How do you store your food? I don’t mean long term bulk storage which is already well covered on this forum. I mean the day to day storage of the food you are slowly consuming each day, such as opened packets of powdered milk, opened packets of sugar and pasta.

If you are mobile or roughing it in the wilderness this can be a problem. Sugar tends to spill, syrup tends to run down into your powdered milk and maps, and pasta tends to scatter all though everything and become a soggy mass that becomes moldy after a while. And once rats or mice start picking at a packet of food most of us don’t want to eat it any more.

Food should always be stored in an ordered way. This order might be nothing more than storing packets in cardboard boxes and all boxes are kept together. The food is then stored in a secure location away from animals, and especially rats and mice.

The most simple method of storing food is to do it in their original packets, but when opened a hair clasp is placed over the folded corner to stop it from spilling and to keep air and moisture out.

A better method is to buy plastic containers with screw top lids ensuring that each container can take a full packet of various types of food ie., one container for powdered milk, another for sugar, another for pasta and so on. I use only six containers as I’ve found that many foods already come in adequate plastic bottles etc.

Good containers for rice are 2 litre plastic juice bottles. These cost nothing. For other foods such as powdered milk you will need a more open container with a screw top lid so that you can put a spoon inside. Most supermarkets and reject shops sell excellent containers for this type of storage.

Plastic containers will keep water and air away from your food, and are rodent proof as far as short term storage goes.

Should glass jars be considered? Glass jars are excellent storage containers, especially those large ones with the wire clasp that seals the lid. They seem to be cheaper than the plastic containers and come in bigger sizes. The only drawbacks of course are in possible breakages and they are heavier. But I have two big glass jars for pasta - they hold several kilos each and cost $10 for the two at a reject shop.