Tips for Food Storage and Production

We’ve been taught to organize ourselves and “prepare every needful thing” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:8). You can prepare for hard times with a supply of food and other necessities to help you get through any unexpected challenging times.

Part of becoming like the Savior includes experiencing hardships during this life. Learning some basic skills can help us prepare to face challenges and disappointments with resilience. Learn how to gain these skills.

Across the world, we each live in different situations. We may not all be able to buy or store the same amount of food. Make goals for your own situation to help you be as prepared as possible.

Read the suggestions below to figure out what you should store and how to get started.

What to Store

As you think about what you need to store, consider basic items (hygiene supplies, medication, important documents, clothing, and so on), water, and food that you may need to sustain yourself and your family for short-term and long-term periods. Learn about what to store for your area’s specific needs in the Temporal Preparedness Guide for Your Area.

Basics of Home Storage

You may find yourself needing your short-term or long-term food supply when you face unemployment, a community disaster, or a pandemic when the supply chain is disrupted.

• Build a short-term supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet and that is reasonable for your circumstances. One way to do this is to purchase a few extra items each week to build a short-term supply of food.
  
  • Cook with this food in your normal routine so that you use it before it loses significant quality. (Note: Most food is still good beyond the “Best If Used By” date. A non-perishable packaged food is not likely to become unsafe, but the quality will degrade over time. Pay attention to this as you cycle through supplies.)
  • Replenish whatever you use in your normal grocery shopping trips.
• Store drinking water for circumstances in which the water supply may be polluted or disrupted. If water comes directly from a good, pretreated source then no additional purification is needed; otherwise, pretreat water before use.
  
  • Store water in sturdy, leak-proof, breakage-resistant containers. Consider using plastic bottles commonly used for juices and soda. Keep water containers away from heat sources and direct sunlight.
• Then build your longer-term supply by gradually building a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive.

See a list of specific food items to store long- and short-term in the Temporal Preparedness Guides for Your Area.

Production

• If it makes sense where you live, consider planting a garden as a supplement to your food storage (learn more about how to start by reading the “Gardening” Gospel Topics page).
• If you don’t have much space for food storage, or you are prohibited by law from storing large amounts of food, just store as much as your circumstances allow. You can consult the Temporal Preparedness Guides for Your Area for ideas.

Additional Strategies for Help