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Best Food Items to Stockpile
In the event of a disaster or emergency, you need to prepare. Most people stock up on items such as toilet paper, water, batteries, matches, lighters, and candles. But they always forget the most important items such as food with a long shelf life.
Research shows that an adult can last 8 to 12 days without food and up to two months without access to an adequate water supply. Several studies revealed that starvation has severe, life-threatening symptoms. In fact men with a BMI of less than 13 and women with a BMI of less than 11 cannot sustain life.
To survive in a disaster or emergency, you need to have an emergency food stockpile.
What is a Stockpile?
An emergency stockpile is a large accumulated stock of food, water and other essentials. Emergencies such as disease outbreaks, floods, and storms can happen unexpectedly. As such, you may find yourself without clean tap water, electricity, phone service, and the internet for days, weeks or months.
Experts recommend a week’s supply of food, water and other essentials but the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us differently. We need more than a week’s supply.
Why It’s Wise to Have an Emergency Food Stockpile?
When there is a disease outbreak or natural disaster, local stores get wiped out immediately of their food and water. An emergency food stockpile ensures that you and your family survive.
Your emergency food stockpile acts as a safety net. In case of a disease outbreak like COVID-19 pandemic, most companies shut down their operations. This leads to loss of revenue. As a result, companies have to lay off some of their workers.
An emergency food stockpile creates a feeling of security. If your home becomes isolated from shops due to floods or disease outbreak, you and your family will have supplies available for weeks or months.
Another reason why it’s wise to have an emergency food stockpile is peace of mind. You and your family will sleep better knowing that on your pantry shelves, you’ve:
- Whole grain pasta
- Canned foods
- Long-life juices
- Cooking oil
- Bottled water and much more
Without the emergency stockpile, people panic, and this is not good during a disaster or disease outbreak. Panic leads to poor decisions. Please, don’t wait until it’s too late.
What Is the Best Food to Stockpile and Why?
Want to know what to include in your emergency food stockpile? Below is a list of items to stockpile for survival situations and emergencies.
Nut, Seeds and Dried Fruits
During an emergency or survival situation, the human body expends more energy. As such, experts recommend that we eat high energy, high protein foods. This is true even where the emergency is disaster-related such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nuts, seeds and dried fruits are nutritious foods that will not only ensure you get to maintain good health. But sustain life during the emergency situation. Besides being good sources of protein, nuts, seeds, and dried fruits are also rich in dietary fibre and good fat.
Examples of nuts to stockpile include:
- Almonds
- Pistachios
- Walnuts
- Pecans
- Cashews
- Macadamia nuts
- Hazelnuts
- Peanuts
When it comes to seeds, I recommend flaxseeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds. Dried fruits such as raisins and apricots are rich in potassium and other nutrients.
Whole-Grain Pasta
Dry, whole grain pasta may be carb-heavy and rich in gluten, but it has a long shelf life. Fresh pasta has a shelf life of 4 to 5 days if refrigerated and two months if placed in a freezer. For dry pasta, it has a shelf life of two years if kept in an airtight container. If cooked, keep it in the fridge.
Many people consider pasta unhealthy. Well, if eaten in moderation, it’s beneficial to your body. First off, it provides glucose which is an essential fuel for your brain and muscles. It’s cholesterol-free and low on sodium. So, if you want to maintain good health, pasta is perfect for you.
If a family member has dietary restrictions, I recommend gluten-free pasta.
Canned Foods
Canned foods are convenient, but not all cans satisfy the nutritional checklist. Let’s start with canned vegetables such as carrots, vegetables, green beans and spinach. They are rich sources of vitamins and minerals. For example, a can of Del Monte’s canned spinach is rich in Vitamin C than its fresh counterpart.
I recommend stocking up on canned meats such as salmon, mackerel, chicken, tuna and turkey. With a shelf life of at least two years, canned meats are rich sources of protein just like their fresh counterparts. Protein is essential for repair of muscles proper digestion.
It would be best if you stocked on tinned fruits. Just like dried fruit, tinned fruits such as grapefruit, pears, peaches and pineapples are rich sources of dietary fibre, essential for maintaining good health.
Other Essential Items
Other essential items to add to your emergency stockpile include:
- Tea
- Coffee
- Honey
- Rice
- Long-life fruit juice
- Sugar
- Flour
- Yeast
- Baking powder
- Peanut butter
- Spices
- Salt
- Cooking oil
- Oats
- Pasta sauces
- Granola bars and energy bars
With the list above, you can prepare a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Which Food Can Be Cooked Without Electricity (in Case of a Power Cut)
A small scale storm can cause floods and leave you without electricity for days or weeks. The government can issue stay at home orders in case of a disease outbreak cutting you from the local shops and supermarkets.
So, unless you’re prepared with the right foods, a power outage can leave you hungry. Want to know which foods you can cook without electricity?
For breakfast, I recommend overnight oats, bread, butter, jam, yoghurt with granola and breakfast cereal with milk. To prepare overnight oats, add water to a bowl of oats. Leave it overnight and in the morning, add honey and your favourite toppings.
When it comes to snacks, you’ve dried fruits, peanut or almond butter with a slice of fruit, veggie or chips with hummus.
Other dishes you can prepare and don’t require cooking include:
- Tuna or salmon tacos with avocado
- White bean and apple salad
- Peanut butter sandwiches
- White bean and smashed chickpea sandwich
- Grated carrots, chickpeas, raisins, nuts and cinnamon
- Fruits such as apples, oranges and tomatoes
- Bread and butter or jam
- A bowl of granola or muesli, and yoghurt
Remember, if the power goes out, keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed. This ensures that the food in the refrigerator and freezer stays fresh for more hours. I recommend keeping containers with water inside your freezer.
In case of a power outage, this will work as an ice pack and help to maintain the refrigerator’s low temperature for longer.
Final Thoughts
To feel full for a longer time, I recommend preparing heartier breakfasts and lunches. Prepare foods heavy in dietary fibre, carbs, and protein. Examples include boiled eggs, canned fruits, vegetables, and meats. For snacks, I recommend nuts, seeds, dried fruits, tacos and sandwiches.
When buying canned foods, opt for those with an EZ open pull tab. Don’t forget to check the expiration dates of foods on your pantry shelves. If necessary, rotate them. Every time you use something from the stockpile, replace it when you go to the store.
Remember, these supplies can come in handy for a last-minute camping trip or the holidays.