Common Errors People Make in Emergency Food Storage

People interested in emergency preparation usually buy as much food as their budgets allow them. Some may choose to purchase large amount of foods such as rice, powered milk, wheat, beans, dried fruits and vegetables -- those people are also under the false assumption that they are prepared. In fact, neither group is. Planning your food storage according to a generic food chart is also not the way to go as it is not designed particularly for your family's needs. You may be mindlessly throwing away money by following the chart word for word. In addition, some of your family members may not be fond of some of the food items on the chart, and may not eat them. There is also the likelihood that you may not use any of the foods items you have stored if you regularly don't use those items during regular cooking. Subsequently, the food that you have stored in the pantry will just sit there and will not be rotated. If there is a food item that you don't use during normal times, how do you expect to use it during times of severe duress?


Another common mistake food storage enthusiasts make is that they store their food in locations in the house that are not practical and convenient, making it harder for them to get the food when they need it. To compound their mistakes even further, they  usually opt to store the food in their original packaging or in storage containers and in parts of the house where the temperature is highly erratic. Food exposed to such wild temperature fluctuations will break down faster and lose a good portion of its nutritional value.

People are also prone to purchasing low grade bulk foods that are on sale simply because they are cheap. What they don't realize is that these food items may be old or even past their expiration dates. They are simply throwing their hard earned money in a black hole.

It is my wish that you avoid making these common errors when preparing your potentially life saving food storage. It is always a good idea to be prepared for an emergency well in advance; purchasing food items during a real crisis may end up costing you several times more than had you bought your food storage items during normal times.