Food Storage 101

I ordered several books on self-sufficiency, food storage, and gardening.

The first one I read was Peggy Layton's "Food Storage 101".

Cons:

If I hadn't already partially researched it on the internet, it might have been an okay book.  However, I did research first, so the book was a bit redundant for me.  Normally, I listen to the reviews I read, but I wanted to give it a shot.  It literally is the basics.  I'm honestly not sure it was worth the $9.20. I also had a couple of other issues with it:

1) Mrs. Layton seems to be a Mormon based on her comments about church which isn't a problem for me.  That she uses a Noah's Ark poem and says "God bless..." may be a problem for others.

What is a problem for me is someone who has a "B.S. in Home Economics with a minor in Food Science and Nutrition" has problems with spelling and simple grammar.  That's saying a lot, because my grammar sucks.  I can only assume Mrs. Layton didn't have an editor.   When I first read that food "will parish" I had to stop and reread it.   Every spelling mistake made me stop and reread a sentence.

I love to misuse commas.  In this blog I write like I speak.  My commas tend to be placed where I actually pause when speaking. However, when writing a story I try to actually use grammar rules and double-check the spelling.   (I also overuse the word "actually" in daily writing.  I also like "literally".  I am an equal opportunity word over-user.)

2) Contradictory information is found in a couple of places.  For instance, in one chapter she states that plastic milk bottles will start to break down in about 6 months.  In another place she says after a year.  So which is it?

I don't reuse plastic milk jugs, so it doesn't apply to me.  However, some people do and I'm sure they'd like accurate info on it.  Consistency and accuracy, please.

3) Half the book is composed of charts for you to use.  Have you ever tried to scan a small book and then enlarge a chart so it can be useful?   If it had been larger and in a ring binder I could see it being helpful to some.  Honestly, a spiral bound notebook is fine for what she wants people to use it for, plus those who can use any pc word program can easily make their own charts.

4)  Half the book - no kidding - is composed of charts and forms.  Half... the ... book..


Pros:

1) What I did like about it was the simple wood pattern for making a self-feeding shelf for your cans.   However, I'm pretty sure there are plans on the internet.

2) She insists on your family not changing their eating habits in an emergency.  Most people don't realize that you can make your family and yourself sick by doing this.  In a time of crisis, that won't help anyone.   A common phrase I've seen in several books is "Store what you eat; eat what you store."   You should be eating and rotating your food supply on a constant basis.

Having a freeze-dried food is fine, but living on it constantly will make you sick if you're not used to it.  She does advocate using a bit on a regular basis, so it's not a shock to your system if you end up in a situation where you need to eat a lot of it.

3) The lists in the charts are okay.  If nothing else, she might have thought of something I'd forget.

4) Emergency meal planning is another thing she lists for people to do.  I never even thought of that.  Having meals planned out would be helpful in a power outage like we normally get.  Usually I run around thinking, "Aw, heck.  What do we have again?"  If I had a meal plan already set, then I wouldn't have that issue.

 If I'm also eating what I store and storing what I eat, then I should already have meal plans in effect.  I don't, because I tend to fly by the seat of my pants and what we feel like eating.

For the first-timer who hasn't a clue about food storage and keeping a food supply, this book would probably be helpful for them.  For me, it was a waste of money.  I will probably resell it or give it to one of my kids that are out on their own.