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Emergency Preparedness: Long Term Food Storage Tips and Techniques

Last updated on August 25, 2017 By Shawn Hansen Leave a Comment

Whether you’re expecting an earthquake or the zombie apocalypse, it just makes good sense to stock up on food supplies that can last your family through any type of emergency situation. When planning for long term survival, you need to have a good supply of food that is stored properly because you might not be able to leave to get more food. If you’re looking for guidance on how to store your emergency food and water supplies, then let us help.

Emergency Food Storage Basics

Before you run out to the store and load up on supplies, take a moment to familiarize yourself with our tips on how to create a good food supply for emergencies and disasters.

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  1. Focus on staple foods like canned goods, dry beans, and dry mixes because they tend to have a long shelf life. And don’t forget the drinking water!
  2. Pay attention to the expiration dates on your food so nothing goes to waste as a result of spoilage. When storing them, it helps to place the food with the shortest shelf life in the front to make sure it gets used first.
  3. Avoid foods with empty calories, like soda, and stick with items that offer nutritional benefits as well as a high amount of calories.
  4. Since you can’t count on having access to electricity or refrigeration, and since you may need to ration your water, try to find foods that don’t require any of these things when stored. A good example of this type of food is beef jerky.
  5. Remember to store eating utensils and a manual can opener with your food supply.
  6. Check your freezer door seal before an emergency happens so that your food will not spoil quickly.

How To Store Your Emergency Food Supply

Now that you have an idea of the types of food that you’ll need to store for emergency situations, it’s important to know the proper way to store your food. Below we share some tips that will help you do it right.

  • The ideal spot for your food storage is a dark place that is dry and cool, like a basement.
  • You should store all the food sealed supplies in things like plastic containers or tubs and air-tight canisters or jars. This protects the food from critters who might find it when seeking something to eat. It will also protect it somewhat in the event that the area gets flooded.
  • Perishable foods, like saltine crackers, should be wrapped in plastic bags for extra protection before you put them in the sealed plastic tub or other container.
  • Don’t store open food packages on their own – instead, empty the contents into an air-tight canister.
  • Inspect your supply regularly to look for spoiled food. If you notice any canned goods that have become swollen, throw them out.

How To Start Your Prepper Pantry

What To Do When You Lose Electricity?

You’ve just lost power at home, but you’re not worried because you already have an emergency food supply. Great, but what about all that food in your refrigerator and freezer that are going to spoil now?

Focus on the food in the refrigerator first because this is the stuff that will spoil the quickest. You may have some stuff in there that you can cook up on a campfire or camp stove and then prolong it’s shelf life.

After saving what you can from the refrigerator, it’s time to move on to the food in the freezer. Limit the number of times that you open the freezer door, since it is insulated and the food inside will last a bit longer. In fact, FEMA states that food in a freezer can last for two days! Of course, this is only true if your freezer door has a good seal.

You’ll also want to use up any perishables from the garden or the pantry. Once you’ve done all that, you can move on to your non-perishable food storage supply to keep your family fed and nourished.

If you start to run out of food, then you have to begin rationing the food supply. You’ll just need to reduce your daily activity to make sure everyone can survive on less food.

More resources:

  • FEMA – Food and water in an emergency
  • The Survivalist Blog – Low cost food storage ideas for new preppers
  • LDS.org – Longer term food supply

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