Get Ready! The 3 major Types of Emergency Food Storage

If you ask anyone that seems to be prepared, you will find that almost of us believe that preparedness is about two things:

First, preparedness is layered. You do the best that you can for right now, but you are always learning more and adding more as time, money, and skills allow. For example, you may want to have an amazing outdoor portable kitchen complete with a brick oven, fire pit, all of the bells and whistles, etc.  But for now you have a dutch oven and a supply of charcoal. You are watching for sales on a fancy camp chef, but for now you borrow your neighbor's when you need to can.

Second, preparedness is diversified.  You never "put all of your eggs in one basket".  You have a variety of ways to do each thing. For shelter, you have things prepared for your own home, you have 2 different tents that you have acquired over the years.  You have more than enough sleeping bags for your family because some are -0 rated, but some are just regular ones.  For your food storage, you don't just have wheat and beans, you also have some food that you could throw together without much preparation, and also food that can keep you going in an emergency without any preparation at all.

My friend Margene has the blog DIY Preparedness.  She coined the phrases Ready to Eat, Ready to Make, and Long Term Food Storage.  I have always planned this way, but never had the great words!  This post will be about the basics of the three major types of emergency food storage, then watch for subsequent posts that go into detail on each type.

First: Ready to Eat--also know as 72 hour kit or evacuation food. This food is something that requires, little of no preparation and can be eaten quickly and afford enough calories to survive in the event of an emergency.  An emergency can be an earthquake, or something as simple as your power has gone out because of construction and you still need to feed your family. The type of food you store is dependent on your situation and personal taste.  Currently, I have cans of fruit, ravioli, sunflower seeds, nuts, and water stored.  I am working on getting lightweight emergency bars.  We also have some freeze dried meals--but those can be expensive and require water and usually some cooking.  Layers and diversify!  You would want to store a minimum of 72 hours of this type of food, but work you way up to two weeks or even a month of emergency food.  Along with this Ready to Eat food, you should have a water supply.  It should be at LEAST 2 weeks of water for each person and animal in your household, but if you have the ability to store more I would strongly encourage you to do so.  Each person should have a MINIMUM of 1 gallon per day.  I have another post about water coming, but you try to live on 1 gallon of water a day for eating, cooking, cleaning, etc and see if you can do it, then you will know that you really should have more like at least 2 gallons of water per person per day and more like a 3 month supply.  Start where you can and build on it.

This is a great example of basic Ready to Eat Food.  There is a post about how to get you 72 hour kit on a budget at Prepared Housewives.

Second: Ready to Make--this food is planned out so that you have every ingredient at hand AND it is food that you already eat. You want to have a 90 day supply of this kind of food storage.  This food is so important for extend emergencies, like the aftermath of an earthquake, or a job loss, or extended illness.  The peace that comes from knowing you have 3 months of meals ready to make is beyond any kind of insurance you can buy.

Third:  Long Term and Life Sustaining Food Storage--this is the staples of life grains and beans.  You will only survive off of this, to truly thrive, plan on supplementing with fruits and vegetables you can grow or harvest and further protein sources from raising or hunting.  This type of food storage is called a year supply.  It is usually stored in airtight buckets, #10 metal cans, or mylar bags.  It is designed to last 10-30 years or more.

The basics of this are per person: 

300 lbs of grain--wheat, rice, oats, flour* 

(*only stores 1-10 years depending on how it is stored)

60 lbs of beans and legumes--black, white, pinto beans, split peas

20 pounds of Oil--must be rotated frequently

8 pounds of Salt--should be iodized

16 pounds of Dry Milk

Sugar or Honey

While this photo does a good job of helping you see the basics and how little space it really can take up, keep in mind that if possible you need to get these into mylar bags or #10 can to protect from moisture or rodents as soon as your budget allows.

Now that you have the overview, watch for posts on:

Ready to Eat Emergency Food Storage

Water Storage & Purification 

Ready to Make 90 day Food Storage

Long Term and Life Sustaining Food Storage