There are generally four things that you need to survive an emergency situation: shelter, water, warmth, and food. Other things, like ammunition and medical supplies, can increase your chances, but without the four things listed above, survival is going to be more difficult than it should be.
Today, we’re going to focus on food, and more importantly, on how to store it for the long term.
Building Up Your Food Stores
Before you can think about how you’re going to store your food over the long term, you need to start building up a cache of supplies. The problems you encounter and the storage methods you utilize will all depend on the types of food you plan to store.
Your survival food pantry should include these items:
- Grains: Rice, corn, oats, flour, etc.
- Beans and legumes: Various types of dried beans, chickpeas, lentils, etc.
- Fats: Lard, olive or vegetable oil, coconut oils and milks, etc.
- Meats: Canned proteins and fishes should be a staple in your survival diet.
- Spices: Because no one deserves to eat bland food even amid the apocalypse. Opt for whole spices when available and grind them as needed.
- Baking supplies: In addition to flour, things like powdered milk and dry yeast can come in handy if you find yourself craving some bread.
- Fruits and vegetables: Stock up on canned fruits and veggies that you’re actually going to eat. Don’t buy a ton of lima beans if you hate them!
- Drinks: Instant drink mixes can give you a bit of variety in your diet. Caffeinated drinks are a must, especially if you’re a regular coffee drinker.
This is just a bare-bones list. The exact items that you include in your survival food stores will depend on what’s available, your budget, and the kind of foods that you’re likely to eat.
Take this list and use it as a foundation, rather than a checklist. Once you have an idea of the kind of foods that you want to enjoy during the end of the world, the next challenge is figuring out the best way to store those supplies.
[Editor’s note: I wrote an entire book on the 57 best survival foods to stockpile, including precisely which foods to purchase at the store as well as 19 superfoods most people don’t realize they should have.]
Problem One: Bacteria
Bacteria and other microorganisms are one of the biggest challenges you’ll face when storing food supplies for the long term. It’s what makes the meat in your fridge and the veggies in your crisper drawer go bad, and what makes dented or bloated canned goods unsafe to consume.
These microscopic organisms consume the food, breaking it down and leaving behind waste products. Bacteria exist naturally and there is no way to avoid them. The challenge lies in killing them off during the cooking or packaging process to ensure that the food is safe and doesn’t break down while in storage.
High temperatures are the easiest way to overcome the problem of bacteria in long-term food storage. That’s why foods are canned in boiling water — the cooking might seem a bit excessive, but the goal here isn’t to cook it to perfection. It’s to kill off anything that might still be living in the food before you put it into storage.
Many of the prepackaged foods that you get from the grocery store will come with an expiration or sell-by date. You don’t need to take these dates as gospel. In fact, most foods are safe to consume for 12-18 months after their supposed expiration date. Just inspect the foods when you open them. As long as they don’t smell bad or show discoloration, they’re likely safe to consume.
Problem Two: Moisture
Moisture is primarily a problem for dried goods like grains, flours, and anything that doesn’t need to be soggy until you’re trying to cook with it. High ambient moisture can destroy dry good stores in very little time. In addition to damaging the food, a high moisture content also provides the perfect conditions for bacterial growth. The lower the moisture content, the longer your food will last.
You can store grains, flours, and other dry goods in large buckets or barrels, but you need something in the mix that will remove any moisture that might make its way in. Opt for some desiccant packets in each container. Ideally, you’ll want to store your dry goods in a dry environment, but since it isn’t always possible to keep out every bit of moisture, a desiccant will make up the difference and keep your food dry for years to come.
Problem Three: Temperature
Just because food is shelf-stable doesn’t mean that it isn’t vulnerable to massive temperature shifts. These foods are designed to be stored at room temperature — which for most homes is between 68 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. A little higher or lower than that won’t cause too many problems, but stray much beyond that and you will start running into problems.
Freezing temperatures, for example, will cause the contents of canned goods to expand, breaking the seal and ruining whatever you have stored inside. Excessively high temperatures can cause the food to break down within the containers, even if there aren’t any bacteria to worry about.
A cool, dark area will be the best place to store your canned and shelf-stable foods. For perishables, a fridge or freezer is your best option as long as you’ve got the electricity to power it. Coolers can give you a bit of extra time if you have frozen foods that need to be canned or dried. You can find coolers that range in size from 20 quarts to 140 quarts, so it’s easy to find something to suit your needs. In a survival situation, coolers aren’t a long-term solution, but they can be a valuable stopgap, nonetheless.
Problem Four: Oxygen
In elemental terms, oxygen is a bit of a floozie. It’s very volatile and will exchange electrons with anything. That’s why you almost never find a single oxygen atom in nature. It’s almost always found as O2 because elemental oxygen will bond with itself if there’s nothing else available.
