During the power outages of Hurricane Helene, I learned a few lessons. I wrote about most of them in this article. There are some that I want to dive into in a bit more detail, however. One of them is considerations for a 72-hour food supply and how to build one.
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Having a store of food that can be used in a “lights-out” emergency is a really good idea. I have long-term stored foods intended to last for months. However, transitioning to these food supplies from regular supplies of groceries is a fairly big step that requires some alteration in my lifestyle. The lights-out, short-term, 72-hour food supply is to get you through a short-term emergency, or ease the transition into a longer-term emergency. It can also double as an excellent mobile food supply should you have to bug out. There are some specific factors you should consider when building this short-term food supply, and this article will examine them.
I’ve written quite a few general articles on preparedness, but I’ve yet to write one specifically on food storage. So here goes.
Require Only Hot Water
Boiling water is a capability you should possess, even if the lights go out. It is the staple method of boiling water. as well as a requirement for many heat-and-eat meals. The ability to boil water really opens up your short-term food options. You don’t necessarily have to have food items that require boiling water, but they shouldn’t require more elaborate preparation. I do think “hot water required” is pretty much the standard; eating cold food constantly gets old. A hot meal provides a lot of comfort.
I have a Jetboil Flash and I absolutely LOVE it. I have owned it for over a decade and it has a lot of miles on it, and a lot of fuel through it. Despite my love for the Jetboil, it is expensive. Much cheaper isobutane stoves are a widely available on Amazon for about $10 apiece. Even if you have a Jetboil, one of these would be a great idea as a backup.
Also make sure you have a few cans of fuel. I consistently get over 20 boils out of a small (100 gram) can, and many more than that out of the larger, 450-gram Jetpower cans and 500-gram knockoff cans from Walmart. Keep in mind the larger fuel canisters also provide a more stable base for the stove.
Single-Serve Packaging
Single-serve packaging helps with sanitation by keeping waste down. Without power you may not have refrigeration. Even if you have a generator, you may have to displace and live out of your vehicle, a tent, or camper, or whatever other provisions you have. Being able to eat an entire bag/box/cup/sleeve/package of your chosen food means no leftovers to spill, stink, or attract vermin. Even better, a lot of single-serve food also come in their own disposable container so you don’t have to worry about doing dishes with limited water.
Single-serve packaging does impose a cost premium. Single-serve doesn’t necessarily mean you have to buy packages with just on serving, though. It means whatever gets opened, gets eaten. Most actual serving sizes are far smaller than what the average American is used to eating (see the next section). If you have a family of three, all eating the same thing, a large can of soup may be a single serving. A quick glance around the grocery store shows mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, oatmeal, noodle cups, and plenty other foods in ready-to-eat, just add hot-water containers. Beware that some of these are intended to be microwaved and may not work well with just hot water.
Appetizing & Comforting
The foods you choose need to at least somewhat appetizing. Yes, you can get by on nothing but ramen, but you don’t really want to. Believe me – by the second night you’re really going to start wishing for something that tastes like what you normally eat, and some variety. This is doubly true if you have kids. Most probably aren’t going to want to eat ramen three meals a day (I am NOT the expert on kids, though, so maybe they will). Your 72-hour food supply should mimic what you normally eat as closely as possible. In a disaster you don’t want the added stress of not feeling satisfied after dinner.
You will also want to add in some comfort items. I cannot live without coffee, so my 72-hour food supply has instant coffee packets. You may want herbal teabags, Liquid IV, instant Kool-Aid mix, or other additives to promote drinking plenty of water. If you eat a lot of sweets, you will likely want to set aside some sort of sweets. On-sale Halloween candy would be an excellent time to stock up on cheap sweets.
You need to get control of your addictions, NOW!
Finally – I can’t believe I’m saying this – if you have addictions to alcohol or tobacco, you need to be prepared to feed them. You will not suddenly quit because roads are destroyed or your home is flooded. You will take unnecessary risks to get your alcohol or tobacco or heroin (there is very little function difference in how addicts behave toward their chosen substance). One of the first people I rescued during Helene was a man on his way to get cigarettes. You need to get control of your addictions, NOW (I am 23 days into Sober October at time of this writing)! In the meantime, keep enough of your drug of choice to sustain you for a few days.
