I came across this food calculator on About.com due to my interest in long term food storage... having known a few members of the LDS over the years, it was no surprise to me when I came across this page. They are the ultimate self-sustainers/preppers. This is not an LDS page or site but the calculator is based upon their recommendations listed in the LDS Church's Essentials of Home Production and Storage booklet.
The link below provides the food calculator : input your number for your family unit and it'll will give you in pounds and gallons what kind of minimum food storage you should be sustaining for your family to sustain one year. Keep in mind that this is a basic pantry and does not include the proteins, treats and condiments and extras.
http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm
Wow 😮 😯 😕
A very kewl little tool!
And I thought my food preps were pretty good, clearly I have a long way to go...
My only concern... According to this calculator I only need 28 Gal of water to last me a year? I think there might be a line or two of code in the calculations that needs adjusting.
DaScribbler
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I had noticed the water too... I was converting litres to gallons in my head and it didn't seem right... I should see if I can find that calculator elsewhere as well, it'll probably have a different conversion for the water.
I like that it made me take a hard look at my pantry/preps ... I have quite a bit to do yet but it has given me some numbers to work with! After I moved from one province to the other, I broke it down to 3 days, then 2 weeks, then a month stored separate from our day to day eats... I am building steadily! 😀
A food calculator via readynutrition.com ...this site lets you calculate from a month on through to 5 years...
http://readynutrition.com/resources/category/preparedness/calculators/
The LDS calculations are for a three day supply of stored water - after that you need to have water filtration. I personally would rather have more water stored and multiple ways of getting more.
ALSO: If you store the LDS suggestions you will probably die of constipation 🙂 Most people will see that the list would NOT keep you alive for a year and if it did you might prefer to be dead 🙂 Calculators are great but limiting at the same time - prep wide and deep instead and eat your veggies!
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*´¨`•.¸¸Anita <>< *.•´¸¸¨`*
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Quack, Cluck, Moo, Hee-Haw, Meow and Baaaaaaa from Shalom Engedi Farm
http://adventures-in-country-living.blogspot.com/
The LDS calculations are for a three day supply of stored water - after that you need to have water filtration. I personally would rather have more water stored and multiple ways of getting more.
ALSO: If you store the LDS suggestions you will probably die of constipation 🙂 Most people will see that the list would NOT keep you alive for a year and if it did you might prefer to be dead 🙂 Calculators are great but limiting at the same time - prep wide and deep instead and eat your veggies!
Hi Anita, I mentioned above in my first post that this calculator was for a basic pantry, not inclusive of the proteins, treats and condiments and extras. The intent was nothing more then to give someone an idea of flour for a family of four, etc. 😉
Sorry if I came off rude paintergirl - that wasn't my intention! 😐
It really is shocking how much grain is needed for a year supply. I calculated for a friend how much she needed and she was cool with it until I told her that grains alone would be 45 pails. WHAT - where will I put all of that?
Hee hee...I was waiting for that! When I explained that she would have to bake her own bread, crackers, cookies, etc. etc. she kinda clued in. This was the calculation I got for her for 5 people/1 year. Yowzers huh! I'm prepping for 10 so everything is doubled!
Grains
Wheat & Spelt 750lbs. 14lb/week
Millet 100lbs. 2lb/week
Buckwheat 100lbs. 2lb/week
Quinoa 50lbs 1lb/week
Oats 125lbs. 2.5lb/week
Rice 250lbs. 4.8lb/week
Pasta 125lbs. 2.5lb/week
Total Grains 1500 lbs. Approx. 45 pails
They already eat a very healthy diet and use many of these grains but these are not common to most people and therefore probably not a good choice to just copy and paste (although you could!) unless you were willing to change your diet NOW and learn what to do with them. These particular grains were chosen for micronutrient content as well as other factors - something you won't get if you decided to store only hard winter wheat.
(`'•.¸(`'•.¸ ¸.•'´) ¸.•'´)
*´¨`•.¸¸Anita <>< *.•´¸¸¨`*
(¸.•'´(¸.•'´ `'•.¸)`' •.¸)
¸.•´
( `•.¸
`•.¸ )
¸.•)´
(.•´
Quack, Cluck, Moo, Hee-Haw, Meow and Baaaaaaa from Shalom Engedi Farm
http://adventures-in-country-living.blogspot.com/
I tried one of those food calculators a while back, after I realized how much I'd have to buy and store, even for a month, I got a little discouraged. But it was back when I first started building up my pantry, maybe I better have another look at those numbers (I printed it out for my prep binder) see if I'm near any of the weights listed.
I'd used the one at http://www.tacticalintelligence.net
Ever wonder just how much is a pond of some sort of ingredient? Take a look at your cookbooks...all the ingredients are in cups, tablespoons, etc. Then go to the grocery store and notice that food is sold by weight. Hmmm...how many grams is a teaspoon of baking powder anyways? If I will need x tablespoons of baking powder per week and want to prep for y weeks, how many grams would that be....
Here is a great conversion tool...
http://www.onlineconversion.com/weight_volume_cooking.htm
Here's a Food Calculator from Shelf Reliance/Thrive Foods:
http://www.shelfreliance.com/planner/thrive/setup/
I thought I was fairly well stocked until I started playing with this one... 🙁
It's a work in progress I guess 🙂
DaScribbler
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Take a look at what needs refrigeration...and what you can supplement in its place.....The water that makes no sense at all....
Better to have it and not need it; then to need it and not have it...
I've looked at some of these calculators several times and you can't take them literally. Many of those items I would never use in a million years. I avoid the pre-packaged ones because you pay more for packing and labeling than you do for the food. Having that said, any prepping is better than none at all but if its my hard earned money, I'll buy what i use.
For me, when it comes to stocking up on items, I only buy products that i use and can rotate on the shelves.