Creating a Balanced Survival Stockpile Diet
There are endless canning and long-term food storage recipes and products out there that are intended for survival situations. While most of them contain all-natural ingredients and are designed to provide maximum shelf-life, freshness and flavor, it’s important to create a balanced stockpile. It is very easy to favor recipes that duplicate some of the favorite foods that you and your family enjoy. However, it is also very easy to favor those to the detriment of other sources of nutrition that you desperately need.
Let’s take a look at a few basic tips that can help you to have a balanced and nutrient-rich stockpile on hand at all times.
Include Fruits and Veggies
We all know that any reasonable diet, either suggested by professionals or the government, places a high emphasis on vegetables and fruits. However, we also generally place a greater emphasis on tasty main courses or carbohydrate-rich products in our daily diet. The worst thing that any one of us can do is to mimic this approach when it comes to building our survival stockpile. Yes, we can store pastas, stews and other hearty meals with relative ease. We can even can many meat, poultry and fish products as long as you follow proper procedures. However, none of these items will provide us with the vitamins and minerals that our body needs to remain strong and healthy.
Consequently, if we should be eating up to half of our daily caloric intake from fruits and vegetables, we should be stockpiling the same proportions. In fact, due to the extra health risks associated with SHTF situations, we should be increasing this percentage. Take time to look at nutrition guides and determine what nutrients are found in specific fruits and veggies. Focus on accumulating products that are loaded with essential nutrients and placing less of an emphasis on other items.
There’s nothing wrong with having a supply of our favorite fruits and vegetables. However, this should not occur at the expense of stocking up on things that will promote overall health and well-being.
Include Lots of Whole Grains
The best source of carbohydrates, proteins and other nutrients comes from whole grains. This includes rice, wheat, oats and barley. You can also include beans into the mix, even though they are not really grain products. However, all of these items have a couple of things in common. First, they are inexpensive to purchase in bulk amounts. Second, they can last for decades if they are stored properly.
We should be getting at least a third of our daily caloric intake from these products. Consequently, you want to make sure that you have enough of these items on hand to provide a stable and long-term supply. Again, diversify. This will ensure that you have a balanced diet while also minimizing the chances of getting bored with one particular source of nutrients. Furthermore, if one of your items becomes compromised by rodents or spoilage, you will have alternatives to fall back on.
Minimize Processed Foods
Processed foods include everything from deli meats and hot dogs to crackers, cookies and commercial soups. Any meal that comes in a can or a box and has a long shelf-life should be viewed as suspect. These items usually contain a lot of salt, preservatives and additives that can be harmful to our health. The good ingredients found in processed products are usually not the best quality, and chances are that they’ve lost a lot of their nutritional value before they have been packaged. While there’s nothing wrong with having some supplies of your favorite store-bought items on hand for a treat, the last thing that you want is to rely on them for long-term nutrition.
You also want to diversify your stockpile to include survival meal kits along with home-canned products. This will give you options if you are forced to bug-out or your stockpile gets raided or compromised. You also want to hide your supplies in various locations to minimize risk as well.
While most of us spend a lot of time planning and building a stockpile that contains a lot of items, it’s important to make sure these items are packed with the nutrition that we need. Start to assess your current situation and make sure that you add and maintain a diverse and nutrient-rich supply of food. You and your family will be happier, healthier and in a better position to weather any storm that comes your way. Now is the time to prepare so you will be ready when a disaster or SHTF scenario strikes, so don’t put this off for too long.
