Wheat storage basics

Did you know that cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop? They are one of the foundation foods that humans consume. In the United States, wheat is one of the most common grains that people begin to store. Hikingware.com thinks you should ask yourself these questions about wheat: Why is wheat so great to store? What kind of wheat should I store? How should wheat be stored? And, how can I use wheat?

History has shown wheat’s role in human survival. From Biblical stories to American Pioneer experiences, we know it works as a way to sustain life in a crisis.

Pound for pound, wheat is one of the least expensive foods available. Because grain products will expand in your stomach (satisfying you even if you eat less), using wheat products can help you stretch your budget by eliminating the need for store-bought, overpriced, and over-processed goods.

Wheat provides protein.

If you are concerned that your food storage may be lacking in protein, a good supply of wheat and legumes will form a complete protein. Just a half cup of uncooked wheat contains eight to 10 grams of protein. So, not only will wheat give you the protein needed for muscle growth and repair, but you will have a low-fat complex carbohydrate to give your body the energy it needs to make it through the day.

What kind of wheat should I store?

That all depends on what you’ll be making with it.

Hard red winter wheat is excellent for making hearty, whole wheat loaves of bread, or to use in recipes as an extender for red meat. Hard white winter wheat contains a more delicate flavor than the hard red wheat and can be used to make light and fluffy bread, rolls, and scones. It can also be used in recipes as an extender for white meat. Both of these varieties of hard wheat are high in protein and fiber.

Soft white wheat kernels are larger and plumper than red wheat kernels, are of a softer texture, and have weaker gluten strength. This wheat is used to make flaky pastries, pie crust, cakes, crackers, and breakfast cereals. Because of its lower gluten and protein content, it is not recommended for use in breads.

How to store wheat.

Whole wheat kernels will store longer and better than when ground up into flour. When storing your wheat at home, make sure it is in containers specifically identified on the label as food storage containers.

It is best to purchase wheat with a moisture content level less than 10 percent. Heat, moisture, oxygen, and light are the enemies to preserving food for an extended period. Two of the best ways to properly store wheat are in a #10 can with an oxygen absorber , or sealed within a metallized plastic bag with an oxygen absorber, then placed in a bucket.

Always store your wheat in a cool, dry place to ensure the longest shelf life. The cooler and least fluctuating temperature (between 40-75° F), the better.

A Brief Warning.

If you have celiac disease, you can't eat any foods that contain gluten (including wheat, rye, barley, and oats). Dropping gluten from your diet usually improves the condition within a few days and eventually ends the symptoms of the disease. So instead of storing wheat or oats, you can store rice – it lasts just as long as wheat, as long as it is stored properly. 

Food for thought

Could the Dust Bowl Come Again?

The Dust Bowl was the name given to the Great Plains region devastated by drought in 1930s depression-ridden America. The 150,000-square-mile area, encompassing the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and neighboring sections of Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico, has little rainfall, light soil, and high winds, a potentially destructive combination. When drought struck from 1934 to 1937, the soil lacked the stronger root system of grass as an anchor, so the winds easily picked up the loose topsoil and swirled it into dense dust clouds, called “black blizzards.” Recurrent dust storms wreaked havoc, choking cattle and pasture lands and driving 60 percent of the population from the region. Most of these “exodusters” went to agricultural areas first and then to cities, especially in the Far West.

The American agricultural system came close to ruin during those perilous years; in fact, some contemporary experts began warning that the American family would soon have to start spending nearly 40% of their income just to get enough to eat. Fortunately, they were wrong; today the average American family spends only 7% of their income on food.

But even so, there are many scenarios in which your food budget could skyrocket, either temporarily or for a long time -- such as natural disasters or civil disturbances that disrupt the food supply chain. Hikingware.com suggests that you should keep on hand a full supply of nutritious and long-lasting emergency rations for your family.

Can the Dust Bowl happen again? Historians tell us that, to a lesser extent, it can happen again at any time:

In response to the original emergency, the federal government mobilized several New Deal agencies, principally the Soil Conservation Service formed in 1935, to promote farm rehabilitation. Working on the local level, the government instructed farmers to plant trees and grass to anchor the soil, to plow and terrace in contour patterns to hold rainwater, and to allow portions of farmland to lie fallow each year so the soil could regenerate. The government also purchased 11.3 million acres of submarginal land to keep it out of production. By 1941 much of the land was rehabilitated, but the region repeated its mistakes during World War II as farmers again plowed up grassland to plant wheat when grain prices rose. Drought threatened another disaster in the 1950s, prompting Congress to subsidize farmers in restoring millions of acres of wheat back to grassland.

With global warming and continuing drought in many parts of the United States, the day may come sooner than expected when your food budget will double or even triple.

So having an ample supply of basic food stuffs on hand, as well as emergency rations for the whole family just makes sense.

As Groucho Marx once said: "Food for thought doesn't do you much good when you're hungry for a hamburger!"

Six common concerns about Emergency Preparedness

Emergency food storage is not just for large families. Singles and couples can benefit from having a supply of food stored. Six common concerns are considered and simple solutions are suggested.

Just because there are one or two of you does not mean it’s wise to skip storing food. A variety of events can make it a challenge to get food. In an emergency, your most reliable source for help is you. Why leave your care entirely to others when a time of difficulty arises?

Hikingware.com can help you build an emergency kit that includes both food and hardware you'll need to survive any type of emergency -- whether you live by yourself, with a room mate, or as a large nuclear family. 

Some singles have found a great advantage in having a supply of food on hand. 

Shannon Johnson of Texas, a single young woman who broke her foot, was very grateful for a supply of food, which allowed her to make fewer trips to the store requiring the help of others during her two-month recovery.

