Survival Food And Emergency Food Storage

Sometimes, thinking about storage for your survival food may seem overwhelming, but I get it. Let’s make this simple; we can do it together. It may be the cost to purchase it, or maybe we’re not sure where to start when choosing the right survival food, and then there’s the issue of where to store what you buy. First, you don’t need to go out and buy 100 #10 cans and stash them in a dark closet. We can develop a plan, set some goals, and start slow.

Depending on how many people are in your family, you can make a plan to fit your needs. This plan is quite simple, and I’ll tell you how to start. The first thing is to gather your family around and decide what survival foods everyone will eat today and after an unforeseen emergency. Hopefully, they’ll be the same foods. It’s important to purchase storage foods that your family members like and will eat now, and in an emergency.

Food You Can Tolerate

We don’t want surprises and sick family members eating foods they can’t physically tolerate or don’t want to eat. I know; I can hear my dad saying, “If you’re starving, you will eat anything,” when you need to prepare emergency meals. Of necessity, we do have to consider family members who need gluten-free foods or have ingredients like nuts that cause some serious allergy issues. The downside to some of these “specialty foods” is the additional cost.

When I started my survival food stash as part of my emergency preparedness plan, I had to make a plan to match my budget and food choices, and I had to know the right foods for Mark and me. Mark doesn’t care for sweet potatoes, but I bought a case of six #10 cans because they were cheaper by the case. I’ll eat those and love every bite! I planned to buy one case of #10 cans monthly, including the foods we both like.

If you’re new, a #10 can is 6.25 inches in diameter and 7 inches high. I appreciate that Thrive Life came out with a Pantry can that is 4 inches in diameter by 5.5 Inches high. For the last two years, I’ve been purchasing pantry-sized cans because they are smaller, cheaper, and easier to store for us.

Freeze Dried Food for Storage

I mainly purchased things like fruits and vegetables. When I started buying food storage items, there weren’t any organic or non-GMO choices for emergency food storage items. It’s great now because several companies offer non-GMO food items and certified Organic food in #10 cans.

I purchased freeze-dried cheeses, meats like chicken, beef, and sausage, freeze-dried fruits like blueberries and strawberries, and freeze-dried vegetables like corn, beans, peas, green beans, and tomatoes. They aren’t organic and may be GMO. What can you do when certain companies own the seeds of so many plants?

I’ll still eat the food in those cans, and I can’t afford to replace them. That would be wasteful. The #10 cans are so expensive now that I can’t recommend buying them. I do buy the pantry size of certain foods. And a lot of canned goods from the grocery store, especially when they are available as part of a case lot sale. It’s good quality food, and we’ll enjor eating these products now, and when we have an emergency.

Emergency Survival Food Storage

Freeze-Dried vs Dehydrated

Freeze-dried foods are more expensive, but they use less fuel and water to prepare meals at home. Dehydrated foods typically need water to cook them and are a lot cheaper. However, dehydrated foods will use more fuel to heat the meals so they can be eaten. This is where you have to weigh your options.

The more dehydrated food you buy, the more fuel you will need to make the hot water for rehydration. If you have the sunshine, I highly suggest a Sun Oven. This gem uses zero fuel; yay! But if you rarely have the sunshine to make them work, don’t buy one. Man, have they gone up in price since I bought the two I have? WOW!

I’ve tried almost every emergency survival food storage item on the market. I’ve been blessed by many companies giving me boxes to try and then writing a review about them. Whatever you buy, please look at the ounces in each can and the shipping cost. Not all #10 cans are equal in price, quantity, and high quality. Look at the ingredients to compare them. Here are just a few of my favorite companies.

Augason Farms, Honeyville, Thrive Life, Mountain House, and Valley Food Storage, to name just a few. Emergency food storage is fantastic, but we need water to go with it.

Water Is Critical

By now, you know that the American Red Cross recommends one gallon of water per person daily. I highly recommend four gallons per person per day. We need water to hydrate ourselves, cook meals, maintain personal hygiene, and wash at least our underwear.

Emergency Survival Food

Please remember this is a very short list, as in staples or essentials, but we need to start somewhere, right? Many of these items are considered perishable food, so we must plan our storage containers and shelf-life accordingly. Keeping an active inventory with a scheduled inspection and rotation as necessary is very important. Being able to keep the food free of moisture, pests, and bacteria can’t be overemphasized.

Living here in the Salt Lake City, UT, area means we don’t have to deal with humidity as you would in states like Florida, but we still need to have things stored in air-tight containers whenever possible. Pre-packaged foods come with an expiration date or use-by date. They are a great guide when it comes to keeping or disposing of an item. I follow the adage, if in doubt, throw it out. You don’t want family members to get sick, so review your inventory on a consistent basis.

1. Instant milk:

This is perfect for your morning cereal or to use when baking. Even in an emergency, we like to keep our routines as normal as possible, so being able to serve milk as part of our emergency food supplies means a lot. I have a ton of freeze-dried instant dry milk. If for nothing else, it will be very handy when you bake recipes calling for milk.

2. Baking powder:

We need this to make cakes, muffins, and other baked items. Check the dates and rotate as required. I NEVER buy large containers, and please remember that fresh is best for taste, texture, and consistency.

3. Baking Soda:

Again, we need this for so many recipes: stock it and rotate it. I always try to think about the shelf-life of what I’m purchasing to get the best long-term food storage possible when planning emergency supplies.

4. Bread or White Flour:

Please learn to make loaves of bread, dinner rolls, and cinnamon rolls. It’s a skill everyone needs. I bet you love the smell of warm bread from the oven!! You should consider flour to be more of a short-term food supply item. I mostly use bread flour rather than all-purpose flour in my food supply. I get excellent results no matter what I’m baking.

