Recent posts on food storage and how much wheat is stored has made me wonder why the obsession with wheat? Having grown up with inactive parents, I was never indoctrinated with this. Our food storage seemed to consist of lots of canned food if it was on sale, and extra cake mixes (when on sale). Yeah, very inactive parents, but still sort-of food hoarders.

It seems to me that rice would make so much more sense. It does not need to be ground up before use, only requires boiled water to cook it, easily found in any grocery store, and generally seems so much more practical.

agree.

food storage = one of those things...

only practical in limited applications; mostly theoretical.
it's another culturally binding factor-item; MoMism LOVES those things!

I think they use wheat because it aligns with biblical stuff regarding wheat. Didn't Moses raid Pharoah's graineries to feed the salves? I think I saw that in the 10 Commandments movie. I don't recall anything about rice in the bible....probably because it wasn't written in Asia.

So to me it seems like it is just another product of it's time and place.

And if the bible did originate in Asia, mormons would be storing rice instead of wheat. Just another thing to show how man made and made up the whole religion thing is.

My very TBM MIL does have food storage but hers is also like Rain's family, she has canned food (store bought) for days, cake mixes, brownies, flour and sugar...no wheat. LOTS of toilet paper and tissue, she has a tendancy to buy anything if it's on sale...she is a borderline hoarder, she has the philosophy that if it's free she must have it, even if it's something she doesn't like! Her "food storage" comes in handy for us though if I need a can of green beans or corn, or if we are out of TP on a Sunday (grocery store in our town is closed on Sunday) we go to MIL's bargain basement, that is what I like to call it...in fact I am having a sign made for her for Christmas! And she NEVER throws anything away, she is a giant pain is the ass when we were moving, DH and I wanted to get rid of as much crap as we could, she took most of it to her house!

1. The Word of Wisdom as found in section 89, declares wheat is the grain specifically designed for humans.

2. Wheat is usually cheaper than rice.

3. Wheat can store for at least a generation and still grow. If you were afraid of a worldwide apocalypse, it makes sense to store a grain like that. White rice can't grow, and from what I hear, brown rice can't store that long.

4. Because the leaders said to store wheat and they sell it cheap at the church canneries.

And it requires more water.

I do think it prudent to have some food on hand for emergencies, but I think a year's worth is excessive.

I would think that a weeks worth of MRE's would be the best option. With the flameless heaters they cost more than trying to store stuff like wheat. MRE's last 5 years or longer, can be eaten without any prep or can be heated using a flameless heater which just requires water.

In a real emergency, not having to cook from scratch could be a life saver.

I think the recommendation is down to 3 months now, not a whole year.

We try to have a modest stash of cans and stuff. I'm exmo, hubby nevermo. It's just convenient, and - well, IF anything happens to the store deliverance chain...

We have quite a lot of rice, BTW. No wheat in grain form, just a couple of kilos flour.

As we live in a little village with frequent problems with water, we also tend to tap extra both in kitchen and bathroom. It's so awkward when they come with a big truck, to go and stand in line. We don't have to, because we always tap extra and use it every day so it won't get old.

They really are used as food storage by many military members here in Utah. I do it myself - they give it to me free, but I'm not going to eat that crap unless I'm starving, so into storage it goes!

less moisture than oats, so you can store it longer too?

we went to a Chinese restaurant. My mother never cooked it.

I suspect there is more culture involved in the choice than science.

I think beans would be a lot better choice. Beans stored for hundreds of years in the four corners area have been regrown. You also only need boiling water, the same as with rice. They store a lot longer than grains, have more protein, and you can grow more in you really have to.

A rather large chunk of the world pretty much lives on rice and beans. I did in Brazil for 2 years. It needs a little bit of other stuff to keep you alive indefinitely, but not much.

The emphasis on wheat is because it was a European staple, which remained a staple food when the western US was settled. Also, bread has LOTS of religious overtones in Christianity. Rice has none.

Feeding the 5,000 with fried rice and fishes just doesn't have the same impact. :)

Hence the beans-rice-cheese.

I store wheat for bread and so I can sprout it for greens if I need to. I also store lima beans, pinto beans, lentils and rice. Lima beans are the highest source of iron other than liver, having 30% more iron than pinto beans. I have an anemic grandchild and I told her the story of Jack and the Beanstalk with lima beans being the ones in the story. Steamed and sprinkled with lemon pepper, the kids eat them with a toothpick "like Jack."

