Food Storage Program

I grew up with a two-year supply of food in my basement. My parents weren’t fanatical or paranoid, and they didn’t live their lives in fear, I think, because they had a sensible supply of food set aside. It must have been instinctive. Like a squirrel, my mother couldn’t help but plan for a shortage or a downturn in the economy, a layoff, an ice storm, a disability or a long stay at home. Not wanting to waste food, she rotated through it with a plan that rivaled a computer’s search engine. Everything was meticulously labeled and meals were planned combining what our basement held in storage with the fruits and vegetables we harvested from our garden.

Born in 1953, I grew up in Utah during the era of the bomb. In grade school, we heard the duck and cover song along with the pledge of allegiance. I know now that hiding under my desk wouldn’t have saved me, but like a baby squirrel, I was comforted because my parents “had a plan.” They even talked about how many neighbors they’d be able to feed. For 16 years, my mother taught monthly lessons on food storage. Did we ever really need it? No. Did it nourish us? Yes. Physically and emotionally, her efforts sheltered me and when I grew into an adult, I would know exactly how to avoid expensive, mass-produced, unhealthy food, the kind found in cans and jars on most grocery store shelves.

Years later, as the mother of two young children, I drove several hours on icy, winter roads to attend a Ground Zero meeting held in Lewiston, Idaho. In the 80s, anti-nuclear bomb groups like the Physicians for Social Responsibility were sprouting up everywhere. Like a mama lion protecting her young, I felt there must be something I could do to make the world safer for my children. On the panel that evening were several medical doctors. Someone in the audience asked, “Why bother? We can’t stop the madness.” A pediatrician replied, “If the unthinkable happens, I want to be able to turn to my children and say, ‘I did everything I could.’”

Just pour water and steep ...
an organic meal
in minutes.

Now that I’ve turned my passion for healthy organic food into a food business, my relatives like to joke about my "10-year supply of food." I’ve certainly outdone my mother and made double sure I have extra for nearby neighbors. In 40 years, things haven’t changed much for me. I just have online neighbors.