5. Salt:

Salt is used for seasoning, baking, and so much more. Keep it dry, and DO NOT USE oxygen absorbers, or you will have a salt-brick. If properly stored in an air-tight bucket or another suitable BPA-free sealable and durable container, it can be considered a long-term storage item you can count on.

6. Honey:

Real honey is one of those foods that can last forever. Please store your honey in glass jars with a quality lid; plastic containers will crack. Yes, I’ve had plastic containers crack and leak in the pantry. If you buy honey in 5-gallon containers, please transfer it into quart-size wide-mouth (preferably) jars because the honey will crystallize, and it’s easier to deal with when in smaller quantities.

Here’s the deal: you don’t want to have to chisel that honey out of a 5-gallon container. You can “soften” your honey a lot easier in quart-size jars in warm water or set the jars outside in the sun.

7. Sugar:

We all use sugar for baking, cooking, and everything in between. I also stock Stevia in the Raw for treats with fewer calories. Even in disasters, we all like sweet comfort foods. A natural disaster can come in forms like a hurricane, flood, wildfire, snowstorm, earthquake, etc. It’s nice to know we can make something everyone will like, as long as it’s safe. Please note: Keep it dry, and DO NOT USE oxygen absorbers in sugar; you will have a giant brick.

8. Spices we love to use:

I wrote this post that may help you get started, 33 Essential Spices I Recommend Stocking Up On Spices come in handy when you make a family favorite snack, so have a variety you can put to use when needed.

9. Vanilla:

Oh, vanilla is one of the best things to stock. I use it for baking, cooking, and so much more! I believe Costco has the best price on vanilla, so I usually buy 3-4 jars.

10. Unsweetened cocoa:

I stock a lot of this because I love my homemade hot chocolate, cookies, and cakes. Texas Sheet Cake Smaller One

11. Oils-coconut, olive oil, etc.:

Everyone has their favorite oils, and I buy oil in small containers (about 1 quart) because I still believe fresh is best. I have read where people freeze or refrigerate their oil. As with so many food items, store your oils in a cool and dark place, like a basement, to help maintain a longer shelf life.

12. Chocolate (this is my essential treat):

This one needs no explanation. I love dark chocolate more than milk chocolate. Life is wonderful with your favorite chocolate!

13. Pancake Mix:

When my girls were little, I made pancake mix from scratch. Then, I discovered Krusteaz from Costco, a game-changer for me. I store the bag in the freezer to keep it fresh. Just add water; this is a great food storage item.

14. Pancake Syrup:

I genuinely believe I’m a Pancake Syrup snob. I wish I weren’t, but I grew up on Log Cabin maple syrup, and it’s still my favorite. Oh, and we heat it a bit; it’s so good. Also, consider getting real maple syrup. You’ll love the flavor and appreciate the fact it’s nature’s natural food.

15. Rice/Quinoa/Lentils/Pasta/Oats:

These are the items to store to fill the belly, so to speak, and yet be healthy simultaneously. This is why it’s critical to cook from scratch. I have a bunch of different kinds of pasta so I can make homemade spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, rigatoni, and more.

16. SAF Yeast:

This is the only yeast I buy; I freeze several pouches in the freezer. If I open one pouch, I place the yeast in a glass jar and put it in the refrigerator. Yes, you can make sourdough bread without yeast, but it’s nice to have options.

17. Hard White Wheat:

You’ll save so much money if you can afford a wheat grinder and want to make whole wheat bread. Of course, if you have gluten issues, this won’t work for you. As my girls were growing up we’d grind our wheat and make homemade bread just about every week. Nothing like a slice of hot bread with butter, honey, peanut butter, and/or jam.

18. Beans:

Dried AND canned beans such as pinto, refried, black, garbanzo, kidney, chili, etc. Beans are a good source of protein and less expensive than most meat products.

Ready To Eat Food

Here’s the deal: you can buy ready-to-eat cans of food that you don’t need to heat on your stove in a pinch, like chili, beef stew, green beans, canned corn, fruit cocktail, canned peaches, canned pears, and so much more. Peanut butter and jam are great for this section, too. Harry taught me something about placing peanut butter in FoodSaver bags and freezing it. No more outdated peanut butter, game-changer!

Extras For The Pantry

And don’t forget spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, or tomato paste. I love Rotel tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and green chilies. Whenever you pick up a can, think about this: will I eat this? Can I prepare a meal with this? Mayonnaise, Miracle Whip, and pickles are great to add as well.

If you have infants or young children, you’ll need to consider their unique food requirements. Have plans to store formula and small bottles or cans of baby food.

Garden

Please stock the garden seeds you can grow. This is where I buy my garden seeds: SeedsNow

You rock if you have a garden and learn to produce enough to preserve the harvest by water canning or pressure canning! Nothing is more exhilarating than seeing quart jars you canned yourself lined up on shelves.

Please be aware that I’ve seen some blogs teaching you how to butter, eggs, and bacon. They are not safe to eat! Others will question this comment, but when I took the classes to get my Master Canning Certificate, that is precisely what the professional canning instructor told us.

I remember one ICU nurse saying, “If they can those foods, I hope they make it out of the ICU alive when they can and then eat them.” Here is the best USDA Canning Book I recommend you use. The spiral-bound one is awesome!

Another excellent canning book I recommend is The Ball Canning Guide.

How To Store Basic Food Storage

Final Word

There is something about having a garden to add items to your survival and emergency food kits as part of your storage plan. But we also need to have the skills to cook from scratch. If you can learn to make bread, tortillas, or crackers, you can survive with the foods I have listed above. Of course, this is a very short list, but it gives you an idea of where to start with a few cans and jars here and there. Thanks for being prepared for the unexpected. May God bless this world, Linda