Food Storage : Something Extra

 Comfort Foods
Coffee, hard candy and chocolate ( chocolate chips keep  well and  can be used the  same  as baking  chocolate and is  better than a chocolate bar when trying  to  maximize storage  space). Boosting morale with comfort foods can help keep spirits high in an emergency situation.

High Energy Items
You may need to make a special effort to keep your energy levels high, so stock up on items with plenty of protein and fiber. Peanut butter, granola bars and trail mix are recommended. Energy bars  and  protein bars  can  also  come in handy, if  you  can spare the  expense.  Also  having peanut  butter,  flour and  honey  you  can  make  high calories protein bars of your  own.

Specialty Items
Don’t forget to store specialty items that you might need. If you have a baby, cans of powdered formula would be good to have on hand, even if you’re nursing. Diabetics who eat certain foods and supplements will need to keep those on hand. Elderly people who use a meal supplement will need to stock that.
Making  sure  you  have an  ample  amount  of  cases  of  Ensure or  something like it would not  be a  bad  idea if  you have  children  or  elderly   family  members.  This  will help  to  supplement  their  diet and  keep  them  healthy in an  emergency  situation.
**Having nuts  like   almonds, walnuts, cashews and  grains like  rice and  oats will also give  you  an advantage aside  from the  menu  aspect.  They can all  be used  to  make  nut and grain  milk  to  supplement for  babies or  even lactose intolerant adults.  They  are  nutritious  and  easily  digested.
***  Remember that in a  situation  where  everyone is  cut  off  from the  food  supply  chain  there  will be many   who  will be unprepared.  These  people  will be lacking  the  most  minimal  supplies and  anything  they  can  acquire will be  a  godsend.  Try  to stock  more  than  what  your  family  or  group  will need .  This is includes  items  like the ones  on this  list.  Even those  who stocked  up may  have overlooked  the  comfort  foods and  specialty  items.  Even if  you  never  come  upon  another  person  who is  going  hungry  for lack  of  preparation .  I  can  guarantee  you  will find  many  who  did  not take into  consideration the small comforts  that chocolate candy  or  even baked goods  that  you  can  make  with all the  items I  have   suggested not only  here but in  my  other food  storage  blogs.  Bartering is  something  that  is  not  readily considered in today’s  society.  However,  I  will tell you  that in an  economic  collapse unless you  have  gold  and  silver  you  will need  something of  value to  trade.  That  value  will be  in  foods  and  items that are  not  readily  available.

Seeds
Having a variety of  garden  seeds will serve  you  well.  Enough  for you  to  plant   your own  garden  for  your  family  or  group  to  eat  from  and  to  trade.  Not only  can  you trade  the  surplus fresh  produce  from  your  garden , but you  will be  able to  trade the  seeds themselves.
It is  absolutely  essential that  you  start learning  and practicing  now with a  small  garden  or  a  container  garden if  you  do  not  have  yard  space.  It  is  best that  the  learning  process and  any  mistakes that are  made   should be  experienced  now  and  not when you are  short on food.  In a  survival  situation  a mistake  or a crop  failure  could  be  devastating.  I  will be posting   videos  articles  and  advice  on   survival  gardens.  They are going up all over the Nation from  Coast  to  Coast as people  learn   to  live  sustainable  lives.  Anyone  can  do it  and   I  will  try to  help  you  learn  how.
The  best  way  to  start collecting  seeds  is  with the  foods  that  you  and  your  family   or  group  are  likely  to  eat.  If  you  do not   normally eat  it  now then   what  makes you  think  you  will eat it in a survival  situation?  Yes,  yes   if  you are  hungry  you  will eat  anything.  Isn’t it  better  to  have  foods  you   enjoy than try  to   stomach  foods  you  have  never  really  had  or  dislike?  There  will be  enough  experimenting  to  be  done  in a survival  situation  , your food  should not  be one of  them.
You  also  need  to   make  sure that the  seeds  are  not  GMO,  these  seeds  have  not  been properly  investigated  and tested.  They  should not  be available for human  consumption and  have been  found  to  cause  sterility in  the animals  fed  the   GMO  grain.  What  do  you  think they   will do  to  humans that  consume  that meat?  So  it is  best  to  focus on  organic seeds if at  all possible.
** As  with  comfort  foods  and specialty  items  seeds  will be  as  valuable  as  gold  and  silver.  Only those  who know how  to  garden  and  are  able  to  save  seeds  for  themselves  and  for  barter will have  the upper  hand.
** The  same  goes  for  sugar, salt,  alcohol ( corn  whiskey , vodka, beer  or  wine), seeds, chocolate, nuts, dried  fruits, candy , protein bars and  seeds will command a high  price due to the lack of  availability.  It  is the one  way   you can insure your ability to  trade for  items  you  may  need in the  future.