The first question that always comes up when I start a discussion about emergency preparedness is, “How much emergency food should I have in case of an emergency?”
It’s crucial that you are ready to support the people you care about the most, especially during trying times. Emergency situations can arise at any time, frequently at the worst possible times.
The short answer is that you should have between three and six months’ worth of food stored in your home in case of an emergency, like losing your job or suffering a minor natural disaster.
And the honest, more complicated answer is, that it depends. When figuring out the answer to this question, there are numerous things to consider. Let me explain.
Table of Contents
Things To Consider When Planning Food Storage
Before we make any firm decisions, we should take into account the following six factors:
- Do you need to be providing for or feeding (number of people), and if so, what kinds of people?
- How many calories does each person require each day? Age, sexual orientation, and physical activity will all play a role in this.
- How long of an emergency are you attempting to prepare for (length of emergency)?
- What scenarios (possible causes of your emergency) are you most likely preparing for?
- What volume of water will you need to prepare and consume your meal?
- How much water is required for each person to stay hydrated?
How Much Emergency Food Should I Have?
We advise planning ahead for at least three days for the majority of disasters. A sufficient supply of food and at least one gallon of water per person per day should be included in this.
A health emergency, such as pandemic flu, necessitates longer-term preparation. There is a chance that grocery stores will have to close in order to stop the disease from spreading.
The Washington Departments of Health and Emergency Management advise spending at least one week getting ready for these kinds of catastrophes. Consider preparing for two weeks once you have finished one week’s worth of work.
Your emergency food supply should contain a variety of canned meats, fruits, and vegetables, grains, canned milk products, ready-to-eat canned foods, and soup.
Two cans of food and one gallon of water per person per day are the MINIMUM amounts of food that should be consumed.
Related Post: What Food to Stock Up on During An Emergency?
Different Levels Of Potential Emergency Scenarios
Consider purchasing based on the three different levels of potential emergency scenarios once you’ve determined your financial situation and are able to move forward with your emergency food storage plan.
- Short Term Emergency (up to 30 days)
- Long Term Emergency (3 months or more)
- SHTF – Shit Hits The Fan Emergency (for the foreseeable future)
Whatever the circumstance, we have the advice to help you get going.
Short Term Emergency Food Recommendations
A short-term emergency is something that most people experience at some point in their lives, such as a power outage or a flood caused by a broken pipeline. This makes it the kind of emergency that is easiest to prepare for. Usually, a disaster of this nature is resolved within a week. Therefore, you should have 15 to 30 days’ worth of food and water in your short-term emergency food storage.
This excludes the food and liquids in your pantry. Rather, this preparedness supply means that you have 15 to 30 full days of food and water for everyone in your household stored away in a place that will not be used unless there is an emergency.
Short Term Food Storage List
- Rice
- Beans
- Peanut Butter
- Crackers
- Canned meat
- Canned Veggies
- Canned Fruit
- Oatmeal
- Honey
- Granola
- Protein bars
- Seasonings
- Vitamins
- Water
Long Term Emergency Food Recommendations
For long-term emergency preparedness, it is advised that you stockpile three months’ worth of food and water instead of the usual 15 to 30 days.
The food from your pantry is not this, to reiterate. Until an emergency arises, you should set this food aside and not touch it. There are many options for food storage that are long-lasting and won’t cause you to worry about spoilage for a very long time.
Common Long-Term Food Storage List
Any emergency should have these foods on hand:
- Flour
- Salt
- Sugar, honey
- Baking powder, baking soda
- Yeast
- Lard
- Dehydrated Milk
- Vegetable Oil
- Flint or dent corn
- Cereal, popcorn, crackers, oatmeal
- Dehydrated potatoes
- Canned and dried meat
- Lentils, beans, rice
- Seasonings, bouillon broth cubes
- Textured Vegetable Protein
- Seeds
- Nuts, nut butter
- Dehydrated and canned fruits and vegetables
- Coffee, tea
- Pasta, pasta sauce
About Long-term Emergencies And Life Changes
Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy served as a stark reminder that some natural disasters can be so severe that it can take more than a week for rescue crews to get to the hardest-hit areas and months for even the most basic supply chains to recover. We advise you to stockpile one to three months’ worth of food and to buy a high-quality water purifier if you live in an urban area or a high-risk geographic area. Obviously, people and families who stockpile food for at least six months have a significantly higher level of confidence that they will be able to survive any emergency.
The last situation to think about is how you and your family would fare if a war or pandemic shook our society. Even though there are many intriguing TV shows based on these fantastical scenarios, you don’t have to go very far back in time to see that it has actually occurred more than once. In his book The Great Influenza, John Barry describes how the most deadly influenza virus in history spread throughout the world, killing 100 million people in less than six weeks. Even with modern medicine and technology at their most advanced, the events described in the book are likely to occur again. When a virus is able to mutate and spread so quickly, emergency response systems are quickly overloaded, hospitals are crowded, and society as we know it can abruptly change.
We are realists, not alarmists. For each member of your family, store one year’s worth of food if you’re worried about these kinds of situations. You don’t have to worry about rotating food or your investment spoiling because our dehydrated meals have a shelf life of up to 25 years. A year’s worth of food is also a crucial safety net as you set up a cycle of food production that can support itself.
Read More: Ways to Store Canned Foods