Food Storage - diminished emphasis?


NeedleinA
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I can't tell if this is a correct/incorrect personal observation or not... has there been a reduced emphasis on food storage lately? 
Not that it isn't important, but I sure don't hear about it as much as "I think" I used to? I live outside of Utah too. 

Rewind 10-15 years ago I recall: Food Storage seminars at church, order forms being passed around church, community events around preparedness, talks about it constantly, etc.

I wonder in part if this has to do with our inability to work at the cannery anymore??

 

Edited by NeedleinA
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We had a preparedness fair five or six years ago and one of the points the speakers made was that the General Authorities were not speaking about temporal preparedness any more under the direct influence of the Lord. That they would no longer preach His word on the matter, as they had been doing for more than a century and a half, but that "the Lord will begin to preach His own sermons."

That, sir, is scary. Scary to the extreme.

Lehi

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42 minutes ago, Vort said:

I also wonder if our failure as a people to get our houses in order might have something to do with it.

This has crossed my mind too and would be an unfortunate reason.

11 minutes ago, LeSellers said:

 General Authorities were not speaking about temporal preparedness any more under the direct influence of the Lord.

Did they happen to suggest/say a reason that the GAs gave for not doing this any longer?

Not hearing about it, honestly is helping me personally become more complacent. I have a whole heap of food storage that needs to be used/ditched and restocked again. Not hearing about food storage gets my brain wondering what is/isn't going on?
 

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8 minutes ago, NeedleinA said:

Did they happen to suggest/say a reason that the GAs gave for not [preaching about food storage] any longer?

The strong implication was that the Saints were not following the counsel any more now that when Brother Brigham advised them to get food in 1845. When he crossed the Mississippi in Feb, 1846, he had two years supply. Two days later, he was as hungry as everyone else because so many Saints begged him for the food they should have had themselves.

Lehi

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2 hours ago, NeedleinA said:

I can't tell if this is a correct/incorrect personal observation or not... has there been a reduced emphasis on food storage lately? 
Not that it isn't important, but I sure don't hear about it as much as "I think" I used to? I live outside of Utah too. 

Rewind 10-15 years ago I recall: Food Storage seminars at church, order forms being passed around church, community events around preparedness, talks about it constantly, etc.

I wonder in part if this has to do with our inability to work at the cannery anymore??

 

I would definitely agree with you that’s there’s been a great de-emphasis on food storage.  However, the greater principle of food storage is preparedness and stewardship over our Earthly things.  That principle has NOT been abandoned at all, is anything it’s talked about more- in the form of money management, avoiding debt, living within our means, having a savings fund, etc.   Why the switch in focus?  It's what's needed.

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53 minutes ago, LeSellers said:

The strong implication was that the Saints were not following the counsel any more now that when Brother Brigham advised them to get food in 1845. When he crossed the Mississippi in Feb, 1846, he had two years supply. Two days later, he was as hungry as everyone else because so many Saints begged him for the food they should have had themselves.

Lehi

Two days???

After several surveys (unscientific, I admit) between myself and another prepper friend, we found that in most wards, about 10% of the ward had between 1 month and 1 year of food stored up.  Most of them were in the 3 month range.  So, do the math and it looks like we're doing about 3 or 4 times better than the saints of Brigham's time.

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I see lds.org still has a billion active and relevant links on the matter.

Food Storage
Emergency Preparadness
https://providentliving.lds.org

And I see this:  Are We Prepared? - First Presidency Message - September 2014

But yeah, the most recent general conference talk on the matter I can find is from 2007.

I'm one of the more preparadness-minded folks in my ward, and they've asked me to speak in church a couple of times, but the ward is mainly in the trees, and the emphasis was Colorado forest fires.  To be sure, they asked me to give a lesson on "let's think about what will happen if we've got a forest fire", and within a year, the entire ward got evacuated due to fire and lots of members lost homes.  But yeah, there wasn't much talk on food storage, other than "how you gonna move all that wheat if the evacuation order comes?"

Edited by NeuroTypical
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17 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

But yeah, the most recent general conference talk on the matter I can find is from 2007.

The training video that Lehi is talking about indicated that Pres. Hinckley said,"We are no longer to be addressing food storage and emergency preparedness in General Conference.  We've been giving sermons on it for over 160 years.  Now it's time for the Lord to preach his own sermon."  This was shortly before his death in 2008.  I believe it was Elder Packer who was quoting him in the training video.

We still have it as a program of the Church.  That isn't changing.  It's up to us to make the best of it.

Edited by Guest
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I wrote a book several years ago titled, "Building the Ark: Preparing Today to Live in the United Order."  I was interested in a quote I read by Pres. Lorenzo Snow, who said that living in that inspired economic system would be as necessary to our survival one day as the Ark was for Noah and his family.  As I did research on that book, I found a lot of information about food storage and preparedness.  It made me think of food storage differently.

Consider that Noah and his family spent slightly over a year on the ark--they had to have a year's supply of food, not only for themselves, but the animals, too.  Regardless of however literal of figurative the Ark story is, there is a clear message that obedience to principles of temporal salvation helped Noah survive and deliver his family into a new dispensation.

