The last two years have shown us major, nationwide droughts. That translates into rising food costs and the possibility of food shortages. Temporary layoffs and disabilities could also make it necessary to live out of your own pantry. And as always, there is the possibility of a major power outage lasting two or three weeks, especially as we head into winter. How much peace of mind would it give you to be 100% self-sufficient for one month when that first ice storm is predicted?
The Food Guys make it very easy to see exactly what your family needs for one month. Simply tell them how many people are in your household, then divide the totals by 12. As you will see, a 30-day supply of food is not very much. For example, one person needs about 25 pounds of grain to last one month. This grain can be in several varieties – wheat, rice, cornmeal, pasta, etc. I focus a lot on wheat for several reasons. It is sproutable, it is extremely nutritious, it’s versatile and it grinds into flour. And we don’t like rice all that much.
Here is what The Food Guys recommend (per person for 30 days), but stock what your family will eat.
Grains – 25 Pounds Total
Wheat 12.5 pounds
Flour 2 pounds
Cornmeal 2 pounds
Oats 2 pounds
Rice 4 pounds
Pasta 2 pounds
Miscellaneous Food Storage Amounts
My 30-day legume supply is low; however, I have a lot of canned meat and TVP. The Food Guys’ recommendation for legumes is 5 pounds TOTAL, including 1/2 pound of dry soup mix. Dried beans are a great source of necessary protein, and some can be sprouted as well.
Our family does not drink a lot of milk. (I could explain why, but that’s another article!) So, The Food Guys’ recommendation for milk would probably be more weighted towards the cheese and butter for us. For dairy, they recommend six pounds, including 1 can of evaporated milk as well as butter, sour cream, cheese, etc. as desired.
I refuse to be stranded without sweets, but a 30-day supply is only 5 pounds, including honey, molasses, jelly/jam, etc. That’s not hard to stock up on!
I had a rough time with fruits and veggies. The Food Guys recommend 15.5 pounds of each, for one person, for 30 days. That sounds like so much. Also, one must store freeze-dried or dehydrated fruits and vegetables in preparation for some kind of emergency. Freeze-dried and dehydrated fruits and vegetables don’t weigh very much. So . . . my husband and I attempted the math. (WARNING: Double check for your own family!) We THINK we figured out that one #10 can each of freeze dried fruits and vegetables is what one person needs for 30 days.
You probably have a 30-day supply of fats and oils on hand already. The Food Guys only recommend 2 pounds, and that includes shortening, oil, peanut butter, salad dressing.
Essentials That Will Last One Year
Baking Powder 1 pound
Baking Soda 1 pound
Yeast 1/2 pound
Salt 5 pounds
Vinegar 1/2 gallon
That’s all for food! It isn’t as hard or expensive as it sounds to stock up for only one month. When that’s done, you can work on the second month, if you’d like. My ultimate goal is 1+ years!
Some Other Necessities
Water: 14 gallons per person for two weeks; 1 gallon of bleach
Something to cook on: seasoned firewood, propane stove
Something to cook in: appropriate pans and tools
Menu plan to make cooking outside as easy as possible, with the least clean up.
A way to clean up: wash tub, water source other than stored drinking water
One month of diapers ( and wipes if desired)
One month of feminine hygiene supplies
Contraception? Will you be exposing yourself to pregnancy during these 30 days, and do you want a
baby nine months from now?
Medical supplies – might you have to stitch somebody up or administer antibiotics or pain meds?
Light
A way to go potty as comfortably as possible
Morale boosters: candy, books (non-electronic!), games, etc.
That’s it! With this list, your family could be completely isolated for 30 days and do just fine.
A pound of baking soda per person? or five pounds of salt? Surely some of these amounts are not for one month.
Not having power would also mean that you’d have to have a plan on how to keep refrigerated items cold, etc. Things like sour cream wouldn’t be on my personal list of emergency foods.
Pet foods? Water for critters if you don’t have a private well with a hand pump?
Kudos for the article, but for my lifestyle, there are a lot of things that aren’t addressed. I think there are more up to date lists and suggestions elsewhere on the web. (Sorry, just my opinion.)
You’re absolutely right! I neglected to note that amounts for things like baking soda are for one year. It’s just really hard to buy less than 1 pound of baking soda! LOL!! I failed to think of pets – good one! I buy my dairy products from http://www.RobinEgerton.ShelfReliance.com. I only use powdered sour cream because I always forget I have it in the fridge and end up throwing it away! I also store powdered butter, milk, shortening, etc. So you are once again very correct – when storing for an emergency, consider your refrigeration needs and how to work around them. This list not working for your family’s life style is also a very astute observation. The point of the articles is to get everybody thinking ahead about what THEIR needs may be! I commend you for thinking outside the box and not just stocking up on what somebody else says! Great comment!
