The Mormon Way

When I was a child a couple of our neighboring farmers were devout mormons. They shared a few tenets of their faith with us when we were around their farms. Most of them made sense and seemed in anyone's best interest to take them to heart. It's hard to argue with treating your body as a temple and not polluting it. It's even harder to argue with their teachings on food storage and emergency preparedness.

The mormon faith teaches followers to be self-reliant. They are instructed to be responsible for themselves, their family and their church... in that order. A very big part of this is food storage and emergency preparedness. Each mormon family should have at least a two-week supply of food for every person and a year supply is even better, according to Church recommendations. This is good advice for everyone, regardless of their faith. As is the advice to develop a family emergency plan and 72-hour emergency kit.

It seems a rather daunting and expensive task, building up that much of a larder. But, a two-week supply is not that difficult to obtain. The first step in the task is to consider what meals you would likely cook and to list ingredients - making sure you have enough of the things your family will actually eat on hand. The second step is to consider your means of storage and the uses for your supplies. After purchasing begins, another important step in this process is to rotate the stock. Food doesn't last forever, so occasionally one must eat what is in storage and replace it with fresh items.

A basic food larder should contain some legumes, grains, powdered milk, water, cooking oil, and dried fruits. It is helpful when you grow a garden and preserve your own produce. Whether you can or dry the food, make sure it is in a form you will eat. And, try not to rely too much upon your freezer. In the case of a disaster, you will not likely have power and your generator may not run long enough.

As for emergency preparedness, this goes a step beyond just securing and storing food for your family. A 72-hour kit with enough food and water for the family, flashlights, blankets and items in the event of an evacuation is the central piece for emergency preparedness. But, so is the family plan and the discussion that goes along with it. If you were evacuated, where would you all meet up? What if cell phones didn't work? These are all important considerations that will save your family stress during a crisis.

What kind of crisis? It could be any kind. We all witnessed what happened to millions who were unprepared when Katrina hit. And, in my own backyard, so to speak, we received a poignant reminder in the form of a tornado. Cell towers were out for some time following the sudden storm. Power was out for several days for thousands who suffered no other damage.

The LDS (mormon) Church has several books printed on the topics of food storage and emergency preparedness. They have been considered the Gentle Survivors by many for several years. It was even a running joke in our family for a long time that if there was a big disaster, we should all head over to our mormon neighbors because we knew they were well-stocked. Rather than rely on them, however, we just adopted The Mormon Way into our lifestyle. My pantry always has at least a two-week supply... if not closer to a month. And, I have emergency supplies including flashlights, lanterns and basic camping supplies. I'm not quite as organized about my storage as most mormons I know, but then again... I haven't attended their classes on the topic.

We should all take a lesson from their teachings and work to be more self-reliant. In the event of a natural disaster, a man-made disaster, or an unemployment disaster... if you have food storage and an emergency plan you can ensure your family's security.