Having an emergency food supply is essential for any family, especially in times of global pandemics, natural disasters, or states of emergency. Knowing how much food to stockpile per person and what types of food to store can be a daunting task. This article will provide you with a comprehensive guide on how to create an emergency food reserve that will last you and your family for at least two weeks. The ideal amount of calories you should consume per day is at least 2,000 calories per person.
This will provide you with enough food for a full year with variety of meals as well. Food storage is essential in every home, and many knowledgeable agencies recommend storing emergency stashes for one year. Accumulate enough food to provide at least 2000 calories and 1 gallon of water per day, per person in the event of an emergency or natural disaster. The minimum storage requirement for the 72-hour emergency kit, suggested by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is 6000 calories and 3 gallons of water per person.
People with special diets and allergies will need special attention, as will infants, toddlers, and the elderly. Nursing mothers may need liquid formula if they are unable to breastfeed. Canned diet foods, juices, and soups may be useful for sick or elderly people. Make sure you have a manual can opener and disposable utensils.
And don't forget non-perishable food and water for your pets. To prepare it, pack at least 2,000 calories of food per adult per day. Also, pack at least one gallon of water per person per day for drinking and disinfecting in clean plastic containers.While experts recommend 3 days of food, I encourage you to think in terms of 3 to 7 days, as your first storage step. Learning to store food for an emergency, such as a global pandemic or natural disaster, could save you money and save your life.
Follow these simple steps to start your emergency food supply, so you're prepared but don't waste.Long-life, non-perishable foods should be stored at room temperature, away from extreme temperature fluctuations for safety reasons. They should also be protected from water and bugs. Unfinished basements and attics or rooms without a regulated temperature are not good places to store food. Look for a place that's out of the way, but meets all food storage guidelines.Once you've considered factors such as temperature, water, and access, you'll need to choose a place where you plan to store your reserves.
Measure this area and note the measurements so that you are always reminded how much space you have to work. Take a picture of the space and save it to your phone so you can remember when you go shopping.Storing food for emergency situations requires careful and reasonable planning. If you accumulate a lot of food that you would never eat, it will be a waste of money and resources. Before you can calculate the amount of food you'll need, you need to calculate the amount of food everyone eats on a normal day.
You'll also want to note what types of foods your family eats regularly.Department of Homeland Security Shares Tips on Food Reserves on Ready, Gov. They recommend having a 3-day supply of non-perishable food that feeds your entire family or everyone in your household. Red Cross and FEMA suggest having a two-week supply on hand.You now have a master list of what your family eats in one day or three days, but that doesn't mean you have to store all of these foods. Take a look at their list and determine which items have the most nutritional value and what the real needs are.
You should definitely store these items if they fit in your storage space.You don't need to cook most of these foods, and most will last between one and two years in storage. Cans are the best packaging options for stored foods, and meats and vegetables last the longest. Use this emergency stock checklist as a guide to see what foods are best for an emergency stockpile or survival food kit.Keeping some luxury foods in their stockpiles can help families deal with stress and stay positive during the real emergency. Creating an Emergency Food Reserve Doesn't Have to Include a Giant Shopping Trip.
In fact, many stores have limits on the number of essentials you can buy on a trip, especially if something like a pandemic has already started in nearby areas.That's why it's important to get your reserves up and running when there's no emergency. An easy way to store food on a budget and in a socially responsible way is to buy two or three items on each regular shopping trip. As you purchase the items from the pile, you must order them in an organized manner in the chosen storage location.Keep items with the closest expiration date on the front or top of your stack for first use. The best way to sort items is to keep all the items together in order from the earliest expiration date to the most recent.Global pandemics and quarantines, natural disasters and states of emergency or shelter-in-place orders are not regular events, but they are possible in your lifetime.
When these things happen, you may not be able to go to stores, stores may not be able to get enough supplies, or your electricity may run out of power and your refrigerator may be useless.Having a plan before these emergencies occur can help you weather any of them because you won't get advance notice that they will come. Managing an emergency food supply is not a one-time action.Creating your bookings can take days, weeks or even months. Once created, you'll need to check it every 6 months to make sure that the food isn't about to expire and that it hasn't spoiled.Make sure you have a manual can opener and some eating utensils with the food stack so you have everything you need for emergency meals in one place.When you are determining if a food is good for storage ask yourself a few simple questions about each food you are considering: Is it nutritious? Does it have long shelf life? Is it easy to prepare? Grains are a fantastic food to store in food storage because they are nutritious, have long shelf life (up to 8 years), easy to prepare (just add boiling water) and relatively inexpensive.Creating an emergency stockpile doesn't have to be expensive or time consuming if done correctly with careful planning ahead of time. Having an emergency stockpile will give peace of mind knowing that if something happens suddenly like pandemics or natural disasters that your family will be taken care off.