[Resource] Super Saver: The Mormon Cannery

DISCLAIMER: This post is a shameless spotlight of my religion and just one more reason why I think it’s awesome – especially for preppers. :)

Being a Latter-Day Saint has many perks. One of the major ones being its guidance and assistance to the prepping community. A major resource for us preppers is access to it’s cannery. The cannery is a place where you can purchase low cost shelf stable foods (or bring your own bulk foods) and package them into #10 cans or Mylar pouches. For preppers on a budget, the cannery is a wonderful place to start building your long term food storage.

Rules to Having a Good Experience at the Cannery

1. Go With a Member – If you aren’t a member of our church you will need to find a member to attend with you. The reason is nothing more than the fact that our Fast Offerings pay for these facilities, so they are built as a service to the members instead of to the general public. We tricky Mormons also use this as an opportunity to do missionary work so don’t be surprised if you end up baptized before leaving the building (For all you people without a personality – I’m kidding)
2. Be Respectful – All of the workers at the cannery are member volunteers. They are all very nice people so please be nice to them too.
3. Make an Appointment (Or get there early) – Depending on your cannery location, you may be able to make an appointment. Many canneries are first-come-first-serve. Call in advance of when you intend to go to find out which of the two applies to you. If you can make an appointment, do!
4. Bring a Group – Work at the cannery goes much faster when you have an assembly line of people working together to get it all packaged. I recommend bringing 2-3 friends to accompany you if you have a big load to get through.
5. Bring Muscle – If you have a physical disability or just unable to lift heavy weight, find someone that can help you with this. On some occasions the volunteers will be able to help, but it’s not guaranteed. You will be working with bulk foods, which means lifting upwards of 50lbs.
6. Make Labels for Your Food – The cannery will have labels for the foods that they sell. If you bring your own food, make sure you bring along labels. (or you can just bring a marker and write on the cans until you can get labels made)
7. Take Out Oxygen Absorbers As Needed – You don’t want to use up your oxygen absorber’s capacity before they get in the containers. Remove from their packages what you would use in about 15 minutes.
8. Can the Powdered Stuff Last – These items get the messiest when you’re canning. To avoid getting them all over your other foods, simply save them for last.
9. Bring a Mask – If you’re canning powdered items, consider bringing a dust mask to avoid inhaling the food.
10. Leave No Trace – Just like camping, be respectful and clean up after yourself.

The Cannery – Unveiled

If you’re still curious about how exactly things work at the cannery, here’s a video some folks put together walking you through the process.

Pricing

Food from the LDS Cannery is by far the cheapest I have found. This makes it a fantastic option for those of us with tighter budgets. Keep in mind however that you get what you pay for and the foods from the cannery aren’t of the same quality as their more expensive counterparts. If you have the money, I recommend Shelf Reliance.

Longer Term Food Storage (#10 Cans and Mylar Pouches)

Prepackaged Items

So if you are lucky enough to live close by to an LDS cannery (sorry my international guests) head on over and start saving some cash. For your convenience, I have listed the locations below.

Locations

Utah

Western US

Eastern US

Canada