Peggy Layton - Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Keep Your Family Safe in a Crisis

Copyright 2002 by Peggy Layton

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from Random House, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Published by Three Rivers Press, New York, New York.
Member of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
www.randomhouse.com

THREE RIVERS PRESS and the Tugboat design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Originally published by Prima Publishing, Roseville, California, in 2002.

All products and organizations mentioned in this book are trademarks of their respective companies.

Illustrations by Laurie Baker-McNeile
Author photo by Scott Layton

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Layton, Peggy Dianne.
Emergency food storage & survival handbook : everything you need to know to keep your family safe in a crisis / Peggy Layton.
p. cm.
Includes index.
1. Survival skills. 2. Emergency food supply. 3. Emergency water supply. I. Title: Emergency food storage and survival handbook. II. Title.

GF86 .L394 2002
613.69dc21

2002074978

eISBN: 978-0-449-81992-0

v3.1

EPTEMBER 11, 2001, was a day of untold tragedy for Americaa day of enormous grief and terror for many, and at the least, a day of horror and disruption for all of us. Most of us experienced inconvenience as airplanes were grounded and offices, schools, and businesses were temporarily closed; and all of us came face to face with the very real possibility of future disasters.

What might happen to you, to your family, to your community the next time disaster strikeswhether its another terrorist attack, flood, or famine? What if your livelihood were cut off? Could you provide for your family without an income? What if youre denied access to the consumer goods you take for grantedfood, clothing, medicine? What if the banks, grocery stores, and restaurants were to close, or you were unable to reach them? What if no medical services were available and utilities such as electricity, gas, water, and telephone shut down?

Are you prepared?

Indeed, few of us would find it easyif possibleto provide for our families in crisis situations if we had only ourselves on which to depend. Thats why many people choose to be prepared to care for themselves and their families whatever the future may bring, to prepare to sustain a provident future even in times of crisis and overwhelming need. The phrase provident living means being wise, frugal, prudent, and making preparation for the future while living life today and taking care of immediate needs. In other words, those who enjoy provident living are able to provide for the future.

How can you prepare to provide for whatever your future might hold? The answer is through emergency home storage. The term home storage is defined as any item purchased for future use and stored in the home. This can be food, water, clothing, and bedding; emergency supplies; medical kits; equipment or fuel for cooking, heating, or lighting. The more specific term, food storage, is defined as storing food that is not needed immediately and could be used at a later time. This includes commercial or home-canned or bottled foods; vegetables and fruit from the garden or orchard; dry grain, rice, many types of beans, and dehydrated foods. The way to prepare is to stock your own home grocery store with exactly what your family likes and rotate the items by using the older ones first as you replenish with fresh items so you never run outnot even if you were unable to buy food for several months, or even an entire year.

Some church organizations recommend that their members have a one-year supply of food, water, cash, clothing, and fuel. I recommend that you keep an emergency supply that will last at least three months in your home grocery store, eventually expand that to a six-month supply, and work toward a years supply, which will enable you to see through almost any crisis that could come your way.

As a consultant on home storage, I encounter many parents who are motivated to store food and other necessities for emergencies by the thought of hearing their children crying from fear, darkness, cold, and hunger. Parents have the enormous responsibility of providing for and taking care of their childrens needs. Those who store food find that having adequate food and emergency supplies on hand brings them peace of mind and enables them to rest easy, knowing their children will be taken care of even if disaster were to strike.

Do you have such peace of mind?

There are many reasons for storing a well-rounded supply of emergency food, water, cash, clothing, and fuel. The natural and man-made disasters that we continually read and hear about through news services should serve to remind us that we need to be better prepared personally, as families, and as communities.

Disaster can strike in the form of national recession, international terrorism or war, or a force of nature such as earthquake, hurricane, tornado, or even volcanic eruption. It can also be a personal situation, such as accident, illness, death, bankruptcy, job layoff, or simply a period when a cash shortage threatens financial devastation. Or it may strike other family members, friends, or even strangers in our own or the world community who face a crisis. Perhaps a hurricane or earthquake will take its toll on lives and leave many survivors homeless and starving. Without the help from nearby communities that bring food and provisions, people experiencing such disasters may well starve. Although we certainly hope we do not become victims of any disasters such as those mentioned, we must be prepared for the possibility. Being prepared will give us many advantages, including the following:

Self-Sufficiency. In times of recession, large companies often announce job layoffs, which may leave thousands of people without paychecks. If you were to be among those laid offbut you have a reserve of food, cash, clothing, and fuelyou would be able to get through the lean times and not have to ask for help.

Ability to Help Others. If you are prepared, then rather than being dependent on others to help you, you can be the one to help others who are in need.

Peace of Mind. If you are prepared, then you will not fear.

That is what this book is about: being prepared for an emergency. Whether the emergency lasts for a brief or an extended period of time, knowing that you are prepared to face it will bring peace of mind and put you in a position to help others rather than being the one who must ask for help.