Emergency food/supply storage

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe in building a reserve of food (and stuff for emergencies), so that we can be prepared. I'm not the type of person to go to the store everyday, so I generally like to buy in bulk (even for everyday life). Keep in mind that not all of these foods and items are equally as helpful in every situation; not every emergency is the same.

Here's a list of items that I think would be good for food storage:
* Fruit and grain bars (such as the Great Value ones at Walmart)
* Skippy Natural Peanut butter, or similar
* Pancake mix
* Baking soda (lots of it; don't waste it all on cleaning, either; you don't need to use it in a certain timeframe)
* White sugar
* Brown sugar
* Iodized salt
* Sea salt
* Canning salt
* Herbs/spices (e.g. black pepper, basil, paprika, granulated garlic, onion powder, parsley, etc.)
* Wheat
* Whole wheat flour
* White flour
* Powdered milk (make sure you can tolerate that particular kind before you stock up on lots of it)
* Powdered eggs (if they're not super expensive)
* If you're able to and would like to raise chickens, their eggs would be helpful
* Spaghetti (and other pasta)
* Home-canned tomatoes
* Macaroni and cheese
* Tuna fish
* Popcorn
* Cornmeal
* Honey
* Molasses
* Water (lots of water)
* Artificial bacon bits
* Potato chips (A lot of people would call this junk food, but I think they're important. They last a long time. They can boost morale. People are going to eat them. They taste really good. They provide energy. They can reduce stress.)
* Potassium bicarbonate (If you need less salt in your diet and/or more potassium, this works instead of baking soda)
* Canned pineapple
* Applesauce
* Rolled and/or quick oats
* Millet (I like millet)
* Potatoes, onions, apples, oranges (the ones that will last a while)
* Uncut watermelon (it can last a good while)
* Choline (if you don't have eggs, you'll want a supply of this)
* Dried white mulberries (not for snacking, although they are great for that)
* Elderberry extract
* Vitamins
* Vinegar (lots of vinegar; don't waste it all on cleaning, either; you don't need to use it in a certain timeframe; it'll stay good until you need it)
* Soy sauce
* Maggi seasoning
* Cooking oil (don't count on it lasting years, though; in a long emergency where grocery stores are gone, fresh butter will probably be easier to come by)
* Powdered cheese
* Regular cheese (if you don't actually open it, it stores for a long time; you can freeze it, too, although it can get crumbly)
* Butter (if you can use a freezer, it keeps for a long time)
* Frozen stuff generally is great food storage if you have electricity (things that are good to freeze include things like meat, fruit and grain bars, wonderberries, packaged foods, etc.; wrapping raw hamburger in aluminum foil is very helpful when freezing it)

Here's a list of potentially important non-food items:
* Toilet paper (apparently, some people think they can live without very much of, but I prefer to have a large amount of it at all times)
* Paper and pens/pencils
* Stamps
* Cash
* Books
* Recipes (ideally simple ones that you can use with your food storage items and nothing else)
* Water filters
* Soap/detergent (or soap nuts; they keep for a long time and don't take up much space)
* Clothes
* Scissors
* Candles
* Light sources
* Matches
* Rubbing alcohol
* Hydrogen peroxide
* PermaGuard Food grade diatomaceous earth (to keep weevils out of grain, to make milk last longer, a silica source, etc.; it's supposed to be anti-parasitic, too)
* Houseplants (it's nice to be with other living things)
* Digital media (if the Internet goes out, but you still have electricity, it's nice to have some on hand; e.g. e-books, music, audiobooks, videos, etc.)
* Blankets/coats/heat pads/space heaters/etc.
* Fuel
* Scriptures
* Religious sheet music (e.g. a hymnal)
* Family history
* Canning jars
* Canning lids
* A canner (water bash, pressure canner, etc.)
* A food dehydrator
* Fruit/vegetable seeds (I recommend radishes, tomatoes, wonderberry, pepper, winter watermelon seeds, and muskmelon seeds. But it's important to know how to use them. Since this is for emergencies, you probably want open-pollinated disease-resistant varieties, where possible, such as Roma VF tomato seeds)
* Fertilizer
* Lightbulbs
* Headphones (the ones with detachable cords seem to last longer; extra cords are nice, too)
* Sleep masks
* Some big mass storage devices for your computers (as well as flash drives, blank CDs/DVDs, and such)
* A ham radio?
* Those boots that keep out all the water. Not only are they great for wading in water, but they're pretty warm in the winter, and they keep out the snow.
* Rain barrels
* Tarps (lots of tarps)
* A large roll of bailing twine
* Pruning shears
* A saw
* A hatchet
* An axe
* A hammer
* Screw drivers of all sizes
* Lightswitches
* Fuses, probably
* Warm sleeping bags (make sure they're actually warm when it's cold)
* A pennywhistle, harmonica, melodica, recorder, etc. (and sheet music)
* Pots/pans
** Note that seasoned cast-iron is nice because it'll work on an electric stove, in an oven, or on a campfire.
* Disposable cups, chopsticks, cutlery, etc.
* A dictionary/thesaurus
* Maps
* A globe or atlas
* Bags, backpacks, and/or luggage
* Some spades/shovels/etc.
* Coolers (cheap foam coolers are fine, if they're durable enough to hold the contents)
* Toothpaste
* Toothbrushes
* Floss (make sure you have some shred-resistant floss, too)
* A grain grinder (that's pretty important if you're storing grain, as is the aforementioned food grade diatomaceous earth; however, you can cook wheat berries and eat them without grinding)
* Family/friends
* A cellar (if you can get one of these, one that stays cool year-round, that would be ideal)
* A well
* Solar panels
* Emergency blankets (i.e. mylar blankets)
* Fruit trees, bushes, and vines
* A first aid kit
* Life jackets
* Wool socks (they're supposed to keep your feet warm even if they get wet)
* Sewing materials (needles, thread, etc.)
* Knowledge of how to make your own clothing, as well as the fabric and thread to do so (this is something that is sorely needed in our era; when was the last time you even saw patterns for clothing?)
* Transportation animals (if possible; you can collaborate with other people, you know, if you don't want to have to own the animals yourself)
* Knowledge of what all the weeds on your property actually are. (This can be pretty useful, especially since a lot of them are probably edible.)
* Knowledge of herbalism (it can be pretty useful, even if a lot of it is anecdotal, but be careful, as there are risks)
* Phone numbers written down (including emergency numbers)
* Keep your vaccines up-to-date (Pneumovax and Prevnar-13 are probably some of the more important often-not-required vaccines to have to prepare for emergencies; they protect against many kinds of bacteria that can cause pneumonia and a number of other surprisingly common things; note that bacterial pneumonia can be a complication of viral pneumonia, so even if viral pneumonia is all you think you need to worry about, it's still important to be vaccinated against bacterial pneumonia, especially if there's no vaccine for the virus)
* Potting soil (it's often not available in winter; so, it can be good to stock up, should you need it when it's not in season; same for actual houseplants; you can find Poinsettias and holiday cactuses in parts of the winter, though)
* Rulers, yardsticks and tape measures
* Gloves (winter gloves, rubber gloves, work gloves, disposable gloves, etc.
* Spray for athelete's foot/ringworm
* Medication and such
* A buddy burner (or ideally something better)
* Batteries
* A flashlight
* Games/entertainment
* Insurance (make sure it's actually worth it, though: read the fine print and any reviews)

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