Learn from the Experience of Others

When deciding what to store it is important to think of food your family already eats. That way, you are eating what you store and storing what you eat. While this is good advice, I also think there is value is learning the stories of those who have lived in a time of hardship...

• what things did they wish they had?
• what was valuable?
• what do they personally store now?

Experience is a wonderful teacher...what a blessing to learn from others experiences.

I read a talk years ago given by F. Enzio Busche. In it he discussed his experiences living in post-war Europe. He talked about the challenges as well as what was valued. One of the items at the top of the list...oil. He said this single item could be bartered for anything, it was worth its weight in gold.

After hearing of this man's experiences, we store extra oil/fat.

There is a dear lady in our ward that also lived Europe during and after World War 2. Her family went through many trials. They went for long periods of time on limited food. I asked her if her past experiences influenced what she currently stored. She told me "absolutely" and one thing at the top of her list was Kool Aid, because it would mask the taste of stored, stale water.

I will be storing fruit drink mix. Not because my family uses it now, but because we may need it in the future.

Food for thought at least.