Why store food anyway?

Why store food anyway?
By Leslie Probert
For Mormon Times
Published: 2009-06-16 00:42:57

"If you are without bread, how much wisdom can you boast, and of what real utility are your talents, if you cannot procure for yourselves and save against a day of scarcity those substances designed to sustain your natural lives? ... If you cannot provide for your natural lives, how can you expect to have wisdom to obtain eternal lives?" (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 8, p. 68.)


Clearly there could not be a time when having some food storage at home would bring greater peace of mind. Concerns over swine flu mutating into a more serious pandemic have motivated federal authorities to recommend people have a two week's supply of food in case they will need to stay at home.

Long-term power outages and larger-scale disasters have shown that grocery stores are not always a reliable source of food. Having a supply of food brings peace of mind in such circumstances, allowing people and families a time to regroup, work out a plan to get through and improve their circumstances, and even share with others.

In the current economic climate, loss of jobs can create a huge strain on families. Prospects of taking a long time to find another job make the idea of having an entire year's supply of food a blessing for families.

Households are then able to use reduced financial resources to pay mortgages and other bills, spending very little on food by living on what they have stored. The idea of storing food to survive hard times is not new.

In Old Testament times, the Egyptian pharaoh was warned in a dream to prepare for seven years of famine by storing food during seven years of plenty. Throughout history people have stored food for the winter when there would be few sources of sustenance. With today's advances in technology and worldwide shipping, we enjoy a great year-round variety of food from the grocery store.

It's easy to forget that we are not immune from personal times of hardship, when a supply of food stored for a time of difficulty is needed. Such preparations can completely change how we get through the hardship. The time to choose greater peace of mind in an emergency is BEFORE it happens by making preparations. Gathering a supply of food in your "time of plenty" is an important investment.


Leslie Probert has a bachelor's degree in home economics from Brigham Young University. She is the author of "Emergency Food in a Nutshell" and is a popular speaker and mother of three.

E-mail: foodstoragechick@gmail.com


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