Friday, February 12, 2010

FAMILY CANNING & DRY PACK UPDATE...GOOD READ!

Two things to note about the current Family Canning Schedule:

1) For spaghetti sauce, we have had to switch from a 25 oz. jar to a quart size, 32 oz. jar. This will raise the price per case to $24.00. HOWEVER…this drops the price per ounce from .07 cents to .06 cents. So…you are saving money—but you might have to make a little more spaghetti or have bread sticks to dip with your spaghetti dinner! Leftovers! YUM!!! You could always use the left over sauce in a homemade soup or make pizza another night. We must always look at the positive!! We also found out that you can re-use the jam jars and this new spaghetti sauce jar for canning as long as you use it ONLY for water bath and NOT for pressure canning. The both jars will now come with a ring and lid.

2) If you are planning to schedule family canning, please do it right away. Forms continue to trickle in but we are needing to finalize the schedule as quickly as possible. You are free to forward the form to anyone who is interested, but please let them know how quickly we want to hear from them. If there are those who are still having trouble getting the form printed through Adobe, once you have downloaded the free copy of Adobe Reader from Adobe.com, please call us at 801-785-0998 and we will try and help you or you can come by the Cannery to pick up a copy.


*********** DRY PACK UPDATE*************
In late December, the Lindon Home Storage Center (Dry Pack) requested the information about price changes happening on January 16th be sent to our distribution list. It was amazing to see the effects this had. Brother Anderson, Manager of the Lindon Home Storage Center, has now asked that we share the following with you:

Lindon Home Storage Center (Dry-Pack) update. For Dry Pack questions call: 801-785-0997
· Powdered Milk

On January 16th the price of powdered milk rose $10.60 per 25# bag, from $24.80 to its current price of $35.40. As noted on the Family Home Storage Center price sheet (found on-line at www.providentliving.org), prices are subject to change without notice. The $24.80 price was in effect for almost seven months prior to the increase.

As soon as we were notified of the price increase in early December, I sent out a notice via the great sisters in the Wet-Pack Cannery Office. The results were interesting:
o In November 2009, our patrons canned just under 800 #10 cans of milk.
o In December, they canned just under 700 #10 cans of milk (remember that we were closed for ~the last two weeks in December.)
o In the first two weeks of January — before the price change on the 16th — just under 2,500 #10 cans were processed.
o On Thursday, January 14th, there was so much demand that we literally ran out of product fairly early in the day. It should be noted that if the demand had peaked in the weeks before, we could have replenished the milk to meet the demands since we order each week for the following week. But, by the last week, it was too late to order more.
o Note: the canning stats above do not include the thousands of pounds that were purchased in bulk during this time.
o The parallel to the parable of the 10 virgins came to my mind after all the (milk) dust settled… Those who waited until the last minute lost the benefit of the better price.
o Please note that the price of our powdered milk is still excellent considering that ~two years ago the price was over $70 per bag!

· Potato Flakes

A new opportunity has now presented itself. With the new price changes, potato flakes (NOT potato pearls!) have dropped from $30.20 per 25 lb. box to $22.20, a decrease of $8 per box.

Potato Flakes are only dried potatoes. Their shelf life, when properly canned and stored under ideal conditions (as noted on the order form), will be 30 years. You can make them taste just as good as potato pearls by adding salt, butter and milk.

We recommend that you plan early to increase your own home storage inventory and take advantage of the lower price of this and other items.

Other items to take note of are:
· White Rice: Price dropped $1.90 (11.1%) per 25# box to $$8.45
· Black Beans: Price dropped $1.85 (4.1%) per 25# bag to $14.50
· Spaghetti: Price dropped $1.70 (7.4%) per 25# box to $14.55
· White Beans: Price dropped $1.65 (7.6%) per 25# bag to $14.10

· Pre Packs

As you were informed earlier, the prices of our pre-packed items are no longer the same price as the do-it-yourself cans of equal quantity. They are slightly higher, ranging from 11 cents to 23 cents per can higher depending on the product. This is still a great buy if you want to save time in securing these products for your home storage. You can buy these pre-packs directly off the shelf.

New Pre-Pack Items: Starting sometime after the 1st of April, we will be offering two additional pre-pack items:
· White Wheat
· White Flour

Pricing and availability will be forwarded to you as soon as we are notified. This information, as always, will also be posted when the time comes on the Home Storage Center Order Form at www.providentliving.org.

We strongly suggest that the counsel of the Brethren be followed and that you build up your home storage items by:
· First securing your 3 months supply of those items your family eats every day.
· Then slowly build up your long-term food storage.
o You don’t have to do it all at once! But keep at it!
o We have some very excellent and EASY instructions to help you determine what you will need for a year’s supply of food for your family. Come in and talk to one of our excellent missionary staff! They are all willing and anxious to assist you.

The Lindon Home Storage Center is open on a walk-in, first-come/first-serve basis on Tuesdays & Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Price and product information is located on www.providentliving.org. (Make sure to use .org extension since there is a .net website with the same name.) You are looking for the Home Storage Center Order Form link on this website. It is an interactive form where you can plan your expenditure by entering order amounts and seeing the total amount you will spend. After you complete the order form, print it off and bring it with you to expedite the check-in process at the Home Storage Center. Do not fill out your check prior to arriving at the Center just in case they are out of any of the products you planned to order.

One last note: Remember that it isn’t enough just to buy food stuffs in bulk and store them, as-purchased, without preparing them to last long-term.

I talked with a patron a few months ago who wanted to buy 2,000 lbs of White Wheat. When I asked how she planned to store it, she said she had no idea what I meant. She felt that all that was needed to be prepared was to buy it in bulk. No thought was given to safe and secure storing procedures. Don’t get caught with a lot of food storage that may be at risk because of improper storage preparations.

We love serving you!
Y’all come in and see us! Hear?

Elder Anderson, Manager
Lindon Home Storage Center

No comments: