Is your pantry well-stocked for unexpected events? You may be forced to rely on emergency food supplies during a pandemic or natural tragedy. Knowing what to stock up on for emergencies might be tough, but we’re here to assist.
In the preceding decade, several catastrophic incidents have caused widespread food shortages. It’s easy to presume that “it won’t happen to me,” but stocking up on emergency food ensures you’ll be prepared if and when a localized tragedy strikes.
Moreover, this worldwide epidemic should be a wake-up call for all about our contingency planning. Might this occur again? Probably. What more could go wrong? Sadly, the fact is that we must be prepared for any possible circumstance.
Check out some tips on how to start building your emergency food supply here:
1. Set a target and get started
How much will you be storing? Should you try to have supplies for three days? Or sufficient for three months? What you should store up depends on the kind of disaster most likely to occur in your area and how long you expect to be without access to supplies.
At a minimum, the federal government advises that you have a three-day food and water supply per home member. A torch, rechargeable batteries, hand-cranked cellphones, and essential first-aid items are also listed.
The American Red Cross offers a 3-Day Emergency food supply kit and additional emergency items in one convenient package. Survival and Emergency kits are abundant on Amazon.com.
However, you may be far safer in a disaster if you plan for more than 72 hours. Once you’ve achieved this objective, adjust your timeline to one or two weeks. Continue until you attain your final goal.
2. Spend Your Money With Caution
Budgeting is the second step in preparing for a disaster.
You need to determine how much of your money you can invest into food storage on a regular basis, just as you do with your weekly or monthly shopping budget.
If you develop your emergency food supply the proper way, you don’t have to sacrifice a significant portion of your payment upfront. Keep in mind that beginning small is a sensible way for most individuals.
Make sure your food storage budget allows you to purchase one important item each time you go grocery shopping. Depending on your family’s requirements, it may be anything from a can of black beans to a gallon of water.
Another alternative is to buy affordable ready-made emergency meal buckets in advance to have the fundamentals covered while adding to your emergency food supplies.
3.Give water priority and keep it carefully.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests conserving one gallon of water per person every day and, if feasible, a two-week supply. If you have animals, be sure to preserve extra water.
According to the CDC, unopened commercial mineral water is the most dependable and safest emergency water source. Alternately, you may use your containers to store tap water.
The CDC is one of the greatest sites for determining what emergency supplies to stockpile. It suggests:
- Check expiry dates on store-bought water and replace as necessary.
- Every six months, replace the water that you’ve kept yourself.
- Ensure you have a container of unscented liquid chlorine bleach in your emergency supplies for cleaning and sanitizing.
- Using bleach with color-safe or cleaning chemicals is not recommended. See whether the product may be used to disinfect water on its label, which should state that it is safe.
4. Food to save for use in an emergency
Consuming from a stockpile might get monotonous. The emergency food supply list compiled by Real Simple includes items that do not need preparation and are nutritionally packed and delicious.
The following things are included inside the set:
- Peanut butter
- Cereal
- Granola bars and energy bars
- Sugar, pepper, and salt
- Dry and Powdered milk.
- Vegetables in a can, such as beans, carrots, and peas.
- Canned Soups
- Meat in a can, including salmon and chicken.
- Dried fruits
5. Avoid making it a chore
Food storage for emergencies might be complex, but it need not be a hassle. The process may become almost amusing if you eliminate the stress of striving to do everything simultaneously. Deal-hunting, whether with tokens or during discounts, may be an experience.
Involve the children by seeking their ideas and assisting them in making appetizing food choices.
Continue the journey by practicing cooking using traditional storage materials, like the above bulk food products (rice, oatmeal, beans, and milk in powdered form).
The addition of different ingredients will end in wonderful meals not only today but also in the event of an emergency event when tasty foodstuff will bring joy.
6. Take Note of Storage Conditions
In addition to finding room for emergency food supplies, consider the storage conditions in your house. Temperature, humidity, oxygen, light, insects, and time are the foes of food storage.
Then there are those with two legs (such as teens!) who consume everything in sight, even your emergency food.
While not all home environments are ideal, you should be conscious of the six enemies of preserved food and do your best to reduce their impact on your important food supply.
It implies you should avoid keeping food in garages where the temperature fluctuates between 90 and 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
Empty your cabinets and closets of unnecessary goods and store them in the garage. It will allow you to keep food in your primary living space, where the ambient temperature is steady.
7.Keep Tabs on Your Property:
The best thing to avoid getting confused in the next time period is to start trying to keep track of your stored products right away from the beginning.
Use a notebook, a computer spreadsheet, or a pad of paper with a paper pad. When an item goes into storage, add its name and the date it was bought to your inventory. When it leaves storage, mark it off.
Another good idea is to write the date you bought each item with a Sharpie or a colored label. This is an insanely simple way to use the FIFO method, which is a way to rotate food. It is written as FIFO, which stands for “First In, First Out.”
Creating an emergency food stockpile is an excellent approach to preparing for potential calamities. However, properly preparing and preserving food is vital to the process. If you follow the directions in this article, you and your family will never go hungry again.
This is essential in an emergency. You should always be in the optimal position to make crucial judgments with reasoning and a clear head. Having a healthy diet is vital for maintaining a healthy mental state.