They also blend into the most wonderful creamy lima bean soup. Also, I add it when I need a thickner in gravy also because of the creaminess.

The whole deal about wheat is bread. You can't make rice bread, really. You can make cracked wheat for breakfast, sprout it, grow it, grind it and even eat it cooked and chilled as a salad with dressing.

You absolutely have to rotate stored food. NOt to be gross, but did you know that you should bake raisins before storing them? You can't just pop them into longterm storage. I learned that the hard way and I'll spare ruining your dinners by telling you what happens if you dont push out the oxygen with dry ice or buy the commercially stored product.

Anagrammy

PS. I used to make gluten as a meat substitute. I made it in quantity in the washing machine. The kids ate it, thought it was meat.

To have a "complete protein", you need 8 (or 9, depending on who you ask apparently) amino acids. Quoting from savvyvegetarian.com,
"Most plant foods have one or more limiting amino acids which limit the availability of all the other amino acids in the food. That's why these foods are called 'incomplete proteins'.

For example, the limiting amino acid in grains is usually lysine (Lys); in legumes it can be methionine (Met) and tryptophan (Trp). So, the low level of Lys in grains is complemented by a higher level in legumes, and vice versa, to make 'complete protein'."

Also, rice and beans was not served with cheese in Brazil. I think throwing grated cheese on everything is a mostly American development. The USDA promoted cheese usage for years to support the dairy industry. Judging by US cholesterol levels, they succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

PS: +1 on lima bean soup! Good stuff.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2011 10:43PM by Brother Of Jerry.

To be fair, while legumes are not considered to be a "complete protein," limiting methionine intake may indeed be beneficial for longevity.

Legumes are far healthier too. Wheat is just plain bad for you.

I always thought the morons who stored liquor, coffee and tobacco to use in trade were smarter than the ones who had mostly wheat and pinto beans. I can't answer as to why many mos prefer wheat. My TBM Mom likes to store legumes and coacoa. I think the only wheat she has she uses to make sprouts, shes a bit of a health food junkie.

The church used to teach that four items was all you needed to get a complete balance in food. Wheat, milk, salt and honey. This was back in the seventies. I worked in food service, so I learned all I could about wheat and how to prepare it. I taught this in church and taught a lot of R/S women how to use wheat, as a main item in a meal or to expand a meal with meat. The problem with this type of food storage is that it takes so long to prepare and most people don't want to be bothered with it. Another thing is that a lot of people cannot eat wheat products.
These four items will keep you alive and healthy for a while, but you need all the other food groups to maintain your health over a long period of time.

Salt and sugar are two of four items needed for a complete balance in food? No wonder the Morg is so unhealthy if that's what they taught.

Er, the Morg owns a lot of wheat farms?

Much of the food storage I recently threw out at mom's place was packaged by LDS welfare services. All that food y'all so generously canned (for free) for charity -- much of it was SOLD to Mormons for food storage.

The welfare farms are just one more profit center for LDS Inc. Surprised?

and we ate meat & stuff but also tempeh, tofu, soymilk, etc long before they were mainstream like now. i grew up on fresh ground organic whole wheat bread...anyhow the reason i'm telling you this is that most of the LDS i knew/know are total white bread white sugar, meat with potatoes people who would never touch a slice of whole wheat bread.

YET, they had several hundred pounds of hard wheat stored. i always wondered, did they know how to cook with it like my mom? did they think that when the world ended they would magically "know" how to use that wheat & would want to eat it??

you're screwed. My family eats low carb and like most prudent people I keep canned goods and other non-perishables on hand in case of emergency (like Atlanta's week long ice-storm debacle!). But I have things like tuna fish, veggies, and beef jerky on hand. Looking at Mormon sites about disaster preparedness is always so depressing-- they suggest all sorts of sugary snacks and junky dinners (Hawaiian haystacks-- yuck!) using food storage foods.

Because it has a longer shelf life than ice cream?

Ron

I always wondered about this too,had many conversations when I was TBM about this,I was for stocking tinned goods,food that did'nt need cooking etc,as if a catastrophe happened we would most likely have no gas or electric to cook with,what good wheat etc if no facilities for cooking,one lady just stared through me as if I was mad not to store wheat,sigh!!!

The funny thing is that a lot of people have health problems because of "allergies" to wheat without knowing it. So "technically" it's not necessary the best thing in all cases.

