With this unique system, you will build a very well-round food supply in a simple and affordable way. The way it should be!
In 2017, my family and I lived in Houston, Texas when hurricane Harvey hit. New to a climate where these kind of things can happen, we weren’t as prepared as we would have liked to have been.
Harvey wreaked havoc on the greater Houston area, dropping 60+ inches of rain over just a couple days. There were homes destroyed, people stranded, gas shortages, and grocery stores were empty. Like, EMPTY. It was a very eye-opening time to see how quickly and drastically things can change.
One of the many side effects of a natural disaster (or global pandemic) is that shelves don’t get restocked overnight. Some items could be gone for days or weeks, and as we have experienced over the last year and a half, this can be very disconcerting. Especially when you have little mouths to feed.
Why we should build up a short term food storage:
- Natural disasters
- Global and economic disruptions
- Temporarily job loss or sickness
- Convenience. Having extra items at home when you are busy living life, haven’t grocery shopped and want to make dinner for your family without going out to eat is quite nice.
- Giving. Having enough on hand puts you in a better position to love and serve your neighbors and friends.
How do we do build our short term supply??
The Rule of 3! Each month you will rotate through a breakfast, lunch, dinner, supply system that is broken down into weeks
Each week you will focus on just 1 of the below categories to buy 3 items for. Repeatedly cycling through our system will help you build a well-rounded supply.
First Week: Breakfast Items
Second Week: Lunch Items
Third Week: Dinner Items
Fourth Week: Snacks/Treats & Water
How This Looks in Practice:
If it is the first week of the month then you are going to buy three breakfast items such as 3 things of syrup. The second week of the month you might buy three cans of tuna, or a can of tuna and two boxes of macaroni and cheese for your lunch supply. Week three might be three boxes of noodles and then for week four you might choose to buy three things of brownie mix. Another option would be buying complete meals. Ex. Pancake mix, syrup and bacon. You could take that a step further and buy 3 complete meals.
You are in total control of the items you buy and the money that will be spent to buy them, but selecting one item(s) to buy in triplicate each week will build up your short term supply in an incredible way. This post on Food Storage You Will Eat has some free printouts that will help you plan which meals and other items to purchase for your short-term supply.
The Rule of 3 might not look by much at first, but when steps are continually taken, no matter how small, you can cover some great distance.
XOXO,
Ashley & Jill
