Food Rotation Formula

It is extremely important to use our food storage in a timely way to avoid waste. God has blessed us with the resources to store food and we should be wise and grateful stewards.

We must use our food so that it does not spoil. If we do not use it, we can share it with others so as not to waste what we are blessed with. But if we do not use our storage we are not receiving all the blessings that we can claim.

Foods have a variety of shelf-life possibilities. It behooves us to know what that time frame is. Wheat and sugar keep at least 20 years. However Dry Milk keeps 2-3 years and instant potatoes 1-2 years. Canned products keep longer than product in cardboard or paper. Be mindful of use-by dates on purchased products. The internet is a great resource to learn the shelf-life of many commonly used products.

Below you will find the formula that I use for my stored foods. This is only a partial list and is given as an example only. Numbers of stored food are for demonstration purposes only.

# of cans stored divided-by years "storable" divided-by 12 (months in a year) = need to use per month

EXAMPLE:
138 cans wheat/ 20 years/ 12 = 1/2 can/month
70 cans rice/ 4 years/ 12 = 1.5 cans/month
40 cans bean/ 6 years/ 12 = 1/2 can/month
18 cans dried milk/ 2 year/ 12 = .75 can/month
42 cans sugar/ [5 years]*/ 12 = 3/4 can/month
71 cans oats/ 5 years/ 12 = 1.2 cans/month

Plan your menu by what foods/ amounts you need to use.

*Although sugar will store far longer than 5 years, I choose that time frame to ensure quality. It also fits my needs as far as usage.