Please remember that there is difference between immediate food needs and medium to long term food needs. I am storing 2 weeks supply for immediate supply needs. For your preparation, you can store 2-4 weeks worth of food. I strongly encourage you to customized your own critical food list to your needs, if you are too worried that you may miss something important, you can refer to the "expert" advise at 37 critical food for disaster
The method that I use to prepare the list is straight forward, go though my grocery receipt for the 2-3 month, the idea is to store what we consume. There is no point in storing items that we do not normally used. They I did a quick check if the food items meets the recommended food pyramid. You can refer the Food Pyramid at wiki for more info about them
Below is my list :
Alex Top Ten List of Critical food item
1- Pasta , dried noodles ,instant noodle
Pack the carb, the most important food items for energy
2- Wheat flour , rice , yeast , salt
Pls pack the yeast to bake bread. Freshly baked warm loaf is a treat to the whole family
3-Canned food , selection of chicken, meat , sardines and tuna , tomatoes, corn ,nuts
Get the food that you use. I would like to remind the benefit of nuts, it is highly nutritional, full of energy , making it a wise choice for food.
4-Water : No brainer on this item, you need water to survive .. period.
5- Cigarettes & tobacco - I am not advocating smoking but you will be surprised the number of doors / opportunity opens up with the simple offer of cigarettes and smoke. Our forefather smoked pipe together for peace and the tradition has not really dies off. You should also be wise in offering this item for gesture as it is also very useful trade tools in the coming days.
7- Chocolate bars (and energy bars?) , I personally prefers chocolate bars and ignore the energy bars. Energy bars is nothing more than a carb+fibre glazed with sugar.
6- Infant Formula and baby food - for my kids . You do not want be short on this during crisis period. The worst thing could happen is to have you child going hungry while in the middle of the crisis So better stock up a bit more than 2 weeks. Some people suggest on soy milk as substitute but I still prefer the real thing
8- Dried meet & fish and herbs- for quick and meal in case of real real emergency
Dried meet and fish are very versatile, they are lighter compared to the canned cousin and they do not get spoil easily. These items are good for packing if you need to travel light for few days where cooking is not an option.
9- Spirits
Consider putting this as part of the critical items list even if you do not drink. Spirit is good for washing wounds and sterilizing items. It could be the body warmer in the harsh living condition.
10 - Cannabis : Some people prefer to put popcorn on their list but I prefer weed. The benefit of weed has been well documented for centuries, even The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does acknowledge that "there has been considerable interest in its use for the treatment of a number of conditions, including glaucoma, AIDS wasting, neuropathic pain, treatment of spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis, and chemotherapy-induced nausea,". It may sound harsh, but the pain-killer property of weed could make it highly desirable during the crisis, which makes it a good trading currency as well.
There you have it , Alex top 10 critical food item from Alex Disaster Preparedness Checklist .
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You have mentioned quick and energetic foods during disaster. These can be utilize on later stage and give you better options. I want to use some cooking breakfast recipes which can be at work during emergency.
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