I often undersalt the meals I make for my family when cooking because I have ruined a meal before by adding too much. The result is that nobody will eat it until they sprinkle a bunch of salt on it. If you put too much in then it is usually unsalvageable. It is difficult to make dry staples taste good without spice, sweeteners, or salt so it is necessary to store such things, salt being by far the most important. It is also one of the cheapest things you can buy for your storage that many people overlook.
For most of the history of man salt has been used as money. Roman soldiers were paid in salt and that is where the term salary comes from. "Salis" is the Latin term for salt. So we can see from history that salt can be a valuable commodity. It is also used in the preservation of food, but I am not knowledgeable enough on that subject yet.
Store plenty of salt now while it is cheap and plentiful. You never know if it will become scarce and very desirable for food or trade. Comfort food becomes a chore to eat if it isn't flavorful. Oatmeal, wheat, and other dry goods are hard to eat when they are plain. Sugar is also relatively cheap and plentiful to buy. It makes bland food palatable and can be used to sweeten preserves, oatmeal, and make tasty treats for times when you need something to cheer you up. Store it in a dry container (Using oxygen absorbers if available) At the very least it should be kept in an airtight, food grade bucket.
Other spices I like to have stored are taco/chili seasoning, spices for pasta like basil and oregano. Watkins maple extract is good for making syrup with the afore mentioned sugar. It only takes a little bit of extract to make syrup and it is a comfort food for topping your pancakes or whatever. You can find other cheaper maple flavorings as well. Whatever spices you normally use, you should keep at least a year supply of it in your pantry so you can continue making food your family likes and reduce the stress of a difficult time.
Remember that salt and sugar should be considered a necessity and are cheap and easy to obtain now, but might not be so in the future. In a difficult time, you will probably have to forego the vegan or paleo diet for just trying to survive. Sorry. Later!
