Personal Preparedness with Jen Food and Water Storage

Why is it important to store food & water?  We can only live 3 days without water.  We can only live 3 weeks without food.  Grocery stores have 3-4 days of food in stock at any given time.  Disasters disrupt normal transportation routes.  Restocking will be delayed.  It took FEMA 5 days to get water to the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. Source: BBC News Washington D.C. snowstorm 2/7/2010

Getting Started  Build your supplies over time.  Something is better than nothing.  Store what you eat.  When the power is out, eat the food in your fridge first, freezer second, then non perishables.  My personal food and water storage has been accumulated over a decade.  There are still many items on my wish list.  For example, I don’t have a deep freezer.

Recommendations  1 gallon per person per day (plus pets)  The Canned Food Alliance recommends at least 2 cans of food per person per day  Goal: 7-10 days of food & water stored  Family of 4: 40 Gallons Water 80 Cans Food

That’s A LOT of jugs and cans! Thankfully, there are options!

Food Storage Options  Kitchen Pantry  Lifeboat Rations / Calorie Bars  MREs – Meals Ready to Eat  Grains, Beans, and Basic Commodities  Garden / Home canning / Seeds  Commercially Produced (Dehydrated / Freeze Dried)

Kitchen Pantry  Consists of:  Canned goods  Unopened cereal  Pasta  Pros  Food we normally eat  Easy to get started  Restock when on sale  Cons  Relatively short expiration dates  Manage rotation using FIFO First In, First Out  My Magical Blue Sharpie

Tip: Kool-Aid makes stored water taste better.

Long Term Food Storage Does this come to mind? DATREX Bars (Lifeboat Rations) MRE (Meals Ready to Eat)

Long Term Food Storage Considerations  Shelf Life  Cost per serving  Nutritional value and calories  Portability  Where will you store it?  Will you actually eat it?  No seriously, will you & your family really eat it?  You are going to be miserable enough during a disaster… “If you’re hungry enough, you’ll eat it” only sounds good when you don’t actually have to eat it.

Lifeboat Rations / Calorie Bars  Examples: DATREX, Millennium Bars  Taste – not terrible, not delicious  Very dense  Must drink a lot of water with them  Pros  Compact & convenient  No cooking required  Low cost  5 year shelf life  Can take exposure to high heat  Cons  Limited nutritional value  Not a satisfying substitute for a hot meal  Not adequate for prolonged use

MREs – Meals Ready To Eat Each meal provides about 1,200 calories. Intended to be eaten for < 21 days.  Pros  Familiar foods  Can eat right from pouch without preparation - tastes better when cooked  Convenient – doesn’t require water, mixing, or blending  Can be heated by many methods  Long shelf life in ideal conditions  Cons  Taste considered poor by some  Artificial additives added in many recipes  Expensive considering actual food received  Many entrees more like sauces – not always filling  Entrees alone will not supply adequate nutritional value  Low dietary fiber content can cause constipation  Foil pouch is susceptible to puncture  Heavy if larger quantities need to be transported

Grains, Beans, Basic Commodities Examples: Flour, Quinoa, Spelt, Beans, Rice  Pros  Traditional basic foods - familiar  Low cost & easily attainable  Long storage life  Good nutritional value  Reproducible - many sprout-able seeds, grains, and beans  Cons  Not generally appropriate for shorter term emergencies  Susceptible to infestation if not properly stored  Requires large quantities of water and fuel to prepare  Preparation requires know-how & is time consuming  Very heavy weight, hard to transport  Time is required to adapt to basic commodity oriented diet  Can cause digestive issues when eaten exclusively 6 Gallon Bucket Wheat = 45lbs

Seeds From: Emergency Essentials This Heirloom Seed Combo Pack contains enough non-hybrid, non-GMO, open-pollinated heirloom seeds to plant approximately a 1/4-acre garden. Ideal for planting now or in years to come. The moisture content has been carefully balanced for long-term storage. Unlike many seeds, these are not damaged when frozen, in fact it increases the shelf-life tremendously! When storing in a refrigerator or freezer isn’t possible, be sure to store these heirloom seeds in a cool, dry environment. This heirloom seed combo is designed to store for 4+ years at a constant room temperature. Each 6° reduction in storage temperature may double the seed’s storage life. The seeds are in a triple-layered zipper top bag. This Organic Sprouting Seed Combo (with lid) makes it easy for you to jump right into sprouting. Purchase it for your food storage and emergency supplies, or use it to boost your family’s health now. The sprouting jar can be kept on the kitchen counter for easy access. Stored properly these seeds will sprout up to 4 years after purchase.