In an extended time of bad weather, an apartment of singles appreciated having a supply of food when stores with empty shelves were crowded with stressed people trying to buy supplies.

Even though Emily Jensen of Utah had not been caught in an emergency, she said that she liked the security of knowing she could care for herself should one arise.

One young married couple was counseled by their church leader to buy two cans of food on sale each week when they went grocery shopping. Ron and Lorene Snelling were amused as they followed his advice only to find it not a laughing matter when Ron lost his job six months later and they had no money for food. How thankful they were for the suggestion they had received!

At other times, young couples finishing school have needed extra food to sustain them after graduation when it took months to find a job. Older couples have appreciated the security of having stored food when they are no longer working and expenses become unpredictable.

Questions often arise when storing food for just one or two people. Here are six common concerns and some simple solutions.

What to store?

Buy foods you like on sale. From there, plan what you store around the recipes you would like to eat. If you are on a budget, consider recipes you like to eat using the basics, grains and beans, which are inexpensive, space efficient and nutritious. Canned beans provide very fast meals.

The containers of dried foods seem too large.

Keep in mind that dried foods will last at least a year after opening, which makes using food in No. 10 cans not so daunting. Because the plastic lid on a can is not air tight, in humid climates, contents of an opened can should be transferred to a zip seal bag and returned to the can for protection from moisture and light.

Several companies now sell dried foods in smaller size 2.5 cans, which hold about three cups. Food purchased this way will be a little more expensive but may be more practical.

I don’t like to cook.

Using canned and dried foods makes very fast meals. Vegetables are already peeled and cut up. Most of us use dried onions. Why not include a few other dried vegetables in meal preparation? They are very convenient and flavorful. Many food storage meals can be assembled in just two to three minutes and cook in 15-30 minutes. You can also try storing MREs and everything is in an easy-to-store pouch. The quality of MREs has gotten much better in the last several years and several MRE manufacturers have come along in the last few years that have pushed the bar much higher.

Food storage recipes are too large.

Recipes can always be halved; however, a full recipe will provide leftovers, making one less meal to cook. It’s always possible to freeze half a recipe and enjoy it later.

I don’t have space for stored food in my apartment.

Designate some closet or under-the-bed spaces for storing food. If you are committed to storing food, it’s surprising how many places can be found to store it.

What about storing water?

Bottled water is very easy to store and rotate. Fourteen gallons of water, less than five cases of 24 17-ounce bottles, is a two-week supply for one person. Another option is to buy bottled water from companies, like Culligan, which will deliver it.

Everyone, including singles and couples, benefits from storing food. Solutions to concerns singles or couples may have about buying, storing and using food storage do not have to be complicated. Whether you purchase in bulk or a little at a time, you are building a reservoir of security for times of trouble. 

That’s a good feeling everyone should have.

Facts About Food Waste in America

From a short piece about food waste from The Des Moines Register: 1,000 adults were surveyed, and 63 percent of them said they were concerned about our country's food waste. In fact, it was a bigger issue to many of them than GMOs or climate change.

Here’s the really interesting part: only 34 percent of those surveyed thought the food they wasted in their own homes was a concern. Almost half of the people who see food waste as a problem, don’t see it as their personal problem.

Perhaps they don’t know that according to a recent USDA report, twice as much food is wasted on the consumer level than it is on the retail level. In other words, if you think grocery stores throw out more food than people do in their homes, you’re wrong. Perhaps they also don’t know that Americans throw away 40 percent of the food they bring into their homes. Almost half of what they buy gets trashed.

Hikingware.com wants you to be aware of this disturbing trend, because during an emergency or disaster there may be very little, if any, food available for you and your family -- unless you act wisely and have a food storage plan.

And a good food storage plan also includes provident living BEFORE the emergency and/or disaster.

How is your personal food waste, the food you bring into your home but never eat, a problem? Here’s how:

• You’re contributing to the waste of energy. A study by the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Texas at Austin found that 2 percent of the annual energy consumption in the U.S. was used on food that went to waste. How does food use energy? Think of the all the energy it takes to produce, transport, process and handle food, and you’ll start to see that every step of the way, energy is used for food. That 2 percent is probably a conservative number because the study used 1995 data that said Americans threw away 27 percent of the food produced. It’s now estimated that food waste could be as much as 50 percent.
• You’re contributing to carbon emissions. The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization released a report that found “the carbon footprint of wasted food is equivalent to 3.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually.” China and the USA are the top two carbon emitters in the world. Food waste is the third. It’s like food waste is an entire country in and of itself when it comes to carbon emissions, and so much of that food waste comes from what we throw away in our own homes.
• You’re contributing to hunger. Pope Francis commented that our culture of food waste is like stealing from the poor. As long as we don't see our food waste as a big deal, we won't think of how tackling food waste can help the hungry. If everyone from the farmers who grow the food to the governments who subsidize the food to the markets that sell the food to the consumers who buy the food worked together to stop the waste and divert the perfectly edible food into the hands and mouths of the hungry, real change could happen.
• You’re wasting your cold, hard-earned cash. The average family of four throws away $2,275 worth of food each year. If you don’t see any of the other issues surrounding personal food waste as a problem, it’s hard to argue that wasting this much money isn’t a personal issue!

What can you do about your personal food waste?

Believe it or not, your food storage can help. For example, in my family, I am the only one that likes red and green peppers. So I only re-hydrate the servings I need, rather than buy fresh and potentially waste part of the fresh vegetables, and just to add them to my dinner when I want them. Same with things like broccoli. I use what I need and the rest stays in the pantry for future use.