How much food should I store for an emergency?

This is a question my friends and customers of Reliant Survival Gear ask all the time and in light of the disasters of 2013, I’ve changed how I answer. First, you will want to carefully determine your calorie needs as you make your emergency plan. The next step is to consider what kind of emergencies are most likely to happen in your area and what other kind of emergencies you want to prepare for. Current Red Cross guidelines advise people to store at least three days of non-perishable food and water, and this is been their longtime standard. FEMA guidelines are one week bare minimum to one month or more.

Short Emergencies: Minimum Recommendations

In the last couple of years there have been many instances of unexpected, prolonged power outages and water supply contamination, that I encourage people to store at least seven days of food and water for each family member and pet (please don’t forget to plan for your pets; many of our customers who have survived outages and disasters say they now keep a month supply of canned or dry food and necessary medications in reserve).
Though it’s hard for most of us to believe in the modern era, severe weather can cause outages of a week or more, and it’s happened quite frequently in the very recent past. Whichever brands and types of food you store should be shelf-stable, packaged in waterproof containers, nutritious and shouldn’t require cooking. That’s a pretty short list of food, and you’re going to get sick of peanut butter and canned tuna really fast if you don’t investigate other options. Our Wise Company ready-to-eat freeze-dried meals offer variety, a long shelf life, and can even be prepared with cold water.

Will you be a Good Samaritan?
Most people are inclined to help their neighbors. People will share whatever they have to help others come through an emergency. If you’ll be checking on neighbors, especially elderly neighbors or others who may be more at risk, we recommend storing enough food for at least one “extra” family member. The same goes for pets. So many of my friends report sharing their pet’s food with displaced animals or their neighbors’ pets in an emergency that I recommend keeping a little extra on hand. Many people feel a moral obligation to help others, but there is good psychology behind it. In disaster most of us want to do something. It gives us a sense of control and boosts our optimism. Sharing food is an easy way to contribute.

Long-term Emergencies and Life Changes

Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy drove home the fact that some disasters are so massive it can take more than a week for emergency responders to reach hard-hit areas, and it can take months for even basic supply chains to recover. If you are in an urban area or a high-risk geographic zone, we recommend you store one to three months of food and invest in a high quality water purifier. Of course, individuals and families who store six months or more of food safety have a significantly higher peace of mind that they will be able to endure any emergency.
The last scenario to consider is how would you and your family survive if our society was disrupted by a war or a pandemic? There are a lot of interesting TV shows based on these futuristic scenarios, but you don’t have to look far back in history to see that it’s actually happened more than once. In his book The Great Influenza, John Barry details how history’s most lethal influenza virus swept the globe killing 100 million people in less than six weeks. The book outlines a chain of events that we would likely see repeated, even with advanced modern medicine and technology. When a virus is able to mutate and spread so quickly, emergency response networks are quickly overwhelmed, hospitals are filled, and society as we know it can change overnight.

I am not an alarmists, but I am a realist. If you’re concerned about these kinds of scenarios, It is recommended you store a years worth of food for each member of your family. Our dehydrated meals have up to a 25-year shelf life, so you don’t have to worry about rotating food or your investment spoiling. And, a year’s worth of food is an important safety net as you establish a self-sustaining food production cycle.

I have some excellent videos on my site that show you how Wise Company food products are made, packaged and show the actual food and preparation. They are at the top of each "Wise Company Food Storage" page. I recommend watching these videos first, this will help you decide which Wise products will be best for you and your family. And after that, you can start down the path of food prepping you and your family for either short term or long term disasters. Another thing to remember is that preparing for disasters is not something that you just buy some things and your done. It is strongly recommended to buy some basic necessities first, and then little by little add to your plan. Make it a small part of your monthly budget and do this year round. Get the kids involved, it will teach them the importance of planning ahead, and I have found that they really enjoy this activity as well.
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