Pet Food for Emergency Preparedness – What to Store and How

I originally wrote this article for APN and am now moving it over to my personal site with updated information.

The best way to protect your household from the effects of a disaster is to be prepared. If you own pets you are responsible to prepare for them as well.  Many disasters could cut off your access to more pet food from the store.  A prolonged power outage could keep the stores closed, or they may already be sold out.  Storing some extra food for pets is essential for their health and well-being.

As a pet and livestock owner I have researched and tested various ways to store pet food.  The easiest approach is to store what your dog or cat currently eats, that way you can keep the food in rotation and nothing is ever wasted.  Start by building up a three-month supply of pet food and work your way up from there.  Here are some recommendations and options for storing emergency pet food.

Store Dry Kibble in the Bag 
I work right next to a Purina Mill, and have had several in-depth conversations with the employees in packaging on how to best store dry kibble.  Surprisingly, they all say the best way you can store dry kibble is right in the bag.  Here is another article (click here) which helps to explain the science behind dry pet food storage.  If you look on the back or bottom of a dry food bag you will find a ‘Best Buy Date’ or “Expiration Date”, this date could be several years out.  ‘Natural’ pet food formulas tend to not last as long due to their lack of preservatives.  The date on the back of the food bag means that the manufacturer will not guarantee optimum freshness and nutritional quality past that date.  It’s doesn’t mean that it will suddenly rot and go bad after that date.  It usually indicates that nutritional value could be lost after that point in time, therefore the goal is to use the pet food by then.

Containers:  Pet food manufactures want their product to keep as is stated on the bag or they get in trouble. So they provide you with one of the best containers for it.  The bag keeps the food dry, dark and even allows it to breathe slightly. This is important because even dry pet food contains moisture in the form of fats and oils; it is for this reason that repackaging dry pet food in Mylar or other vacuum sealed bags for long-term storage is not recommended.  Few containers and/or storage methods are appropriate for processed food which contains fat and oils.  The wrong storage container could cause a greasy film to build up on the container’s sides that will go rancid, cause the food to be distasteful and hasten food spoilage of any new food you add to the container.  Even if you seal the dry food up in bags with oxygen absorbers and silica packets the fat and oils in dry kibble will still go rancid.  

Keeping dry pet food sealed up in the bag it comes in, is the best way to preserve it.  If further protection is needed it is recommended that you place the entire unopened bag into another container like preferably a metal bin, or an airtight plastic container.  As soon as you open a bag of dry pet food oxidation starts to occur at a rapid pace, once opened, most commercial pet food will last less than six months so it’s best to use it in that time.

The best option for storing dry kibble is to build up a supply and rotate it out for use before exceeding the manufacturers date on the bag.  Use the oldest bag first and purchase new bags just like normal to replace them, rotate the older bags to the front.  Keep an eye on the food’s appearance and smell, if the kibble goes bad before the date on the bag; return the bag to the manufacturer or place of purchase. Keep dry kibble in a dark, dry area protected from extreme temperature swings.

Store Canned Pet Food 
Just like the date on the dry food bag, the date canned pet food means the manufacturer will only guarantee the nutritional quality listed up to that point in time.  Canned pet food can last anywhere from 2-5 years according to most manufacturers.  Some people claim it should be nutritionally valid for up to 10 years.

A year’s supply of canned pet food is fairly inexpensive to acquire, will last longer and takes up less space than dry kibble.  Rotate the supply by using the oldest food first and putting the new stuff in the back.  Once a supply has been acquired continue using and purchasing pet food like usual, this way you are continuously renewing your supply.  If a disaster were to strike on any given day cutting off the flow of new food, there would be still a year’s worth of stored pet food left to use.  Keep canned pet food in a dark cool area protected from extreme temperature swings.

Home Canned Dog Food
(click here for recipe)

Make Your Own Pet Food 
There are many different recipes for homemade dog and cat food available on the internet.  After all, store-bought pet food didn’t appear on the market until the 1930s so up to that point in time everyone just made their own pet food or fed their pets whatever they ate. In fact, one of the biggest trends in pet health today is organic raw diets, resulting in pet owners around the world moving away from store bought food.

One of the ways you can preserve homemade pet food is by canning it. While the resulting jar of food will be cooked and no longer raw it is still FAR healthier than it's store bought counter parts. Homemade pet food lacks many of the unhealthy additives and preservatives that most commercial pet food contains.  

