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Real Food Storage II: Getting Organized

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Our first post on Real Food Storage got a good response from many of you.  In the second part of this series, we’re going to look at what to buy as part of your real foods storage.

Get Organized

In deciding what to purchase, there are two ways of going about the decision making process.  You can compile your own list or you can rely on a pre-made worksheet we created that you can customize to your families needs.  The easiest option is to use a pre-made worksheet to compile the information for you. [Read more…] about Real Food Storage II: Getting Organized

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Real Food Storage- Deep Pantry Principles for Traditional Foodists

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Our Food Storage 101 article on our website was so popular, we decided to expand it into a blog series! Over the next several weeks, we will walk you through the whys and hows of food storage, whether you wish to have a week or a year of food on hand.

Why Should I Store Food?

There are many reasons why people choose to practice some form of food storage, and none of them are wrong. So many people are concerned right now. Since I began working with food storage in 2007, I have seen many reasons to choose to stock a deep pantry.

  • You wish to be prepared for a hurricane, a snow storm or an extended power outage.
  • While you might currently have a stable job, you know that unemployment is over 10% nationally, topping 15% in some areas. A recent Gallup poll showed that under-employment was at 19%. You aren’t currently dealing with unemployment, but you’re concerned it might be around the corner.
  • You’re looking to wisely invest your tax refund, knowing that currently the rising price of food is outpacing the interest rate, so the purchase of bulk food at a discounted price is a doubly wise investment of your funds.
  • You are a family facing unemployment or struggling through under-employment, or you are facing the end of your unemployment checks.
  • You don’t wish to have to purchase food on a credit card if you’re unemployed.
  • You currently know a family who is forced to choose between food and housing or food and heat due to a limited income.
  • You’re not particularly interested in food storage, but you’ve decided that buying in bulk is the best way to cut your whole-foods based budget.
  • You have food allergies, and you know that you would not be able to sustain your family between the offerings of a food bank and food stamps should something happen to your income.
  • You have food allergies, and you desperately need to bring down the grocery bill.
  • Due to being self-employed, you would not qualify for food stamps in an emergency.
  • You hate shopping and would rather shop less, or you live miles from convenient shopping locations.
  • You wish to leave the food at the food bank for those who are less fortunate than you.
  • You’ve read about the potential looming food shortages from the floods in many countries and droughts this year. Multiple countries have suffered flooding or freak snow and freezing weather in the last few months, and their effects on the price of food has been in the news.
  • You’ve met a family who sustained themselves with their food storage after a job loss or other tragedy. If you are a forum member, you know that last year we sustained ourselves for eleven months on food storage while my husband went through unemployment.
  • You see the need to not be a burden on others should an emergency occur, so that those who are less fortunate or can not prepare can utilize the food banks without you also needing to go there. This creates less of a burden on the safety nets meant to help families through a crisis.
  • You are trying to return to a more sustainable food production cycle in your own family, beginning a homestead or a hobby farm.
  • You are looking to unplug from a modern life-style.
  • You wish to save money by only purchasing fresh and in-season.

In 2009, our family sustained a major hit in the form of income loss when my husband, along with 90% of his co-workers, were laid off. Three months prior, everyone in the company had taken a salary reduction in a move to delay those lay-offs. We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know the day. Thankfully, we had one year of food storage in place when the lay-off happened. [Read more…] about Real Food Storage- Deep Pantry Principles for Traditional Foodists

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Traditional Foods in a Small Kitchen

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Over the next few weeks, we’re transferring all of the articles on the website and my personal blog articles on food and health over to the CTF blog.  I hope you enjoy this week’s article.  This particular article was written before we moved to our current house.  When we moved, our first priority was finding a BIG kitchen!

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I’ve been asked a lot recently about how to do traditional foods in limited space.  Most people are surprised to find out that my house has a very small kitchen.  My kitchen is actually the smallest room in the house, smaller than even the bathrooms.  Our house was built in 1935 without indoor plumbing.  The kitchen was located in the largest room on the bottom floor.  When the house was remodeled 25 years ago, the family who remodeled it ate out 2 or more meals a day so the kitchen was a very low priority.  I have very little counter and cabinet space.  Instead of having bottom cabinets, I have a dishwasher and a trash compactor by the sink.  That only leaves three bottom cabinets, two of which are too deep to store many things in easily.

[Read more…] about Traditional Foods in a Small Kitchen

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