Food Storage Calculator

I expect that folks who read this blog may be the kind of folks who would be interested in providing for themselves and their families in times of emergency. One very important means of ensuring you are able to provide for your family in a time of emergency is to ensure you have some food put aside for that "rainy day". How much food to put aside is a personal choice. Many homes don't even have three days worth of food and water available for emergencies. Those folks are living on the edge. A weeks worth of food is a good start and three months worth should get a family through the vast majority of emergencies including the loss of a job or a major medical issue that keeps you out of work.

A good first question may be "How much food do I need to put aside for my family of ...?" Next would be learning how to accumulate and store this food and water. There is an outstanding resource available online and for free. This resource is Provident Living, a website maintained by the Latter-Day Saints. The Mormons strongly encourage members to be prepared for any long term emergency, and have been working at the logistics of this for quite awhile. They have developed a calculator that will help you determine just how much of each necessity you will require for your family.

The Food Storage Calculator will show you the basics of what you should put away for that rainy day. Add some dried fruits and veggies from Honeyville, and you are good to go.

I have my old calculation sheet here on my desk. It has been quite awhile since I have been to the website, they have added quite a bit of new stuff.

Edit - I take it back. The Food Storage Calculator is not nearly as worthwhile as it used to be. It just gives you a total weight of grains and legumes. The old calculator broke it down into 5 major groups and each major group was broken down into line items. It's a good thing I still have my old calculations.

Edit #2 - They may have added some new stuff, but they took away all the nuts and bolts "how to" pages. Another good resource gone.

If any of you are interested in food storage, ask your questions in the comments and I will lead you to the relevant information.

Last edit, I promise. Found links to some of the nuts and bolts information on storage.

This is the very last update. Found a link to a copy of the original Food Storage Calculator.