It's cheap, easy to store, and can be prepared many, many ways.
Emergency essentials is a big business in the US.

There are many, many companies on line, for instance, that can help a family figure out what to store and what works for them.

Because this appeals to Mormons in particular, there are some very large companies in UT that make thousands of items of food available for long storage.

The important thing to remember, if you are storing food is to only store what your family likes and can use (considering allergies, etc.)
We all have to eat! So, it's wise, in my view, to have a little bit of back up on hand if at all possible, considering space, etc.
Too often people don't store food and other items in a smart fashion. They get overloaded on something, and they don't get rid of it.

I will always keep extra food on hand, considering a diabetic diet, including medications etc. There are so many reasons we might not be able to get what we need, (natural disasters like weather, earthquakes, accidents, etc.), it's just makes good sense to keep extra food and supplies on hand.

We only keep what we would be able to use easily. We used to be able to handle using 25 to 100 lbs of wheat, rice, powdered milk, oatmeal,peanut butter, honey, etc. But that was the 70's when I had a grinder, large kitchen, and a big family. I had a dozen or more recipes that the kids loved using our large food supplies. Now there is just the two of us, so we keep what we need for us and when we have people visit.

It makes no sense to store food you don't like or eat, or are allergic to unless you plan to give it to a food bank, for instance.

Too many people these days have some sort of wheat allergy or intolerance.
Wheat these days isn't quite the same as it was in JS's day or in biblical times.
Focusing on hoarding wheat is non-sensical.
If a grain must be hoarded, rice is definately the wiser choice. And there are many varieties.
There are also other grains that can be hoarded that are nutritious.
Dried beans hold up well too, and make a balanced meal with rice (go figure!).
But for the morg, nothing much else seems to exist.
Having a bit back in case of emergency makes sense, but people have been doing that for centuries.
It's sad the way the morg act like they invented the idea!

That's true, but as far as I've been able to research, all types of wheat are still predominantly composed of amylopectin a - the "super carbohydrate" (ie: not good for you). This isn't a processing thing. Legumes, on the other hand, contain amylopectin c, digest slowly, strongly activate AMPK, recompose intestinal gut flora and show greater heart-disease-risk reducing properties than any other food researched.

The items in food storage represent what's available for the Slat Lake area food storage industry. This industry was created by social fiat--orders from church officials. The sales of food storage "kits" benefit Mormon businessmen. That these "kits" are disposable is very helpful to the industry, as it creates turnover. Just follow the money; it works every time.

A lot of people who say they have a wheat allergy really don't. I know a lot of people who claimed one but had their tests come back negative, and kept saying that they had one after that anyway. The kind of discomfort involved in celiac's is pretty harsh, it isn't typical. It seems like a lot of folks have some digestive trouble once and decide that gluten was the problem without doing any investigation into it. It isn't any skin off my back, they can eat whatever they want, but I don't think that there are really as many true allergies out there as people self-report.

The focus on wheat might also be traced to bread used in the Sacrament. The Last Supper at Passover was with unleavened wheat bread.

"If it's good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me!"


~VOW

I figure if things ever really hit the fan (like in "Contagion), the best thing to stock pile is guns and ammo. Otherwise, take me out first. I wouldn't want to sit around watching family and friends die.

If you have a year or two of food stockpiled, guess who gets attacked first?

Personally, I wouldn't want to live in a world like that.

That said, Having enough food around in case you missed a couple of paydays is a smart thing. For a real national/natural disaster ... can you really store enough?

While I think that storing vast amounts of wheat is silly I also don't think rice is the best alternative. Packages of whole wheat dried pasta would seem to be much more practical. With rice the water used to cook it is gone. With pasta the cooking water can be reserved and used again. In any kind of emergency situation you're going to have to assume that safe drinking water might be nonexistent.

According to Mormon America by Richard and Joan Ostling, in chapter 7, the LDS church has enough wheat stored in multistory grain elevators as a goal, to supply one hundred pounds of wheat to every LDS man, woman and child world wide. It is supposed to be rotated every four years. This is a reserve to be used only in time of need.
A few questions are in order. How is this wheat going to be transported? Who makes the decision as to when the time of need is? Who determines that the people are worthy of this much needed food? What happens to the millions of tons of wheat that is rotated every four years? Wouldn't it be better to feed the people that are starving today instead of waiting for something to happen in the future?