A few prepper thoughts...

I've been browsing a bit and have a few websites for you to visit.

The Prudent Food Storage FAQ hasn't been updated in a few years but it deserves a fresh mention even if it's just because of the simple pdf download. The concepts are sound and actually very thorough even if a few years dated.
Also of merit is the page on water treatment. I put a bit more trust into bleach, pasteurization and potassium permanganate than described, but I'm big on pre-filtering and water collection which is easy due to the rainfall in Oregon.

A couple staples I'm interested in providing for myself are sugar and salt. They're essential in many ways, easy to store and cheap right now, they don't degrade but they do take up space. Their uses are so numerous I couldn't even begin to touch on them but what happens when they're gone? In Oregon I'm close to the sea so I plan to harvest saltwater if needed and boil it off as Lewis and Clark did. While I'm there I'll harvest clams, mussels, seaweed, fish and crab if I'm lucky. There are a lot of drawbacks to this idea that I won't go into, like the million other people with similar ideas, but it's a valid plan if it's worth the risk.

Sugar seems like a much easier task for me. Sugar beets will grow well in many parts of Oregon and honey (consider top bar hives) are a natural. Maples, while plentiful aren't known for their syrup here, it's just too moderate of a climate, though there should be bands of the Cascades that would work well.

There's nothing wrong with storing a year's worth of supplies, but if you can store 6 months worth and 1000 years worth of knowledge in replacing it... give a man a fish or teach him to fish for himself!?

If it's time to use your storage foods (other than rotation) it's time to start the replacements. Don't wait until you're lacking, replace it as you use it in one form or another.

Today is the time to buy atleast a bag of rice and a bag of beans to put back for the future though they still need water to prepare them. A few cans of fruits and vegetables on your shelf will give you flavor for the staples, but your family deserves food insurance far more than it deserves life insurance.

Grow something at home, a leftover milk jug can grow a small to moderate tomato plant, cucumber or chili (jalapeno or habenaro) herbs are easy in a cut down milk jug, fill them tight. If you use a milk jug to start a plant you can cut out the base and drop it in a clean loose hole later and then toss the pot.

Make your own food, don't expect the government to provide it at the nearest store or distribution point.

Potatoes are a great form of survival food, the starch is irreplaceable, but in creating this marvelous food they suck nutrition from the soil and have to be rotated. I guess we finally learned this from the potato famines. It you're into guerrilla gardens potatoes are a great option. the foliage is rarely recognized as food and even if it is, it's too early, you want to harvest potatoes after the greens die off.

Rick -
Pity for the guilty is treason to the innocent.