Emergency Food Supply

Start preparing a survival food system in advance for yourself and loved ones. By doing so, you will be farther ahead than probably 90 percent of the public.

Why You Should Stock Emergency Food

Keep in mind... if there is a sudden food shortage emergency, many people will be trying to purchase all types of emergency foods at the same time, then you will NOT be able to find them due to shortages.

• It may take a while for store shelves to be replenished.
• You will be prepared when a disaster does affect our food supply system.
• You will need it for yourself and family, and may need to feed friends or neighbors.
• Food is not going down in price. Buy it now, it
  will be even more costly later.

You can never have too much emergency food stored away for hard times. (There is always people you can help that DON'T prepare, and there will always be someone in need).

• Minimum supply: Most suggest 3 days, but ask yourself if you are comfortable with that - will three days of food be enough? We suggest at LEAST 30 days.

• Best supply: 6 months to one year (if possible) will definitely give you more peace of mind for a long term survival situation.

Store at least a minimum three-day supply of non-perishable food (again, we suggest to strive for 30 days). Choose foods that require no refrigeration, cooking, or preparation and are compact and lightweight.

If food must be cooked, it would be wise to add an emergency stove to your supplies in case you have no other means to cook.

Your emergency food supply should not include food in your refrigerator or freezer because you cannot count on those items remaining edible for more than one day in the fridge, or three days in the freezer if there is a power outage.

Grocery-Store Canned & Prepared Foods:

As a general rule, traditional canned foods should be consumed within a year. For cans with expiration dates, you may find you have 18 months to two years before they expire. For cans without a date, mark them with the date purchased and make sure you eat, and rotate them before a year.

Canned foods work well as an addition to the other types of Survival Foods. Study shows nutritional value is quite high on several types of canned foods. Read more about the Best Canned Food Storage Choices Here

Storing up to four weeks of local grocery-store canned food isn't too difficult. But when you get beyond that, it can really benefit your storage space, and the shelf-life of your food to look at specialized survival foods.

See our Recommended List of GROCERY STORE Survival Foods Here.

Specialized Survival Foods:

These foods are commercially prepared specifically for long-term storage, and for emergency food supply.

• Freeze-dried foods

• Vacuum-packed dehydrated foods (commercially prepared)

• Nitrogen packed grains and legumes (beans)

• MRE's (Meals, Ready-to-Eat) Specially prepared and sealed meal-foods

The main difference between the canned prepared foods you buy in the grocery store and the specially prepared survival foods is the shelf life and nutrition value, survival foods are superior in both.

You CAN NOT store grocery store items for five to ten years, as you can with dehydrated, freeze dried, MRE's, or sealed foods packed in nitrogen or vacuum sealed containers.

MRE's are totally different than dehydrated or freeze dried foods which both require water to reconstitute them. MRE's are precooked "in the pouch", They retain their full moisture like canned food items, but they have a much longer shelf-life. MRE'S do not have as much flavor as freeze dried or dehydrated foods.

Tip: You may not need both MREs and freeze-dried foods, or your main food supply may be from growing your own food, but storing several types of survival foods will offer you a variety in choices and in the shelf life of your emergency food supply.

Food Storage Containers:
Preserve your Emergency Food Supply and keep your Food Storage fresh with the right types of food storage containers. Generally, emergency foods are stored in:

• Plastic buckets
• Plastic air-tight containers
• Vacuum sealed pouches and bags
• Metal cans - When used for food storage, metal cans usually consist of commercially packaged freeze dried and dehydrated foods. Such as Mountain House Foods.

  Metal cans for home use, can be used, but are harder to find and seal. It is recommended that foods sealed, at home in metal cans, be lined with moisture barrier bags (plastic or metalized) prior to storing and sealing.

As long as stored foods are properly preserved, sealed, and kept cool and dry, they will stay fresh for years.

In order to keep your emergency food storage fresh and nutritious, your storage area needs to be as cool, temperature consistent, and dark a place as possible. Light, heat and freezing can destroy not only the taste and texture of your food, but also the nutritional content.

You can also put it underneath beds, or on closet floors. You don't want to store heavy buckets on high closet shelves, in the event of an earthquake, they may fall.

A dry crawl space under your house is one good spot. An insulated garage is another, some garages can get hot during the summer and freeze during the winter. Drastic temperature changes should be avoided with food storage.

*Caution: You don't want to store your buckets next to gasoline, insecticides, or any other harmful chemicals. Plastic is porous, which could allow some of the toxic fumes these chemicals give off to enter your food.

Growing, harvesting and storing garden foods to add to your emergency food supply, is the most nutritious and rewarding option.

Learn to grow your own survival garden and also the different ways to plant, preserve, and store a harvest of organic foods...

Tip: Home food dehydrating is a great way to process and store many types of foods when they are in season and abundant, either from your local market or grown in a garden. Dehydrated foods save space and are a very nutritious way to add to your emergency food supply.

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