Why do "Mormons" stockpile food?

In church we had a lesson on what kind of preparations we'd make now if we knew there would be an economic downturn in 6-18 months. The discussion of self reliance in the areas of spirituality, education, finances, gardening, emergency preparedness, and employment soon escalated into sharing "what if" scenarios and I started to feel panicked. "If ye are prepared you shall not fear" is a scripture from the Doctrine and Covenants--a book of scripture of modern day revelations revealed to God's prophets on the earth. We often quote this scripture when talking about preparedness. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we are counseled to get out of debt, to have a stable foundation in employment, education, and spirituality, and to store a year's supply of essential foods and three months of food we regularly eat. Then in case of an emergency--an unforeseen occurrence, we will have food. My guess is that if there is a worldwide or even state or country disaster, our food will be ruined or we will have to leave it or we will be sharing with our neighbors. A few years ago I bought hundreds of pounds of wheat and transferred them to buckets in my driveway. I'm sure my neighbors know where to come if they are out of food.


In 1999 when I was afraid the world would end during the millennium--the year 2000. I stockpiled wheat, powdered milk, powdered eggs, protein, applesauce, gardening seeds. Then I would not leave our house on New Year's Eve to celebrate. I wanted to be here if anything happened. Nothing happened that night. But a few months later, my husband lost his job. That was a time of high stress and worry, but I didn't fear that we wouldn't be able to eat. We lived off our food storage for  a few months. During that time and since then, I've learned how to use our food storage. Now I never have to run to the store for milk or bread. I don't know if we'll ever get the chance to see if we can survive only on our food storage, but I know that it's helped me to keep grocery costs lower and given me assurance that we will always have something to eat.

After my husband found a new job and we were looking for a bigger house, one requirement was a food storage room. Many houses in Utah and eastern Idaho have a cement walled room in their basements, but not many do here. We found one that did. It's my favorite room in the house. I love to look at the full shelves and know that when I need a sack of flour, I can send one of my children downstairs to get it.

Now I just need to stock up on more chocolate chips.