Food and Storage pt 1

In days of old, as many books used to start, they had root cellars. In prepping terms we want to hold as much food stuffs, among other things we'll get to later, as we can. 


It's important to store said items in as best a condition as possible. Also be aware that you use, when TSHTF comes down, perishables first. It might mean one hell of a BBQ when the power goes and you eat all the meat in your deep freeze but enjoy it while you can. Ditto some forms of fruit and veg. Prepping has you pickle and preserve fruit and veg. It has you bucket up grains, rice, flour and sugar and it has you tin, tin and tin some more. There are a bunch of sites which offer a greater in-depth view on this subject and I suggest a good search. Learn and use the info.

Food rotation
It's all well and good laying in 200 tins of food and ready meals (MRE's) but if you eat the out of date sequence you could end up discarding a valuable resource. In tough times throwing out food you might need to survive... not clever.

Shelving

Most off the shelf shelves are, to be frank, shit. Buy the heavier duty kind. I've some collection of books and magazines and have utterly demolished the lightweight versions. Either use thick wood or metal shelving with a good loading capacity. The minimum for food storage would be 30-kilos per shelf but more is better.

One company, although there might be another one or two (Can Tracker for example) which does well in this sector is 'shelf reliance'. That said, via google images, I've seen wooden home made versions that should work well enough. Also look at, if not for food rotation, at shop and warehouse shelving. They are, after all, designed to handle what you'll want them for.

As for the rooms - you're looking at the usual cool, dark and dry. That is, after all, what it says on the tin. For our purposes we also want secure. A lockable larder or pantry is the starting point. At a minimum I'd want a secure (fitted with a lock then) steel cabinet in my kitchen or garage/storage area. Ideally an area set aside in my bone dry bunker. The middle ground would be a cellar or basement. Some preppers get around the damp issue by using an old chest freezer. Fitted with a lock they are almost air-tight with their rubber seals, protected by their insulation against temperature changes and better than nothing against outside damp