Self-sufficiency, provident living, and emergency preparedness are important parts of the gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon.) Church members are taught to store food in their homes to protect against some of life's unexpected emergencies.
Mormon One-Year Food Storage
LDS leaders teach church members to build up the basic foods necessary to sustain life for one year. Staples like flour, sugar, beans, rice, pasta, powdered milk, and salt are stored in the one-year supply. Many Mormons add wheat and a grinder, a generator and fuel, clothing, or diapers to their emergency preparedness supply.
The LDS church operates home storage centers where members preserve their foods using a dry pack canner. The dry pack process doubles, triples, or quadruples the shelf life of dry goods, making them ideal for a long-term one-year storage that doesn't need frequent rotation.
LDS Three-Month Food Supply
Though the ultimate goal is to amass one year's worth of life-sustaining basics, Mormons are taught to concentrate first on building up a smaller three-month reserve of foods they already eat and enjoy. This three-month supply can and should be frequently and regularly rotated into everyday cooking. A two-week supply of water is also recommended.
The church began emphasizing the 3-month supply more heavily in 2002 after church president Gordon B. Hinckley said, "I fear that so many feel that a long-term food supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no effort at all."
The emphasis on 3-month storage supplements (but does not replace) the counsel to store for one year. Different types of food are stored in each: the three-month supply contains a regular supply of foods that can be constantly cycled into family meals, while the one-year supply contains less-frequently rotated foods with a longer shelf life that would keep a family alive if there was nothing else to eat.
Reasons for Mormon Food Storage
LDS leaders have historically been careful to signify that the emphasis on emergency preparedness and food storage should not be interpreted as the prediction of a specific impending disaster. Rather, president Hinckley compared it to fire insurance on a home: "We hope and pray that there will never be a fire. Nevertheless, we pay for insurance to cover such a catastrophe, should it occur."
Food storage can be helpful not only during natural disasters, but during times of unemployment or personal financial crisis or even when a necessary ingredient for dinner goes missing in the cupboard. Stored foods can also be shared with others in need if catastrophe strikes.
As part of the LDS push for self-reliance and preparedness in spiritual and temporal matters, Mormons are taught to store three months of common food items and one year of life-sustaining staple foods. Though Mormons are free to ignore this advice if they wish, the prophetic advice to store food at home is believed to be divinely inspired.
Please visit How to Start an Emergency Food Supply at Home for more information on where to begin, how to store drinking water, and other tips on food storage safety and long shelf life foods.
For more information of the beliefs, teachings, and practices of Mormonism, see What Do Mormons Believe?
Sources:
"All Is Safely Gathered In," a home food storage pamphlet from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2007.
Gordon B. Hinckley, “ To Men of the Priesthood,” Liahona, Nov 2002, 56–59.
Jenny Evans - Jenny Evans is a freelance writer and editor specializing in parenting and the family. She is also the Mormonism Topic Editor for ...
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