from New Years and taco soup from last winter. I have usually cooked meals from scratch.

I go to Costco about once a month. On one of my visits early this summer, I saw chicken nuggets and thought that would be an easy thing for me to prepare and not make a mess with. In all my life, I had never purchased them before, and I have no memory of eating them before. I have had chicken strips from Chic-fil-a. I decided to get some and the bag had 24 or 26 servings. It lasted me about two months. Somedays I would have half an hour from the time I get home until I need to leave again, and it was an easy thing to have for a meal.

Then I went back to Costco for another shopping trip and looked at what was in their prepared meal cases, which is a lot. I know that this is how many people eat on the norm. It isn't me, but I understand how this has become so normalized, especially if you are a working mother with children and a bunch of activities to transport children to and to attend to support their children. I'm not criticizing anyone who has this lifestyle. I'm just saying that children are growing up warming up food in the microwave or oven and rarely see food prepared or help prepare it. Again, this is probably to help to not have any messes to clean up. I'd bet that paper plates are also common in many homes. I know several people who have house cleaners. The kitchen is definitely a daily clean up chore if you cook regularly.

It really makes me wonder how many families rarely cook and how many children even see real cooking happen. In these families, preparedness would not be something that many of them would even think about.

 

[Amish Heart]

Nope they don't. It's important that we all teach the youngers what we can. Little granddaughter asked for a chicken salad sandwich for lunch today, so I told her she could make it. Including going into storage first and getting a can of chicken, checking the dates, and getting the one that will expire first to use. Then chopping celery and read onion, and adding the right amount of mayo. Salt and pepper to her taste. She enjoyed her sandwich, and I added it to her menu of what she can make herself.

 

[Pearl]

Nope they don't. It's important that we all teach the youngers what we can. Little granddaughter asked for a chicken salad sandwich for lunch today, so I told her she could make it. Including going into storage first and getting a can of chicken, checking the dates, and getting the one that will expire first to use. Then chopping celery and read onion, and adding the right amount of mayo. Salt and pepper to her taste. She enjoyed her sandwich, and I added it to her menu of what she can make herself.

That's how my Mom handled those things!! Guide you so you can learn to do it yourself!! I bet she enjoyed her sandwich, well earned!!

 

[Weedygarden]

Nope they don't. It's important that we all teach the youngers what we can. Little granddaughter asked for a chicken salad sandwich for lunch today, so I told her she could make it. Including going into storage first and getting a can of chicken, checking the dates, and getting the one that will expire first to use. Then chopping celery and read onion, and adding the right amount of mayo. Salt and pepper to her taste. She enjoyed her sandwich, and I added it to her menu of what she can make herself.

I think this is so important to help children learn to cook and be self sufficient.