Survival Skills # 22 How to Keep a Three Month Emergency Food Supply

Survival Skills # 22
How to Keep a Three Month Emergency Food Supply
By Wasatch at eHow


Step 1
There are many reasons for keeping a good supply of food on hand for an emergency. A good winter storm can keep you snowed in for a week. A natural disaster like earthquake or major storm could leave you isolated for awhile. A truckers strike, Even job loss could be a good reason to have enough food to not worry as much until you find work and get your first check at a new job.
Step 2
My family consists of my wife and I and 4 kids. I figured for a 3 month supply of food I would round up to 100 of each meal. By that I mean I wanted on hand in storage 100 breakfasts, 100 lunches, and 100 dinners.
Step 3
I took a notebook and made a page for breakfast first. I made a graph with 100 squares. A large bag of pancake mix showed that it made 80 servings of 4 pancakes each. Being a family of 6 people, 80 servings was a bit over 13 breakfasts. I bought 3 large bottles of syrup and marked off 13 breakfasts on my chart. I then bought a # 10 can of powdered egg from a camping and emergency supply store. It was the equivalent of 200 eggs in powdered form (just add water). I figured 3 eggs each person so 11 breakfasts. I now had 24 meals in the pantry. I bought a 12 can case of canned peaches and counted that as a can per person. 2 more breakfasts. Then I bought 10 boxes of cold cereal and figured 5 more. These I keep rotating if I buy a new box, but keep 10 in storage. I kept this up until I had 100 breakfasts stored away.
Step 4
Now I moved to lunches. I bought a case of tuna fish, a few large jars of peanut butter, and ingredients to make homemade bread. I bought several cases of canned stew. I bought a few cans of powdered juice mix like Tang. I bought dry pasta and bottled spaghetti sauce. Boxed Mac and Cheese. I kept going until I had 100 lunches marked in my book. I did not do this all at once. I looked for good items on sale and added about $10.00 to $20.00 to a grocery trip for stored items. The key was keeping track of the number of meals for my family.
Step 5
Next I did the same with dinners. When I was done with basic meals I added honey, pudding mixes, hard candy, pumpkin pie filling, raisins, and other treats.
Step 6
Now if I ever use from items storage I buy something to replace it. I try to stay with things we use anyway. If I buy a bag of pancake mix I put the new bag in storage and use the old one. In buying this way I can shop for a case of whatever is on the best sale and save big. When canned beans are on sale I buy a case and put it in storage and bring something up for use now. I feel great having the supply there for emergency use. When I changed companies I work for mid year we had a month lag until I got a paycheck. Having the food storage and having it be types food we usually eat anyway made us feel much more comfortable. I try to buy lots of fresh produce and use my storage just when needed. I now have a 2 week supply of water as well. I also buy laundry detergent, toilet paper, toothpaste and other daily use items in a larger quantity and put some in storage when I find a big sale.