By John A. Heatherly, Author of The Survival Template
photo by spentrails
Many, when storing food for times of need in the future, stock up on wheat, flour, rice, corn, sugar, etc …, and they do it for good reason. All of these, when stored properly, have a long shelf-life and can provide carbohydrates for sustenance when needed. So what about sources of fat (canned butter, oils)?
For me, personal experience, as well as outside research, confirms the importance, dare I say the SUPERIORITY, of a diet that emphasizes fats above carbohydrates.
Here is a scenario: Something horrific happens (for example a natural disaster, disruption of food supply chain, or war) and groups of people are forced to live off of food stores. A number of studies indicate that a high-fat diet promotes physical and mental health far better than a high-carb diet, even when daily caloric intake is the same when comparing the two.
In my case, I am happier, leaner, and more physically fit with a diet that is high in fat and protein, and limits carbohydrates (especially flour, sugar, and rice.)
In closing: This TIP recommends the storage of high-carbohydrate food sources, for the reasons listed above. It is more important, however, to have sources of fat available, as it is my belief that in a time of crisis, fats offer “more bang for the buck.”
What are your experiences and thoughts on the fat vs. carb debate, as it relates to food storage?
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It would have been nice to see at least a paragraph on how best to store or acquire “fats”. I can go to Sams or Costco and buy a 30 lb plastic container of oil for a reasonable price, but my family gan only use half of that in a year. Most of what I read suggests the rest may be rancid at that point, So what is a reasonable amount to store? I can only justify a few gallons. My rice, corn and wheat should be good until 2042. So how do I make fats more available?
One answer might be raising chickens for egg production. Feed them the super cheap “feed carbs” get back protein and fat.
There are lots of things I’d be happier and healthier with post-SHTF, but I would never write an “article” on the benefits of say having a reliable source of electricity without ever bothering to suggest a plan for how to reasonably acheive that goal. Its just not helpful. Sorry to be negative.
So here’s a positive twist: How can/do you plan to provide your family with fats?
For a year oil, after that eggs, maybe hunting (but I unfortunately have no experience there) or maybe trading – thats the only plan I currently have. I’d like to hear other possible strategies.
Mike, did you do a search here on the blog on the topic of oils? To be fair, the scope of this article is to give a rationale for storing fats, something people might not have considered.
I agree with Mike… I searched oils, but turned up no useful info. Thrive has #10 cans of butter, but are there any other strategies?
Here’s an article from the blog, https://thesurvivalmom.com/2010/04/08/how-to-store-oil-safely/
Jamie mentions some good options in her comment. Shortening can be stored in canning jars that have been vacuum packed using a Food Saver jar attachment. Oil can also be kept refrigerated or even in the freezer, which is great unless there’s a power outage, but even that point, it would last another several months at room temperature. Oils are also one food that should especially be kept in the coolest part of the house, even if that means in a bedroom closet or in the family room!
Thanks for the info! This has been the trickiest thing to store for me.
Pre-ordered your new book… Can’t wait for it to come in!!!!
Hi, SurvivalMom! It’s me, Traumamamma, with my “fats” storage ideas for you. Some may have already been mentioned, as I just got back on line and have not read all the info. I have canned 24 half-pint jars of butter; 12 pint jars of bacon grease (collected from gathering the drippings after cooking bacon on our George Foreman grill; 18 pints of bacon (which has lots of fat left in jars) all pressure-canned, of course, being animal product. There are little red tubs of “lard” sold in the mexican markets that will keep for years. but it tastes just yucky! Nonetheless, it is a “fat”. I prefer the tasty kind….Acorns, which are plentiful in my area, are 39% fat and 40% carbs, and make a wonderful addition to the survival pantry and provided plenty of the fats necessary for good brain function…(see the article,”Acorns and Eat’em” by Suellen Ocean on the internet.
There is one oil that will not go rancid, coconut oil.
YES!! Coconut oil is the FIRST thing on my stockpile list. It has a shelf life of two to five years if stored properly, and I have personally used refined coconut oil that was over ten years old with no ill effects. Let’s not forget to mention it’s near medicinal qualities(for virgin/cold pressed oil)… The lauric acid content(49%) makes it a POTENT immune system booster.
I would NOT recommend cheap vegetable oils or hydrogenated shortenings… I think the goal is to stay healthy. Merely surviving isn’t enough in my book.
In a long term SHTF scenario, you will need to know what the local sources of fat are in your region and how to access them (raw whole milk, eggs, butter, olive oil, coconut oil, or animal fats such as bacon).
When looking at the kinds of fat you can store, I suggest looking into the following possibilities:
1. Bacon and butter – both can be had relatively inexpensively and can be canned for long term storage. Bacon can be purchased already canned if you’d rather not do it yourself.
2. Coconut oil – easily purchased in 5 gallon buckets, this will stay good for an extended period of time.
3. Using water glass, eggs can be held for months.
4. Goats are an excellent source of whole raw milk with easily digestible fat that can be kept even by people without a lot of land available.
I was surprised when I read a FEMA document on preparing for emergencies, and it mentioned that oil could be stored for years! I don’t know where they get their info, but oil becomes rancid after a year or so. Thanks for those suggestions, Jamie.
I have and use coconut oil. It is very healthy for you and is good for several years. It does have a strong taste but that just takes some getting used to. I use it for everything now including as a body moisturizer.
I’m with the coconut oil lady and I, too, wondered where the info was on the storage of oils. Have used it for years and I am hooked…even my 16 yr old grand-daughter likes it…& she’s picky! Perhaps nuts, especially walnuts would be good oils for storage, They also become rancid but vacumn packing & freezing extends the life. We are not weirdos….we are the wise ones! In the words of the Garth Brooks song..’Noah took much ridicule for building his great ark, but after 40 days and 40 nights he was looking pretty smart!”