You also forgot to talk about storage of these foods if you get enough to last a year oats and flour are known to get bugs in them. Butter can be stored in jars. Beef, chicken ,and pork can be dehydrated stored in mylar bags for up to 25 years safely so can fruits and veggies and they can retain their nutrients. Basically you need to sit down and figure out what your family eats in a month. It isn’t hard to stock up find sales. Can goods only last so long they go bad also and make sure you rotate your supplies so the oldest food gets eaten first.
Before storing your flour, oats, and rice you could freeze them. This will kill the bugs. Also putting them in air tight containers will keep them bug free too.
Yeah we freeze ours for a few days and then store in air tight containers in the pantry. Our wheat berries last a long time that way.
I put a bay leaf in all my flour, cornmeal, etc. and have never had a weevil in my pantry. It works!
I guess I assumed that since the header for that group of foods is “Essentials That Will Last One Year”, that these food amounts were for a year, but maybe it’s been added since original comment.
I wish I had more of a water source. As it is, we have enough drinking water for a month, but I hope I also have enough drinking water for my dogs and cat. The cat doesn’t drink a lot, but my two 100 lb dogs do! I have found a way where I think that I can store water for them. This is a neat trick, and will keep the foods in your fridge and freezer cool for a lot longer.
I don’t drink soda, but when we have parties or go to parties, I collect the 2-liter bottles of soda pop once they are empty. I wash them out, and fill them with tap water, almost to the top. Then, I put them in the freezer.
This helps in a few ways. One, when / if the power goes out, they are huge blocks of ice and can keep the freezer food cold so the perishables don’t spoil. You can also put a few in the fridge as well, to keep that cold. Open the fridge door only once a day. I think, depending on the insulation in the fridge, your foods would stay cool for at least a week.
Then, when the ice melts, you have water for your pets (and for you, if needed).
I have dozens of these, but right now it is winter time and I have taken them out of my freezer to make room for our beef cow and chicken breasts we ordered in bulk. If the power goes out anytime in the next 2-3 months, we won’t have to worry about food spoilage, we just leave things outside, maybe packed in snow (this of course doesn’t apply to those folks who don’t get a real winter, but I am in Utah and was in Minnesota before this).
If there is snow, I definitely would use that for water for the animals and also for cleaning/cooking, etc. We have water filters and water purification systems, but I just worry that there won’t be enough snow or rain.
Another cool idea is to purchase those solar landscape lights. They can be purchased anywhere from $1 to about $8 each, depending on quality and size, etc. You can purchase maybe a dozen or so… and leave them outside during the day (even in the winter there should be enough sunlight to charge them). They should hold a charge at least for a few hours, when you need them between the hours of maybe 5 or 6pm and 10pm, when you go to bed. So, bring them inside, and they will light areas of your house so you don’t have to be in complete darkness. Then, your lantern can be used in the one room that you gather… these solar lights can be used in the bathrooms and hallways, and as nightlights for the little ones to have while they fall asleep.
Those are my tips. I get milk from a local farmer, and cows still need to be milked even if the power is out, so I probably will still be able to get my raw milk. Then I can make sour cream, cheese and butter. I will have to make butter the hard way, but it will work, just take longer…
Good luck, and pray that we won’t need these things!
Hi.
Want to thank you for posting survival information. I have been preparing for only a short time and hour tips are great. Keep up the good work. God bless.
ginny
it all sounds good; I appreciate all of the above comments
I find that those food storage calculators don’t work so well for my family. We are not at the point where we buy dried foods or bulk foods yet.
I started doing my food storage by making meal plans of what we normally eat. I looked for canned or dried versions of the normally fresh or refrigerated ingredients an slowly started adding different types of beans into dishes we already like in place of meat. I wrote down the quantities we went through of every thing for a month and tried to have as few repeat meals as possible. I calculated our food storage off of this and I try to pick up extra of what we use whenever possible. Doing the meal plans and eating out of our storage gave me a real eye opening experience as to what I needed to do.
I have no means of grinding my own flour yet and I rarely bake because it usually doesn’t turn out well unless is pre bought mixes but I am working on getting better at it and looking into adding non electric cooking equipment and food processing stuff to our kitchen.
For beginners with a large family I suggest to go about it the same way I did. It seems tedious and time consuming but its really not bad and gives you a chance to write down all your families favorite recipes. I now have a very cute little cookbook with all of the recipes from all sides of the family plus our own concoctions and ones we’ve found on the web or in other books. That way anyone can look in that book and make meals from it just out of our pantry!
I kept a clipboard (magnetic strips on the back) on my fridge the whole time I was doing this and as I used something I wrote it down then just used tally marks to mark how many pounds or ounces I used every time I used it. I kept a second list that had every recipient name on it and checked them off as I used them. Now when I go shopping I have a master list of things we use and I can easily keep track of how much I have or need of each item and it gives me a chance to search out healthier versions and the items with the longest shelf life. I still buy fresh food and things that need refrigeration but I make sure I have a pantry stable alternative available too.
Sorry for the double comment my phone hates me sometimes!
I hope this helps someone!!!!