Guest Post from a friend that lost 800 pounds of wheat. This gives us a chance to learn from others.
Imagine losing 800 pounds of essential survival food without even realizing it…My wife and I have always believed in being prepared for the future, no matter what may happen. So very early in our marriage we began buying various types of grain and other food items we could store long term. We bought rice, corn, and oats. We also bought wheat. Like several pounds of it. This was cracked wheat, not flour. To use this wheat you have to grind it into flour.
Anyway, we bought about 800 pounds of wheat. We didn’t buy it all at once. We bought it over a period of time. When we received the wheat it came in bags. We then had to take the wheat and put it into permanent storage containers. So we got these large metal cans with lids. We then had to pour the wheat from the bags into the cans. Then we had to put dry ice in the cans and seal them. We took those cans with us every time we moved, all over the country. At one point, we moved to an old house in Winnsboro, South Carolina. This house had a partial garage in the back.
The Wheat Storage Mishap
The garage was enclosed on only two of the sides. We didn’t think anything about that. It looked to us like a perfect place to store our metal cans that contained our wheat. So that’s exactly where we put it. I’m sure you can imagine what happened to metal cans stored in a garage that was open to the elements on two sides. What you might not know is that South Carolina has a lot of thunderstorms in the summer. A lot. Well, over the two years or so we lived in that house in Winnsboro, the wind and the rain did to those cans exactly what you’d expect they did. The elements rusted the cans and ruined the wheat. In fact, the wheat rotted. (And man did it smell!) Problem was, we didn’t know any of that until the next time we went to move. That’s when we discovered the cans were horribly rusted and the wheat was destroyed. The once sturdy cans now bore the scars of neglect, their labels faded and edges corroded. This was a very costly mistake for us. Not only did we lose about 800 pounds of wheat, we no longer had the peace of mind that having that wheat provided to us.
What Did We Learn?
The most important thing we learned is that you should never keep your food storage in a garage with two sides open to the elements! I highly recommend keeping your food storage in a cool, dry place such as your basement if you have one available.
According to FoodSafety.gov, “For items like grains, legumes, and
dried fruits, store them in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. A
pantry with a consistent temperature of 50-70°F (10-21°C) is ideal.”
How Can We Make Sure to Prevent This Kind of Mishap in the Future?
I already talked about putting your food storage in a cool, dry place that’s protected from the elements. That’s exactly what we did. In addition, I’d suggest storing your food in waterproof containers or mylar bags. I’d also recommend storing food and water on shelves that elevate these items off the ground.
In addition, I recommend you regularly inspect your food storage. Implement a first-in, first-out, (FIFO) system of rotating your food. If you don’t do that you food can spoil or lose its effectiveness. You’ll also want to clearly label your food items so you know exactly what’s what. What Are We Doing to Make Sure This Never Happens Again? We’re doing everything I talked about in the previous section. We now store all of our food and water on sturdy shelves in our basement. We’ve placed everything on elevated shelves. Our basement is cool and dry year round. We’ve definitely learned how to care for our food and water storage.
Summary
One of the best things we can do as entrepreneurs is to be prepared
for whatever situations might occur. And one of the best ways to be
prepared for those situations is to get started with our own food and
water storage. But please take a page out of my playbook. Learn from
my mistakes and store your food and water properly.
Thanks for reading.
Rick
Richard Rawlings (Rick) Smith is a “recovering computer technologist” with many years of experience in the tech industry. Rick’s mission is to invite others to join him in following their dreams of creating an online business to allow them to enjoy the lifestyle they want and deserve.
Website: https://richardrawlingssmith.com/
Twitter: @RRawlingsSmith
