Having something like a survival food kit meant that you were labelled a “preparer,” which was somehow wrong. The Preppers laughed and called themselves “conspiracy theorists” for their belief in preparing themselves and their families for any future hiccups life might throw at them.
However, since the pandemic, hackers shutting down gas pipelines and meat producers, rising food prices, weather disasters, and threats of war, ordinary people are starting to think that maybe they too should have a survival kit on hand.
Starting to build a survival food kit may seem overwhelming to many at first.
- What foods to add to the kit for better nutrition?
- How long does the food last?
- How do I store the kit after installation?
These are just a few of the questions you may be asking yourself, and the reason is that you have a habit of buying only what you like, and only as much as you need for the next week each time. grocery store.
Assembling a survival food kit doesn’t have to be too complicated if you follow the procedure step by step.
5 Easy Steps to Create an Ultimate Survival Food Kit
Step 1 – Decide on the Purpose of Your Survival Food Kit
First, you will need to ask yourself a few questions to determine the primary use of your food kit. Are you preparing a food kit for emergencies or conditions that restrict you in the house, or for situations where you need to grab the food kit, hop in the car, and drive away?
Will the kit be designed to stay in the car in case of an emergency while you are away from home in the vehicle? Will the kit need to feed you and your family for a few days, a few weeks, or even a few months?
Step 2 – Determine a Place to Store Your Survival Food Kit
Once you’ve decided on the purpose of your food kit, you’ll need to determine where in your home or car you intend to store the food. You’ll need to keep in mind the expected size of your food supply, which is directly related to how long the food should be able to feed you and your family, as this will limit your storage space options.
Obviously, your car has limited space, so a 6-month supply of food probably won’t go well, and such a large amount of food in your car probably isn’t needed anyway.
The storage location of your survival food kit can greatly affect the shelf life or longevity of the food in your kit. You’ll want to store food in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight, to ensure that your food remains safe for consumption for as long as possible. Find a place in your home that meets these criteria and make sure there is enough room for the amount of food or the overall size of your kit.
Step 3 – Gather or buy food for your survival food kit
As a general rule of thumb, remember that you’ll want to preserve the foods you’re already eating. There’s no point in storing a pile of canned tuna if you and your family don’t like it.
Even if you have extra money to buy freeze-dried foods that can be stored for long periods of time, you’ll want to choose the types of food that you and your family already eat in “fresh” form. Stick to foods that appeal to you, but try to add nutritional balance to your package along the way.
That said, some foods just can’t be stored well, period. Foods that are high in fat or moisture are generally difficult to store. Dried pasta, rice (white), flour, sugar, and oatmeal keep quite well if stored in well-sealed containers and under the right environmental conditions.
Canned products generally store fairly well, but you may want to consider choosing foods like dried beans over canned beans in order to achieve a longer shelf life and lighter weight.
You can buy powdered alternatives for things like milk, eggs, butter, and even peanut butter. Powdered and dried foods are never the same as their fresh counterparts, even after reconstitution, yet they can be quite good in many recipes.
Step 4 – Repackage food for longer storage if necessary
Many foods can be repackaged to ensure a better shelf life. All of your dry foods will keep well in a simple sealed container, however, they can also be placed in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers and/or desiccant bags to control moisture.
You can then vacuum seal the mylar bags for maximum protection of the food in your kit. Many freeze-dried foods that can be stored for long term and that can be purchased are already packaged in the same way for better shelf life, so there is usually no need for any repacking.
Step 5 – Eat and Rotate Foods From Your Survival Food Kit
One of the key steps in your survival food kit is to remember to replace foods that have reached or passed their expiration date and replace them with fresh supplements. The easiest way to do this is to simply eat the foods from your kit every now and then and replace them quickly. This is also why you’ll want to keep only the foods you and your family want to eat in your kit.
Always eat the oldest foods in the kit first to ensure proper rotation. You may be tempted to choose a specific item from the set based on what you are “in the mood” for, however, you should avoid this and choose the item(s) with the highest end of life first.
As an added bonus, you may want to include items such as can openers, spice packets or condiments, lighters and kitchen utensils, and more. and go for it. Having these items right in your kit can save you time and make experiencing any disaster or situation that requires access to your food kit less stressful.
Whether it’s a natural disaster, a viral pandemic, or an economic calamity, those who are prepared for the worst will always do their best. Once considered “paranoid”, preppers are considered wise.
Join them in their wisdom. Start scoring your own prep checklist… Before the next action that cleans store shelves begins!
