Recently, I’ve heard a few comments like, “If there is ever a food shortage, I know exactly where to go: my nearest Mormon neighbor.”

Those who think this might find themselves in a very long line when crisis strikes.  The problem likely is, there are not yet enough Mormons in your neighborhood to feed the neighborhood.

Everyone should have some sort of food storage beyond the week supply that might be in  your cupboards.  It is easy to get started, simply buy a few extra packages of food every time you go to the grocery store.  Slowly you will buy more food than you eat and you will find yourself with a few extra weeks or months of food to help in food shortage situations.

When thinking about food storage, you may want to think of these scenarios:

• You can save money on food by stocking up on items that are on-sale.
• There could be a problem, such as strikes or storms, that prevent you from obtaining food from your grocery store for a few days or weeks.
• In a bad economy, there could come a situation where you have less-stable income, and you could use your food storage as a type of savings, to allow yourself to eat even without income.
• And then there is the apocalyptic scenario where society and economy fails.

There are many strategies about what foods you should buy and how much.  There are many stores on the Internet which sell home storage food kits which may or may not be worth it.  I recommend starting with a couple months of food storage of things that you commonly eat.  After you see how you use that, then you can think about medium and long term storage.

For more guidelines on storing food, I recommend the Family Home Storage webpages from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.