You have heard it before, probably a hundred times during your prepping journey, but it is important to remind you again: Prepping is never done! It is a weekly task that shouldn’t be neglected. You can’t buy a bunch of food, water, and other supplies and leave it in the basement or the back of the pantry, forgetting it is there for years on end. You have to keep rotating your food storage.
Why, you ask? Well, we are going to talk about 10 things you should be doing on a regular basis to keep your food storage neat, tidy and fresh.
1. Proper food rotation is the key to always having somewhat fresh food on hand. You don’t want to eat the freshest items first and leave the old stuff to get older and possibly spoil. Follow the old restaurant trick of FIFO. First in, first out. Decide up front how you are going to rotate your food. Will you be going front to back or left to right? It doesn’t hurt to put up a little note reminding you and the family which side to pull from if they are taking from the food supply. If you have a lot of canned food, install some slanted shelves or racks to make this even simpler (see the image above).
2. When you are regularly rotating your food, you are also able to inspect it for signs of spoilage. If you see bulging cans or home-canned food that is seeping liquid from the seal, you need to throw it away immediately. Those are almost sure signs of botulism poisoning, which you absolutely do not want to mess with.
3. During the rotation process, you can inspect your food storage area for signs of pest infestation. Catching a mouse or ant infestation before it becomes a huge problem and your food storage is gorged upon is important. Mice, ants and roaches are wily critters and can get through walls, ceilings, and vents without much trouble. Every home or food cache is susceptible to pests. Stay on top of this one to save yourself a lot of trouble.
4. Rotating your food storage gives you the chance to (continue reading)