News : Project Joseph encourages residents to create emergency food supply

Most people can easily survive without food for three days, but who wants to be cranky during a disaster? Why not prepare to eat well is spite of what is happening.

There are many ways to approach food storage for emergencies. You can store canned goods, buy MRE’s (government meals ready to eat), freeze dried or dehydrated meals, eat only survival bars and drink water, or plan on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for three days, etc. It is a matter of preference.

Decide what would work best for your family. If you have picky eaters and all of a sudden you offer never before seen freeze-dried meals and tell them to enjoy, it probably won’t go over well. Giving each member a 3,000 calorie survival bar with their allotted drinking water for the day may not make very happy campers either!

When situations upset our routine, it is stressful. Disasters are even more stressful. Plan to keep meals as normal as possible.

Make sure to have a minimum of three days worth of food and water on hand; ten days worth is better. That would amount to 2 gallons of water per person per day along with food at around 2100 calories for the average adult not doing much physical labor. Women and small children can go as low as 1500 if not doing much physical activity. Don’t think about calories only, think about the nutrition that is necessary to remain healthy in stressful times.

It is fun to have flavors for your water to entice drinking. You can store dry mixes like gatorade, crystal lite, sweet teas, liquid MIO, or hot chocolate, coffee and tea for cold times.

Have at least one backup way of boiling water and cooking food if the power goes out. A gas grill or generator can be ideal. You can purchase a propane single or double burner camp stove for under $30.

Consider These Items (adapted from www.ready.gov) when putting together your emergency food supply: Store 3 to 5 days worth of non-perishable food. Choose foods your family will eat. Avoid foods that make you thirsty.

Store protein or fruit bars, dry cereal or granola, peanut butter, dried fruit, nuts, crackers, anything canned- juices, fruit, meat, pasta, soups, dried fortified milk, energy bars, etc. Don’t forget your favorite spices, and condiments. Include infant formula, and comfort foods too. Store extra pet food also. Multiple vitamins are a good idea. Don’t forget a sturdy manual can opener, if not two of them.

This is very important. Eat what you buy and buy what you eat. Keep your food storage where you can easily get to it so you can rotate food as you use it and buy more. Rotate, rotate, rotate.

Is It Still Good? (adapted from ISU Extension Office- Words on Wellness)

“Sell By” date on food packages tells the store how long to display the item for sale.

“Best if Used By (or Before)” date is the best recommendation for flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.

“Use-By” date is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. Date set by the manufacturer.

It is recommended to use food by the “use-by-date.” Smelling food is not a safe method to determine if it is OK to eat. Many bacteria that cause food borne illness cannot be seen, smelled or tasted. Milk that is properly refrigerated (40 degrees F) is safe to drink for one week past the “sell by” date.

High-acid foods like tomatoes or pineapple will have the best quality if used within 12 to 18 months. Low-acid foods such as meat, fish and veggies will keep their quality if used by 2 to 5 years. This applies when stored in a clean, cool, dry area, and the can is not damaged. It is recommended that home-canned foods be used within one year for ideal quality.

There are many vendors that sell commercially packaged, freeze-dried or dehydrated foods that have up to a 25- year shelf life. We, in America, mostly assume there will always be plenty of quality food at our grocery store. In our next article, we will look at these long-term storage foods as another option to plan for unexpected changes in what we often take for granted.

For questions, you may contact us at Projectjoseph00@gmail.com.