Food Storage

This morning while in the garden I picked lunch.  A handful of lettuce, some spinach, and the first peas.  I happened to turn my thought to canning and how much food I would be putting away for the winter.  The question is: How much is enough?  I happen to live on top of a mesa the only ways up and down are roads that could be closed in the winter.  How would I feed my family and my animals if I couldn't go to the store.  I went to Emergency Essentials and found a food storage calculator.  Here are the pros and cons of the calculator.
Pros:

1. I can add items in the pantry that I get from the store or can my self.  Such as applesauce.
2. As I was adding items I already had I could add items I needed.  My next order is stored on the website and I can order at any time. 
3. On the right hand side of the page was a wonderful tool.  I could find products biased on nutritional needs.  Need more fiber no sweat the tool will help you find products with fiber.
4. After I had all of my food on hand in the calculator I found out how many days of food I had on hand.  I currently have 30 days of food.  It even shows what nutritional value your food on hand has. 

Cons:

1. There is no place for to add animals.  My food storage is biased on 3 people not 3 people, 1 dog, and 40 chickens.  I know I don't have enough food for the animals.  I also know that I could feed the animals off of stored food such as wheat, dried fruits, and so much of what they sell.
2. I can't add animals for food storage.  In the summer my girls lay plenty of eggs.  The eggs and any extra roosters are part of my food storage and could be eaten.  There is just no place to put that in the calculator.
3. I was trying to figure out food storage for a few winter months, but if I was trying to figure out enough food storage for a year I would like to add my garden.  I have blueberries, blackberries, and cherry bushes.  No place to add that to a years supply, not to mention the garden which produces so much in late summer.

Over all I did like the food storage calculator from Emergency Essentials.  I was excited to know as of right now we can survive 30 days should I not be able to go to the store.  I hope that all of you will consider having some type of food storage.  Here is a direct link to the calculator. 


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