When it comes to emergency preparedness, having the right food supply is essential. According to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), you should store at least one gallon of water and 2000 calories of food per day for a single person. Mishandling fresh food can also reduce the safe storage time of food, regardless of packaging dates. Real Simple's emergency food supply list contains foods that are not only easy to prepare and nutritionally dense, but also tasty.
When planning your emergency food supply, consider the need to refrigerate leftover canned food.Another reason why you need to have emergency food ready to eat is because it may not be safe to cook after a disaster. If you include canned food in your emergency food supply, inspect your supply regularly for any rusty, leaking, bulging, or heavily dented containers and broken seals. When stocking up on emergency food, don't just buy a million cans of soup, boxes of cookies, and grains in bulk. Discard homemade canned foods or foods in glass jars, open or unopened, that have been soiled by flood waters.Therefore, short-term emergency food storage should include 15 to 30 days of food and clean water.
In addition, a food year is an important safety net as a self-sustaining food production cycle is established. Use leftover canned foods after 3-4 days of refrigeration, unless they contain meat; canned foods containing meat, poultry, or fish should be used within 2 days. Individuals and families who store six months or more of food security have significantly greater peace of mind that they will be able to endure any emergency.Hopefully, you already know that you need emergency food storage to be prepared for disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, EMPs, or even personal disasters such as losing a job. That said, I would only recommend keeping canned food past the expiration date if you are currently in an emergency situation where you can't make it to the store.
For long-term emergency preparedness, it is recommended that instead of 15 to 30 days, you save food and water for 3 months specifically for the emergency. Military and camping supply tents are good sources of some compact, well-preserved foods that are good choices for emergency preparedness kits.Consider placing zip-lock plastic bags for storing food or freezing food in your emergency supplies.
