The ultimate guide to long-term food storage: What you need to know
11/01/2024 / By HRS Editors
If you want to learn more about prepping, remember that long-term food storage involves more than having extra food in your pantry. By planning ahead, your food stockpile can help you get through an ongoing disruption to normal supply chains by ensuring you have access to a reliable food supply at home.
If you experience a large-scale emergency such as a nuclear or chemical attack, you might not be able to buy more food at the nearest grocery store. But with a shelf-stable food supply at home, you can survive a disaster without relying on outside sources. (h/t to MiraSafety.com)
Here are important factors to consider for effective food storage:
- Storing enough food for all family members and pets
- Nutrition
- Keeping food fresh
- Accessibility
If you encounter an emergency, your family must consume enough daily calories so they have enough energy for tasks they must accomplish to survive. This could include more manual labor than normal, like chopping wood, so store more than the minimum needed for long-term survival.
You also need to keep the food in your stockpile fresh. This means avoiding the major threats to shelf-stable food:
- Moisture
- Oxygen
- Pests
Even though most dry foods like dry beans have a shelf life of over 10 years, these threats will reduce that. Storing food properly can help protect your supply from these threats. (Related: 3 Easy meals-in-jars canning recipes.)
Essential supplies for proper food storage
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), shelf-stable is defined as “any food that can be safely stored at room temperature and does not need to be refrigerated.”
Foods last longer when they are preserved via:
- Canning
- Dehydration
- Freeze-drying
Foods preserved in one of these three methods help remove the enemies listed above, but you still need proper storage containers and methods to prolong the shelf life of food even more.
To extend the shelf life of food, store them in one of the following ways:
- Five-gallon buckets
- Food grade containers
- Mylar bags
When stored properly, grains like oats or white rice can last at least 10 to 20 years.
Best practices for long-term food storage
Storing food incorrectly can introduce toxins or food poisoning, which isn’t something you want to deal with when dealing with an emergency and medical care may be inaccessible.
Follow these safety guidelines for canned food:
- Don’t eat food from bulging cans
- Discard damaged cans
- Boil home-canned vegetables for at least 10 minutes before eating
- Keep canned food above freezing but below 85 F
- Don’t eat cans from a flooded area
The importance of rotating and using food in your stockpile
The simplest way to do this is to make a list of all the items in your stockpile and their expiration dates. Check your updated list monthly and rotate out anything that is getting close to the best-by date.
Things with an almost unlimited shelf life like brown rice should be fine, especially if they are stored in specialized food storage containers. You also have the option to rotate these items regularly by adding them to your regular household pantry supply.
If you’re using freeze-dried or ready-to-eat foods, you can consume them on your next hiking or camping trip.
Where to get lab-verified food supplies for your prepping needs
The Health Ranger Store is here to help you prepare for any emergency as you stock up on food with a long shelf life.
That’s why we’re proud to introduce different clean, lab-verified and healthy food options such as Organic Goji Berries, Freeze-Dried Organic Chopped Kale and Freeze-Dried Organic Whole Raspberries.
Goji berries are small, red berries produced by the Lycium barbarum plant, a member of the nightshade (Solanaceae) family. These nutrient-dense berries get their signature bright-red hue from their high levels of potent antioxidants.
They are also among the healthiest and most delicious superfoods on the planet.
The Health Ranger Store wants you to experience the incredible health-supporting properties of one of the world’s most nutritious superfoods. That’s why we’re bringing you an ultra-clean new lot of Health Ranger Select Organic Goji Berries.
Carefully grown and harvested by trusted suppliers in the pristine regions of the Tibetan plateau, our ultra-clean goji berries undergo a natural drying process to preserve their original taste and nutrient content. This means that they contain no preservatives or artificial flavoring and are just as nutritious as fresh organic goji berries.
To maintain optimal health, you also need to consume plenty of fruits and vegetables that are packed with beneficial vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, especially in a SHTF scenario. One of the healthiest and most nutritious vegetables is kale.
However, like most other leafy vegetables, kale doesn’t stay fresh for very long. To extend the shelf life of fresh kale, it can be carefully freeze-dried to retain maximum nutrition.
The Health Ranger Store wants you to enjoy the full nutritional benefits of fresh organic kale, which is why we’ve gone to great lengths to bring you clean and certified organic freeze-dried chopped kale in long-term storable #10 cans.
Loaded with a variety of important nutrients, our premium Health Ranger Select Freeze-Dried Organic Chopped Kale is carefully grown by our trusted suppliers under strict organic standards. It then undergoes a freeze drying process that preserves the original taste, texture and nutrients of our premium kale.
Available in convenient #10 cans, Health Ranger Select Freeze-Dried Organic Chopped Kale contains no gluten or GMOs and is lab-tested for glyphosate, heavy metals and microbiology. It is also non-China and has been certified Kosher and organic.
Lastly, you can try Health Ranger Select Freeze-Dried Organic Whole Raspberries.
Also known as “Nature’s candy,” raspberries are small, sweet, juicy and slightly tart superfruits that are produced by the Rubus idaeus plant, which is a member of the rose family. These delectable berries are known to provide several health benefits, such as supporting your overall well-being.
Health Ranger Select Freeze-Dried Organic Whole Raspberries make for a tasty and healthy snack you can enjoy all year round. With their crispy texture and natural abundance of vitamins A and C, as well as other beneficial antioxidants and nutrients, our freeze-dried organic whole raspberries can add a burst of flavor and nutrition to pancakes, muffins, pies, salads and baked goods.
They can even be eaten directly for a quick and healthy snack or rehydrated by soaking them in water.
Visit Health Ranger Store and Brighteon Store to find more prepping products for your stockpile. You can also go to FoodSupply.news for more tips on how to build your stockpile before SHTF.
Click on this link for more tips on how to perfect survival food storage.
Watch the video below to find out why you should also have natural sweeteners in your stockpile.
This video is from the Health Ranger Store channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Quick pickles: The perfect snack to add to your survival stockpile.
Amish foods that you need in your survival stockpile.
Home gardening tips: Guide to harvesting seeds from fruits and vegetables for propagation.
Make your harvests last longer with these timeless food preservation techniques.
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