Most preppers have mastered the art of stockpiling beans, rice, and canned goods, but there’s one critical ingredient missing from nearly every food storage plan that could sabotage your family’s health during an emergency. While you’ve focused on calories and shelf-stable proteins, the challenge of storing adequate fats and oils for long-term nutrition remains one of the most overlooked aspects of comprehensive food storage preparation. This episode reveals why fats are absolutely essential for your body’s vitamin absorption, immune function, and sustained energy—yet they present unique storage challenges that standard food pantry planning doesn’t address.
You’ll discover unconventional sources of healthy fats that you’ve probably never considered for your stockpile, from surprising everyday items to strategic long-term solutions that extend far beyond basic cooking oils. Todd explores the shelf-life realities of various fat sources, proper storage techniques that maximize longevity, and homestead-based approaches for truly sustainable nutrition planning. Whether you’re dealing with financial stress and relying more heavily on your food storage, or preparing for extended supply chain disruptions, understanding how to incorporate essential fats into your preparedness strategy could mean the difference between thriving and merely surviving. This isn’t just about adding another item to your stockpile—it’s about ensuring your food storage provides complete, health-sustaining nutrition when your family needs it most.
Articles
- Survival Food: Fat Sources For a SHTF Diet
- Why Storing Fats and Oils Long Term is Difficult and Why We Need Them
- Fats and Oil Alternatives on Amazon
Of Interest
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- Listen to The Christian Prepper Podcast
- Join the Exclusive Ready Your Future Email Group
And, don’t forget chicken fat. From my experience, at least, hens tend to have a lot of internal fat. That yellow fat can be rendered down into oil which then resolidifies when cooled. The German-Yiddish word for it is Schmaltz. It can be can be used as a cooking oil for just about anything savory. Because it retains a bit of a poultry flavor, it’s not as useful for sweet dishes. but, for frying eggs or making biscuits for gravy, etc., it’s great.
Schmaltz has a shorter shelf life, tending to go ‘racid’ faster than, say, lard, so needs to be refrigerated. I’m going to try to vacuum seal a jar of my next harvest to see if that helps it last longer outside the fridge.
Thanks Todd for some good and helpful information.
I just got diagnosed with hoshimoto’s and one of the changes in my diet i had to make was to remove all seed oils. I was horrified to hear that soybean oil is in infant formula. I think these oils are good only for light; burning like a candle. With this new diagnosis i now have to take another good look at my preps. I won’t throw away what i have but it will be give away stuff or starvation food. Prepping for a low carb diet is going to be hard.