That is the question! Food storage is considered part of being prepared for emergencies and natural disasters. Individuals and families can eliminate some stress, worry and inconveniences by planning for emergency food needs. How much and which foods to store will depend on the members of your household, your preferences, special health conditions, ability to use the food in an emergency, and space for storage. Planning for short-term emergency food needs may be as simple as increasing quantities of some staple foods and non-perishable foods that you normally would use. Non-perishable foods are those that can be stored safely at room temperatures.
Preparing a Two-Week Emergency Supply
If you are in an area where it is known that power can be off for extended periods, a two-week supply may seem very reasonable. Even though it is unlikely that most emergencies will cut off your food supply for two weeks, some people choose to consider a short-term supply as one that will last that long.
However, for two weeks or more of emergency eating, it might be wise to pay more attention to nutrition needs than is necessary for 3 days of surviving special conditions. Plan food supplies so at least one well-balanced meal could be eaten each day. (If possible)
If you eat out regularly, you will need to take that into consideration and increase the amount of supplies you normally eat in a two-week period of time. Try to store foods that don’t need to be refrigerated or frozen. Keep the supply fresh by rotating non-perishable staple items in general storage once or twice a Year.
It really not hard to store a two week food supply it’s just a matter of picking up a couple of extra cases of food items each time you go to get your weekly groceries, and before you know it you will have your two week supply and much more.
Here are a few ways that you can get your two week plan together:
* Make a list of all family members by name, indicating any special needs (diabetic, allergies, etc.)
* List all staple foods on your shelves now. Indicate amount available, date purchased, date opened and use by/replace date if known. Post this list near storage cabinets or closets and update when changes occur.
* Make a list of meals to be served, labeled Day 1" through Day 14". Indicate where food can be found for each day, if not stored all in one location.
* Add notes to each days list that indicate how much water and what equipment and utensils will be needed for preparation. This process will force you to think through what you will need to purchase and store.
* If staples such as rice, instant cereals and potatoes and dry milk are not kept in packages with cooking directions, be sure to write up preparation steps or mix ratios on index cards and keep them closed in air- and water-tight plastic bags for use during the emergency.
These are just a few ways to figure out what you will need for your to two week supply of food
Here are a couple more ideas:
* Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits and vegetables
* Canned juices, milk, soup (if powdered, store extra water)
* Staples sugar, salt, pepper
* High energy foods peanut butter, jelly, crackers, granola bars, trail mix
* Foods for infants, elderly persons or persons on special diets (for example, diabetics or those with allergies)
* Comfort/stress foods cookies, hard candy, sweetened cereals, lollipops, instant coffee, tea bags
* Vitamins.
You may even want to have an Emergency Survival kit on hand incase you need to get you fast!
You can easily make your own from things you have around the house or you can buy an emergency kit that has every thing you need to survive for at least three days.
Food is not the only thing you will need in an emergency, you need some basic tools such as : Hammer
Pliers
Screw driver
String or Rope
Candles,
Matches,
Some cash money on hand
A flash light
Blankets
Radio
Cell phone with charger
Emergency sanitation supplies
I hope that this article will help you get started on getting you and your family prepared for an emergency. Remember “That there are no problems only solutions.”
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