Food
There are various levels of food that you can include in your 72-hr kit. We will discuss each. One should plan for 1,200 calories/person/day as a bare minimum for survival up to 2,900 calories/person/day for extreme situations. One burns more calories in stressful situations or if it is cold. If this is your first time putting together a 72-hr kit and have a limited budget start out by planning for smaller calories.
Things to consider when purchasing food are:
* Consider who is eating the food. An emergency ration bar might suit you just fine, but your 3 year old won’t understand the necessity of eating the less than desirable emergency ration bar. One needs to make sure they include food that their young children (or older children) are accustomed to and will actually eat. Don’t forget to include formula if you have a baby. You will not want to watch our youngsters go hungry because they don’t understand.
* Consider food allergies (i.e. Gluten intolerance)
* Weight of the food (cans vs. freeze-dried)
* Include some comfort/stress calories such as sugar (i.e. Hard candy)
* Consider the shelf life and how likely you are to rotate items. It would be pretty frustrating to get into a situation where you need it only to realize the food has all gone bad.
* Consider whether the food needs to be warmed or cooked or can be eaten cold. (We will go into stoves etc. in a future month)
Levels of Food One Can Include
Survival – Survival or Food Ration Bars. These are emergency food bars, one package is for one person and generally has 3600 calories broken into rations of 400 calories/bar. They last for about 5 years, weigh about 1.5lbs, and cost roughly $7-$9 and can be purchased from emergency preparedness sites. They are not going to fill you up and as such will not mentally satisfy you but will keep you alive and are the cheapest option.
Minimalistic – MRE’s (Meal Ready to Eat). These are more expensive, roughly $3-$9/piece. One meal generally contains about 1,200 calories. They technically last 5-7 years though in good storage conditions it is possible for them to stay good much longer. Some websites, like Emergency Essentials, allows you to pick and choose different items to create your own meal (you will need to make sure you have enough calories) or a traditional MRE has everything you need for one meal, including a heating pouch, utensil, and wet wipe.
Comfortable – Freeze Dried or Dehydrated meals. Mountain House is a common brand that you can find at Costco and Walmart. They range from $5-$10/piece and are probably the most expensive option. The benefit is that they are very light weight and some brands like Mountain House have 12+ year flavor guarantee. You can purchase a box of 10 meals; each has 2.5 servings for a little over $50. The Adams’ find them easy to rotate because the kids like them camping and backpacking. The taste and flavor of them has come a long way. You would need to make sure you include extra water in your 72-hr kit if you use this option.
Traditional – This is food that can be purchased at the grocery store. My family was able to put together food from the grocery store that had 2,900/day for one individual for roughly $20. This type of food will be heavier, bulkier, and have a shorter shelf life but will cost less than some of the other options above and will be more familiar to children. Some items are shelf stable and as such could last for 20 years (might not taste as good but you could still eat it) such as a can of beef raviolis (make sure you include a can opener). Some possible items you could include:
* Package of Tuna Fish (lasts for about 2 years)
* Chef Boyardee Ravioli’s (Expiration date is 2 years, but is shelf stable and would still be edible long after that)
* SPAM (3 yrs)
* Can chili/Soups (2 yrs)
* Dinty Moore Stew (3 yrs)
* Peanut Butter (1yr)
* Jelly (1 yr)
* Packaged pudding (1 yr)
* Canned fruits (2 yr)
* Box fruit juice or box TruMoo chocolate milk (1 yr)
* Pop tarts (some types up to 1 yr)
* Soft granola bars only for about 6 mos but some crunchy granola bars for 1 yr
* Oatmeal (1 yr)
* Pringles (1 yr)
* Beef Jerky (1 yr)
* Jolly Ranchers (2 yrs)
* Most packaged crackers last about 6 months but Cheez-It’s will last 1 yr.