Commercial Manufacturers Well known companies:  Mountain House  Thrive  Wise Foods  Provident Pantry  Options:  Individually prepackaged ready-to-eat meals  Buckets of individually prepackaged ready-to-eat meals  #10 cans  6 gallon buckets with metallized liners

#10 Cans versus Individually Packaged Considerations  How many people do you expect to feed at a time?  How much storage space do you have?  How important is portability?  Will you have enough water to rehydrate the food?  Will you have a way to heat the water?  Do you prefer ready-to-eat or home cooked?

Photos of my Thrive and Wise foods  #10 cans and bulk buckets  Individual serv. in buckets

Dehydrated vs. Freeze Dried Food DehydratedFreeze Dried Dehydration is the process of removing water from a substance or a compound.  Pros  Low moisture  Lightweight  Long shelf life  Cons  Requires water to prepare  Some items take a long time to reconstitute  Some items lose taste after reconstitution  Dehydration can affect nutritional value  Some items have poor visual appeal Freeze drying is a dehydration process. Foods are cooked, processed and frozen.  Pros  Very low moisture  Very lightweight  Long shelf life  Reconstitutes quickly & retains original shape, texture, color  Best way to dry meat  Cons  Most expensive food storage option  Most items require water to prepare  Items are bulkier than if dehydrated

Nutrition Considerations Some things to think about when selecting long term food storage products:  How quickly food will be eaten after opening  Caloric needs – more active people burn more calories  Store a good ratio of carbs, proteins, fats, and fiber  Dietary restrictions:  Low sodium  Gluten free  Vegetarian  Allergies

Cooking Options There are a lot of different ways to cook food.  Chemical MRE heater – just add water  Sterno or Heat Cell – need matches or lighter  Fireplace or fire pit – need wood and matches  BBQ Grill* – need propane / charcoal  Propane Stove* – need propane  Solar Oven – expensive, need sun *CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING DANGER MUST BE USED OUTDOORS

My Food Storage Combination of all options  Pantry with FIFO system & Magical Blue Sharpie  Food bars and MREs in Go Bags  MREs in cars  #10 Cans of Thrive in emergency supplies closet  Bulk Buckets from Provident Pantry in supplies closet  Individual servings in buckets from Wise in supplies closet

Water Storage Options  Bottled water  Water dispenser  Datrex pouches  Metallized plastic bags  Steel / Aluminum Cans  Water Bloks / WaterBrick  Rain barrels  Water storage barrels  Bathtub water systems: WaterBOB, AquaPodKit  Water heater / toilet tank

Considerations  Shelf life  Preservation options  Purification methods  Portability  Access  Taste

Water Shelf Life  Americans drank 9.67 billion gallons of bottled water in 2012, according to the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), resulting in $11.8 billion in sales. Bottled water is big business. But why does it need an expiration date? What could possibly go wrong?  According to Food and Drug Administration guidelines, unopened and properly sealed bottled water has an “indefinite safety shelf life.” The FDA does not require an expiration date for water. Bottlers do that voluntarily, in part due to a now-repealed law that passed in New Jersey requiring a two-year expiration date. Some companies, according to the IBWA, place date-based codes on bottled water simply to assist in managing stock rotation at distribution and sales points.  The IBWA’s storage guidelines say that plastic containers used for bottle water are “slightly permeable, which may allow ambient air gases such as vapors from household solvents, petroleum-based fuels and other chemicals, to affect the taste and odor of your beverage.”

Water Storage Barrels  15/30/55/160 gallon models  Use potable hose, fill from house tap  Treat as you fill, let the running water mix it for you  Store in cool, dark place, protect from freezing Sunlight is the enemy: promotes algae growth  Siphon needed to access water, bung wrench a good idea  Cover the top of the barrel  Put something between the barrel and concrete cardboard, plywood, carpet – for insulation  Leak detection alarms help prevent water damage  Not very portable, a 50 gallon barrel weighs 470lbs when full, need special dolly to move

Must-Have Accessories Water Alarm ~$11 Water Preserver ~$17 Bung Wrench ~$7

Conclusion  Start small – Rome wasn’t built in a day (neither were my supplies)  Pick up 1-2 extra items each shopping trip  A gallon of bottled water costs $0.89 at Safeway  The road to preparedness is best travelled in baby steps Last, but not least…