72 Hours is Just a Start
Seventy-two hours is a great starting point for an emergency food supply! If you can self-sustain for 72 hours (3 days) completely unaided, you are a tremendous asset to your family, your community, and your nation. If everyone in America could do that we would be incredibly resilient. Unfortunately all cannot do that. As this last disaster taught me, it may be more than days before help makes it to you. Some Citizens of my area had bridges and roads completely washed away while others were cut off by landslides. Some people needed to last for as much as a week before contact arrived.
Additionally, after 72 hours is when things will start to get a little “restless” as food supplies dwindle. I believe you should strive for a goal of two to three times the initial 72 hours. You don’t have to build it all at once, though. Instead of spending this month’s discretionary cash on 10 days of breakfast foods for your family, invest it on a three day supply for the entire family. Build it methodically, a day at a time for all family members. Also be sure to add water (1 gallon per person per day) as you go along.
72-Hour Food Supplies are Second Line
When a disaster hits that limits your access to food and/or cuts your electricity, you want to start eating what is in the fridge and freezer. Even if you have a generator, you probably don’t have unlimited stores of fuel for it. The goal is to waste as little refrigerated and frozen food as possible, and to wait as long as possible before depleting your stored food.
If you have a generator, you may be wondering if a dedicated 72-hour food supply is even necessary. In my opinion YES IT IS. If stored in a single container along with a couple trash bags, a roll of paper towels, disposable flatware, your portable stove, and a couple of fuel canisters, it is a ready-made food kit you can throw in your vehicle should you have to evacuate. Why try to cram everything in a backpack when you still have a working vehicle? You should still have a go-bag in case your vehicle dies or roads become impassible, but make maximum use of your car until then.
Reasonably Shelf-Stable
Since we are packing this food up for “one day,” your 72-hour food supply needs to be at least somewhat shelf-stable. A year on the expiration date would be a good starting point. I would pick a month each year to go through this food storage and replace expired or damaged items. “Expired” doesn’t necessarily mean bad (more on that in a second) but you don’t want to put expired stuff on the shelf for another year.
It’s worth pointing out that expiration dates are completely arbitrary. They are based on nothing whatsoever. I’m not going to tell you to eat expired stuff, but food doesn’t magically go bad on the date stamped on the package. I trust my own senses, evolved over millennia, to tell me what’s good or bad rather than some faceless corporation.
Nutritionally Sound
Finally, your long-term food supply should provide the nutrients that you need. Protein is the thing that folks seem to focus very heavily on, and it is important. I would also attempt to make sure you are getting plenty of fiber. Fiber is extremely important to your long-term health. Perhaps more importantly in a grid-down emergency, it makes bowel movements much easier. This sounds kind of silly, but you don’t want to spend all day squatting over a bucket.
Just as important as what is in the food is what is NOT in it. I don’t want loads of preservatives, sugar, salt, and fat (I realize the items in the photos would indicate otherwise). I am moving toward more healthful food items that are closer to what I eat every day. Mountain House meals get a bad rap, but their ingredients aren’t actually all that bad. MREs, on the other had, are the last thing I would stock for emergency foods due to the extreme levels of sodium and preservatives they contain.
Perfect World vs. Real World
I think the Mountain House freeze-dried meals come about as close as anything to a perfect solution. They are extremely lightweight, require only hot water to prepare, are in disposable packaging from which you can eat. They are nutritionally dense, fill, and have an incredibly shelf life. I will be in my 70s before some of these meals meet their expiration date. These meals are also appetizing. If I lost my job and needed to subsist on stored foods, I’d have no problem eating these. The only downside is cost: at around $10/meal, these meals are very expensive, though three-day and five-day meal kits reduce cost somewhat.
The more economical (and frankly, probably more realistic) approach is to buy a few things at at time that meet the criteria above. This stuff doesn’t have to be super expensive. It doesn’t even have to be dedicated survival food. Whatever you do, do something. At the beginning of this month, Uncle Zo asked, “is it too late to start preparing?” With groceries on the shelves and things humming along as usual, the answer is emphatically NO! You have time to drastically improve your position, but you better get to work! The next disaster is just around the corner.
