Whether it’s as simple as keeping a few extra staples on hand or filling shelves with home-preserved foods, there are real benefits to storing food at home—and it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.
People often ask me why I talk about preserving and storing food so much. (You can read about my food storage here.)
I think that is a great question ~ and honestly, one of my favorite things to talk about.
So here’s my answer.
It Saves Money
There are so many reasons I believe in food storage, but the first (and easiest to explain) is simple: it saves you money.
I absolutely understand that everyone is in different stages of life with different circumstances and different priorities.
Canning can sometimes take a lot of time and make for some long days.
I will tell you this, though, it is absolutely worth it to carve out some time to can the things that your family eats most often.
And if you can grow a lot of it yourself that’s any even more significant savings.
I feel the same about dehydrating and fermenting. When you buy fresh produce at the peak of the season it’s a lot less expensive and you save even more.
I think it also cuts down on waste.
You can get really tired of corn or green beans or tomatoes at the peak of the season.
Canning the extras is a wonderful thing.
And when there’s snow on the ground that jar of corn is a little taste of summer heaven.
You absolutely don’t have to can stuff in huge batches like I tend to do.
I only do that because, 1. I love to can,
and 2. I really really like not having to run into town all the time to pick up things for dinner.
An important part of home preserving is knowing what’s in your food. Because when you do it yourself you get to decide what’s in the food you feed yourself and your family.
And I think we’d all agree that’s something we’d like more control over.
It’s Security
Another reason I’m a food storage advocate is because I like having food in the house all the time.
Because you just never know when you might not be able to get to the store.
Where I live we have tornadoes, lightning storms, floods, hail storms, ice storms, blizzards, and recently started having earthquakes.
Any of those things can knock out power, which happens at least twice a year, and/or keep you at home, which also happens once or twice a year.
Not having to rush to the store like everyone else when they‘re forecasting a major storm makes my life much less stressful.
Having chili and soups and even meat all ready to just heat up (on the grill when there’s no power) gives me a very secure feeling.
Bulk Buying Saves Even More
Let’s talk about bulk buying for a minute.
I like to grind my own wheat for flour.
I know.
I’m crazy.
But there’s so much more nutrition in freshly ground flour. 🙂
And I find it oddly therapeutic.
I go through about 5 pounds of flour a week baking for family and some friends. More during the holidays.
That’s close to 300 pounds of flour a year.
I can buy organic wheat berries online (if I could buy it locally I would, that’s always my first choice) in bags ranging from 5 pounds to 50 pounds.
The 50 pound bag has a significant per unit savings over the 5 pound bags.
And often I can get free shipping, and who doesn’t love that?
It makes sense for me to order it in the 50 pound bags.
Even at my farmers’ market I can usually get some kind of deal for buying larger quantities.
Especially tomatoes.
Especially if I’m looking for canning tomatoes.
Cause those don’t have to be perfect. They can even be a little soft.
Same with apples.
U-pick places will often be priced much less than the store as well. So don’t forget to check out those if you have any nearby.
It’s About Self Sufficiency
My final reason has to do with being more self-sufficient, but also with another kind of security.
We live in an economy that leaves a lot of people feeling uneasy.
The financial gurus tell us we should have 3 to 6 months worth of money in the bank to pay your bills in case of job loss.
If, God forbid, that should happen, you’d be in much better shape if you also had 3 to 6 months of food stored.
In an incredibly stressful time that would alleviate a lot of the stress.
I just believe in being prepared.
So, those are my reasons. The biggies at least.
I’m not gonna lie, it does take some time and some planning, but it’s totally doable.
You have to plan for the bulk purchases and sometimes you can go a little over budget when you’re first starting.
Make a Plan ~ Start Small
But I encourage you to have a plan. Pick 1 item to stock up on each time you do your grocery shopping.
Even small steps add up—and the satisfaction of seeing full shelves (and knowing exactly what’s in those jars) is worth every bit of effort.
And check out food delivery services like Azure Standard and Butcher Box.
If you can’t find what you are looking for locally, you can probably find it there.
I like to can most of my meats.
I’ve had freezers die on me, and that’s not cool to come home to a defrosted freezer.
Especially if you’ve been gone for a week or two…
So, when I buy it in bulk I make sure I have enough jars to process it. That way I get to put convenience food in the pantry too!
Soup, chili, chicken chunks, taco meat, etc. Perfect for those nights when you don’t want to have to think too much.
That way you stay away from the drive-thru and delivery pizza. And that saves you even more money!
The Bottom Line?
Yes, preserving and food storage take time, and yes, it takes planning. But it’s absolutely doable. Start small, use what you have, and build from there.
There’s just something about knowing that your family is not going to go hungry, that makes you feel like you can handle whatever life throws at you.
And I think a lot of us need that confidence now a days.
Blessings!