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Having a stock of emergency food is crucial for being prepared for anything to happen. However, when you are just starting out on your emergency food storage, it can be a little overwhelming knowing where to start and what you need.
Food and water are basic necessities when it comes to survival, and if you are in an emergency situation, you will need to know you have enough supplies to get through a few days. While some people will just choose to purchase a bunch of canned food, this strategy can be problematic in the long run.
To help those who feel overwhelmed about where to begin with their emergency food storage, we have put together this beginner’s guide.
Start With Short-Term Storage
You do not need to rush and get a long-term food supply overnight. You can start small and build up your emergency food supplies over time. By building your storage slowly over time, it will be much easier if you are on a budget.
Start by creating a three day, or 72-hour, emergency food supply. This will get you through a short-term emergency. Then, create a two-week food supply to get you through a longer-term emergency. You can then start aiming to expand your food supply by a month at a time until you have a long-term store.
To help with this, give yourself goals to reach with your food and water storage. For example, each month, you can have a goal for how many months of food you want to have stored.
Where Should I Keep My Emergency Food Storage?
The space you have to store your emergency food will affect how much food you can store. When you are trying to decide where you should keep your emergency stores, there are a few features that your storage area is going to need:
- Good ventilation
- Temperature controlled
- Away from sunlight
- Dry
- Pest free
Ideas of Where To Store Emergency Food Supplies
You may already have a few ideas of where you should store your emergency food, but if not, these ideas can help.
Basements or Root Cellars
The basement or root cellar is often an ideal place to store your emergency supplies. It is recommended if you use the basement to store this food, that you do not store it directly on the floor. This can help protect your supplies if your basement floods and keep them out of the direct path of any pests that might be lurking in the basement.
Spare Bedrooms
If you have space in your spare bedroom, it can be a perfect place to keep your food supplies.
Closets
You can easily use up any extra closet space with your food supplies. You can even keep them behind your clothes or behind towels if you use your linen closet to store food.
Sheds
One excellent place to store your emergency food supplies is in a shed. While a cheap wooden shed would not keep your food temperature controlled, you can design a steel shed to keep everything secure. The great thing about using a steel shed is that you can install electricity and bigger locks on it to keep everything secure. You can also set it up to operate on a generator if the power goes out, which will allow you to potentially store some freezer items in the shed too.
Storing Food On Limited Space
If you have limited space, you can still store your emergency food supplies; you just need to get a little creative about it. Some places you can store it include:
- Under the stairs
- Under the bed or couches
- In the closet
- In the furniture
Where You Should Not Store Food
Your food stockpiles need to be safe and out of sight, but they cannot be put anywhere. You want to make sure the storage does not get exposed to high temperatures or humidity. Some places where you should not store your food include:
- Garages
- Sheds that are not temperature controlled
- Laundry Room
- Bathroom
- Attic
What Should I Include In My Emergency Food Storage?
Now that you know where you should store your supplies and how much to store, it is time to think about what you should store. The short answer is that you should store things your family will eat. Do not store anything that your family hates or things that they have never tried. Even if you will be hungry enough to eat those things in an emergency situation, you still will not want to do so. It is definitely best to store things you will enjoy. Keeping up morale during a disaster is important, and food that nobody likes is not going to help with that at all, especially if you have children.
Here are some things to include in your emergency food storage:
- White rice — it stores longer than brown.
- Water
- Oatmeal
- Dried beans
- Canned fruit and vegetables
- Canned meat
- Dried meat
- Pasta
- Peanut butter
- Tomato sauce
- Instant potatoes
- Powdered milk
- White flour — it stores longer than other types of flour.
- Spices and seasonings
- Honey
- Jams
- Granola
- Canned foods
- Popcorn
- Coffee, tea, and hot chocolate
- Condiments
- Candy with a longer shelf life
- Pancake mix
- Dried fruit and nuts — these have a shorter shelf-life, so they should be rotated regularly.
If there is a staple in your home, if it has a decent shelf life, make sure to include a lot of it. If there is a specific snack that members of your family absolutely love, make sure to include that as well.
You can stock up on freeze-dried or dehydrated foods but do not make those the primary focus of your food supplies.
NOTE: Make sure you rotate your water storage every six months.
Storing The Food Itself
When putting together your food storage, it needs to be in sealed containers to prevent pests from getting in. Vacuum seal whatever you can to ensure it stays fresh, and take anything that comes in cardboard or flimsy packaging and put it into more durable containers.
Mylar bags are also an excellent option for food storage that can extend the shelf life of your food by years. You can also buy oxygen absorbers to put in containers with your food to keep air out so they can stay fresh.
If you are not using Mylar bags, put bay leaves in things like flour, beans, and rice. Pests do not like the smell of bay leaves, so it can help keep them away.
Make sure you label everything. Include the date you bought the items, the expiration date, and any other information that is important to each food item. Since you need to rotate your stock sometimes, having this information on hand is crucial to your emergency food storages.
Keep a detailed inventory of everything you are storing, so you will remember what you have.
What Food Is Hard To Store?
There are some food items that are harder to store than others, and it is important to keep that in mind when you are planning your food storage. Here is a list:
- Graham crackers
- Saltines and soup crackers
- Salad dressing like ranch
- Vegetable oil
- Mayonnaise
- Cereal
- Maple syrup
- Dairy products
- Dried fruit and nuts — while important, they need to be rotated every six months or so.
Final Thoughts About
We hope this guide has helped you get started on your emergency food storage plans. Keeping at least three days of food in your home is highly recommended, but planning for anything that lasts longer than that is always a good idea. You will need your food and water supplies if any disaster strikes, and you will be glad you used these tips to store everything.
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