Food Storage: an organized system for the establishment and maintenance of a year’s supply of food for you and your family. The purpose of food storage is to save in times of harvest to prepare for the lean years as well as times of disaster. What you store and how much you store will depend upon locale, climate, availability of products, special diets, and the numbers and ages of family members. It may be impossible to store what you typically use in one year. Think in terms of what is needed to survive for one year. The revelation to store a year’s supply of food was first disclosed in 1937 by J. Reuben Clark, Jr. This revelation has since been reinforced by Ezra Taft Benson and other authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. To survive for one year, an adult female would require a minimum of 300 pounds of high protein cereal grain, 100 pounds of powdered (nonfat) milk, 100 pounds of honey, 5 pounds of salt, 20 pounds fat or oil, and 60 pounds dried legumes. A child would require less than this and an adult male more. lndividual quantities may be adjusted as other food items are added. Popular choices are dried peas, beans, peanuts, lentils, fruit, vegetables, and canned meat or fish. Dehydrated and freeze-dried foods might be included. Base your storage plan on quality products, airtight metal or heavy plastic containers, a secure facility with easy access, temperature control at a range of 40 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and rotation of foods to prevent spoilage and loss. A basement is an excellent place to store your year’s supply of food if you do not place food containers directly on cement floors. But a closet and the space under your bed are better than no storage space at all. The storage area selected should be free of dust, water pipes, steam, moisture, cans of paint, petroleum based products, or odor causing materials. Do not forget that you must also have water and the means to prepare and cook foods if you plan to survive on what you have stored. Plan for seven gallons of water per person per week for drinking, cooking, and other uses. Hot water heaters, toilet tanks (not bowls), and water beds provide emergency storage. Water wells, ponds, lakes, and rivers provide alternative sources if radiation is not a hazard. Otherwise, plan for and accomplish your water storage needs using plastic containers. Where water purity is in doubt, store bleach (sodium hypocholorite) to be used for purification. It will take one-half teaspoonful per five gallons of clear water. Double the amount of bleach for cloudy water. Incorporate your food storage plan with the total concept of home storage given under the Storeroom section.