{"id":29205,"date":"2019-03-06T15:31:54","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T23:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/offgridsurvival.com\/?p=29205"},"modified":"2026-02-10T23:36:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T07:36:31","slug":"bestemergencyfood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/offgridsurvival.com\/bestemergencyfood\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Emergency Food: The Top Survival Food Supplies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When disaster\nstrikes, not many things are more important than making sure your family has\nenough food and water to sustain themselves during the crisis. While most\nAmericans never think twice about their food security, take one look at your\nlocal grocery store the next time a storm hits, and it will tell you everything\nyou need to know about your ability to procure food during a long-term\ndisaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact is, we live in a very fragile system; one storm is all it takes to throw the balance out of whack. Multiply that and drag it out over an extended period and our food delivery systems are not going to be able to keep up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system simply isn\u2019t designed to handle a long-term crisis. Between panic buying and the fact that grocery stores no longer warehouse inventory, you have yourself a perfect shit storm that is going to multiply the effects of the crisis tenfold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve written multiple articles about the importance of all sorts of survival gear and supplies, including food<\/a> and even liquor<\/a>, but one of the things we haven\u2019t talked about too much is commercial survival food. I\u2019ve avoided the subject for a number of reasons; first, we\u2019ve tested a lot of it, and quite frankly most of it tastes like crap. Second, I still believe you are far better off finding quality long-term, long shelf-life food that fits your families current dietary needs and tastes. That being said, we do know most Americans have a set it and forget it attitude when it comes to preparedness \u2013 that is if they prepare at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So for that reason, and because when it comes to food having something is better than nothing, we are going to take a look at commercial survival meals and how to stockpile emergency provisions and build up a pantry for a long-term crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emergency Food Considerations: How to Stock up the Right Way<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Food<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Before rushing out and buying pallets of supplies that you may never use, you need to take stock of your current situation and put together an inventory of what you use and need on a monthly basis. This will give you a good place to start and will help you understand your true needs and nutritional requirements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While things like preferences and taste matters, it\u2019s essential to really take stock of your nutritional needs and caloric intake<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some things that you need to consider when buying survival food.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Individual\nNeeds within your Group or Family:<\/strong> If you have a family or\ngroup that you are responsible for, the task of stockpiling emergency food will\nrequire some extra effort since you\u2019ll have to consider the specific needs of\neach member of your family. Put together an outline of individual needs,\ncalorie counts and if there\u2019s anyone who is allergic to certain types of food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timeline: How Long should you Plan for?<\/strong> Another important thing that deserves some serious thought is your food stock duration. What types of disasters are you planning for, and how long do you think those disasters will last? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Hurricane Sandy, many communities were affected for weeks; some even went without power for months \u2013 so even during a somewhat routine disaster scenario it\u2019s not unrealistic to imagine that you could be without supplies for quite some time. At a minimum you should be planning to go without access to food and water for two weeks; if your planning for a long-term collapse or crisis then 3-6 months is probably a more likely figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water<\/strong>: While this article is about food, you really can\u2019t discuss nutrition and sustainability without mentioning water. Besides the obvious fact that you need a certain amount to live, most emergency foods are going to require water for preparation. So on top of your normal daily water requirements, you need to understand exactly how much water you are going to need to cook during an extended disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Testing and Tasting<\/strong>: I\u2019ve tested a lot of different survival foods, and I\u2019m not going to lie, most of them are not that good \u2013 some are just plain gross. So before you spend hundreds, or thousands of dollars building out a long-term supply of food, you want to do some testing to make sure it tastes good and agrees with your system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the day it\u2019s about survival, so even the gross stuff has value; that being said, you are going to have one less thing to worry about if you do your testing now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nutrition and Calorie intake: <\/strong>During a disaster, your life is going to change drastically and your activity level could be significantly higher than it is today. That means you need to look at your current nutritional\/caloric intake and factor in external circumstances and extra work that might be required during a disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In general, we recommend taking your current daily calorie intake and increase that by 25%. That is the number that you should be planning for when trying to figure out how many calories you will need during a long-term crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple more food storage considerations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n