Where to put the food storage?

[MorningStar]

What I find even more challenging than affording food storage is finding a place to put it. I feel guilty that I don't have a year supply, but our pantry is packed, another closet is packed, and we have as much as we can fit in our storage unit. We're in a two bedroom apartment with three kids and I don't know how the heck we could store a year supply. According to this food storage calculator I found, my family is supposed to have 675 pounds of wheat alone. And that's just the wheat. One of our biggest reasons for wanting a house is so we have a garage to put food in and a garden to supplement our food budget.

Any ideas?

[Jenamarie]

We're a family of four in a 1000 sq.ft. house, and our garage is not ideal conditions for food storage (detached, uninsulated) so all of our foodstorage is inside. What we did with our wheat, rice, and beans, since it's all good for decades, is store it under our queen bed. It means lifting the mattress and boxspring off of the frame when we want something, but as that stuff is good for 30+ years we're not too worried about taking our sweet time rotating it out.

[MorningStar]

Thanks! Now I just need to move the stuff I keep under the bed somewhere.

[Misshalfway]

You can be prepared in other ways. Make sure you have cash on hand. Make sure you have liquid assets -- a few months salary put away.

I agree that it is difficult to store large items in a smaller living space.

[WillowTheWhisp]

We had a load of stuff stored in our loft - but mice got in from the empty house next to ours and had a feast! Right now I'm trying to work out better storing places and ideas too.

[NeuroTypical]

cool and dry and dark - them's the marching orders for good food storage that lasts a long time. The warmer it is, the quicker it loses it's value as food. The wetter, the more it gets ruined. The lighter, the more mold and fungus and bacteria and stuff will grow in it.

I know some preparadness enthusiasts who recommend burying it. But that's mainly because they're worried about food rioters.

If you don't have a basement, how about a crawlspace?

[MorningStar]

My parents have a crawlspace, but it's pretty damp under there.

[Alaskagain]

Spray paint the number 10 cans in your favorite decorator colors. (Remember to mark them somehow as to their contents)

You can make shelves using lumber and these painted cans as shelf supports and organize your books, toys, dvd's etc, at the same time. It's so chic!

You can stack them two high, hot glue them at the rims, make a solid rectangle of them, top with a plexiglass sheet and voila! a unique "coffee" table for your living room, or make a taller tower and make a crafts desk, computer table, whatever.

You can take a wheat barrel and top it with a plywood circle and floor length tablecloth for a nice lamp table (matching, of course!) one at each end of the sofa.

Hmmmm, drumming my fingers on the table . . . . what would Martha (Stewart) do?

[MorningStar]

Martha would probably build a big food storage shed out of popsicle sticks.

[Jenamarie]

My parents actually used their plastic buckets of wheat to support the plywood shelves that hold their cans. It's in their garage though

[meredith14]

Lots of time there are little used space in the back parts of closets that are hard to reach. Stack stuff there. Under beds is great place.

When we were in a little space with kids, I took a hard look at what I had and got rid a ton of stuff so I could store what was important (food). It felt so good to get rid a ton of JUNK, but there were times later when I went searching for something and remembered I had turfed it! Then I kicked myself for getting rid of something I still needed and had to buy again.

Also remember that a year is ideal but if you can store just 3 months right now you are on the right track.

[pushka]

Over here we have Best Before dates on just about every item we purchase nowadays..I used to buy large packets of flour but didn't use it all very quickly, and eventually I noticed weevils appearing..also the Best Before date would probably be up before I used it..so how do you overcome these 2 problems when storing stuff like wheat and sugar? Do you have Best Before dates on your food products? How can you make these kinds of food items last decades?

[Jenamarie]

Over here we have Best Before dates on just about every item we purchase nowadays..I used to buy large packets of flour but didn't use it all very quickly, and eventually I noticed weevils appearing..also the Best Before date would probably be up before I used it..so how do you overcome these 2 problems when storing stuff like wheat and sugar? Do you have Best Before dates on your food products? How can you make these kinds of food items last decades?

They're in cans. The church has canneries (at least in on the North American continant) where you can go to can flour, wheat, beans, dehydrated apples, and all sorts of other stuff. When it's in cans, that have oxygen absorbers inside (greatly hindering the ability for mold and such to grow) they can last for decades. :)

[pushka]

Thank You Jenamarie!! You've solved my food storage puzzle :)

[Carita]

Our couch started looking old and kind of sagging so my husband took the legs off and made a little higher frame under it so we could not just sit more comfortably since we are tall people but..we put lots of food storage under it. The couch is easy to slide off the base to take some food out. We stored some canned food and pasta. Sugar and flour in their original bags and put those in grocery plastic bags. It is amazing how much you can actually fit under that couch. I also wished for a small hutch for my birhtday that we squeezed in the dining area. I filled it with food.

Remember, we are asked to have at least two week supply but up to a year if possible. A year is our goal but anything between two weeks and a year is good.

Your are doing the right thing and the best you can. That is all your are asked to do.

[Iggy]

Over here we have Best Before dates on just about every item we purchase nowadays..I used to buy large packets of flour but didn't use it all very quickly, and eventually I noticed weevils appearing..also the Best Before date would probably be up before I used it..so how do you overcome these 2 problems when storing stuff like wheat and sugar? Do you have Best Before dates on your food products? How can you make these kinds of food items last decades?

You can get weevils in flour at any date. Put your flour back into an air tight container and put it in the freezer for 48 hours per pound. Then when you go to use the flour, sift out the bugs and use the flour.

If you think you'll be squeamish doing this, just think about your ancestors. No way would they trash flour just because of bugs. They hand picked the bugs out and used the flour anyway. You never eat flour raw- it is always cooked. Cooking kills the bugs. It is just added protein to your diet.

