When preparing a pantry full of the items you feel will be most needed during a chaotic situation, you learn a lot by going online and hearing what other preppers have to say on the matter. Now, a lot of these people could be “winging it”, telling you what they are doing and hoping they are right. Honestly, some may not really know if they have enough to last them at all!
The best way to look realistically into your future needs is to look at the people who came from east to west in buckboards, wagon-trains, and the pioneers on the Oregon Trail! They have already experienced the hardship of storing food for a long haul and can teach us much!
Our ancestors expected the trip to take them three to six months to get to the where they were going and it often took longer! They had to economize and modify what they ate from day to day. If they were lucky they could hunt game along the trail to add to their bounty of stored items.
But remember, as well as eating the pioneers also had to worry about the Native American tribes, the more warlike “Indians” who might raid their wagons. The more they brought the better but they also had to be careful not let their wagons get too heavy too! Break an axel and your trip is done real quick!
After the break go to the next page. There you will learn what foods the pioneers carried on the Oregon Trail and how they prepared it!