Long-term food storage for beginners
Long-term food storage means food set aside to last years, not weeks: a back-up for a job loss, a storm, an illness, or just fewer trips to the store. It doesn't take a bunker. It takes the right foods, the right containers and a cool, dark spot.
Two kinds of storage
- A short-term supply of the food you already eat - canned goods, pasta, cereal, frozen food - that you use and replace as you go. This is the part you'll actually eat, so start here.
- Long-term basics - dry staples packed to keep for 20 years or more, for when the short-term supply runs out.
Foods that keep for years
Dry foods with very little fat or moisture keep the longest. Packed airtight with the oxygen removed and kept cool, these hold up for decades:
| Food | Packed airtight, kept cool |
|---|---|
| Wheat, white rice, dried corn | 30+ years |
| Dried beans (pinto, black, kidney) | 30 years |
| Rolled oats, pasta | 30 years |
| Potato flakes | 30 years |
| Nonfat powdered milk | about 20 years |
| Sugar, salt, honey | indefinitely |
Foods with oil in them go rancid much sooner, so they don't belong in long-term storage: brown rice, whole wheat flour, nuts, granola and whole grain cereals. Keep those in your everyday pantry and use them within months.
How to pack dry food
Three things shorten storage life: oxygen, moisture and heat. Packing fixes the first two.
- Mylar bags block air and light. Fill, add an oxygen absorber, squeeze out the air and seal with a hot iron or hair straightener.
- Oxygen absorbers are small packets that soak up the oxygen left in the bag, which keeps out bugs and slows staleness. Use them only with dry food (dry enough to snap, not bend). Moist food sealed without oxygen can grow bacteria. Don't add them to sugar, which turns into a brick, or salt, which doesn't need one.
- Food-grade buckets (marked HDPE or the number 2) protect the bags from pests and crushing. A screw-on "gamma" lid makes a bucket you open often much easier to get into.
- #10 cans - the big cans long-term foods are sold in - are already packed this way and are the easiest place to start.
Where to keep it
- Cool: heat is the biggest enemy. Aim for below 70°F (21°C); the cooler the better. A basement or an inside closet beats a garage or attic.
- Dry: away from pipes, water heaters and washing machines.
- Dark: light fades color and vitamins.
- Off the floor: shelves or a pallet keep buckets out of spills and floods.
- Never next to paint, gasoline or garden chemicals.
Label every container
Write what's inside, how much and the date it was packed. In five years you won't remember which bucket is the pinto beans.
Don't forget water
Plan on 1 gallon per person per day for drinking and basic cooking, with at least a two-week supply if you have room. Swap bottles you filled yourself every six months.
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More guides
- How to build a 3-month food supplyA simple way to build three months of the food your household already eats: plan a week of meals, multiply it, buy a little at a time and keep it rotating.
- How to organize a basement food storage roomShelves, zones and a simple map that make a basement or storage room easy to use: what goes where, keeping it cool and dry, and knowing what's on each shelf.
- How to rotate your food storage (first in, first out)Rotating food storage keeps it fresh and stops waste: first in, first out, dating everything, cooking from storage every week and checking it a few times a year.