Click here for a Homemade Dog Food recipe
Click here for a Homemade Cat Food recipe from PetMD

The only drawback to canning pet food is that the canning recipes have not been scientifically tested for safety, so there is a greater margin of risk.  This is an option I would only recommend to someone who has had experience with canning and knows how to mitigate the risks involved with using an untested canning recipe. The running estimate for the self-life of home canned pet food is 10 years.

Another “homemade” option is just to stock extra amounts of the ingredients used to make their food.  This usually consists of rice, meat and some veggies, all these items are easy to add to long-term storage in a house or ‘bug out location’.  Just make sure there is enough food stored for both humans and animals.

Store Freeze Dried Pet Food 

Another option you may not hear about real often is freeze-dried pet food this would also be an option for Raw Diet fans.  It is usually formulated with high quality 'raw' food, and then freeze-dried for convenience and longer storage times.  Freeze-dried pet food is expensive just like human freeze-dried food is, but it could be a viable lightweight, long-term storage option for emergency pet food.  Below I have linked to a few types of freeze-dried pet food, click on the blue text to see the product.  I currently use freeze-dried dog food while camping with my own dogs so I can tell you first hand that it’s easy to prepare and they love every bite.

• Stella & Chews Freeze-Dried Dog Food
• Stella & Chews Freeze-Dried Cat Food
• Primal Freeze-Dried Dog Formula

This is freeze-dried dog food, rehydrated.

Most of the freeze-dried pet food products available on the market would need to be repackaged in Mylar as the plastic packages it comes in are not meant for long-term storage.  Adding some oxygen absorbers and silica packets to the mix would also be a good precaution.  Unlike dry kibble, freeze-dried pet food is completely suitable for this storage method. The manufacturers were probably not thinking that preppers would stash their products away for years at a time, so repackaging is necessary.

Word to the Wise on Raw
While raw diets can be a challenge to prep for there are a couple of options available. Not prepping for your pet because they are on a raw diet and it is too expensive or bulky is irresponsible. I am pretty sure store bought or cooked food would be more healthy for your pet than starvation. 

As the owner of three very large dogs I combine several of the above options for our pet food storage because I like having a plan B, C, and sometimes D.  Doing what works best for your situation and storage space while making sure your pets are taken care of is key.  Hopefully this information makes setting aside and storing extra food for pets a little more doable and less confusing.

Click here for another article on Emergency Preparedness Plans for Pets.

Low Tech Jerky for Food Storage and a Recipe

A few years back, I saw this segment of “Good Eats” (a Food Channel show) on jerky.  I quickly copied his recipe and logged it in my mind.  Someone asked me a question on jerky last month that made me go searching for this video.  When I found it and watched it again, I was amazed.  They made a ‘preparedness food’ episode and didn’t even know it! I wrote and article about it on American Preppers Network and now I am bringing a version of it here to my own blog.

This will show you exactly how to make your own jerky for storage without a fancy dehydrator or smoker out of a household box fan and some furnace filters (unused of course).  It will EVEN show you how to make your own 'homemade liquid smoke'!  All you need is some spare time to give the video a look, the guy hosting (Alton Brown) is a goofball but his information is good.

For grins I tried it (of COURSE I tried it) and it turned out great.  A little on the crunchy fibrous side but good, I figure if meat is like veggies the snap factor indicates near complete dehydration – and appropriateness for longer term storage.  Alton Brown from “Good Eats” on this episode claims it will last at least 4 years in a jar.  Watch and enjoy!

Here is part one of the jerky episode.

The full episode is now only available to view online if  purchase it - $1.99 by clicking here. I am not making any money by linking to it and am highly unimpressed with Food Network's decision to charge for a 2005 educational video that up until two weeks ago was available completely for free on youtube. But if you do want to see the whole episode I wanted to provide the means. I suppose it's cheaper than a DVD.

Jerky Maranide Recipe

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds flank steak
  2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
  2/3 cup soy sauce
  1 tablespoon honey
  2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  2 teaspoons onion powder
  1 teaspoon liquid smoke
  1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  Special Equipment:  1 box fan, 4 paper air-conditioning filters, and 2 bungee cords

What you will see in the second half of that Good Eats Episode is how Alton Brown dehydrates his marinated jerky using some clean furnace filters set on top of a simple box fan. Evenly distribute the strips of meat onto 3 of the air filters, laying them in the grooves and then stacking the filters on top of one another. Top these with 1 empty filter. Next, lay the box fan on its side and lay the filters on top of it. Strap the filters to the fan with 2 bungee cords. Stand the fan upright, plug in and set to medium. Allow the meat dry for 8 to 12 hours.

