Posted on 11/21/2008 8:36:31 AM PST by RKBA Democrat
Liz Freeman's recent trip to a home storage center wasn't motivated by reports of a slipping stock market or looming recession.
It was simply part of her long-term plan.
Two weeks ago, Freeman visited the home storage center at Welfare Square in Salt Lake City with a list in hand, leaving with three cases of items to add to her inventory. Long before she began scooping dried onions, refried beans and hot cocoa mix into No. 10 cans, she made sure to measure her needs and weigh them against her budget. It's part of a steady, systematic approach she's maintained for "years and years."
"That's just something I do," Freeman said. "It wasn't because I felt like economic times are bad."
Freeman has always been a "food-storage believer." But for those who have only recently joined her in the ranks, uneasiness over the economic climate was likely a motivating factor. As rising food and gas prices dominated the national conversation earlier this year, there was a significant increase in traffic at LDS Church home storage centers and in demand for home storage products. Accommodating such needs is the reason these facilities exist, but those familiar with the operations also hope that despite the shaky economy, patrons act out of principle rather than fear.
"A little at a time is really all you need to do," Freeman said.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints operates more than 100 home storage centers throughout the United States and Canada where individuals can purchase home storage food commodities, which come at a lower cost if they package the items themselves.
Freeman recently spent 50 minutes on a Wednesday afternoon canning spaghetti, vanilla pudding mix, apple slices and other items in the drypack area of the home storage center at Welfare Square. To her surprise, she was the only person occupying one of the four work stations.
The situation, however, was vastly different several months earlier, when concerns over rising food and fuel prices were at their height.
Elder Gary Pierce, a full-time church service missionary who along with his wife, Louise, manages the Welfare Square home storage center, noticed a considerable jump in usage. When the facility was scheduled to shut down in July for renovations, the weeks leading up to the closure were bustling with activity. Some patrons appeared to be in panic mode, Pierce observed.
"It was just a zoo," he said.
President Larry Adamson of the Northridge Layton, Utah Stake, the agent stake president over the home storage center in Kaysville, called the accelerated traffic "significant." He found himself having to call more volunteer missionaries from the area to staff the facility.
"It has been very busy," he said.
Over the past six to nine months, there was a substantial increase in demand for the long-term food storage items offered through the facilities, according to Kevin Nield, director of bishop's storehouse services for the welfare department of the LDS Church. While the level of demand is now down somewhat, the church was forced to broaden its distribution two- or three-fold, Nield said.
"Keeping up to that demand was a unique challenge, no doubt," he said. "But we've met the demand, and the inventories are in place and we continue to distribute."
Adequate food supplies were never an issue, but the logistics of delivering the commodities to the home storage centers across the country as the demand peaked proved difficult, Nield said. The endeavor required a little improvisation and a lot of dedication.
Two new "distribution points" proved beneficial, Nield said, the most unique of which was making five products available for customers in the United States through ldscatalog.com. A home storage starter kit was sold online beginning in December 2007, and by March 2008, cases of red winter wheat, white rice, pinto beans and quick oats were also being offered. In addition, home storage products were made available at the church's Distribution Center stores.
"It helped us respond better to the large demand we were facing," Nield said.
Perhaps the most critical contribution, however, came from church service workers who provided volunteer hours at the facilities.
"The adjustments were in the commitment and in the long, hard hours given at the home storage centers themselves ... trying to get everything we possibly could to people who were interested in it," Nield said.
The expanded distribution means that home storage products are now available to more Saints around the country, President Adamson said. The starter kit, which contains two cans each of wheat and rice and one can each of beans and oats, has been particularly popular.
Although filling the demand makes for a busy production schedule, President Adamson counts it as a blessing.
"We're actually grateful because we can get to the Saints things that they would need," he said.
These day, activity at the home storage center at Welfare Square is either "feast or famine," according to Pierce.
"You never can tell," he said during a break on a particularly busy Friday as volunteer workers scrambled to fill a giant order destined for Coalville, Utah.
"It's nice to help people to get their food storage and be an avenue for them," Pierce said.
Home storage centers exist for just that reason — providing members with resources toward building a longer-term food storage, as counseled by their church leaders. But as Nield pointed out, that's just part of a plan set forth by the First Presidency that also calls for being prudent in establishing a reserve.
"The items put in a can at a home storage center, the intent is to have them last for a long time," Nield said. "You can put a can of wheat or rice or beans away and have it there against a time of need."
Long-term food storage, however, is just one of four directives found in "All is Safely Gathered In," a pamphlet distributed throughout the church last year that outlines the "basics of family home storage." The counsel includes building a three-month supply of "food that is part of your normal, daily diet," storing drinking water and developing a financial reserve in addition to a longer-term supply of food.
Using the home storage center is helpful in meeting one of those directives for those who live in proximity to a facility, but all four must be balanced, Nield said. Long-term storage is also less applicable in areas of the world where such endeavors might not be possible.
"People have more opportunities now than ever before to use the church as a place to help get some reserves, but these kinds of reserves, the three-month (supply) or the water or the money, they don't come from a home storage center," Nield said. "And that's the more immediately accessible element and that's the more worldwide church element."
Following the guidelines of the First Presidency is about "the spirit of preparation" and the "idea of being strong and self-reliant," Nield said. It's not about fear.
"All is Safely Gathered In" discourages church members from going "to extremes" and incurring debt to establish a food storage. "With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply," it reads.
Freeman made that commitment long ago because it was important for her to follow the prophet's counsel, she said. Having a food storage has given her -- and her children -- peace of mind.
But building that reserve required careful planning and budgeting. The home storage center is just one of several resources Freeman utilizes to replenish her food storage, in addition to buying canned items in bulk from the grocery store, and growing and bottling her own food.
The most difficult step in establishing a food storage is the first one, she said.
"Once you get started, it's easy to see how you can continue to add on," she said. "It's a wonderful feeling to know you're following the counsel of the church leaders."
Home storage center facts
There are 102 LDS Church-owned home storage centers throughout the United States and Canada. They are open to any member of the community who wants to purchase and/or package drypack commodities.
Home storage products can be purchased at home storage centers, at distribution centers or online at lds.catalog.com.
Commodities packaged by patrons at home storage centers are sold for less than if purchased directly.
To find a home storage center in your area, log on to providentliving.org, click on the Family Home Storage link and then select Locations at the top of the page.
To make an appointment, call the nearest home storage center or speak to your stake emergency preparedness representatives. The Welfare Square facility accepts walk-ins, but not appointments.
Having a 3900 sq ft house helps. When my house was half that size, the storage was divided between the garage and parts of the bedroom closets. The 55 gallon drums of water were stored outside. Now that I live in a place that gets as cold as -21 F, I'll have to find a better solution for the water storage. The basement remains at a steady +64 F all year long.
Sounds like you have prepared well !
Good on ya !
But I really had no idea of how much one might need for a family of 4, so the website was really helpful.
btt
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