My favorites are canned butter and canned bacon. Some suppliers of canned butter list its shelf life as “indefinite.” Canned bacon is advertised to have a shelf life of “10 years +,” although, as one friend of mine says: “Bacon does not last very long around my house …”
I know the importance of fats. And when you go without them you tend to crave them. And without fat’s you have limited cooking options, boiling, pretty much. But I feel compeled to put in a plug for carbs. Complex carbohdrates are very important when you are working continuosly, ie, gardening, chopping wood, hauling items, walking long distances. A balanced diet is best, now and post-SHTF.
Get used to oil from other sources, Possums have a lot of fat as well as other critters! Learn to cook out the oils from birds skins ( geese and ducks are loaded). Rabbits don’t have any to speak of …Any one out there know of other critters with a high fat content? Acorns?
Almost all nuts and many seeds are a good source of fats, some of them very good for you. Be sure to consider plants native to your area such as (in the Great Plains and Southwest) Buffalo gourd. A word of caution, however, study many sources and be extremely careful with wild plants. Even many that have been food sources for generations can be hazardous, even fatal, if the wrong part of the plant is consumed, or it is consumed at the wrong time of year. Others need special preparation to make them safe to consume.
Fall bears, I had one once with four or five inches of fat along the rump, we rendered it and I’ve used it in a ton of things.
How do you render the fat from bird skins, I’ve heard of this, but haven’t tried it yet.
Porcupines have a lot of fat on them, as well as beaver tails, if they are in your area. Fish are good sources of healthy oils, too, some have more fat than others. I’ve read of people use fat from other animals when cooking rabbit to help add some fat to rather lean meat. That’s all I know without doing research! 🙂
Domestic rabbits actually do have a fair amount of fat. I know from personal experience of raising and butchering my own rabbits for a couple of years.
We all know about people starving on wild rabbit which is very lean.
I have read that you can fatten up domestic rabbits to get some fat in your diet. That would mean not culling them at 8 weeks and growing them out for a few more months.
We worried about this, as well. Our solution is to grow sunflowers and press them for oil. Granted we have a small farm and can grow this crop (it takes a lot of sunflowers to get a little oil!) but out chickens & wild birds also like the seeds. Anyway, this sight explains what type of seeds to graom, how to harvest them and how to build a press.
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/oilpress.html
Hope this helps
I guess I should check my spelling before posting a comment! I may not be the best speller, but PLEASE!!!!!
I was just going to say “Sunflowers”. Anybody can grow them.
Eat the seeds.
Yes, one can press the oil if enough can be grown. But a Joe-average-suburbanite can grow them and eat the seeds, and the oil in them will definitely be a supplement to the diet.
Good stuff, good post, good info.
Also, Lard. Its not sold in the refrigerated sections. (Plus, I love cooking with it.)
Also consider adding at least one case of MREs to your food storage: These require no added water and the meals are filling.
I agree. Meals that can be prepared quickly are one of the 3 layers of food storage that I talk about in my webinar by the same title. A lot of people get too many MREs or too many Mountain House entrees and end up not having ingredients to make many, many dishes, which is where the largest percentage of your food storage should be. But, MREs definitely have their place!
I bought smaller containers of olive oil instead of the large ones, so they can be used up before they go bad. Also have lard, Ghee (which lasts almost indefinitely) and lots of peanut butter. I also ordered the #10 cans of powdered butter, milk, buttermilk and whole eggs and more peanut butter.
Save up your bacon drippings in a old-fashioned crock with a lid (keeps it cool) and it lasts for a very long time. My grandma had a pantry where she kept hers, never was refridgerated and it was constantly being used.
One thing to consider is a middle eastern product known as ghee. Basically, it is butter. Butter that is shelf stable and comes in a jar with a screw-top lid. Find it in well stocked ‘international sections’ at your local grocery store or at a middle-eastern store. I also like mustard oil used heavily in those countries. Flavorful and medicinal.
Powdered shortening would work 🙂 a lot of places online carry it in #10 cans
Ohh and you can get canned butter to 🙂 on e bay and also amazon carries it .. it is shelf stable and in a tin can
We make ghee at home from unsalted butter. It’s really easy. Here is a “how-to” link: http://mideastfood.about.com/od/dipsandsauces/r/ghee.htm
It’s used a lot in Indian cooking, much of which I think would be idea for survival conditions. We make dahl about once a week – it’s just lentils simmered for about 15 minutes (if you have pink lentils – brown will take about 45, but they are more nutritious), and then spices are added in a tempering oil, which could be either ghee or just a canola oil. We eat them with rice, which gives us a carb, a protein (lentils) and a fat (the tempering oil), all shelf-stable. And they are yummy!
Coconut oil is a great option too. While it doesn’t last as long as some of the dried/powdered products, obviously, it does last at least twice as long as other oils (olive, canola, etc.) without going rancid. It’s one of the best sources of good, sustaining saturated fat…
Oops! I just saw that someone else already suggested that! 🙂
I think cheese is a great source of fat – and a great morale booster. If prepped in cheese wax blocks of cheese can be stored for 20+ years. Don’t know about you but a nice block of Havarti could enhance any MRE.
Nuts and seeds stored raw in their shells. They do not go rancid quickly stored this way. I have five year old hickory nuts that are still good. Do not forget that squash and melon seeds are edible and high in fat.
Did you know there are cold tolerant avacado trees? Avacado is a great source of good fat and think how good that guacamole and garden fresh salsa will taste on your TVP tacos 😉