If you don’t want pay to watch the episode and would like more detail on this technique click here. When asked recently during a Q&A session at a public speaking engagement if the jerk recipe and technique was safe he said that it was and otherwise he would not have been allowed by his lawyers or by Food Network to produce it - but he does acknowledge it is not "USDA approved."  

At the very end of the episode he makes a jerky soup / tomato sauce, which would make the perfect food storage recipe.

Click Here for the jerky soup / tomato sauce recipe. Or watch the video below.

A word on safety:  According to the USDA, the risk in dehydrating meat without first cooking it to a safe temperature is that the appliance (the box fan) will not heat the meat to 160 °F  — the temperature at which bacteria are destroyed in beef —before it dries.  If the bacteria survives the salty acidic marinade, IF these surviving bacteria are pathogenic (BIG IF), they can cause food borne illness to those consuming the jerky.  In all fairness, many consumer model food dehydrators will only heat homemade jerky up to 130-140°F while drying, which is not technically adequate heat for killing all bacteria either.  If you want to make jerky at home, you should at least review USDAs guidelines to making homemade jerky before you begin.

Other Food Borne Illnesses Risks we Take:

• Raw eggs found in homemade ice cream (BRING IT)

• Rare steaks (The only way to fly – in my never humble opinion)

• Slightly undercooked or dare I even say pink hamburger!!!

• Raw cookie dough (Ummm….I think I ate too much cookie dough…)

• Soft chewy bacon (According to my still living Dad, the rubberier, the better)

There are also other special considerations to take when making homemade jerky from venison or other wild game.  Wild game meat is not regulated by the USDA prior to processing.  Venison can also, if not killed or handled properly (this is usually in direct proportion to the hunters skill and knowledge), be contaminated with fecal bacteria.  While fresh beef is usually rapidly chilled and/or frozen, deer carcasses are typically held at ambient temperatures (whatever the temperature is outside at the time of the kill and/or aging), potentially allowing bacteria multiplication. 

So what type of “insurance” do you require for your homemade jerky adventures?  It really is up to you.

Five Great Soaps to Prep!

By Stephanie Dayle
I originally wrote this article for the American Preppers Network website. I am reposting my articles here, of course with permission. 

If you could only prep one kind of soap, what would it be? 



There are always hundreds of answers to that question because there really isn’t a single ‘best’ soap to store; almost any soap is good to stock up on compared to none at all.  If they have to, people can make do cleaning most things with just about any common soap.  If you make your own soap, that is a very frugal and admirable skill.  Homemade soap is  a good option if you have time to make extra and stock up on it click here to see an article on how to make your own bar soap! 

The important thing I cannot stress enough is having a supply soap on hand for hygiene and sanitation if the store is sold out or closed.  In the midst of an emergency or disaster you may not have time to make soap, instead keep a years supply on hand at all times.

All soaps have strengths and weaknesses; here are five soaps that have multiple uses that make them ideal for storage and emergency use. Maybe one of these soaps will work for you!

1) Dawn:  (or an equivalent) dish washing detergent:   Dawn is well-known for getting dishes clean, but did you know that it is well-known for doing that even with cold water?  Their website encourages people to try washing dishes in cold water to conserve power.  This would also be handy in the event of a long-term power outage.  Dawn is also commonly used as shampoo to remove product build-up and strip excess oil.  Because Dawn is non-toxic and biodegradable you can make an insecticide with it (as well as from other biodegradable soaps) by diluting it with water.  Other insects such as ants tend to avoid treated areas also making it a repellant.  Dawn also makes an effective flea bath for cats and dogs.

The grease busting power of Dawn makes it an acceptable substitute for laundry detergent and/or a pre-treatment for tough stains. (Although care must be taken not to add too much Dawn or there will be an overflow of bubbles and trouble with rinsing.)  Mixed with boiling water Dawn can also help clear a grease clogged drain in the kitchen and it makes an effective glass cleaner when just a drop or two is added to vinegar and water.  Dawn detergent will store for years and remain effective; however, the soap may separate if exposed to extreme temperature swings.

2) Ivory:  Classic Ivory soap is biodegradable; it was originally marketed as a laundry soap bar and is still used in many different homemade laundry soap recipes.  If doing laundry by hand the old-fashioned way, classic Ivory is still capable of getting your clothes clean and residue free.  Because bars of Ivory floated in water it became a popular bathing soap.

