Have you, since beginning to learn about the church, visited a long-time member and stared in awe at her food storage? Does it seem impossible to you that you could reach that level of readiness? You needn’t build your entire food storage in a few days. You can gradually build it over time, buying a little extra each time you shop and storing it away. You can also save to make a few bulk purchases each year.
President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “We can begin ever so modestly. We can begin with one week’s food supply and gradually build it to a month and then to three months. I am speaking now of food to cover basic needs. As all of you recognize, this counsel is not new. But I fear that so many feel that a long–term food supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no effort at all. Begin in a small way, my brethren, and gradually build toward a reasonable objective” He warned people not to panic, but simply to get started.
The church has a wonderful website that guides you through the process of building a beginning food storage. The Provident Living site offers lessons you can use to get your family interested in helping you with this project. It explains how long food can be kept and how much you need to survive. This won’t let you eat as you always do, but it will keep you alive and healthy.
The commandment to keep food storage isn’t a doomsday commandment. Most people who store food use it as a part of the surviving the challenges of everyday life. Unemployment is easier to survive if you have plenty of food and don’t have to shop. Illness or weather might make it hard to go to a store, but having food stored up can get you through a few difficult weeks. A local disaster, of course, makes food storage essential. Food storage also reduces the cost of feeding your family. Having all you need already on hand allows you to shop sales or a variety of stores, one each week, buying only that which is less expensive at that store. It also allows you to buy in bulk.
If you have a small home, you may have to be creative in your storage. Your new LDS friends won’t blink an eye if food storage is part of your décor. When we moved to a small cottage, I placed a large number of cartons under the edge of a counter facing the living room. If members even comment on it, they say, “Oh, that’s where you keep some of your food storage.” Non-members might ask, but that only opens up conversational opportunities. Search out odd corners and inconvenient closets, under the bed space, and even cartons-as-furniture to find a spot for all you want to store. Grow at least a little food, even if it’s in a flower pot, to provide living food storage.
Start small, and keep building, a little at a time. You’ll soon have your full supply.
The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.
