The Fundamentals of Survival Foods
How many survival foods you should have and how you should store them.
In this day and age from Y2K to acts of terrorism we need to be prepared with survival foods. Whether the threat is imagined or real, having survival foods on hand is always a good idea. Of course you may wonder how much is enough and where will you keep it, so here are a few ideas that can help you figure this out.
How much is enough?
Having survival foods on hand is a good idea for any emergency. However if you don’t do a little planning you may find yourself out of food rather quickly. The first thing to do is assess how many people you plan on supporting and for how long.
Most professionals will recommend storing enough survival foods for anywhere from 3 days all the way up to as much as you possibly can. Only your own personal judgment can truly decide that answer. Once you many days of survival foods you need, you can begin to get a picture of how much food you’ll need to stock up on.
You should also remember that you will need drinkable water stores in addition to your food. In fact, if you could only store one or the other, water is the better choice.
How to Store It
How you store your survival foods will be as important as how much you store. Improper storage techniques could leave you with lots of spoiled and inedible food.
The first thing to do is find a clean, cool and dry place for storage. Usually, basements, cellars or large pantries are your best bet. Once you have established good place to store your survival foods you’ll need to address the individual storage methods of your food types.
Canned goods are good to go as long as you make sure to rotate your stock. Dry goods and other snack type foods should be kept in vacuum-packed bags and containers.
Keep It Safe
You will also want to make sure that your survival foods are in an area that is safe and resistant to scavengers and rodents. Nothing can be more disheartening then needing your survival foods supply in an emergency and realizing that Mother Nature’s creatures have decided that your hard work was for their benefit.
Rationing Is the Key
Finally, make sure that ration your food appropriately. That means that if you think that one bag of food should get your group through one day, then you’ll need to stick to it, if not you may find yourself on day 2 or beyond with no food left in your survival foods stock.