3. Inventory your refrigerator, freezer, kitchen cabinets, cupboards, pantry, closets, or under your bed – wherever you keep your supply of long-term foodstuffs. What do you have on hand in these categories? :
- canned and bottled foods?
- packaged foods?
- dehydrated, dried, and freeze dried foods?
- What's in your possession that's truly nutritious - that could sustain you in a near-normal manner?
- How long could your family eat if the foods in your pantry and refrigerator/freezer were the only food available?
1 day?1 week?1 month?longer?
4. If you need life-preserving medication, how long will your current supply last if it's not immediately available?
- What over-the-counter medications, vitamins, minerals, herbal supplements, and digestive aids do you have on hand?
- In what way do – or would – they support your health?
- How long would your supply last if not replenished now?
1 day?1 week?1 month?
5. Do you know which foods to buy, in what priority, quantity of each, and where to buy them most economically?
6. Could you prepare your stored foods, maximizing their shelf life, flavor, and nutritional qualities?
7. Do you know how to sprout seeds to provide "live" foods for essential vitamins and minerals when there's a shortage of fresh vegetables?
8. Do you have the knowledge, skills, tools, seeds, and available space to plant a garden and raise your own food?
9. Do you know how to preserve foods for the future – especially if the electric and gas supplies were unreliable?
10. Given your current situation, if you could no longer obtain water, food, vitamins, medication, and money in a routine manner, how long could you sustain yourself and your family without access to these necessities?
11. What type of job(s) could you qualify for if your current employment were terminated?
- What education or training do you need to acquire so you can be a viable candidate for future jobs?
12. Where would you live for the next year if a catastrophe occurred to your family's residence today?
13. Could you live – or even survive – for a year on your current savings?
14. Do you have the faith, foresight, skills, and diligence to prepare for the uncertain future?
15. Are you willing to make the required investment in your family's future well-being and security by:
(a) taking the time to learn how to prepare;
(b) defining a preparedness plan; and
(c) expending the energy to accomplish it?
If these questions – or rather, the answers to them – make you uncomfortable, then this is an opportunity for you to start to work on the answers that will make you more comfortable! Resolve these questions, and many others you may have about being prepared by reading, studying, and utilizing available information. Now is the most appropriate time to begin an in-home storage or family preparedness program! If you've prepared for your family's security with emergency supplies and have long-term storage provisions in your possession, you could turn what might be a life-threatening situation into a manageable problem!