Today Classic Ivory still has many uses.  Bars of Ivory soap can also be used as an insecticide by grating it first then melting it down with heated water to create a liquid soap.  The resulting liquid Ivory can also be used for dish washing, and shampooing.  Since Classic Ivory soap is only lightly scented, floats, and is free from many of the additives that make other soaps undesirable for environmental and health concerns, it’s a very popular choice for campers and preppers. Classic Ivory bar soap will store indefinitely without any additional treatment.  Be sure to look for the “It Floats!” slogan and “99 44/100% Pure” statement on the label.  There are several different types of Ivory now, and the Classic Ivory bars are the only ones that float, the formula on the rest of Ivory’s products are different.

3) Soap Flakes:  Soap Flakes is another product that was originally invented as laundry soap because it was much easier to dissolve them in warm water than it was to grate down a solid bar of soap.  Soap Flakes are pure soap in a flake form; they are made from a 100% vegetable base of palm and coconut oils.  They contain no bleaches, phosphates, enzymes, or perfumes and are completely biodegradable.  Soap Flakes can be used as laundry soap, dish soap, body soap, and as a general household cleaner.  They are notably mild and frequently recommended for the cleaning of children’s toys, laundry, and even as a children’s bath soap.

For years Soap Flakes were our grandmother’s choice for hand washing dedicates and wool.  They will store for years in their dry form, are light weight, and are easy to dissolve for any of the above uses. Soap Flakes’ friendliness to the environment and light weight have made them a popular choice for backpackers and campers for years, for this reason they are also a common item in bug out bags.

4) Fel’s Naptha:  Fel’s -Naptha was originally invented and marketed as a heavy-duty laundry soap bar and still is today.  The potent bars of Fel’s-Naptha are most commonly used as a pre-treatment for stains and they frequently out perform their higher priced spray bottle competitors in that area.  Fel’s-Naptha is the current best-selling choice for those who make their own laundry detergent. When combined with ingredients like borax and washing soda, a single bar of Fel’s-Naptha will last nearly a year.  How is that for cost efficient?

Fel’s-Naptha can also be used to treat poison ivy, poison oak, or sumac rash when used just after exposure occurs.  The soap will break up the oils from the plants, which contain the toxins.  It can also be used in bathrooms to remove soap scum and in the garden as an insecticide.  Fel’s-Naptha is not flawless however, as it still contains strong perfumes, additives for color, and shouldn’t be used on the skin as a replacement for regular body soap.  Fel’s-Naptha once contained Stoddard solvent, which is a known eye irritant, but according to their website the soap no longer contains the solvent.  Fel’s-Naptha soap, like Ivory, will store indefinitely with no additional treatment.

5) Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap:  Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap is a liquid Castile soap.  Castile soap is a name used for olive oil based soaps, which are frequently noted for their mildness.  For years Dr. Bronner’s has been one of the best-selling holistic soaps on the market with good reason.  Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap also has many uses, it comes in several different scents including un-scented and it’s completely biodegradable. 

Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap can be used for everyday washing, shampooing, dish washing, as a shaving cream, for tooth brushing (although I have heard the taste is awful), for laundry, for household cleaning and its high glycerin content allows it to be used as a leather soap in a pinch.  Parenting forums have claimed the tea tree variety of Dr. Bronner’s is effective in treating and repelling lice and fleas.  Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap will store for long periods of time but, like other liquid soaps, may separate if exposed to dramatic shifts in temperature - this would not effect the cleaning power of the soap.

So if you could only prep one kind of soap, what would it be?  Please feel free to leave your comments and ideas for others!

Labor Day Deals For Preppers!

I love holiday weekends and not just for the time off of work either, mostly for the sales! This is a GREAT shopping weekend for preppers! Be on the lookout for the following items (got another one? Add it to the comments below so everyone else benefits from your finds!) you can pick these items up cheaper this weekend than almost any other time during the year.

Maximize your savings by buying enough to last you at least a year, until its on sale again next year insuring you don't have to pay top dollar for it. Or buy extra to prep for emergencies or both!

• Charcoal: There are usually lots of good deals on charcoal during Labor Day Weekend check Walmart for double packs of Kingsford for $6-9. Lowes and Home Depot in my area usually have double packs of 20 lb bags for $9.97! To get the maximum storage life out of charcoal, always remember to store your charcoal some where dry in a water tight container away from moisture.
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Bug Spray: For the home and garden, we all know that there are natural alternatives to chemicals but having some on hand to protect your food stores and family from disease might not hurt.
  
