Pillar
Food Storage
Storing food is easy. Storing food you will eat, that keeps as long as you think, is the harder problem. Tested shelf-life data, rotation systems and preservation methods with real sourcing.
Guides
No guides published in this pillar yet. The resources below are worth reading in the meantime, and the newsletter announces each one as it lands.
Resources worth your time
7 vetted links for food storage, annotated so you know what each one is for before you click.
- Government or standards bodyGovernment agencyFree
Build a kit (opens in a new tab)
FEMA
The federal kit list. Treat it as a floor rather than a target: it is deliberately generic, so it under-specifies for cold climates and says little about medication.
- Government or standards bodyStandard or rulesFree
National Center for Home Food Preservation (opens in a new tab)
University of Georgia and USDA
The tested-recipe authority for canning, drying and curing. If a preservation method is not here or in a current extension publication, do not improvise it: botulism is the failure mode.
- Government or standards bodyGovernment agencyFree
FoodSafety.gov (opens in a new tab)
US Federal Government
Storage times, safe temperatures and what to throw out after an outage. The four-hour refrigerator rule and the full-freezer rule are the two numbers to memorise.
- Government or standards bodyGovernment agencyFree
Cooperative Extension System (opens in a new tab)
USDA NIFA
Find your state extension office. Extension publications are the most under-used preparedness resource in the country: tested, local, free, and written by people who answer the phone.
- Established nonprofitNonprofitFree
Provident Living food storage guidance (opens in a new tab)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Decades of practical long-term storage guidance, published openly and used well beyond the church. The three-month rotating supply model is the most workable starting point we have found.
- Practitioner or communityCommunityFree
r/preppers (opens in a new tab)
Reddit
The largest general preparedness forum, and more practical than its reputation suggests. Sort by top of the month rather than reading the front page, which skews toward news reaction.
- Practitioner or communityCommunityFree
r/Canning (opens in a new tab)
Reddit
Unusually well moderated on safety, and firm about tested recipes only. That strictness is the reason to use it rather than a general cooking forum for preservation questions.