Nutritive Herbs to Store for Survival

Food Storage That Sustains Life

There's a difference between storage that fills a shelf and storage that actually keeps you well.

I've had food storage on my mind lately. Some of Dr. Christopher's old writings on "survival herbs" got me thinking about it again — and the more I think, the more I keep circling back to one distinction: there's food storage that merely keeps you alive, and there's food storage that keeps you well. Those aren't always the same thing.

In my faith, we're encouraged to prepare for hard times, and I love that. If you're building up your own supply, the counsel these days is refreshingly practical: start with about a three-month supply of the foods you already eat and rotate through, then — where you're able — gradually build a longer-term supply of basics like gluten-free grains, rice, and beans that keep for decades, along with some stored water and a little financial cushion. Wisely. Gradually. Without going to extremes or into debt. (If the "two years of wheat" version is living in your memory the way it was in mine, it's worth knowing the guidance has softened into something much gentler and more doable.)

Alive vs. well

Here's the thing that stuck with me, though. I once sat in an emergency-preparedness class where a speaker told about a family who decided to test their storage by eating nothing but their commercially bought, highly processed supply for a whole year. A few months in, one family member got sick enough to end up in the hospital, and they called the experiment off well short of the goal. I can't vouch for every detail, but the lesson lodged itself in my heart: if I'm going to go to the trouble of storing food, I want to store food that actually nourishes the people I love.

So when I picture food storage that sustains life, my mind doesn't go to a wall of identical buckets. It goes to the old ways — the traditional, whole, naturally gluten-free foods that kept people strong long before there was a grocery store on every corner. It's the kind of eating Dr. Weston A. Price documented in cultures still living on their traditional diets, and the kind Sally Fallon gathers up so beautifully in Nourishing Traditions. When I dream about my ideal pantry, I see:

Pemmican — that ingenious old travel food of dried meat and rendered fat.

Bulk beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds — protein and staying power that store beautifully.

Dried fruits and vegetables put up from last summer's garden.

Winter squashes and pumpkins, which will happily keep for months in a cool, dark corner.

Lacto-fermented vegetables — just the vegetable, good sea salt, and a little time.

Fermented drinks like beet kvass, alive and tangy and wonderful.

One honest, practical note, because I care about you: the old ways of preserving are lovely, but food safety is real. When you're fermenting or canning at home, please lean on tested, up-to-date recipes and methods rather than guesswork — botulism is no joke, and a little care up front keeps a good thing good.

A little pantry apothecary

I also love tucking a few nutritive, food-like herbs onto the shelf -  mineral-rich ways to stretch and enrich what's already there. A few I'm fond of:

• Alfalfa and nettle. Humble, deeply mineral-rich greens that steep into a nourishing tea — a nice little boost of vitamins and minerals when fresh produce is scarce.
• Kelp and dulse. Sea vegetables loaded with minerals; a small pinch makes a lovely, flavorful stand-in for salt. Gentle heads-up: they're also very high in iodine, so a little truly goes a long way — more is not better here, especially if you have any thyroid concerns.
• Slippery elm and marshmallow root. Soft, soothing "demulcent" herbs. Slippery elm stirred into a warm gruel with a touch of honey is comforting, filling, and easy on an unsettled stomach or a scratchy throat.

Two things I've learned to say plainly, as your friendly neighborhood herbalist. First: herbs like these are a supplement to a well-rounded store of real calories and protein — not a substitute for it. Even the gentle herbs can interact with medications or health conditions, so if you're going to lean on any of them regularly, please check first with a qualified source who knows you.

Mostly, though, I've come to see all of this not as fear, but as love. We're taught to "prepare every needful thing," and to me that's never been about bracing for the worst — it's about the quiet peace of knowing that whatever comes, there's real, good, sustaining food on the shelf for the people at my table. That's not fear talking. That's love, put up in jars.

So this week I'm off to add a few more good things to the pantry. Nourishing ones.

With much love,

Steffanie

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Nothing here is medical advice. Herbs can interact with medications and health conditions; please consult a qualified healthcare provider before using them, and follow tested, current food-safety guidelines when preserving food at home.