Food storage is easy on a raw food diet!

Food storage is just a principle of prudent living I grew up with. I was raised to “set something aside for a rainy day.” That principle reaches beyond my bank account and into my kitchen as well. We live in an amazing time. We don’t have to go and labor in the fields all day just to provide our families with food, which I think is wonderful. But maybe we’ve stepped a bit too far from that?

I really do believe that it is important to be prepared- it removes so much worry from life. I have always tried to maintain food storage in a few ways. First, as a 72-hour-kit (they sell these at emergency essential stores). Second as water. And third as food storage (combining being self-sufficient with storing food to last for an extended time).

I know, some people think that sounds really extreme to store your own food. But I think it is prudent. I was raised to believe “if you are prepared, ye shall not fear.” So as a mother I teach my children to be self-reliant as much as is age appropriate and for our family that carries into food storage.

As I have said for a variety of reasons I have tried to follow these principles. But when I first switched to a raw food diet I thought great…most fruits and vegetables have a very limited shelf life. But over the past decade I’ve learned many ways to store and preserve living foods that have blessed my family and helped us to have something set aside for those “rainy days.”

Sprouting

Beans

Most beans are not included in the raw food diet because they are heated. But some can be sprouted. Our family favorite is garbanzo beans (also called chic peas). Simply soak them and let them sprout and you are ready for all kinds of living Mediterranean and Mexican dishes. One of our favorite dishes is living hummus.

Wheatgrass

If you visit an emergency essential or food storage store you’ll be among 40lb bags of wheat. You can store wheat and use it for breads and tortillas but those aren’t considered raw. So we buy organic (never sprout anything not organic!) and we grow our own wheat grass. You will need to buy the trays and have a few supplies on hand. But this is one of the simplest and inexpensive things you can do to include in your raw food storage. Wheatgrass has so many amazing health benefits and if you did hit “hard times” and couldn’t get out or shop for fresh produce for an extended period, this is a great way to make sure you are getting all of the nutrients your body needs. Wheatgrass is a nutritional powerhouse.

Growing our own garden

We recently moved but our last home sat on .17 of an acre. Not much space for a home a place for kids to play and to garden, so I became familiar with square-foot-gardening. Square foot gardening is a system of gardening and the name of a book. Now the author doesn’t teach organic gardening principles, but he teaches you how to yield the most produce from the smallest amount of space. We compromised his system a bit to fit our yard, but I highly recommend it. We put in the equivalent of 4 square-foot garden boxes (each one is 4 square feet). It produced enough produce for my family all summer and fall. Growing the vegetables was so rewarding, nutritionally prudent and a great experience to have with my children. They did try and plant their rubber bouncy balls to grow more balls, so there is still more growing and learning for all of us.

Fruit trees

The house we live in now has a bigger yard and we are spoiled to have a large peach tree and an apple tree. Again, if space is limited there are methods for growing fruit trees against wall, fences, even the side of your house. Some fruits like apple I learned keep for an extended time if kept at cold temperatures. And the fruit can be frozen or dehydrated.

Dehydration

Dehydration is a great way to preserve living foods. It is important to use dehydrators that have a temperature control that can be kept below 120 degrees. I own an Excalibur and it works great. Since we have a peach tree, I dehydrate peach puree for my kids and they love having it as fruit leather. Learn more about dehydrating produce.

Other foods to consider including and keeping in small quantities for storage are:

Organic apple cider vinegar, Raw Honey, Coconut Oil, Raw coconut butter (yum), Extra Virgin Olive Oil and seasonings.

Raw energy bars

I have tried some raw energy bars and there are some good ones available. They are probably worth throwing into a 72-hour-kit because if you had to take off in a hurry there is probably no place to prepare food or grow sprouts. But raw energy bars have always sort of turned me off, I guess I just like to eat food in its real and natural state as often as possible. They are usually loaded with nuts too and my son and I can’t eat nuts, so be aware of that if you have any nut allergies or young children in your family. Anyhow they are still an option for a convenient and healthier choice.

Food storage is a prudent choice for families

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