  
               
  
  
  

• Camp Stoves and Grills: Stores like to put all their grills and camp stoves on clearance this time of year to get the summer equipment out the door so they don't have to take a loss on it. You can find the absolute best deals on them right now.
  
  Also keep an eye out for grilling accessories like the briquette starting cubes - that you can use to light your briquettes. They are GREAT fire starters in almost any situation for your bug out bags, they light easy and burn hot for an extended period of time when compared to other methods.
  
  
  

• Propane: Those little canisters are on sale everywhere, I have price threshold in my mind (you may want to start doing this on paper, and after awhile you will just remember it) and when the price per propane canister drops below that threshold of $2.50 I buy. Not until then, because I know from shopping around a lot that they will eventually drop down to that price. I call this a "trigger price". It keeps me from impulse buying and spending too much for a certain item. I try to set a "trigger price" for most of the common things I buy.
  
  
  
  
  

• End of Season Garden Supplies and Tools: Like potting soil,fertilizer, shears and containers.

• Solar Lights: Many of these are half off, bringing the cost down to a buck or two. You can make chandeliers and lamps out of these to give you some light when there is no power. Simply charge during the day and bring inside at night, or continue to use outside to brighten your perimeter, if the situation allows for that.
  
  Try to purchase the solar lights that run off of the "AA batteries" - they can then act as an emergency solar battery charger for your location (just look in the top of the light before you buy). The AA solar lights will save you money in the long run as you can simply swap the rechargeable AA battery out with a new one when they stop holding a charge.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Canning Supplies: Bi-Mart just had their water bath canner on sale for $14.98 and Walmart also just had one on sale for $18.99 in my area.
  
  
  
  
       
  
  
  

• Hot Dogs: I can them occasionally so its handy if you want to preserve them this way to pick them up cheaply, its amazing how many hotdogs you can fit in a one jar! On that note camping and BBQ food like: ketchup, mustard, beans, and sauce will also be sale. 

• School Supplies: Are now on clearance almost everywhere, combine this with the weekend sale. Pick up paper tablets for less than 10 cents each, extra pencils for less than a buck, pens, erasers, pencil sharpeners, glue, tape, color construction paper, paint, and other supplies that you will miss when you can't run to the store anymore.

• School Backpacks: Also are on clearance and many of them would make great get home bags or bug out bags for a child or teenager. If you are on a budget you may want to give the school backpacks a closer look, its always the darker less colorful ones that don't sell - the same ones that could make a good bug out bag.

• End of Season Camping Supplies: Sleeping bags and tents are big sale items right now. A trip through the camping section is worth your time. Again, stores are going to try to get rid of their inventory because winter inventor is already arriving so there are great deals to be had.

And last but not least don't forget to double check the ads this Wednesday/Thursday as there will be even more Labor Day deals and sale listed in the paper. Have a Great Labor Day Weekend!

   

Click here to visit The Home Front General Store for everyday prepping supplies!

Adding Vitamins to Your Preps - What You Need to Know

By Stephanie Dayle

The following is not medical advice or a medical recommendation. I am not a doctor or lawyer, if you have a medical question seek the assistance of a medical professional. 

Why Do I Need to Store Vitamins? 

Vitamins are commonly found on the food storage lists of people who practice emergency preparedness, because as stored food ages the vitamins within the food degrades. Therefore, if they are faced with a long term emergency in which they find themselves relaying heavily on their food storage or on reduced rations there is a good chance that they may also be suffering from one or more vitamin deficiencies as time goes on.

Vitamin deficiencies are serious and can even cause death. Diseases like scurvy, rickets, and night blindness are all caused by vitamin deficiencies. Click here to see the top 10 vitamin deficiencies that still exist today.

While there are other options to get extra nutrients even when confined indoors, like eating sprouts, to guard against vitamin deficiencies many preppers add vitamins to their emergency supplies.

All vitamins are equal, and any vitamin is better than no vitamin at all right? Or so many retailers would like you to believe. In fact, they aren't equal at all.

What Kind of Vitamin is Best?

Many grocery store vitamins, including Centrum and OneADay aren't the best quality on the market; don't even get me started on gummy vitamins. Besides the fact that gummies are full of sugar, artificial flavors, and artificial colors - along with most grocery store vitamins gummies are SYNTHETIC vitamins. They are also full of citric acid (vitamin C) and because the gelatin sticks to your teeth and/or your kid's teeth, it eats away at the tooth enamel where as with normal vitamins there would be little or no contact with your teeth.

