Emergency preparation 101 - FOOD

Water is number one on the list, without it you die in as little as 3 days. If you do not have any stored then you’re in a pickle. City water can easily be contaminated; actually it is contaminated according to the EPA but that’s a different story. You should store 1 gallon per person per day according to FEMA. I however do not use a gallon a day unless I am washing stuff or taking a shower. If you have a well and the power is out how will you get that water into the house? Now would be a good time to figure out this question. If you have a shallow well you can buy hand operated well pumps for less then $100. If your well is deep it will cost more. Water can also be stored in 55 gallon drums made for water. You can use plastic but pay attention to the triangle symbol on the bottom of the container. Inside is a number 1 through 7. If it is a #2 HDPE (high density polyethylene), or a #4 LDPE (low density polyethylene), or a #5 PP (polypropylene), your bottle is fine. The type of plastic bottle in which water is sold in is usually a #1, and is only recommended for one time use. Do not refill them.

As you prepare your food storage keep in mind a couple of things. Flooding and rodents. If you have a rodent problem under normal conditions then extreme conditions might increase your problem. Some survival websites say to stock up on beans and rice. Can you imagine eating 30 days of nothing but rice and beans?!? Yes it has a long shelf life and will fill your belly but unless you have done it you have no clue what you’re in for. Every year our church does a Daniel fast where we eat no meats, no sugars, no breads and no preservatives. What that means is a whole lot of rice, beans, fruits and vegetables. Most people are dying to get off the fast after just a week or two into this and they are able to eat fruits and vegetables, something you might not have stored if you only did the rice and beans preparation. Not to mention all that fiber is gonna make for some uncomfortable situations in close quarters. I have a large bag of each stored in a plastic container but its not my only food source.

Freeze dried foods, canned goods and frozen foods are an excellent source of long term storable foods. There are websites that specialize in frozen foods just for this purpose. You can buy an entire years supply if you have the budget and desire. Buy stuff close to what you normally eat but can be stored for long periods of time. Make sure to set up some sort of reminder to rotate your stock. It would be very bad to experience an emergency only to find all your food has expired and gone bad. There are several MRE (meals ready to eat) companies that offer really good products. I personally bought some from APack. They are compact, durable, nutritious, self-heating and shelf-stable. They come with an entrée, cracker, spread, cookie, water flavor packet, raisins, salt and pepper and a towlette. I also have coast guard approved food ration bars. These have a long shelf life, supply more then enough calories and are compact for easy storage/carry. I have no idea how they taste but I hope I never need them; they are a last resort along with some survival tabs I got. Cheese can be frozen and kept long periods; butter can be melted down and put into canning jars giving it a shelf life of 3 years at normal room temps.

Do not rely completely on frozen goods. A 36 hour power outage could ruin everything in your fridge and freezer depending on the time of the year. If you do have a power outage and your food is starting to warm then you will need to cook it. If you don’t it will go bad and will be of no use anyway. Start with the refrigerated goods and keep the door to the freezer shut as much as possible, it will keep the food for a longer time period. If you live in an area that happens to have snow at the time, you can use snow to pack around your foods being mindful of snow melt and things getting wet.

If you garden and have access to a farmers market then I encourage you to purchase a pressure cooker canner. You can bottle meats, vegetables, jams, sauces, etc. yourself saving tons of money and you know the food is nutritious, not full of fillers and cancer causing agents they put in our food today. Our parents and grandparents all use to can their own food. I think its something we as a nation need to bring back.