Grain & Flour for Food Storage

I have many conversations about how to store grains in food storage, how much grain should you (we) store, and what are the best methods, so I wanted to share a few ideas about storing grain in a long term food storage situation.

First, grains means more than just what you might have pictured in your brain. Read on to see what I mean:

300 pounds of grains total

Clarification: When planning your food storage, it is suggested that you (adults and children over 7 years old) plan to have a total of 300 pounds of grains per person. Children (0-6 yrs) need a total of 148 pounds of grains per person.

Here is the breakdown:

GRAINS - IN BERRY FORM (i.e. Spelt, Hard Red Wheat, Hard White Wheat)
Adults: 150 pounds
Children: 75 pounds
FLOUR
Adults need 25 lbs
Children need 14 lb
CORN MEAL
Adults: 25 pounds
Children: 14 pounds
OATS
Adults: 25 pounds
Children: 14 pounds
PASTA
Adults: 25 pounds
Children: 14 pounds RICE
Adults: 50 pounds
Children: 25 pounds

That comes to a total of 300 lbs per person for adults (or people over 7 years old) and for children under 7, a total of 148 pounds.

How to Store Your Grains

I prefer to use 5 or 6 gallon buckets to store my grains. I have macaroni noodles, rice, and wheat in my buckets. I know you can use oxygen absorber packets to make the grain last longer. And if at all possible, you should keep your grains in a dark, cool, clean location. Preferably one without rodents. If rodents are present, you will definitely want to use buckets or tin cans or even old metal garbage cans to store your wheat - so the rodents don't think you are doing them a favor by providing them some food storage.

Spelt Flour Sale

In case you are an avid spelt user, there is a great sale on flour going on right now. You can find 25 or 50 lb bags of spelt flour at www.histakes-spelt.com/spelt.php
Enjoy and keep that food storage going!