Why You Should Have An Emergency Food Kit
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Why would you need emergency food? If there was ever a time when someone has got an insight into how and why you can use an Emergency Food Kit for yourself and your family it is now. Look at all the recent problems we have been facing that are causing the empty spaces on your supermarket shelves. It does not matter why it is happening. The reasons are beyond our control. It does not matter who or why you feel you must blame someone or something. The bottom line is you might find yourself out of some basic food items.
You should focus on securing the best emergency food kit that will help you and your family withstand the shortages. Food supplies will suffer due to supply chain issues, panic buying, and hoarding. It would be in your best interest to consider emergency preparedness before everyone else does. It’s not rocket science nor is it expensive if you start planning beforehand. What’s it going to take to convince you of the importance of proper emergency planning before the crisis is already here.
And that crisis can be in the face of a hurricane, flooding, wildfires, and a pandemic fallout. Most of us have been there.
What Is Emergency Food?
It goes without saying that we have all faced the harsh realities of shortages in recent years. And in times of such emergencies being well prepared is a way of making your life so much easier and less stressful when the rest of your neighbors are in panic mode.
In your neighborhood where any disaster may occur without warning, there is a possibility that you and your family may be facing some difficult situations such as a food supply. With that in mind, you should have food stockpiled in your pantry that should not need cooking or refrigeration. Having no power is another concern you should keep in the back of your mind. Some basic day-to-day food, such as rice, cereals, canned meat, or canned vegetables should and can be considered long-term emergency food.
These are foods you should always have more than needed and replace them as they are used for your day-to-day menu items.
Your vegetable garden can also be considered an emergency food source when things get tough. And if you do not have such a garden, consider finding the ‘green thumb’ in you and get going on starting a garden in the backyard. Or do some container gardening if you are an apartment dweller.
Planning For An Emergency Food Supply
First, consider the needs of your family. You need to have enough on hand, generally, 3-5 days’ worth and you should consider the foods liked and disliked. In these moments, which are likely to be stressful enough, you don’t want dislikes to add to the situation. Having an emergency food kit that no one will want to eat from is a waste of time, energy, and money. Not to mention the cost of headache medication.
So how much food will you need? Are you alone? Have a family? Are others depending on you? You have got to do the math and the considerations of who will eat what. Especially those kids of yours.
Here are some simple math solutions on how much you will need: For a 2-month emergency food stash you will need 60 meals for breakfast, 60 meals for lunch, and 60 meals for dinner. That is 180 meals for one person. Bet you never realized how much you ate through time. It adds up. But you shop every week so you can reach those numbers. Now you need to get into the mindset of what happens when you can’t go shopping because the shelves are empty or the stores are closed.
Some more math: When it comes to proper nutrition you should figure about 2,000 to 2,500 calories for adults and 1,000 calories for children. Add it up and plan on doing some shopping and emergency food planning while stores are open and supplied. It all does not have to be done at once. A little each week. Store and use.
Buy a little more than needed each week for those crisis situations. And use some food discipline. Store the extra as a food kit somewhere else in the pantry or a dedicated area somewhere else in your house. for those crisis situations.
Emergency Food Kit List
Remember, stock up a little each week. And rotate your supplies. If you want pancakes this Sunday rob from your emergency kit because you just bought a fresh box of mix to replace it with. Rinse and repeat as the weeks and months go by. This is also a good way to stay on top of your inventory and improve on your menu ideas.
It will also get you in the mindset to come up with other emergency food ideas. This list and others like it are never inclusive.
- Bottled water. Don’t forget the water
- Non-perishable pasteurized milk.
- Canned or bottled juices.
- Canned beans, chili, chicken, and fish for a protein source.
- Bagged rice and beans. A prepper’s favorite go-to food source.
- Canned fruits
- Fresh vegetables if you have a garden with some canned as a supplement.
- Dried fruits, nuts, and seeds.
- Crackers and Granola bars.
- Instant oatmeal.
- Peanut butter. And don’t forget the jelly.
- Dry cereal or granola.
- Pancake mix with syrup
- Ramen noodles and boxed Mac and cheese.
- Spaghetti and canned or bottled sauce.
What Are ‘mre’ Meals For Emergencies?
A Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) is a self-contained, individual field ration in lightweight packaging purchased by the United States Department of Defense for its service members for use in combat or field conditions where other food is not available. While MREs should be kept cool, they do not need to be refrigerated.
Wikipedia
When it comes to survival meal kits, survival food packages, and your own Emergency Food Kit, the United States Department of Defense knows what it is doing here. When it comes to ease of use they can’t be beaten. And you can store them for up to five years. And in my opinion, they do not taste that bad.
I had an experience with them after a hurricane thumped my area and power and food supplies disappeared in a heartbeat. In came the National Guard with not only water but those tasty MREs (my opinion). And why did I need to be bailed out and fed by the army? And get in a horrendous line to get that food?
I did not prepare.
Hence my passion for informing others. Back to MRE’s.
So can you buy MRE’s for your own food kit? Sure you can. Expect to pay anywhere from $2 up to $20. The price is contingent on the supplier and what you are getting from them. It’s far cheaper to make your own emergency food supply via the supermarket, but these will get you on a fast track for emergency food preparedness.
Survival Food Packages
You have seen the ads. If you have been on any prepping site, survival food ads will pop up all over the site. Not excluding this one. Those 3 to 5-gallon buckets of ultra-processed food for your gastronomical delights. Besides being highly processed they are:
- Extremely expensive
- They for the most part have small servings
- Low calories for your proper health and nutrition
- They contain repetitive meals
- A very poor replacement for real food
- Cheap food which might not taste good to you
And yet I will recommend them as an addition to your emergency food kit. Why? Because of ease of use, the efficient use of space, and the fact is not everyone will always have enough when a real hard crisis falls on top of you.
I’m not suggesting living off this stuff as a day-to-day dietary routine. But as a supplement to what you have already accumulated on your own, you will have the peace of mind that you will provide at least the bare-bones basics for keeping yourself and your family fed. And having one of those buckets in the bottom of a closet now will take the pressure off of rushing you to get an emergency food supply put together in a rush. The more time you save, the better your plan will be and most likely at a better price.
And do I have a recommendation for a particular ‘survival bucket’? Of course, I do. I have tried several and would like to put my two cents in here about that. Not only does Legacy Food Group have some pretty good-tasting meals, but they also have a line of other survival supplies such as water storage devices, bug-out bags, and first aid kits. A one-and-done e-commerce site for lots of your prepping needs.
Food Storage Guidelines
Food preservation comes in many forms. The two most common are refrigeration and freezing. They work great when you have power. So when that happens get ready to use those food items first. Consider that food as your first go-to emergency food supply.
Salting is another way of preserving food. Our ancestors would do this all the time because electricity did not exist yet. Today you will find beef jerky, pickles, and smoked salmon as foodstuffs using salt as a preservative today. Sugaring is also a preservation method and is used in the preservation of fruits such as apples and pears, jams and jellies, fruit juice, and sweetened products such as condensed milk.
Canning is a popular method of preserving food and you can find countless supplies of canned goods at the supermarket. Canning is also a popular DIY project which can give you a great addition to your emergency food kit.
Vacuum packing is another method of preservation that removes air from the food package prior to sealing. A simple appliance easily available will give you the means to remove the air and seal the bag in one easy application.
Click here for a Food Storage Chart showing guidelines and the shelf life of food.
