Emergency Food Supply
Emergency situations can happen at any time. Think about what has happened in the last year with COVID. Think about what has happened in Texas with the power grids. Can you survive for a week under dire circumstances if your power was out or the food supply is drastically reduced? It’s not only important to have food and water stored in order to get through the emergency, but to also know food safety tips, especially if you don’t have the power to keep your food at the necessary temperature to keep it safe to eat.
Before we delve into how to keep your food safe during an emergency, it’s important to discuss your food supply and what you should have incase of an emergency.
Here’s the deal, it took 4 days before executive orders were signed and put into place to send relief to Texas. With that being said, some people didn’t have access to food or water or even heat for 4 days or longer! Opinions vary greatly when it comes to the amount of food and water you should have on hand. At the very minimum, you should have at least a week’s worth of extra food and water, however, I would recommend having at least a month and try to ultimately have up to six months available. In case you missed this post, Canned Foods I Highly Recommend You Store
Do you love a clean kitchen as much as I do? We never know when we will lose water or power during and after a disaster. It’s critical we stay on top of keeping our kitchens clean and sanitary. I’m sure most of you do, but there may be a few who need to be more aware of disasters and how they may affect their ability to properly clean countertops, faucets, stovetops, microwaves, refrigerators, freezers, and more.
We need to be one step ahead of the storm, so to speak. If I see dark clouds heading my way, I start doing ANY laundry I might have sitting in the hamper. I’m lucky I have several ways to do laundry after a disaster, but I like being ahead of the game. Please stock cleaning supplies, those will be the first to disappear in the grocery stores after an unforeseen emergency. Don’t forget some bleach, we will need it if the sewers back up and “stuff” ends up on your floors.
For the most part, I would say to store what you eat. However, what you eat may not be able to withstand not having electricity or the ability to cook your food. For that reason, I also recommend storing emergency foods. They may not be the most appetizing choices, but they will get you through a tough patch of time. The Federal Emergency Management Agency recommends having the following foods on hand for emergencies:
For longer term, you should also have the following:
In addition to these foods, don’t forget about food for babies and pets because they are a big part of your family.
When it comes to emergency situations, it is important to have non-perishable items you can rely on if there’s no electrical power or gas for cooking. However, that doesn’t mean you won’t have perishable food in an emergency. If your power goes out, and you have food in your fridge and freezer, here are some safety tips to keep in mind:
Once you are no longer able to keep your food cold, here are some steps to take to help determine if you can eat it or not:
If food is in your freezer, it has a whole different set of guidelines to throwing it out. In fact, certain foods can even be refrozen after it reaches a certain temperature. Here are your food safety tips for your freezer food:
If an emergency happens, there are some rules to keep in mind to ensure you eat food that is safe:
In case you missed some of my other food preparedness posts, here are some others you may want to check out:
When it comes to having enough to eat in an emergency, it’s not just about having the food, but also keeping it at the right temperatures. If you don’t already have one, I would recommend getting a refrigerator/freezer thermometer to check your food in the event of a power outage. Remember, plan for the worst, and hope for the best! Finally, no matter what the tips above stipulate or suggest, if there is any question about the safety of a particular item, plan to follow the adage, “If in doubt, throw it out.” Please keep prepping, we must. May God Bless this world, Linda
Copyright Images: Kitchen Cleaning Concept Deposit photos_132192336_s-2019
All good to know, Linda.
There is condensed soup on the list of FEMA recommended foods to store. I would suggest that instead of condensed soup, we store soups that are ready to heat and eat without the addition of water in the event that we only have the water we have stored. I would save that water for other foods like the milk, coffee, tea and hot chocolate and drinking/cleaning!
That being said, I do keep some condensed soups on the shelf but they would not be the ones I would purchase if I knew a storm was coming in that might disrupt electricity and water.
Also, because of the issue for time with the refrigerated and frozen foods, my parents always said: eat the refrigerated foods first then the frozen. Of course, that will work in my case only because I keep a minimum of both – being single, feeding only myself! If I had a huge freezer full of meat, veggies and fruit, that would definitely be a different story. Also, when I was growing up, during the winter we lost power occasionally for a day or two and mom & dad always taped up the freezer (a large one) and wrapped it with heavy quilts to maintain the cold. If we had a lot of snow on the ground (and that was generally the case causing the power outage) dad had some forms that he packed with snow and wet down to create “ice” blocks that could then be used if the power was out longer. We were fortunate that we lived right on a river so if we couldn’t pump our water we were able to go to the river and chop through the ice to get water for all our needs. It was tedious and we generally had to let the water sit for hours to allow the sediment to settle but we never were without water.
Other tips that I would suggest: If you know there is a storm coming your way, fill jars/bottles with water and pack in your freezer in plenty of time to freeze. This will help your freezer and frozen foods stay frozen or cold longer. Refrain from opening the refrigerator and freezer as much as possible – only open when you get things out to cook or make your meals.
I love hearing about people like you who don’t just roll up when it gets tough.
Your folks showed you they way and that’s the way it should be.
Hi Leanne, it’s good you were taught the tools to survive the elements. Those of us who had parents that knew we needed skills taught us by example were the best! Life is good when we are self-reliant. Linda
That brings back memories. My mother would always fill our biggest pots with water and keep them on the stove when a storm was heading our way, so we always had water. These days I have a stash of bottled water and eight of the 5 gallon water containers so if I’m caught out with no notice I still have a month of water on hand. With notice I can fill my WaterBob and our big kitchen pots to extend that time before I have to take some containers down to the river to resupply.
And I totally agree about soups. I keep condensed soups on hand only for cooking – cream of mushroom, tomato, and cheddar cheese. Otherwise I get the Progresso ready to eat canned soups since it won’t eat into my stored water supply.
Wanted to add one more option for milk…since the pandemic started I have a supply of ultra-pasteurized boxed milk – it tastes just like regular milk, because it is regular milk, just the natural bacteria in it have been killed so it can last for over a year from packaging with no refrigeration. I don’t have to worry about keeping it cold until I open a box. In my supermarkets it can be found near the powdered milk in the baking aisle.
Hi Dmwalsh, great tip on the pasteurized milk, it’s a great reminder! Thank you! You know I love hearing you are prepared with water! Linda
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I’m Linda Loosli. I’m the owner and editor of Food Storage Moms. I’m so happy you’ve found us. Our goal at Food Storage Moms is to help “one family at a time.”
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Emergency Food Supply
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