GO! food storage

Justin and I are frequent watchers of the Glenn Beck show. He is a politically conservative radio host who also has a show on CNN. He is very right on about the state that our country is in, and very blunt about it. I Don't agree with everything he says but when he talks about how economically screwed up we are my ears perk up. The dollar being in a free fall on the world market, our debt is something that we no longer control but controls us, and our idea that borrowing more money from the Chinese to off set our horrible spending habits. (little side note while all this is going on and Hillary is still saying that universal health care will be free and better for us. Google patient stacking) Anyway I have been wondering for a long time what I can do as an individual to help solve the problems, aside from just getting out and voting. I am at a loss. I use reusable grocery bags, live within a budget, buy as many American produced products as I can (there are not a whole lot of them), I have energy efficient appliances, all that I can, I do.

Here comes my point, in recent discussions with my wise husband we have decided that the only thing we can do is continue doing the things that we are, look for more ways to help, and BE PREPARED! We have gone this far in our marriage with just the essentials to live for a few days, but with all the scary stuff that is going on that is not good enough. We have decided to take the advice of our church leaders and start a one year supply of food and water. I know this sounds a little dooms dayish to most but natural disasters are happening in places they shouldn't more regularly than they should. I was surprised how easy it was to get started, we made a list of things that we normally eat and would be easy to make with a camp stove or over a fire in case power and gas were out. We went to the grocery store and just bought a few or more of everything that we listed, canned veggies, canned fruits, canned meats (I know sounds gross) peanut butter, jam in a jar, soups, cup a soups. Basically anything that would not have to be rotated that often. So now when we go grocery shopping we can get a couple more of everything and grow the stash over time. Bottled water is not that expensive, so we just get an extra case every time when we go to the store. Then we got our flour sugar and wheat in big air tight buckets and two 55 gallon water barrels. I am not trying to say that everyone should go out tomorrow and do this, but if you can it would probably be a good idea. The peace of mind that it brings knowing that heaven forbid if something happened we would be ready and able to take care of our families. Most literature on the subject suggests to start with getting a three to five month supply of all your canned goods that you normally eat oh and candy they say that in times of crises it is nice to have small luxuries. Then after you get the three to five months then start on your freeze dried and dehydrated foods for your year supply. These usually have a 25 year shelf life. WATER is the most important thing! store as much water as possible. I know I probably seem crazy but this is something that I am getting passionate about and I want to share what I am learning with everyone I know and love because in times of crises I want to know that the people I love are taken care of.