Columnist is food-storage expert

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Dec 23, 2004 by Sharon Haddock Deseret Morning News

AMERICAN FORK -- Jolene Parker did not grow up with Utah's food storage and emergency preparedness culture, but she has certainly come to embrace it.

Now she shares her expertise as a columnist in the Deseret Morning News' Utah Valley Life section.

Born in Milwaukee and raised in California, Parker wanted to dive into food storage but didn't see how she could afford to store two years' worth of food and basic necessities until she saw a program about the longevity of plastic liter bottles in public landfills.

That spurred her to use the bottles to begin collecting goods, storing them in every available nook, cranny and closet.

She discovered clever ways to use the tiny spaces that exist in every house: the backs of doors, the space above kitchen cupboards, the under-the-bed and above-the-closet-rod space and space between wall studs.

She created an emergency storage cupboard in the back of her van, from which she can whip out a meal, blankets, first aid supplies and even toys for cranky children.

Parker has devised all kinds of ways to make getting prepared simple, inexpensive and possible.

Her friends and neighbors often get starter storage bottles for Christmas and wedding gifts.

She started out sharing her ideas just with friends and family and has since become a locally recognized food-storage and emergency preparedness authority. She has appeared on television segments focused on preparedness and speaks to groups all over the state. She's taught classes for USU/Salt Lake County Extension Services, has been interviewed by People magazine and has participated on local radio programs that invited listeners to call in and ask questions about successful storage.

Parker planned and participated in a number of local LDS ward, stake and community preparedness fairs, often taking along her impressive display of food stores and preparedness items.

She was the keynote speaker on the USU campus for an extension services family life conference. She's also taught classes at BYU- Idaho Education Week and mini-conference sessions at BYU in Provo. She was also a guest speaker at the Nauvoo LDS Stake Women's conference.

The Parker home has become a teaching laboratory where strangers and friends can come and see first-hand how to fit a considerable amount of storage into the average-size space. "As others have been willing to share with me, it has been my great honor and privilege to reciprocate, sharing what I have learned and been blessed with," she said.

"If I can do it, so can you!" she said. "The secret is to get started, try it again, add to what you already have and rotate out that which is stale-dated."

Parker is married, has two daughters and a granddaughter.

E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com