During A Disaster Event Or Virus Outbreak
The First Priorities Is Building Up A Food Supply
We all have a certain amount of food stored away in our cupboards in the kitchen. In fact we already have emergency food supplies for prepping, disasters and SHTF, but in very small amounts.
Some may have a larder that gives extra shelving and room for a lot more supplies to be stored, but how long would these food supplies last you in an emergency?
Now most of us have a fridge that's generally stocked up with enough provisions to get us by for a couple of days, maybe a week at a push.
Then there's the freezer. That's normally stocked up to some level. Traditionally there will be a few scraggy odds and ends tucked away at the back, but at least there's something there as a backup.
And, of course there's the good old neglected freezer....
That looks like a scene from Titanic with bits and pieces of food stuck to slabs of ice.
Is this like your freezer..!
Well folks, if that is genuinely all you have stocked up in your house, your in for a big shock when disaster strikes and the SHTF.
I can say with pretty much 100% confidence that the vast majority of UK citizens have a painfully small amount of food stored in their homes for even the most basic emergency situation.
Also consider that the food you currently have may well have to feed you AND your family - that being the case, your stuffed...
The stash you currently have will diminish in record time and then what do you think your going to do?
You'll be asking yourself 'why didn't I do this sooner'?
Basic food storage for prepping is not difficult, and it's also not too expensive if you do it bit by bit.
But for any prepper, food storage is definitely one of the very first priority requirements to add to your 'to do' list.
Here's how the current food supply chain system works
There is now a system of supplying the public with their supermarket food based on 3 days of food stocked.
Simply put, this means if the supply chain were to break (and there could be literally 100's of reasons for this to happen), but whatever stops even a small part of this 3 day restocking process, we would all see empty shelves in our supermarkets within days.
Maybe less if there's a massive disaster.
All supermarkets operate the 3 day restocking
The good old British public would go bat shit crazy and buy anything and everything they could get their hands on probably within hours, let alone days.!!
Emergency Food Storage For One Month
OK, here's the deal.
If you can ride out the first 30 days of any disaster,
you have a 90% higher chance of surviving that disaster
FACT.
So, if your stocked up for a minimum of one month, whatever you have in your cupboards right now is a bonus - you will survive longer.
But remember, stocking up and prepping for a disaster is a lot different then getting your normal weekly food shopping.
Forget the al l carte meals and fancy dishes, that's not going to happen - as soon as you run out of you normal food it's time to suck it up and face the reality of a survival situation.
These are top basic foods essentials that will keep you alive and are easy to prepare.e meals that are nutritious and filling.
Basic One Months Supply
For A Family Of Four
- Canned Meat > 30 Cans
- Canned Vegetables > 40 Cans
- Canned Fruit > 15 Cans
- Rice > 8 bags x 3kg
- Beans > 2 bags x 3kg
- Oatmeal >3 bags x 3kg
- Pasta > 6 bags x 500gram
- Salt > 1 packet
- Honey > 1 large jar
- Multivitamins > 1 month supply
Remember, this is your basic one months supplies list, and based on sensible proportions and sensible rationing, easily available to anyone and is you ESSENTIAL FOOD LIST only.
This will give you recognizable survival meals while you 'ride out the storm'. All long life foods that will store easily.
They can also be eaten at any time after so you haven't wasted your money either....
Water procurement and storage is a separate issue.
Canned Foods; 30 cans for one months supply
These are a perfect food source for your prepping store, as you can always find something you like.
Canned Tuna > an excellent food source along with various canned meats you can buy.
Some of the cheaper canned meats like Spam will take a little getting used to, although I think it tastes ok!
So I suggest sticking to things you are more familiar with, like Canned Chicken, Steak Pies or Minced Beef.
These are all very good long term food for emergency storage.
But remember one can is enough for 2-3 people, so by adding Tinned Mixed Vegetables you will have a full meal.
Beans, Rice, Oatmeal, Pasta:
8x 3kg bags of rice for one months supply.
There a very people who cannot eat rice, and when mixed with other foods will add much needed bulk and extra nutrition to you survival meals.
Organic Brown Rice is a great value prepping food - do not buy in huge bulk though. It is difficult to ensure that it wont spoil and go moldy if kept in large bags.
Instead buy the more convenient 3 - 5 kg bags. They will be easy to store and use, plus if one goes moldy you have not ruined the whole stock.
The average man needs approximately 2,500 Kcal (a woman - 2,000 Kcal) within a healthy balanced diet in order to maintain body weight.
Of course, this is effected by age, metabolism, physical activities and more, so is much an estimated, average figure..
Therefore it makes sense to look at these values when buying food for storage and apply them to suit your needs.
If you use this Kcal /100g as a baseline, it's a good instant indicator to compare what you are buying.
So What Are You Waiting For.????
Do you really want to join all those those crazy people, running around like a headless chickens, fighting and trying to buy a can of beans.!
Of course you don't, so there's only one thing to do -
start prepping and build up good supply of foods that will feed yourself and your family for months and possibly years.
It's not difficult. Providing you stick to a few simple rules you'll be fine. Here's the simple guidelines for food prepping:
- Packing and Storage are essential for long shelf life
- Always have a good supply of base level foods
- Keep good supplies of lifelong foods
- Flavourings are essential
- Ensure good food rotation and restocking records
- Always ensure you have more than on food cache
High Nutrition & Calories:
These emergency ration packs are readily available and have good shelf life [5 years +]
ALSO SEE;
Army Ration Packs - full article explaining MRE meals ready to eat.
*opens in new window.
Once you have a decent store of one month's food you can add to that in monthly increments to build up to three months and beyond.
However, once you have a good store of the basic foods for survival, you can then go on to add different varieties of food to your overall store.
Just as a side note here:
You should also keep a good supply of any personal medication or foods that are specific to yourself.
Any special dietary needs must be considered as well.
Dehydrating Food For Storage
By storing dehydrated foods you will save on storage space and also money if you dehydrate your own foods.
I own and use the [easyazon_link asin=”B00FF97SJ2″ locale=”UK” new_window=”default” tag=”blogbasicfoodsupplies-21″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”default” nofollow=”default” popups=”default”]Andrew James Premium Digital Food Dehydrator[/easyazon_link](shown here)and it has been worth every penny.
In effect, you can dehydrate all sorts of foods, high in nutrients and get them when they are at their cheapest, and mostly free when dehydrating fruit and vegetables.
Dehydrating removes any moisture from the food and thus prevents any bacterial growth and spoilage of the food – it’s the same principle you use to make jerky, you are simply removing the water content.
Another excellent method to increase your food store is by vacuum sealing all your dehydrated foods you make .I use the Andrew James Pro Vacuum Sealer. (shown here)
Below is a quick video of myself sealing up some Bannock Bread Mix ready for storage.
But I have also dehydrated and sealed up loads of different food and added to my store - it can be done easily and very cheaply, and the initial cost of the dehydrator and sealer is very quickly met.
Make Your Own Bread
and watch the
Vacuum Sealer In Action
Don't Forget Your Treats
There will come a time when you can step back and see your prepping store nice and full of a selection of foods that will get you through a disaster for quite a while.
So now's the time for a few treats...!
Start to add your favourite foods and snack - these will become your luxury foods when the SHTF.
Anything that you personally like to eat can now be added to your stores, but always check the sell by dates and buy with long shelf life in mind.
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