The Command to Store Food

In 1936 the welfare program of the Church was organized under the direction of Heber J. Grant, and since that time the Saints have been encouraged to live providently, be self-sufficient, and save for the future.  President Benson said in 1980, “I bear witness to that inspired counsel from 1936 to the present day that the Saints lay up a year’s supply of food.”  That counsel has been repeated frequently by prophets and apostles.  President Kimball said in 1976, “We must remember that conditions could change and a year’s supply of basic commodities could be very much appreciated by us or others. So we would do well to listen to what we have been told and to follow it explicitly.”  President Nelson said in 1986, “An important part of the Lord’s storehouse is maintained as a year’s supply, stored, where possible, in the homes of faithful families of the Church.”  President Monson stated in 2001, “Many more people could ride out the storm-tossed waves in their economic lives if they had their year’s supply of food … and were debt-free. Today we find that many have followed this counsel in reverse: they have at least a year’s supply of debt and are food-free.”  When President Hinckley was asked by Mike Wallace why the Church teaches to have a year’s supply, he said, “We teach self-reliance as a principle of life, that we ought to provide for ourselves and take care of our own needs. And so we encourage our people to have something, to plan ahead, keep … food on hand, to establish a savings account, if possible, against a rainy day.”  Prophets have repeated taught that, if possible, we should build up a year’s supply of food.  Surely this is one of the ways that we follow the counsel from the Doctrine and Covenants: “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear” (D&C 38:30).

               We generally don’t hear in general conference about keeping a year’s supply of food today, but I believe that has to do with the fact that the Church is more global than ever.  On the one hand leaders are careful to encourage us not to go to extremes to obtain the food storage, and on the other hand there are so many members outside the United States for which any extra supply of food is either illegal or simply impossible to obtain.  For those who have the means to store food, the spirit of the counsel has not changed.  Here’s what the Church officially says in the pamphlet All Is Safely Gathered In: “We encourage members worldwide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings. We ask that you be wise, and do not go to extremes. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve.”  The Lord’s general counsel to us is succinctly put: “prepare every needful thing” (D&C 109:8).  President Benson’s words, though spoken many years ago surely are still relevant as an encouragement to store food and prepare for the future: “Too often we bask in our comfortable complacency and rationalize that the ravages of war, economic disaster, famine, and earthquake cannot happen here. Those who believe this are either not acquainted with the revelations of the Lord, or they do not believe them. Those who smugly think these calamities will not happen, that they somehow will be set aside because of the righteousness of the Saints, are deceived and will rue the day they harbored such a delusion.”  Now is the time for our spiritual and temporal preparation for the future.