There's no time like the present to store food for the future.
"The time is right," said Teresa Hunsaker, family and consumer science educator for the Weber County office of the Utah State University Extension Service. "There are a lot of disasters around the world."
And for many families, the economy is a disaster.
"Food prices are probably not going down," Hunsaker said. "Some of those basics -- wheat, beans and dry milk -- are less expensive, and I could stretch a food dollar if I know how to use them."
Hunsaker organized the Food Storage Fair to help people create a usable food storage system. The fair starts at 8 a.m. Saturday, in the Shepherd Student Union Building at Weber State University.
The keynote event is a panel discussion with food storage experts: Brian Nummer, USU Extension food safety specialist; Michelle Lloyd, visiting assistant professor at Brigham Young University; and Joe Thompson, quality assurance lab specialist for LDS Welfare Services.
Nummer says panel members will try to dispel myths and discuss the latest research.
3-3-3
It's a myth that you have to have 30 years' worth of food, Nummer said. He's exaggerating, but says it might as well be 30 years to some people. Even a two-year supply can be intimidating.
"That's a daunting task, financially as well as logistically," he said.
Nummer recommends a less overwhelming "3-3-3" plan -- first store enough for three days, then for three weeks, and then for three months.
"In all honesty, if we had an emergency that required a three-month supply, we'd be in pretty dire straits," he said.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are encouraged to store food.
"Certainly, a one-year supply is a major focus," said Thompson. "The amount to store is more dependent on the individual."
A booklet put out by the church in 2007 stressed having a sufficient supply to care for your family, but to avoid extremes or debt to make it happen.
Long-term storage
Lloyd has been sampling people's stored food.
"We selected representative samples from each age group, from fresh up to 30 years old, and ran taste testing as well as nutritional analysis," she said. "It does last longer than I thought it did. ... I tasted all of the rice samples we were serving to people, and I couldn't really tell which was oldest -- they all tasted acceptable to me."
Wheat, pinto beans, rolled oats, potato flakes, pasta and apple slices were edible after 30 or more years. Nonfat powdered milk and dehydrated carrots last 20 years.
Foods that didn't fare well over time: powdered eggs and vegetable oil.
Shorter term storage
Canned food from the grocery store generally has a "best by" date two years from canning, but it may be safe longer.
"Properly processed, commercially canned food, as long as it remains sealed, is safe to eat indefinitely," said Nummer. "I'm not sure you'd want to eat it (because of the flavor)... but in an emergency I wouldn't want to be throwing away a can that is sealed perfectly because it has an expiration date of 2009."
Don't want to take a chance on the flavor, and have too many cans to eat before they expire? Thompson suggests giving them away to help others.
"As soon as you start wasting food, then you lose the desire to store food," he said.
HALT waste
Oscar Pike, a BYU professor, came up with the acronym HALT to explain how to keep food storage longer.
"H" stands for humidity, "A" for air, "L" for light, and "T" for temperature.
Humidity isn't a big problem in Utah, but there are foods that contain too much juice or oil to store long-term, including dried eggs, whole-wheat flour, nuts, brown rice, brown sugar and some dried fruits and vegetables.
Air can be limited by putting oxygen absorbers in with food before sealing the containers.
"In order for the oxygen absorbers to pull the oxygen content to less than 1 percent, and hold it there, containers must be sealed at least two weeks," said Thompson.
Foods with high moisture content, like those mentioned above, should not be stored with oxygen absorbers because there's a greater chance of botulism.
Light and temperature extremes cause food to deteriorate rapidly, said Nummer.
"Several items have been tested, with food stored in a cool place, like a basement, versus a hot place like an attic or garage," he said. Wheat stored in a cool temperature for about 20 years was acceptable, but wheat stored in the heat for five years was not.
Containers
Lloyd says No. 10 cans are very good for storing most foods because they block light and moisture. Mylar bags are also good, as long as they are high quality and don't have pinhole cracks. Both must be sealed properly.
She keeps items that don't need an airtight seal, or that she'll rotate quickly, in five-gallon buckets with a screw-top lid.
Thompson likes to reuse two-liter juice or soda pop bottles marked "PETE." PETE stands for polyethylene terephthalate, also known as No. 1 plastic. PETE bottles are generally marked with a "1" in a triangular recycling logo, on or near the bottom of the container. The walls of these bottles are thick enough, and the seals tight enough, to work with oxygen absorbers -- five-gallon buckets do not.
Vitamins
Food processing destroys most vitamins, said Nummer, but the carbs, fats, proteins and minerals remain. However, he says, new freeze-drying techniques are improving the retention of vitamins, as well as flavor and color.
Tests are yet to be done on how long it takes to become vitamin-deficient, but Nummer suspects it's months.
Some people recommend storing vitamin C tablets or multivitamins, but Nummer warns most have a shelf life of about a year.
PREVIEW
WHAT: Food Storage Fair
WHEN: 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Shepherd Student Union Building, Weber State University, 3848 Harrison Blvd., Ogden
ADMISSION: $5, bring a friend and he/she gets in for half-price; preregistration requested, (801) 399-8207
THE SCHEDULE
The Food Storage Fair offers presentations on getting started, as well as more advanced classes. About 20 vendors are expected at the event.
8 a.m.: Registration
9 a.m. classes: "Using Dry Milk," "Planning and Using Your Food Storage," "Getting Started Using Baby Steps," "Whole Wheat Bread," "Mock Root Cellars for Winter Veggies," "Containers and Oxygen Packets" and "Using Food Storage Every Day"
10 a.m. classes: "Using Dry Beans," "Wheat and Grains," "How Long Does Food Last?" "Think Outside the Box," "Mock Root Cellars for Winter Veggies," "Breakfast and Dinner Packs" and "Buying, Storing and Using Honey"
11 a.m.: Panel discussion with Brian Nummer, Michelle Lloyd and Joe Thompson
Noon classes: "Using Dry Milk," "Planning and Using Your Food Storage," "How Long Does Food Last?" "Whole Wheat Bread," "Gluten Free," "Food Storage -- When You Barely Have Enough to Eat" and "Using Whole Grains in Everyday Cooking"
1 p.m. classes: "Using Dry Beans," "Wheat and Grains," "Getting Started Using Baby Steps," "Think Outside the Box," "Containers and Oxygen Packets," and "Using Whole Grains in Everyday Cooking"
2 p.m. classes: "Food Preservation for Food Storage," "Introduction to Preppin' Food," "Just Add Water," "Food Storage -- When You Barely Have Enough to Eat" and "Buying, Storing and Using Honey."
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