It’s A Fact: Everybody Eats!
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Aliens and Subatomic Particles:
Fold your arms and try to be ever so quiet that you can hear a pin drop, because I am about to introduce you to my down-to-earth friend, James Talmage Stevens, infamous author of Making the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook. He has sold over 760,000 copies of this Bad Boy (you know how good means bad and bad means good sometimes?), and he is going to school us in food storage preparedness. Why? Because I asked him to, because he is the real deal, because he is cool!
So everybody please give it up for James (clapping and more clapping)!
JAMES:
I’m going to Keep It Super Simple!
Food is life––no food, eventually, no life! Perhaps that’s the main reason all disaster and emergency preparedness has at its core the emphasis on foodstuff: food, food storage, food preparation, and food processing and utilization equipment.
Though food is important, the need for shelter from the elements is primordial, and water is a close 2nd priority, leaving food a distant 4th priority after fire. This prioritization is based on immediacy of action necessary to preserve life, since you could die quickly of exposure to extreme cold or hot weather without appropriate shelter. Once protected from the elements––which problem may be obviated by existing mild climatic conditions where the disaster/emergency occurs––clean water then becomes your next immediate need, because the body needs water for its processes to operate effectively.
Then you’ll need fire––to cook your food, boil your water, wash your body, and clean your clothing.
And fourth, food, on the other hand, though ultimately necessary, has a longer downward slope on its death causative curve. People have gone for extremely long periods of time without food, and can subsist for many weeks—if not months––with occasional snacks.
Let me correct a statement made in a previous blog post: “A lot of folks may end up storing food in their garage.” If you currently store any food or potable water in your garage––or even thinking about it–– save your time, take your money, flush it down your toilet––it’s going to save you the time to shop, carry, stack, and worry––it’s the same result! Food is life––store it where you live. If you live in air-conditioned comfort, then so should your stored food! Make no compromises on the protection of your food reserves.
There is a cardinal rule (Trekkies would call it the Prime Directive) that states:
Store what you eat;
Eat what you store.
Use it or lose it!
Following that little bit of wisdom will make your food storage more valuable than money—or gold! Sit down with the family, work together to determine:
- What foods are essential to the family’s diet and survival; and
- What foods would be nice to have that you like–but can’t normally afford.
Then, budget for category 1 items. Determine what you need to eliminate in your current budget so you can acquire an amount of provisions for your immediate plan of safety and security. This is where you face the reality of wants over needs.
These are the marks of true family leadership: the end goal justifies the means required to achieve it.
It’s as simple as that!
James Talmage Stevens
Pat here again: James’s book is THE master plan when it comes to being prepared. Prepared with everything and anything. It will not dissapoint. You can get your copy by going to the top of my blog and clicking on “Emergency Preparedness All-Time Bestseller”. Best preparedness book ever!
Thanks, James, for adding value and spreading good will wherever ye be. Give it up one more time for James (Honor System because I can’t hear anything you do)!:
Author: Making the Best of Basics–Family Preparedness Handbook
Blogger: FamilyPreparednessGuide.com
Internet Radio: blogtalkradio.com/James-Talmage-Steven (Saturdays, 1:00 PM CDST)
Coaching website: beprepared101.com
Preparedness Provider listings: PreparednessYellowPages.com and
Related Posts:
What Are Your Survival Priorities?
Emergency Preparedness: Vital Emergency Supplies
Fire Starting for Survival
The Water Storage Part of an Effective Food Storage and Emergency Preparedness Program