A Blog Dedicated to Long Term and Emergency Food Storage in the UK

One year our Christmas present from my Aunt was hundreds of rolls of toilet paper. Gag gift? No, that is what my mom asked for! I grew up in a family that valued the storage of food and basic necessities. Early summer mornings were spent at strawberry fields, cherry orchards, and our own vegetable garden. I was often a little embarrassed at the amount of baskets, bushels, and boxes we packed into the car. Each summer, we could be found canning peaches until midnight; husking, blanching, and bagging corn for the freezer; making applesauce and bottled apple pie filling; dehydrating apple and pear slices; stewing grape juice; bottling and freezing cherries. making strawberry jam; and pickling dill cucumbers. Then there were the 2 or even 3 trollies of food we filled with the for-sale items from the supermarket… yes, I was embarrassed, but in hindsight, I am in awe of my mother’s zeal for food storage. Mom found huge empty plastic buckets and giant zip bags to fill with bulk food, like wheat berries and rice. Dad built a custom food storage room, with shelves from floor to ceiling to house all of our food storage.

Why were my parents so focused on food storage? Simply this: to take care of their family in any unforeseen circumstance. We never had to rely on food storage because of natural or apocalyptic disasters, but it gave us a sense of stability and, of course, was helpful throughout economic difficulties. My parents have 8 children–they went through a lot of food, and it was much easier to buy in bulk to meet the demands of a hungry family! Plus, my mom loved to host special events with lots of family and friends, and she always provided lots of delicious food.

Picking cherries at grandma’s house.

Now that my siblings and I have left home, my mom is still thinking about food storage. When I went home last summer, she had organised a delivery of peaches from a local orchard, and taken orders from local friends, so they could all collect fresh peaches for their own food storage. Her home was bursting with peaches for a few days!

I grew up in Idaho. Now I live in the UK. I want to provide the stability and security of food storage for my family now. I need to be prepared in case of emergencies. I’ve made little half-efforts over the years, but my home is woefully under-stocked in matters of food storage. I want to be better.  So, where do I start? When I look online for help, I find a lot of American blogs and websites. But I don’t live in America. I need to know how to take care of my family in the UK. I looked for a British food storage blog. When I didn’t find one, I decided that I would make one.

And so I have started this blog — to explore and share the basics of long-term and emergency food storage for our homes in Britain. What do we need? Where do we find it? How should we store it? Join me, and let’s keep our homes stocked and our bellies happy; let’s enjoy the security that comes from preparation.