Building an emergency supply of food

DavidCollins

After the snowstorm we had, I realised how quickly I could run out of food.

I'm wondering if I should build an emergency supply of food. Something to keep the house going for a few days. The easy thing would be to buy a bunch of cans, but I'm wondering if there are other options. I've heard of MREs, but they seem to be hard to get in Ireland.

Basically, what selection of non perishable food would be good to buy that you could store for long periods if you needed to keep going for a few days in an emergency?

igCorcaigh

Bread. Seriously though, the vacuum packed stuff keeps for ages. Cans of tuna.

igCorcaigh

You'd want to get one of those gas cookers, like for camping. And tea bags. Uht milk or frozen milk. Maybe condensed milk. And instant coffee.

Shenshen

Tinned food and dehydrated food would be the way to go, I think. Powdered milk, pasta, tins of tomatoes, tins of soup, etc.
I wouldn't personally stock up the freezer, as you may end up without electricity and the food rotting on you.

However, I did find that just having a good supply of fresh food was all we needed for the couple of days, so my advise really would be to always have fresh fruit and veg in the house. Combined with kitchen cupboard staples, that's really all you need.

Learn how to bake bread, too, though. You can keep stocked up on flour, and won't need to worry on that count either, then.

the beer revolu

Rice and dried beans and pulses.
Tins of tomatoes.
Tetrapac tofu.
Sauerkraut.
Multivitamins.
Polenta.
Pasta.
Bottled water.
Tinned fish (can't stand it myself)
Oil (I'd probably go with olive oil)
Nut butters.
Salt.
Spices.

silverharp

it depends what your goal is, eat like nothing is happening or just be able to have a reasonable selection for a week or two. we tend to keep our cupboards full anyway so we probably had about 10kg/15kg of dried food, lentils flour rice pasta and about a dozen cans of other things. I had bought a ham before I knew about the weather so cooked that and it was the basis of a few meals and lunches so maybe have one in the freezer and switch them out ever couple of months. The wraps are good as they have a long shelf life, they probably freeze? and don't take up much space. Have a couple of frozen ltrs of milk on hand and some frozen veg.
the local supermarkets didn't run out of canned or frozen food and there was still loads of the milk alternatives like almond milk etc so you would have had milk for your porridge

4068ac1elhodqr

1. Water, water, water.
You'll only make it 3 days without liquids should a fresh/bottled supply not be available.

2. A close alternative to water is tinned soup, well depending on it's salt content.

3. Bread will only keep as long as the freezer is plugged in, 'flour' on the other hand can quickly become pancakes.
Combine with 'eggs' - perhaps the single most nutrient rich food out there, can be bought powdered, same for 'milk'.
UHT almond/oat/soya milks tetra packs can be a reasonable alternative to cow juice. Add salt, sugar spices.

4. Everything else tinned/jarred/dehydrated/oiled is usually good for a couple of years, or more.
One food stuff that can last a couple of thousand years (if stored dark and dry) is regular honey.

silverharp

Tesco Merrion was funny, on the wed they had run out of free range eggs but not the cheap ones , priorities people....

Tenigate

silverharp wrote: »

Tesco Merrion was funny, on the wed they had run out of free range eggs but not the cheap ones , priorities people....

They probably had more of the cheaper eggs in stock.

Anyway op. Plenty of canned or jarred, and dry food (pasta, rice).

If you don't have a gas hob you'll need a camp stove with gas canisters. No point having loads of food if you can't eat it.

odyssey06

It'll be less of an expense if you can stock it with stuff you would use in any case,

You should set a reminder in your phone for something like 1st October every 1-2 years to rotate the stock - put last year's emergency supplies into your kitchen cupboard for immediate use and buy new stock for the backup cupboard.

Graces7

Excellent thread. thank you As I have lived in several very remote areas this is something I am well used to. Now I am on a very small island with no shops and also was five months with no electricity so no means of keeping food fresh. Bottled gas is great; lag the connecting pipe though.... I was delighted to find that modern dried milk has so improved and also LIDL always stock long life.

Factor in treats also, and if you have pets, stock well for them.

We were little affected by the recent snow but took the ferry across to stock well anyways.

DoozerT6

Just to add to all of the above suggestions, don't JUST stockpile food and then forget other basics like say, toilet paper or candles:

Ensure any ladies in the house are stocked up with sanitary pads/tampons etc. Nobody wants to accidentally run out of those when they're snowed in!

A couple of spare lightbulbs, plus candles, candleholders and matches. Some spare pet food.

A few extra days, or a week's, supply of any essential medications for any humans or pets in the house.

Ensure you also have enough toiletries; toothpaste, soap, shampoo etc. Also laundry detergent. And also the aforementioned toilet paper

I'd also buy a few of those pre-packaged bread mixes, eg Odlums, where you just add oil and water and bake them in a loaf tin. Just in case your bread-making skills are a bit below par

BrokenArrows

Graces7 wrote: »

Excellent thread. thank you As I have lived in several very remote areas this is something I am well used to. Now I am on a very small island with no shops and also was five months with no electricity so no means of keeping food fresh. Bottled gas is great; lag the connecting pipe though.... I was delighted to find that modern dried milk has so improved and also LIDL always stock long life.

Factor in treats also, and if you have pets, stock well for them.

We were little affected by the recent snow but took the ferry across to stock well anyways.

Where were you without elec?

Graces7

BrokenArrows wrote: »

Where were you without elec?

New in a property that had been empty 5 years and the power switched off which meant reconnection process had to be put in progress ... took 5 months