Yearly Food Planning for Your Family

Thanksgiving Feast by Mother Earth Living Magazine

Planning a year’s supply of food for each member of your family can seem a daunting task.  Want to grow a large garden, have an orchard and vineyard, grow your own crops, and produce your own oil and sugar?  How much meat, vegetables, fruit, sugar, oil, flour do we each consume per year?  What if I make everything homemade; how much will I need then?  Mind boggling…

Here are the averages for one adult consuming 2,990 calories per day.  Feel free to customize this list to your liking.  But do plan on the same pounds/weights in each category.  If you are a vegetarian, please still consider supplementing meat and poultry with eggs and milk products.  This will ensure that you have complete, complex proteins, and the correct balance of vitamins and minerals.  If you are vegan, you will have difficulties with balancing health and your ability to be self reliant.  If I may suggest, make sure that you combine grains with legumes for complex proteins, such as beans and rice, and ensure you have enough supplements to make up for other nutritional losses.  Planning for kids or what about pets and then livestock?  Quarter or halve these amounts per child and plan for pets or livestock separately according to our pet food recipes.

Fats & Oils
40 lbs per year (422 cal per day)
15 lbs Olive Oil
7 lbs Coconut Oil
7 lbs Sunflower Oil
5 lbs Butter
5 lbs Lard

Sweetener
60 lbs per year (244 cal per day)
25 lbs Sugar
15 lbs Maple Syrup
15 lbs Honey
5 lbs Molasses

Meats, Cheese, Milk Products & Eggs
175 lbs per year (515 cal per day)
100 lbs Meat, Poultry & Fish
50 lbs Cheese & Milk Products
25 lbs Eggs

Fruit
100 lbs per year (140 cal per day)
Apples & Pears
Berries & Grapes
Peaches & Apricots
Lemons, Limes, Oranges, Grapefruit
Avocados

Vegetables
150 lbs per year (92 cal per day)
Lettuces & Greens
Roots: Carrots, Parsnips, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Rutabagas, Turnips & Beets
Tomatoes, Eggplant & Peppers
Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage & Brussels Sprouts
Onions, Garlic & Leeks
Cucumber, Celery, Artichokes, Asparagus & Okra

Pulses & Legumes
120 lbs per year (232 cal per day)
15 lbs Garbanzo Beans
15 lbs Cannellini Beans
15 lbs Black Beans
15 lbs Pinto Beans
15 lbs Lentils
15 lbs Green Beans & Fava Beans
15 lbs Peas

Grains, Nuts & Seeds
320 lbs per year (1,345 cal per day)
100 lbs Wheat AP Flour
75 lbs Rice
50 lbs Corn Flour
30 lbs Rolled Oats
10 lbs Popcorn
5 lbs Sunflower Seed
5 lbs Sesame Seed
5 lbs Flax Seed
5 lbs Walnuts
5 lbs Almonds
5 lbs Pecans or Hickory
5 lbs Hazelnuts
10 lbs Rye
5 lbs Buckwheat
5 lbs Quinoa

(2,990 calories per day)