Why go through the trouble of avoiding GMOs and growing your own organic food only to go buy and consume synthetic vitamins made in a lab?  Why not get good "whole food" vitamins?? From companies with good ethics. Apply the same values that you adhere to with your food, to your everyday vitamins AND your emergency supply.

"Food based or whole food vitamins" are vitamins that come from actual food and are not made in a lab. When you read the ingredient list you won't see yellow number 5, and calcium carbonate (which is more like a rock than a digestible form of calcium, its one of the worst forms of calcium on the market) you will instead see CARROTS, WILD BLUEBERRIES, ETC....  they even have organic, vegan and gluten-free whole food vitamins.

Some of the companies that make those synthetic vitamins are also owned by the same companies we complain about not wanting them to mess with our FOOD! Centrum is owned by Pfizer (source). One-A-Day you ask? Owned by Bayer (source)! So, if you don't want them messing with your food or with seeds from which your food grows, why would you buy their vitamins?

There are a few that are independently owned companies out there and if you choose to stay with synthetics, independent companies, like Nature Made are not a bad way to go. Costco's Kirkland line  continues to be ranked exceedingly well in the synthetic category. Supposedly NBTY manufactures the Kirkland line up of vitamins, but I can't confirm that. NBTY manufactures Natures Bounty.

Synthetic VS Whole Food Vitamins Explained

But Vitamins Upset my Stomach

When vitamins upset your stomach or you burp them up all day or they turn your pee day-glow yellow, those are usually side effects of 'synthetic' vitamins (source). Whole food vitamins will not upset your stomach, and you will not burp them up - because they are food, not chemicals (source). Food based vitamins don't smell or taste like normal vitamins and will change your whole opinion of vitamins.

The processing of whole food vitamins excludes the use of heat, pressure and toxic solvents. No chemical or sugar coating is used to seal whole food vitamin tablets and no artificial chemicals are used. Whole food vitamin processing uses fresh, raw food ingredients prepared as food extracts. Your body will use what it needs and the rest goes out in the bathroom. With synthetics you can overdose - and the results can be toxic.

Pills are a Problem?

Swallowing pills a problem? Try a liquid vitamin that is made from "whole foods" they contain all the vitamins and supplements in one single dose that tastes good (about a shot glass). They are highly absorbable and taste way better than they sound. There are many different brands of the liquid vitamins on the market and sugar free varieties as well. They are highly recommend for finicky children, adults that don't like pills (aka: finicky adults), and persons that have had lap-band or gastric bypass surgeries, colostomy surgery etc...

One of my favorite brands of solid 'food based' vitamins is MegaFoods (pictured above). Does this mean that you have use that brand? No. Please do your own research on them. Another reputable brand that is producing affordable whole food vitamins is Swanson. There is enough information out there on the different types of supplements and vitamins that I could literally write forever. There are several different types of calcium on the market some more absorbable than others, there are different types of vitamin C, and magnesium (a few that should be avoided) it is really worth looking into them before you buy.

Whole food vitamins or "food based" vitamins are considerably more expensive than synthetic vitamins therefore they may not be in everyone's price range. In that case synthetic may be your only option for now, but it would still be wise to make sure that what you are using is the best synthetic you can afford.

Which Ones?

Eat what you store, store what you eat. This is a phrase that reminds preppers to rotate their supply and prevent waste. Store the vitamins you are already taking. If you are not currently taking any vitamins or supplements, in my never humble opinion, I would still recommend you prepping them. 

A complete multivitamin once a day is what most experts recommend, so that is a good rule of thumb for prepping vitamins, but if you have special dietary needs and/or take other supplements, then prep those as well. 

Immune boosting vitamins are a common recommendation for daily regimens and emergency supplies. Vitamin D, vitamin C, and Zinc all fall into the category of immune system supporters. There are many reasons why immune supporters my be helpful in a long term emergency. Without emergency medical care old diseases could make a come back, so why not give your immune system a fighting chance? Also being sick puts you at risk in dangerous situations, it robs your energy and alertness. It would benefit everyone to remain healthy.

Folic Acid is a member of the B vitamin family, it is a supplement that is commonly recommended for women who could become pregnant. It helps in the formation of new cells and prevents major birth defects. Like most other B vitamins it has been suggested that folic acid can help our brains cope with stress and depression (source). These things make folic acid and other B vitamins a good choice to add to your daily and emergency supplies.

How to Store Vitamins

Some people assume that "whole food" vitamins will not store as long as their synthetic preservative filled counter parts, but this is not so. The expiration dates are very similar.

