Prepare and pack individual emergency backpacks for each family member, including the food and water they will require for a minimum of three days. Practice emergency preparednessĬreate and practice a family disaster plan, including how you will connect as a family in the event disaster strikes while family members are separated at work or school. Assemble an adequate emergency food supply and store it anywhere in your apartment, condo, mobile home, motor home, basement, or garage to equip your family with the ability to stay in one place until conditions improve. It requires little household storage space to prepare for the next disaster. If disaster preparation is on your mind, now may be the best time to plan and stock a family emergency food storage area. To provide the amount and types of foods your family will require to survive, determine the optimal number of calories needed daily for each person, and multiply that total by the number of days you believe you will need to rely on your food reserve before normal food supplies become available. To maintain a reasonable level of energy, our bodies must consume more calories than the bare minimum to avoid declining into a state of semi-starvation. Should an emergency or a food crisis occur, how many family members and friends do you anticipate you will need to feed? How and what do you plan to feed them? Keep in mind any special needs of family members with diet restrictions, food allergies, specific nutritional requirements, diabetes, and infants and the elderly.Īlthough it is possible to go several days without eating as long as you continue to drink water, long periods without nourishment can deplete the body and slow down the metabolism. While coping with the aftermath of a natural disaster, you and your family need to eat. When the power goes out, your food remains safe.
Survival foods are packaged for a long shelf life - anywhere from five to 30 years with no refrigeration required.
Food item shelf life depends on several factors including oxygen, light, temperature, and moisture.