The Everyday Bean

Today is the official beginning of the LDS Food Storage challenge for our family. It occurs to me that I should explain my goals and how I plan to proceed with this challenge.

I have two goals. First, I want to use up our food storage which is slowly aging. Most of it is still in date but much of it is getting to be an age where it’s losing vitamins and minerals. Second, I want to challenge myself to live as though there are no options but food storage and what my family can produce ourselves. I want to make it clear that we do have some food that I will not be able to produce here such as mandarin oranges, pineapple, coconut oil, sugar, olive oil, cocoa powder, etc. I am going to use that food. But when it’s gone, it’s gone and I won’t be replacing some of it until I decide the challenge is over.

A third, more important goal to me, is replacing what I use with homegrown or locally obtained food. My husband and I plan to expand both the size and scope of our garden this year. Because I plan to live as though I am living through the Great Depression, it’s important that we produce most of what we eat or obtain it locally. That’s what history teaches. I have decided that we will grow as much as we feasibly can. We will also shop at local farms and farm stands. We will buy food from the LDS cannery which is 90 miles away. If it is produced within a 100-mile radius, it’s fair game. If not, I think we can live without it. That’s one of the advantages of not drinking coffee or tea. There are some things for which I will make exceptions: orange juice (doctor prescribed to be taken with my iron pill), chocolate, cocoa powder, olive oil, coconut oil, sugar, molasses and spices. I reserve the right to add to or take away from this list.

Part of the Word of Wisdom (the LDS health code) is to eat meat sparingly. I have decided that we will be eating meat once per week, on Saturday or Sunday. It will give us something to which we can look forward. Because I am iron deficient, we will see if I can maintain healthy iron levels on beans alone. I know it works for some people. We will see if it works for me. If not, I may add one more night of meat a week. We live in a farming state where there are more cows than people by double. Getting meat within 100 miles should not be a problem at all. But I prefer to use it sparingly.

I also reserve the right to go out to eat once in a great while. My mom and her husband like to visit twice a year and love to take us out to eat. I will look forward to that time. I also have adult children who earn their own money. If they bring something home for me, I will eat it. But I won’t be asking for anything during the challenge. We may also use special foods bought at grocery stores when we travel to visit family. We usually do this once or twice a year.

That pretty much sums it up. If I think of anything else, I will either edit this post or mention it in a separate post.