This picture above shows a new bottle of MegaFood vitamins with an expiration date two and half years out. This means that you could EASILY maintain and rotate a years supply of vitamins in your home and that is what I recommend, a one year supply. Buy new bottles and put them in the back while rotating the oldest to the front and using that first. This ensures that no vitamins are ever wasted and if something bad were to happen, you'd have at least one year's worth of vitamins if not a little more.

To figure out how many you need for a year's supply, multiple a one day's dose (this is usually one or two tablets per person) by 30 then multiple that number by twelve. Next multiple that number by the number of people in your household, this will give you an approximation of how many tablets you need to have on hand for a year.

In this case, it is best to adhere to the expiration date on the vitamins. Usually when storing things for emergency preparedness many expiration dates can be ignored as they only mean that the manufacture will not guarantee the quality beyond that date. For vitamins (especially high quality ones), if the quality drops this means the vitamins are degrading which defeats the purpose of taking them. Vitamins are best purchased and used before their expiration dates.

Make sure your vitamins are stored sealed in a dark brown preferably glass bottle (like the bottle that these Megafood vitamins come in) in a cool dark place. The bottle the vitamins come in, is usually your best bet for storage you will gain nothing by opening the bottle and vacuum packing them. Quality vitamins are already packed with an oxygen absorber and moisture control - it is difficult to improve upon that.

Making Vitamins Last Longer if You Can't Get More

If hard times have hit and you have taken in extra family or friends make the vitamins you have last longer by taking them once every three days or so. Quality vitamins can sill be effective when taken this way. Even when taken once a week it is better than not at all. Vitamin priority should be given to anyone who is pregnant in your group, the very young and the elderly. Disperse the remaining vitamins to others in your group every couple of days.

Don't forget those handy empty bottles! If you get the nice vitamins with the dark brown glass bottles they are great for storing dried herbs, spices, homemade oils, infusions, and anything else that you'd like to keep away from sunlight.

More Reading:

Synthetic VS Whole Food Vitamins

What's the Difference Between Natural and Synthetic Vitamins?

Understand the Difference - Natural News 


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What NOT To Prep - Part 2

By Stephanie Dayle - via The American Preppers Network

That’s right, I said what "NOT" to prep. This is part 2 in a short series on things I choose not to stock up on - read Part 1 by clicking here. If you have made the decision to start preparing, you are experiencing information overload. When I first started to prepare, I was told and read so much advice on what to prep I came to the conclusion that I should just prep everything! Well later I learned yes, and also no.

Incomplete information distracts those who are new to the concept of prepping from focusing on what will save their lives, doing your own research from different sources helps fill these information gaps. There are always arguments on both sides. Questioning what you read on the internet, and even from me, is a good thing! It may not always be what you want to hear, but it will make you think.

After doing a lot of research and some testing these are items that I have personally chosen not to prep, you may choose differently and that's your right. Always base your preps on common sense, think things through, ask yourself; how will this work in a stressful situation where you will not have the luxury of time? How will this effect your security? Is it sanitary? Will it put your group or yourself at risk?

More Things I don't Prep:

Paper plates and plastic utensils:

Waste will eventually attract vermin 
While I do keep some on hand in my 72 hour kit for short term emergencies, I do not prep paper plates and plastic utensils for long term emergencies. Paper plates and plastic utensils will create a lot of trash, unless there is still garbage service you will have to find somewhere to put your trash. Plastic doesn't break down and even paper will take time to compost. Trash attracts rodents, insects, and other vermin you don't want around your location. 

Flies land on waste then they land on you and/or your food, all around the planet in third world countries this is how sickness and disease is spread. Mice and rats can become a plague, and by the way they can still carry it too. Skunks and raccoons love garbage can transmit rabies, harm your chickens or any other small animals you may have, and in general destroy things you have worked hard for. If you live in a rural area please keep in mind that bears also love garbage. 

The danger of burning
Burning your trash may or may not be an opinion. Most modern wood stoves are not made to burn trash, the features that make them super efficient and "clean burning" will get gummed up with the residue of burning trash as opposed to wood. If you a have an older wood stove (prior to the late 80's) you should be fine burning trash as long as you have a way of keeping your chimney clean. 

In a prolonged worse case scenario burning trash in the open outdoors may not be wise if you do not wish to draw attention to yourself. It also may be too dry to burn safely outdoors. If you accidentally catch your house, the woods, a field or other out building on fire, the fire department may not be able to help you. As history has shown us, when there is no public water service or fire department available, it is completely possible for one person to burn down an entire city or countryside with one simple mistake. 