This volatility is also why it can be problematic for food storage. When it bonds with iron, it creates iron oxide, better known as rust, through a process known as oxidation. Oxidation isn’t limited to metal — it can happen to foods, too. Ever wonder why your potato chips go stale after you open the bag? That is oxidation at work. The official scientific term is “oxidative rancidity” but that’s just a fancy term for “food rust.”
Like the desiccants that you can get to remove moisture from your food storage, there are also oxygen removers that you should use when you seal up a container to ensure that any errant oxygen molecules hanging around are “soaked up” by the oxygen absorber instead of your food.
Problem Five: Pests
You’re not the only one that’s going to want to dive into those food supplies. Pests are an enormous problem for long-term food storage, especially for dry goods.
Things like bulk orders of flour or dried beans tend to be shipped in large burlap or mylar sacks. These are fine for short-term storage, but for the longer term, they won’t do anything to protect your food supplies from any of the problems we’ve mentioned above. They also won’t stop a determined mouse or other pest from chewing its way into your food.
There are a couple of different ways to address this issue. Start by carefully inspecting your supplies when they arrive to make sure there are no pests already present as worms, weevils, and other insects may already be living in your food supplies. You can kill anything that might already be present by freezing your dried goods for a few days before they move to their final storage destination but, let’s be honest, most folks won’t do that.
For larger pests like mice and rats, keep traps around if you see any sign that they might be nearby. Opt for glass or metal containers whenever possible because even plastic buckets don’t present much of a challenge for their teeth if they’re determined to make it into your food supplies.
Problem Six: Theft
There’s one type of pest that might present a bigger problem in a survival situation — your neighbors or anyone who hears that you have food storage. Humans and the threat of theft are a big problem in any survival situation because most people don’t prepare themselves and, sadly, a few of them wrongly believe that they can take whatever they want.
Make it a point to secure your supplies and to keep your mouth shut. No one, outside of your immediate family, needs to understand the breadth of your survival supplies. Bragging about what you have stored is only going to make you a target when the world ends and you really need them to survive.
In addition, it couldn’t hurt to attempt to store long term food in different locations throughout your house or property. This not only helps to deter “snatch and grab” looters, but also avoids having all of your food storage being vulnerable to damage during disasters or flooding.
The Best Ways to Store Survival Food Supplies
Now that you understand the biggest challenges, what are the best ways to store your survival food supplies? Remember these recommendations:
- Choose a storage location that doesn’t change temperature much. Basements are usually great. Garages aren’t, unless they’re climate-controlled, and attics are horrible. Pantries are useful, but make sure you’re not over-utilizing your survival supplies when you’re making your regular meals; keep stockpiling your long-term food storage foods.
- Opt for glass or metal storage containers whenever possible. Cardboard and plastic won’t stop a determined mouse or rat that really wants inside.
- Start stocking up now, and do so deliberately. Building a few months or a year’s worth of supplies is an expensive proposition that most people don’t have the money for all at once. You can build a great survival supply a few cans or bags of grain at a time. It’ll just take a little longer.
- Rotate your supplies regularly, perhaps yearly, depending on what you’re storing. The goal here isn’t to build up a big supply and just let it expire. Use what you have and replace it as you do so you constantly have a supply of fresh foods. [Editor’s note: I can attest to going through your food storage regularly as I recently ate three-year expired tostada shells, and I wasn’t happy about it.]
Finally, consider investing in a humidity monitoring system for your food storage area if your humidity levels are drastically out of control. Aim for ambient humidity no higher than 55%. If you live in a humid climate, you may need to invest in a dehumidifier.
Food Storage Errors to Avoid
While focusing on the positives is important, there are more than a few food storage faux pas that you’ll want to avoid to ensure you’re making the most of your supplies and don’t run into problems along the way:
- Remember that oxygen is just as big a problem as moisture or pests. Don’t let your supplies oxidize just because you forgot your O2 removers.
- Only buy foods that you’re going to eat. If you absolutely hate something, don’t stock up on it just because it’s on sale or because someone said so.
- Limit fatty foods. They might have high nutritional potential, like nuts or brown rice, but they don’t store as well as some of the alternatives. Their high fat content makes them prone to rancidity, so they won’t last long enough to be a viable part of your long-term survival supplies.
- Don’t panic and don’t shop in a state of worry. You’ll end up buying stuff you won’t need or won’t use and fill your food cache with junk. Build your supplies slowly over time.
Stay Alive Out There!
The end of the world can come in many forms, from plagues to nuclear war. It doesn’t really matter the cause. What matters is how you prepare and what you do when things start to go pear-shaped. Having a sizable food supply can help you do just that so long as you stock up on things that will last for longer periods of time.
Preparation is essential when you’re concerned about survival. Start with a few pieces here and there, and before you know it, you’ll have a year’s worth of supplies that you can fall back on if things truly start to fall apart. Focus on smart storage, and you’ll be ready for whatever the universe throws at you.
[Note: This was a guest post.]
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