Longer Term Food Storage

     From the Provident Living Manual: "Build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet. One way to do this is to purchase a few extra items each week to build a one-week supply of food. Then you can gradually increase your supply until it is sufficient for three months. These items should be rotated regularly to avoid spoilage. For longer-term needs, and where permitted, gradually build a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive, such as wheat, white rice, and beans.   These items can last 30 years or more when properly packaged and stored in a cool, dry place. A portion of these items may be rotated in your three-month supply."
     One way to get start on your longer term storage, is to buy a "starter kit" from the cannery.  I'll admit, I have been pretty resistant to storing these longer term items,  they are just items I always thought I don't use on a regular basis.  However, I've had a change of heart lately :)  Most items have a storage life of 30 or more years.  I'm sure between now and 30 years I will have use for this stuff (well, maybe not the beans except in an extreme emergency :)  The truth is, when I unpacked this stuff from the cannery, I felt so darn good about having this on hand!  For those of you unfamiliar with the LDS Church's cannery, you can go and actually can your own food storage for cost!   It's really fun to do ( I enjoy it anyway), I have just found I have a hard time finding the time to do it.  I finally figured out you can just stop in and pick up a "Starter Kit", without having to can it yourself, at least at our cannery.  The cast is $24.95 (Price updated November 1, 2013) and includes the items in the picture above (note that you can save about $1.60 if you were to go into the cannery and can it all yourself, to me, it was worth paying a little more to just run in and pick it up).  The goal for our family, is to have a starter kit purchased for every member of our family.  We plan on doing this a little at a time, buying one with each paycheck, or one a month.
     To see if there is an LDS cannery near you, check this link.  For hours of operation and to see if you need to schedule and appointment, call the number listed in the link.