The bulk core of most long term preparedness supplies are grains and legumes (e.g. – rice, oats, wheat, beans, etc.). Prolonged survival situations where a diet is dependent on these foods will create food lethargy. While most think food lethargy is the least of their problems, it will most definitely add to the overall psychological  long term stress of a situation.  Spice things up…literally.

It’s no surprise that throughout war or other conflicts, people need psychological pickups.  It can be in the form comradery, pictures of loved ones, playing a game, or eating something special.  In fact, chocolate has been a moral booster employed by the US military throughout several war conflicts.  In order to create some flavor diversity in your food stores, stock up on a variety of spices in bulk.

DO NOT go to your local grocery store and buy something like the following:

Well, if you really like the flavor go ahead.  But in terms of bulk quantity and long term storage, the little 3-4 oz jars of spice in the markets are not a good choice.  Instead, pay around $5 and get a whole pound of a spice through on online bulk store.

The one site I use is HerbalCom.  At first look, the site doesn’t seem like much.  However, they have always had very fast deliveries and very good product!

Here’s some example prices of herbs and spices:

• Rosemary Leaf, 1lb – $7.15
• Sage, 1lb – $6.00
• Thyme, 1lb – $5.0

If you were to buy any of these in the store for about $2.50 per 3 oz, you would be spending near $40-50!!  The best thing is, you can just dump the entire contents of the spice into a mylar bag with some oxygen absorbers and store it away.

Not only limited to food spices…

HerbalCom also sells medicinal herbs, roots, berries, etc.  One such medicinal I swear by is Elderberry.  In fact, elderberry has been commercialized by many manufacturers for cold and flu remedy (e.g. – Sambucol).  For reference, I’m not a “crunchy” person.  I look at medicinal benefits of herbs very analytically.  There are some that don’t work at all and others that work wonders.  Elderberry works wonders for cold, flu sinus infections.  Sambucol runs $18 for only 7 ounces which is insanely expensive.  I can make multiple mason jars of this stuff for a fraction of the price to last me years.  For one pound of elderberries from HerbalCom, it costs 8$.  Here’s a recipe from Wellness Mama.

Look up other medicinals and buy them in bulk in case you do not have access to medical care.  HerbalCom has many others such as Yarrow (cold, flu and clotting agent), Tumeric (anti-inflamatory, asthma, etc.) and may others.  For under $100, you can have a wide variety of food spices and medicinals to tuck away in your preparedness stash.