Learn to conserve water
If you practice washing dishes a little bit now, you will learn that it does not take much water to get the job done. You can even sanitize them in direct sunlight, if you have had to use unfiltered water for washing. Learning to conserve water and practicing water efficient methods of washing dishes, is a better approach for long term emergencies than stocking plastic and paper dinnerware to avoid washing. This will also allow you to use that space to store maybe a little extra water, and to spend your money on more productive items like first aid supplies, soap, and food.

Barter items:  

This is an area of emergency preparedness that is usually explored to prepare for disasters that fall into the category of a "long term emergency". Something that would take down the electrical grid, food service, and government assistance on a large scale for several months or more, like a solar storm. Now, since I know this is something preppers love to stock up on and there are a TON of articles online about cool barter items that one can prep, so before you get upset, read why I don't believe in prepping barter items.

What do you really need?
Someone once said this to me: "Well you can't possibly prep everything, that's why you would barter." I say if you have prepared wisely for yourself and whoever may join you for any disaster, and you have become as self-reliant as possible, hopefully you should not be "in real need" of much. In fact you will appear rich compared to the unprepared. My grandfather who grew up during the depression could tell you exactly how little one needs to survive. The original idea behind 'barter items' is to get things that you 'need' not to accumulate wealth or profit off of others in a time of emergency. I see bartering and commerce as an eventual must - depending on the length of the disaster, and only after things have calmed down somewhat and society adopts a new 'normal'.

History
In a world where society has collapsed to the point where we are no longer using paper currency, it would be foolish to assume that we will set up this quaint barter system where everyone follows the rules, its safe, and no one gets hurt. Look at New Orleans after Katerina, look at Bosnia (even after a year). History has proven that the "bad guys" don't go away in disaster, they get stronger and more brash. There was no town center farmers market where people went to barter in Bosnia - it was done in secret and people frequently died while trying to acquire things. If you want to read some first hand experiences from someone who lived through a real "long term emergency" check out this blog, and the writings of Selco. Pay close attention to his views on bartering as a result of his experience.

Danger
If you do barter, and you do it more frequently than other people in your area, and/or if you have unusually nicer stuff than most, people will start to wonder what else you may have. They may start to think that if you have extra to barter, then you have extra for them to take. It could be a very dangerous activity and it could draw a lot of unwanted attention to you. Especially if you are bartering super high value items like cigarettes, alcohol or drugs. 

It won't take long at all for word to get around a small community that you have antibiotics, or booze. Great care will have to be taken that transactions don't go wrong, that you are not followed home. In my opinion - it's not worth the risk unless you absolutely have to - so whatever it is you forgot to prep or ran out of, it had better be pretty danged important for you to go out looking to barter for it.

Public Domain Image

The question of community
Bartering is not the 'only' way to network and create goodwill in your community. If you start networking and bartering *now* in your community you won't have to worry about how to go about approaching people after a disaster. Goodwill can be created by helping others, with honesty, faithfulness, and charity. We don't get to throw charity out the window just because hard times hit, that's when we will all need it the most. I strongly believe that if we preppers are in a position to help, and we can do it safely, then we must help. It could be something as simple as teaching your neighbor how to filter water or as big as taking in your relatives that have mocked your prepping efforts in the past. There will be other options for charity and you will spot them along the way, and then at some point hopefully it will be safe'r' to engage in forms of barter and commerce for common needs and wants.

What about for services?
The exceptions I make for this is for use in a Bug Out Bag (when you've essentially become a refuge and may be in need of assistance from others) or bartering for the services of others. For example, perhaps there is a dentist down the road and you need some help with a tooth. In that case, you would need to pay him with something. 

The problem is, you may not have what he wants for payment, meaning that you will have to go find someone else who has the thing he wants and hope you have something that could be traded for it. This is where the danger of bartering doubles and triples and the guessing game of what to prep for barter becomes a little ridiculous.  Without an alternate currency/barter system set up pior to the distaster no one will know what people will really want as trade until it happens. 

Then what should I do?
My advice for those just starting to prepare is to not worry about barter items and just prep the stuff 'you' will need and maybe keep in mind that some things could make better barter items than others so pad the numbers of those items a little. I don't buy things for the sole purpose of "it could be a good barter item." For example, I would never stock up on an item that my family or I  would not use (like cigarettes - I don't smoke, no one else here does either) in my never humble opinion, that kind of purchasing just invites waste. Instead I invest that money in our stock of food and supplies so that if nothing happens, at least we will still likely use it. 

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