Before I started gathering my food storage, I was clueless as to how to go about it. I knew that I wanted enough food to be prepared for at least 3 months for both my husband and I, but I didn’t know where to find the canned food that I would need.

One way to start accumulating your stockpile is to buy non-perishable food in bulk from club stores like Costco or Sam’s Club.  Buying large cans of food at a reduced price is a great way to go. Always check the expiration dates on the food that you are buying. I always try to buy things that will be good for at least 2-3 years from purchase date, just in case I don’t rotate through them quickly.

The main way that I have been building my food storage over the past couple of years is through self-canning at a local church cannery. There are canneries similar to these located all over the world, just search to see if you can find something in your area! The one that I go to is a non-profit cannery and you can buy any large cans of any type of food that they offer at a very reasonable price. The other good thing about these is that they offer a lot of raw ingredients, such as hard wheat, and dried beans. I usually will just buy about $10 worth of food storage from them per month and that is enough to quickly build up to the stockpile you need.

One problem I had when I was accumulating my food storage is that I found myself buying food that neither my husband, or I were very fond of because it was cheap. This is not a good way to go. Chances are that if you don’t like the food, but would eat it “in an emergency,” you will not rotate through it the way you should and it will end up being thrown away because it expired. So now I only buy food that my hubby and I will both enjoy eating and that I can incorporate into my regular menu plans. If you decide to invest in food storage you will find the peace that comes with being prepared.