Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #269380 in Books
• Published on: 1997-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From Amazon.com
Never mind all the year 2000-type scare scenarios. Just close your eyes for a moment and imagine what would happen if you became ill and couldn't work, or if an earthquake or hurricane or bomb left your community devastated. It happens all the time. When unexpected disasters happen, people who are even a little prepared are much better off than those who have taken their dependence on outside resources for granted. When you imagine the security of not having to worry about going to the store for even a few weeks, a comprehensive storage system begins to make sense.

James Talmage Stevens's Making the Best of Basics, now in its 10th edition, is one of the best-known preparedness bibles around. Stevens lays out a yearlong storage program of 15 food and nonfood categories, six of which (water, wheat and grains, dairy products, sweeteners, "cooking catalysts" like salt and oil, and sprouting seeds) are capable of sustaining life indefinitely in a no-frills diet. The other 9 categories are designated "Building Blocks," and improve upon the basic diet and support a more routine, less Spartan existence while relying on stored supplies. (Some of them, such as medical supplies and fuel, will seem as essential to some readers as the first six.) The book's main messages--store what you eat, eat what you store, use it or lose it--are at the core of its calm advice and simple, nutritious recipes. The 10th edition has been updated with a yellow pages section that lists current preparedness resources throughout the U.S. and Canada, including Web resources.

Customer Reviews

Making the Best of Basics - great book to have
I bought this book when it first came out because I wanted to learn about emergency preparedness. I was single then and didn't find much use of it. Kept it for 12 years and now I am married and a mom; I find myself keep going back to the book almost every day. I have started making yogurt, sourdough bread, and sprouting and the information in the book helped me to get my foot in the door of true homemaking. The recipes in the book are well written and can be used by just about anyone, from novice to veteran cooks. The food storage concepts make a lot of sense. This is definitely a great book to have.

Will help you prepare for emergencies...
The publisher, Gold Leaf Press Says: Basics has sold over 350,000 copies. Concerns about the Year 2000 computer bug, unexpected job loss, volatile financial markets, and natural disasters such as severe storms have made home storage and preparedness a current topic all across the country.

Making the Best of Basics has been the home storage and preparedness bible for a generation of readers. With over 350,000 copies sold, Basics is the most comprehensive single volume available on in-home storage.

Making the Best of Basics has been updated for the '90s and offers the average family a manageable and effective plan to enable them to live on resources in their own home in a near-normal manner for up to a year. Basics includes chapters on storing and using (including 200 recipes) everything from water, wheat, and dried fruits and vegetables to vitamin supplements to maintain your family's health and emergency sources of fuel and energy.

Basics is an excellent and proven source you can use to prepare for an uncertain future.

More food prep oriented than emergency
This book has some useful information but it doesn't fit the bill as an emergency book because much of it includes things like recipes which you cook in an 350 degree oven - which you may not have in a true emergency. Also, there are a lot of charts that look good but really don't help that much. 9 pages on the use of honey seems a bit much too. Resource section lists lots of resources but closer examination shows that many aren't geared to individuals or only carry one item for emergency use.