For years, the prepper community has stressed the importance of creating a food pantry system for the home in case an emergency strikes. This practical food pantry concept goes beyond preparedness and should be adopted for everyday living purposes. As a child, I remember visiting my grandmother and walking into her fully stocked pantry. She had every type of canned good you could think of. She was raised by parents who endured the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. She knew how long a stocked pantry could last a family; and to this day, she still has her circulating pantry. But this concept has trailed off and is no longer “the norm” for households. This is also why so many are caught off guard when a disaster strike.
Resurrecting the Lost Art of a Food Pantry
Having a pantry system in the home needs to be reawakened within every community. This concept saves money, keeps a family prepared and helps the community be more prepared. Angela Paskett is a very knowledgeable source on family-based preparedness, food storage and self-reliant living. She has been writing her very informative blog Food Storage and Survival for years and also hosts a weekly radio program Food Storage and Survival Radio Show focusing on family preparedness. In my eyes, Angela talks the talk, and walks the walk of preparedness and self reliance; and has been actively storing and eating food with her family for over fifteen years. She has gone a step further in terms of spreading this important message and written a wonderful resource on why you should be well prepared and well fed. Food Storage for Self-Sufficiency and Survival: The Essential Guide for Family Prepared reinforces the importance of why creating a food storage pantry is essential while living through these chaotic times of price inflation, natural disasters and the war on our food supply.
Paskett takes you step-by-step through the establishment of a pantry and creates the building blocks you need to add to it and maintain it. She starts with a basic 72-hour food pantry system and adds on with food preservation, water storage, dry packing long term food stuffs, maintaining your food source, creating sustainable food stores, organizing the pantry and ultimately, using your pantry. It’s incredibly organized and there isn’t one area of this topic that she hasn’t missed.
My favorite chapter in the book (and one that I believe we should all be doing to promote a more sustainable lifestyles) is the chapter on sustainable food storage.
Paskett writes, “It wasn’t too long ago that families kept gardens to produce much of their own food. Food was picked from the yard and cooked for dinner that night. Gardening gets us in touch with the land and can provide a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains for consumption and storage at very little cost.”
In this chapter, she goes on to write about how much food a person needs to plant, how to maximize planting space, seed saving techniques and even incorporating small farming breeds into the mix and how to grow feed for them. This is what mindful living is all about, folks! You are creating your own food source and have the power to raise the food in most natural way possible.
What I Loved About the Book:
- Her book is very reader-friendly, extremely organized and has a great layout.
- She has broken down frugal planning methods for the pantry that are based on your family’s needs.
- I loved the pros and cons on the types of equipment to be used; and the book is chocked with images that helps the reader further understand.
- The breakdown of information and suggestions is great.
- Her ideas emphasize how creating a food pantry system can save and stretch a family’s budget.
This book is loaded with helpful information and is a must-have for those putting together or using a food pantry in their home. I have never seen such an organized, concise book on the subject. With the author’s vast experience, even those with an already existing food pantry can learn a thing or two from this book. I give this book two thumbs up for the layout, images and presented information. Pick up a copy of Food Storage for Self-Sufficiency and Survival: The Essential Guide for Family Prepared today and start practicing these essential methods so we can begin re-awakening this forgotten pantry concept.