BY PATRICK CARROLL

If you’ve been watching the news lately (and who hasn’t), you’ve noticed that life as we know it could change very quickly. Although we live in relative safety here in Utah, it is probable that life and, more particularly, food is about to get more expensive with inflation and sparser with supply chain disruptions. With war in Europe and droughts in the United States, now is the time to stock up.

Three areas of preparedness are essential to survive: food, water, and financial reserves. The more you have of each of these, the better off you and your family will be. So, let’s concentrate on one of these items: food.

Short-term Food Storage: This is food that you are used to eating each week. These items might be called comfort food. To build up this supply, when you go grocery shopping, buy two or more items and store the extra until you have built up a three-month supply. Think of it as your own grocery store in your pantry/basement. In times of stress, this will allow you to eat food that is easily prepared and palatable for your family. This gives you a three-month cushion to rotate in long-term food storage that your body might not be as used to eating, such as wheat, rice, and oats.

Long-term Food Storage: This is food that can be stored for long periods of time, with or without rotation. A common storage life for these products will be 10-30 years. A good goal would be at least a year’s supply.

But how do you figure out how much your family needs and where can you buy long-term food supplies?

One resource I found online at ezprepping.com/food-storage-calculator was a food storage calculator. Here, you can calculate the amount of grains, meats, oils, beans, dairy, sugars, cooking essentials, fruits, vegetables, and water you will need to store. Believe me, it is more than you think, so the earlier you get going on this, the better and cheaper it will be.

Many items can be purchased at the grocery store, but I found that for ease of stacking (six #10 cans in a case), check out the home storage centers in our area. The closest one is located behind Deseret Industries in Layton, at 930 W. Hill Field Road. Their hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9-3. Ogden and Kaysville have home storage centers with different store hours if needed.

Find a Home Storage Center or browse products

For a current prices and products, go to providentliving.org and search for home storage centers or call 801-336-3230 for more information.