In our family, the first time we had our "year's supply" of food, we built it up gradually using the "pantry" concept.  Like our great-grandparents had done, we set up a pantry and, when we went to the store, we stocked it up over time.  After a while, we ate what we stored and restocked the pantry when we shopped.  Adding just a little extra each time, we had a nice reserve built up with very little effort.  We ordered some wheat from the storehouse, learned how to grind it and use it.  Additionally, we learned how to garden and cultivate fruit trees.  

In short, we learned to live like regular people did almost a century ago.  If there was a crisis of some kind, like a hurricane, loss of a job, or a civil emergency, we were prepared.  It gave us a lot of peace.  Some time later, we relocated to a different state for a job change.  We knew we'd be living in an apartment and we wouldn't have room for everything.  We gave away most of what we had and downsized to a smaller pantry.  A few years later, we bought a new home and now we're building up the pantry again.  We are on track to have most of of a year's worth of staple items by year's end.  

This mode of having a year's supply doesn't make you feel like you're preparing for the end of the world.  It's just a provident way of living so you can be secure when life's challenges pop up from time to time.  If you're prepared, you don't fear (as much).  Instead of preparing for the end of the world, I think the Lord wants us to live in a way that will help us have as much security and peace as possible.  

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Do you mean this quote from Pres. Benson?

The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah.

 

I am the stake welfare specialist.  The stake presidency has told me to focus solely on preparedness.  A high councilman deals with the welfare stuff.  I can tell you the prompting that I have had for about a year and a half now has been to push food storage and not worry about anything else.  The SP is in agreement with me on this.

There is not a lot of talk from the leadership of the church anymore, but the information is still online as neuro posted.  I can also say that the feelings of urgency from many members is out there at this time.  I would urge anyone getting those feelings to heed and obey while there is time.

 

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I kind of figured the GAs had said what needed to be said and that's that. My neighborhood is still very much into prep work. I suppose I'm an optimist, figuring the emphasis has trickled down into the smaller folk with their blogs and books and little workshops. I still see plenty of emphasis, just not from those high up.

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At least in our area, unfortunately, there is almost zero talk about food storage or preparedness from any local level. If a new family joins the church in our area, they might not ever hear about food storage for several years at this rate. If the GA's have stopped talking because the older members have heard it enough, where does that leave all the new converts and younger rising generations?

The moment the area cannery closed to the public, our whole area went silent. Was that about 4 years or so ago...losing track now?

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5 hours ago, NeedleinA said:

At least in our area, unfortunately, there is almost zero talk about food storage or preparedness from any local level. If a new family joins the church in our area, they might not ever hear about food storage for several years at this rate. If the GA's have stopped talking because the older members have heard it enough, where does that leave all the new converts and younger rising generations?

The moment the area cannery closed to the public, our whole area went silent. Was that about 4 years or so ago...losing track now?

But is the greater principle (preparedness and stewardship over our Earthly things) being neglected? 

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Back many, many, many, many, many (many more many's) moons ago, pre 1870, the counsel of the Church was to put away seven years worth of grain.  Eventually, that was changed to two years, then one year, then six months, and now three months.  It seems to me that this counsel is simply ignored in favor of the new car, or the dream vacation, or that new big screen TV, iPad, iPhone, computer, whatever, since things are going just fine.  After all, the government assures us that the economy is on the mend and that unemployment is below six percent (if you believe that one, I've got some beach front property in Arizona for sale you might be interested in).  I mean, really, why would the government and MSM, CNN, ABC, and CBS lie to us?  Besides,  the Savior really isn't planning on returning for a least another 100-200 years. 

“The bigger the lie, apparently, the more likely the uninformed were to accept it, simply because they couldn't believe any government would tell such an absurd story unless it were true.”  David Weber, On Basilisk Station

Edited by Jojo Bags
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5 hours ago, Jojo Bags said:

Back many, many, many, many, many (many more many's) moons ago, pre 1870, the counsel of the Church was to put away seven years worth of grain. 

I've never heard of this.  When/who was that?

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11 hours ago, Carborendum said:

 

I've never heard of this.  When/who was that?

Brigham Young first said to lay up seven years worth of grain and provisions in 1857.  This was repeated by Elder Heber C. Kimball. 

See Journal of Discourses:4:307, 12:106, 5:123, 3:262, 4:337, 6:214, 10:293, 10:241.

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On March 8, 2016 at 8:35 AM, NeedleinA said:

I can't tell if this is a correct/incorrect personal observation or not... has there been a reduced emphasis on food storage lately? 
Not that it isn't important, but I sure don't hear about it as much as "I think" I used to? I live outside of Utah too. 

Rewind 10-15 years ago I recall: Food Storage seminars at church, order forms being passed around church, community events around preparedness, talks about it constantly, etc.

I wonder in part if this has to do with our inability to work at the cannery anymore??

