Preparing for an emergency or a disaster can be a daunting task. If things go (further) south economically or there is a large-scale disaster of some kind there’s a good chance our food supply chain will be disrupted, if not cut off completely. Prepared individuals will have taken time before a collapse to stock up on emergency food survival kits. Just remember the government recommends keeping a generous supply of emergency food rations on hand, typically a one to two week supply is sufficient depending on the emergency situation.
What Is Emergency Food?
Technically, emergency food is any food you have or eat in an emergency. Whatever you have immediately becomes “emergency food” in that situation. That said, there are definitely some emergency foods that are better suited to task than others. Fresh produce is delicious but an abundance of fresh produce wouldn’t do you much good for long without the means to refrigerate it. Boxed foods are generally easy to prepare but they aren’t very durable or portable and would likely be ruined in the event of a large-scale disaster. What will be helpful, perhaps even save your life, is a well thought out supply of proper emergency food – things like freeze-dried meals, canned, and dehydrated foods. These emergency foods are so called because of their long shelf life with no need for refrigeration, their durability, and their ease of preparation.
Emergency Food Preparedness
Planning and preparing emergency food for a survival situation is not particularly difficult but does require a bit of time, effort, and resources. Emergency food can be purchased in individual servings, larger family formats, case packs, and even as emergency food survival kits.
Design Your Own Emergency Food Survival Kits
An emergency food survival kit is an organized prepared set of foods intended to be sufficient sustenance for a given amount of time. Short-term emergency food survival kits include enough food for a designated number of people for 72-hours to a week or two. Longer-term emergency food survival kits include enough food for the designated number of people for longer periods of self-sufficient living. Your specific situation and exactly what you’re preparing for (power outage, hurricane, terrorist attack, socioeconomic collapse) will determine what types of emergency food are best for you. If you’ll need to be on the move or if you’re preparing a car kit, for example, you’ll want to stick to food that is lightweight and easily portable as well as easy to prepare. If, on the other hand, you’re stocking up a food storage area in your home or retreat location you may opt for a combination of lightweight freeze-dried foods as well as canned goods. Designing your own emergency food survival kit gives you the freedom to decide exactly what to include and to tailor the survival kit to your family’s tastes and situation.
Premade Emergency Food Survival Kits
Emergency food survival kits can be purchased in formats as large as 1-year supplies or as small as 72-hour kits. These survival kits include all the food you need for the given timeframe. Premade emergency food survival kits are available from manufacturers such as Mountain House, Wise Foods, and Survival Cave Foods. The benefits of a premade survival kit are convenience and organization. Everything you need is in the kit, packed up altogether and ready to be used. The downside is the lack of flexibility. Premade emergency food supply kits are not generally customizable, so you’ll need to make sure the included meals suit your family’s dietary needs and preferences.
Your Family’s Food Insurance
An emergency food storage plan and/or survival kit is your family’s insurance plan. By storing shelf stable foods and other emergency supplies you can be certain you’ll have what you need in the event of an emergency or major disaster that impacts the food supply chain.


