Emergency Food Storage - Where Do I Store It?

Many people delay getting their food storage because they don’t know where to store it.  For those living in small apartments or homes, this can be a difficult problem.  It may not be possible to store as much food as you would like, but it is certainly possible to find creative solutions to this problem. 

First, lets consider the important factors that are necessary to maintain the shelf life of your food storage.

·      Temperature – Always store food at a cool constant temperature.  The ideal temperature range is 40 to 70 degrees.  Heat affects nutrition, appearance, texture and taste of food.

·      Humidity – Food containers should be air tight and stored above the floor and away from outside walls.

·      Light – Food storage should be stored in a dark place. Light fades   colors, destroys vitamins, and speeds the rancidity of fats.

·      Pests – Food storage area must be kept clean to avoid the invasion of pests. Immediately cleaning up any spilled food particles.  #10 cans provide the best protection against pest invasion from the outside.  Airtight containers provide the best protection from invasion from inside.  Insects cannot live without air.

During the course of our married life, my husband and I have moved many times.  When we started our life together we rented a 1-bedroom apartment in an old house.  The one closet we had was tiny.  The only place we had to keep our food storage was under the bed.  It wasn’t ideal, but it worked.  My mother happened to work as a clerk in a clothing store.  She was able to provide me with large flat boxes that would easily fit under the bed.  I packed our food storage items in the boxes.  This made access to my food storage easier, as the boxes were easy to slide in and out.   As we moved, had children and added to our food storage, we somehow seemed to find a place to keep our food storage.

Here are a few creative suggestions of spaces and equipment that people have used:

1.    Between the couch and the wall

2.    Between a bed head board and wall

3.    Along the wall of a closet underneath hanging clothes

4.    Mount 12 inch deep shelves floor to ceiling, along a wall and then cover with drapes hung from the ceiling

5.    Stack boxes and put on a plywood tabletop and cover with a cloth for an end table

6.    Use pieces of furniture with built in storage areas such as a bench that opens up with a storage compartment

7.    Use Shelf Reliance Food Rotation Systems that stand-alone or can be used on existing shelves or under the bed. 

It was a long time until we had an actual space that was designated just for food storage.  I have found that you need to be creative and think out of the box.  Please visit my website to see all of the Shelf Reliance Food Rotation Systems that are available.  They are not only wonderful to take advantage of available space, but they help in the rotation of you food storage.

 susansakurai.shelfreliance.com

*From now until May 20, 2012, the Harvest 72" #10 - 11949
 is on sale.  Sale Price: $229.99
Regular Price: $264.99

The following are the sources of information I used to write this article.

http://www.countrysurvival.com/how-to-store-food-storage/

http://www.countrysurvival.com/where-to-put-your-food-storage/

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/48306/