 

I doubt a de-emphasis, but if there is maybe it's good. Food storage is about 20% of the self reliance pamphlet but ended up as almost the only thing people perceived as valuable IMO. In addition, two years of food storage is totally impractical for the majority of the church members. Even for those that have space for this probably end up wasting most of it because food has a shelf life. People don't eat the type of food stored mostly, and it eventually rots. 

72 hours of supplies is a great idea.  But the reality is under a serious emergency, water is the most severe limitation to survival.

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4 hours ago, mrmarklin said:

I doubt a de-emphasis, but if there is maybe it's good. Food storage is about 20% of the self reliance pamphlet but ended up as almost the only thing people perceived as valuable IMO. In addition, two years of food storage is totally impractical for the majority of the church members. Even for those that have space for this probably end up wasting most of it because food has a shelf life. People don't eat the type of food stored mostly, and it eventually rots. 

72 hours of supplies is a great idea.  But the reality is under a serious emergency, water is the most severe limitation to survival.

Some overlooked items for self-reliance are the ability to repair things, manufacture things, make clothes, raise animals, etc.  What are you going to do when the TP or the soap runs out?  Do you know how to make the lye to make the soap?  Can you make the pectin to make the jelly and jam (it's quite easy)?  What about making a carbon filter for drinking water?  There are so many things that we take for granted.  It seems like some people think that beef, pork, and lamb are grown in the back of the store.

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7 hours ago, Jojo Bags said:

Do you know how to make the lye to make the soap?

Yes, and the soap. too.

7 hours ago, Jojo Bags said:

Can you make the pectin to make the jelly and jam (it's quite easy)?

Yes, from three sources.

7 hours ago, Jojo Bags said:

What about making a carbon filter for drinking water?

Yes, and it's not all that hard, either.

7 hours ago, Jojo Bags said:

There are so many things that we take for granted.  It seems like some people think that beef, pork, and lamb are grown in the back of the store.

That's why we have out Ecoponics™ system in the backyard, and the chickens and the garden and 4sqft-75 plant barrel on the deck.

The most important part of self-reliance is none of these things. The only form of  self-reliance that counts is not self-reliance. It's reliance on Jesus Christ and His Atonement.

Self reliance is critical, but it's not the essence of surviving. As someone here once said, mortality is the leading cause of death, and we will all pass that portal. Self reliance is important, not because of how it will help us (although it doubtless will), but because of how it allows us to help others.

Lehi

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11 hours ago, Jojo Bags said:

Some overlooked items for self-reliance are the ability to repair things, manufacture things, make clothes, raise animals, etc.  What are you going to do when the TP or the soap runs out?  Do you know how to make the lye to make the soap?  Can you make the pectin to make the jelly and jam (it's quite easy)?  What about making a carbon filter for drinking water?  There are so many things that we take for granted.  It seems like some people think that beef, pork, and lamb are grown in the back of the store.

Are you going to tell us? I assume you can make lye relatively easily by steeping ashes from a fire. Yeast is freely available on the skins of many thin-skinned fruits such as grapes, though you need to culture them a bit to make it easy to use. No idea how to make pectin. Don't know about a carbon filter, either, but I'm wondering if it would be as easy as grinding up charcoal from your lye fire and running water through a column of that.

I have long maintained the opinion that everyone over the age of twelve who eats meat should be required to kill and dress at least one animal per year. This would dispell the idea that meat comes from the store. My only concern about this plan is that, without doubt, there would be some percentage of people who find they really enjoy killing the animals. For them, butchering is probably best left to others.

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28 minutes ago, Vort said:

I have long maintained the opinion that everyone over the age of twelve who eats meat should be required to kill and dress at least one animal per year. This would dispell the idea that meat comes from the store.

If that's necessary, the world is in worse shape that I thought, cuz I've never killed or dressed an animal, but I have know for as long as I can remember (from childhood) that meat is parts of dead animals - e.g. hamburger, steak, and liver came from cow, chicken and turkey were birds, pork chops came from pigs....  I'm reasonably certain I learned this from my parents.  Quite possibly related to scriptural animal sacrifices, but I really don't remember.

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Two methods I know of to make pectin is using unripe apples, cut crabapples are best.  If the apples are big, cut in half; use the crabapples whole.  In a large stainless steel kettle or water bath canner, cover the apples with water and bring to a boil, then lower to a very mild simmer.  Cook for an hour or so until mush.  Carefully ladle out the apples and put in a colander lined with an old T-shirt and put over a pot; let sit overnight.  The next morning you will have liquid in the pot.  Heat that to a simmer for about a half hour and condense until the water is boiled off, but the liquid pectin is still there.  When cool, take some rubbing alcohol and pour in about an inch in a bowl. Take about a tablespoon of the cooled pectin and pour it into the alcohol.  Wait a minute or so then using a fork, lift it out.  It should be a thick goo that slowly dribbles through the fork.  If it slips quickly through the fork, it still has too much water.  Condense more and repeat the alcohol test until it oozes through the fork.

The other way is to use the white inside of orange peels instead of apples.  They have a higher content of pectin, but it takes forever to collect enough to make the pectin.

Use 2-4 tablespoons per cup of fruit.  You'll have to learn to juggle the sugar, but you will use less than required by the store bought pectin.

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