I had a 5 gallon bucket of flour that also had bugs. No way could that fit in my freezer. So I sifted the bugs out and put some flour into an airtight container that did fit in my freezer. I kept the flour in the freezer too. I made bread every other week- so I was using up the flour at a steady rate.

You can also get weevils in any dry food that is boxed. I take my seal a meal and seal up the boxes. That way the bugs can't get in! I love rice a roni- but the bugs get into it. Now I have my rice a roni boxes sealed up and laying sideways in the cupboard. Same with mac & cheese, Hamburger Helper, Tuna Helper, etc.

[WillowTheWhisp]

Some of the 'best before' dates on tinned goods are only there because the law says they have to be. They don't automatically become inedible when they have passed that date. You do need to rotate stuff though. Use and replace on a regular basis throughout the year. It's flour and dried pulses which are my worse problem because of rodents. And here in Lancashire finding anywhere in a house that is dry, dark and cool is not easy as I'm sure you'll agree Pushka. We have a crawlspace but it's only about 18 inches and is damp.

[pushka]

Thanks for the extra helpful posts Iggy and Willow.

Yes Iggy, I am a little squeamish about picking out bugs, but as long as I know they're not harmful to us, I don't mind sifting them out...

[amightyfortress]

Over here we have Best Before dates on just about every item we purchase nowadays..I used to buy large packets of flour but didn't use it all very quickly, and eventually I noticed weevils appearing..also the Best Before date would probably be up before I used it..so how do you overcome these 2 problems when storing stuff like wheat and sugar? Do you have Best Before dates on your food products? How can you make these kinds of food items last decades?

This may seem a bit gross, but weevils are edible. If you don't want to eat them, you KNOW the cat would have an unbelievably good time if you sifted them out of the flour and added them to the catfood bowl.

[Jenamarie]

Weevils are evil!

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

[NPCNS]

I bought 3 months supply as sort of a test and put it in the garage. Unfortunately the wide swings in weather ruined a lot of stuff, even though the garage is attached with a heated unit partly above. I did not know flour could go bad. Better to use wheat and grind when needed. It was a waste, but at least not a waste of a year's supply, just 3 months. I am also at a loss as to where to store. I believe you should do what you can and the rest is in the Lord's hands.

I also think the cans are better than the mylar bags for pest prevention, but the cans rust quickly in the hot/humid summer months in the midwest

[pam]

There is a picture that WordFlood posted showing his closet and how he has organized the "spare floor space" for his food storage. It's in another preparedness thread and I've been trying to find it. Perhapd WordFlood could post it on this thread as it would be very appropriate.

[Iggy]

Don't forget about the overhead space that is unused. Look over the door to your laundry room, bathroom, etc. If you have 12 inches or more you have room for a shelf and then store your t.paper, paper towels, garbage bags, etc.

How large is your bedroom? Big enough to comfortably put two Queen or King beds in there and still walk around? Then you might consider shortening the room by adding a food storage area.

My Branch President did this to their bedroom. On the blank wall he built out a room within this room. It was 5 feet deep and as wide as the blank wall. They covered it with drapes, making it look like a sliding glass door was there.

Also their mattress's were all on raised platforms that held their food storage in, along with bed linens for that particular bed. Their wheat/grains are in the middle, then along the sides are drawers for items.

In the area above the door and extending along the walls, he put up cupboards. The ones that go over the refrigerator work well. More space for storage.

In his double car garage he has room for one car, the rest of the room is barrels of water. They are on their sides - He built water racks, using a wine cellar setup as his pattern. They also have cases of 16 oz bottles, and those bottles that go into the dispensers, not to mention all the juice and fruit drinks, plus all of the laundry detergents.

His wife only uses liquid laundry detergent- and when she empties a bottle she fills it with tap water and sticks on a large label that says Emergency Clothes Washing Water on it. She buys at Cosco, by the case so she has the empty cases that this detergent comes in, and she refills the cases. Easier to store everything.

They "shop" from their food storage first, then when she has a long enough list that needs replacement, they then go to Cosco.

I try to do this too - same as when I ordered supplies at the grocery store I worked at. If I am down 6, then order 6. OR if it is on sale and it is something you eat all the time and really like, get a case.

I use Ketchup on beef, my husband uses Barbecue sauce on beef and chicken so I stock up on both. Husband only likes mustard on hot dogs and fish(you figure that one out, I sure can't:confused:), I love spicy brown mustard on pork and ham so I stock up on the spicy brown. Husband likes that over regular mustard. All of the above have really long shelf lives when not opened.

I have learned to NOT store the self opening cans on their sides. EEEEWWWW what a mess! When storing small cans (tomato paste, mushrooms, Mandarin oranges, etc.) on top of each other, put a piece of cardboard to fit on top. This will keep them from toppling over and falling out/off your shelf. This is for those cans whose bottoms are not rolled to fit into the top of like can - do you know what I mean???

Same for jars of food. When I am at the grocery store and I see the cardboard fillers that are laying on the floor or stacked to the side on the shelf, I take them and ask the check-out clerk if I can buy them. They always give them to me free.

[NPCNS]

Iggy, some great ideas! Even those of us who don't have a 2 car garage or a bedroom that can fit 2 beds can springboard from these ideas!

Thanks

NC

[Guest Username-Removed]

I live in a small two bedroom apartment. My 2nd bedroom is my office so I had to use the space at the bottom of my walk in closet for my 3 month storage. Here is the picture that I posted in my profile of that ...

WordFLOODs Gallery » LDS Mormon Network

Those shelves are found at Costco for about $75. You can split them like I did to make them work underneath your clothes.