“We are often told to start a food storage program. The prophets have counseled us about this for a long time. What can I as a teenager do to prepare myself and to help my family prepare?”

Answer/James B. Holm

Our prophets have warned and rewarned that each family should maintain a minimum one-year supply of food. In addition, the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches independence, industry, and thrift. Latter-day Saints have been counseled to be prepared to care for themselves and their families in times of need. In times of plenty we should prepare for times of scarcity.

President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. said: “Let every head of every household see to it that he has on hand enough food and clothing, and, where possible, fuel also, for at least a year ahead. You of small means put your money in foodstuffs and wearing apparel, not in stocks and bonds” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1937, p. 26).

Elder Orson Hyde said: “Remember the counsel that is given, ‘STORE UP ALL YOUR GRAIN,’ and take care of it! … And I tell you it is almost as necessary to have bread to sustain the body as it is to have food for the spirit; for the one is as necessary as the other to enable us to carry on the work of God upon the earth” (in Journal of Discourses, 5:17).

A teenager can play an important part in a family food storage program. Consider these ideas:

1. Understand your family food storage program, its goals and time frame. If you do not understand it well, request a family home evening on food storage. Offer to prepare the lesson and request that your parents share their food storage goals, or as a family set goals and methods to reach those goals. Encourage family members to work towards family food storage goals.

2. Be willing to try new foods that have been prepared using key ingredients found in your food storage. Learn to like a variety of foods. Try using wheat, powdered milk, or other food storage ingredients in new recipes, such as those recipes found in the Church publication Essentials of Home Production and Storage (PGWE 1125).

3. Help with a family garden. Offer to take over part of it. Do more than your share of weeding without being asked. Help in the planning, preparation of soil, planting, weeding, and watering, and in the joy of harvesting and eating.

4. Help prepare food for storage. Help pick the fruits and vegetables. Help with the canning, freezing, drying, or pickling of the produce.

5. Take classes in high school on nutrition and preparation of food. Learn how to comparison shop, the times of year when particular produce is cheaper and more available, and alternative methods of storing and preserving.

6. Realize the purpose of a food storage program. Yes, we are preparing for the great disasters that have been foretold for the last days. However, each family meets financial crises at one time or another. Perhaps the breadwinner becomes unemployed or disabled. A physical illness or tragedy may strike. A parent may decide to return to school, or an unexpected demand on the family budget may use the funds allotted for food for a period of time. Having food on hand for these emergencies can enable a family to handle the situation easier. It is reassuring and comforting to have the food insurance that a storage program provides. It may give us opportunities to change employment or meet new demands and live partially or wholly off the food which has been stored. We need to be grateful that we have the food and use it when needed, realizing that we will replenish the supply when the emergency is over.

7. At some point begin your own food storage program. As you plan to marry or to live on your own, it would be wise to begin storing food. It does not need to be complicated nor require a lot of money. Simply begin to store what you eat and eat what you store. Plan your menus for a week and double the food purchased for one day, placing it in your storage. In two months you will have food stored for at least a week. Buy staples in larger quantities. Preserve food when it is cheaper, stock up on sales, and ask Heavenly Father to help you. Obtain the booklet Essentials of Home Production and Storage. Study it and follow the inspired guidelines contained therein. Begin storing basic, life-sustaining foods that will store over long periods of time. Expand your storage to include a variety of goods that you and your family enjoy and are used to eating, as your situation will allow. Keep nutritional needs in mind as you expand your storage and plan for any particular dietary needs due to diabetes or allergies, etc.

As you practice the principles you learn, you will see your food storage program grow, you will save money, you will learn new methods of storage, you will enjoy your food insurance against the day of need, and you will feel the approval of your Father in Heaven as you follow this law.

It is my testimony that our Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. All of his commandments are given to show us the way to happiness. As Nephi said: “I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Ne. 3:7). Heavenly Father will help us fulfill this law.

May He bless you choice young people all over the world in your desires to “stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world” (D&C 78:14).