Storage food is food that has a longer-than-normal shelf life. It is usually grains still in their original shells/hulls (like Hard Red Winter Wheat or oat groats) and dehydrated or freeze dried. Olive oil and honey have natural long shelf lives. Does that mean you have to invest big bucks into Mountain House or other long-term-survival-food products? No. There is plenty you can get at your local supermarket and lengthen its shelf life yourself (such as placing in plastic buckets with oxygen absorbers).
There are other foods that you can get your local markets to order if they don't stock it or order from Walton Feed or beprepared.com or other suppliers: large bags or pails of wheat (hard red winter and spring), honey (super-long shelf life), and other grains.
Here is a list of long-shelf-life food items available at places such as Wal-Mart or your local supermarket:
Milk, powdered
Potato, flakes
Pasta, all (including Ramen noodles)
Macaroni & Cheese (contains powdered cheese)
Rice, white
Flour
Corn meal
Grits
Oatmeal
Sugar, white
Oil, olive
Peanut butter
Jellies, Jams, Preserves
Beans, dry, various
Vegetables, canned
Meats & fish, canned
Meats, jerky (you can also make your own)
Fruits, canned
Jello
Puddings
Baking items: baking soda, baking powder
Salt
Boullion cubes
Gravy mixes
Cake mixes
Spices
Hot chocolate, tea, coffee
Drink mixes (Tang, Lemonade, Powdered Tea)
Popcorn (cheap filler / bulk)
Note: You can get larger sacks of things like flour, sugar, popcorn, etc. at "big box" stores like Sam's, Costco, etc. Many grocery stores that cater to a Hispanic population usually carries 50-lb. sacks of pinto beans.
Prepare menus for one week. Make your menus from long-term-storage food. Look at every ingredient you will need to make those meals. Prepare a list from the ingredients. That's what you should have on hand for one week. Now, start collecting those ingredients until you have a week's worth. (Take into account some things like boullion, salt, sugar, oil, etc. will last longer than a week, so your first week will be higher in cost.) Now, work on your second week's worth of food. Keep doing this until you have as much as you decide you need.
You can also grow or buy fruits and vegetables in season and dehydrate them inexpensively then vacuum ziploc them for long-term-storage. You can "can" your own butter, cakes, jello, hamburger easily. See www.endtimesreport.com (Manna Meals).
Also consider inexpensive barter items such as salt, tea, coffee, ramen, hygiene items, tobacco, etc. Use these to exchange for other things that you need.
Add to this list in the comments below. And check out http://www.antsinyourpantry.com for more information about shelf life, preservation methods, recipes from storage food, and more. And check out this link http://endtimesreport.com/food.html for more basic information; www.endtimesreport.com contains a wealth of information on self-sufficiency so bookmark it.
