How Much Food To Stockpile Per Person
As mentioned earlier, how many foods you should stockpile depends on what kind of person you are as well as what level of preparedness you want to have. If you just wanted to be able to eat every day for a month, then you only need enough food for that!
If you’re more into preparing, then you can take it one step further and determine how much food you need per person in your family. This will help you get an accurate total because you’ll know how much food each person needs!
The average person consumes around 2,000-2,500 kcals (or calories) per day, so if you were stocking up for a month, you would require about 7 days worth of food for each person in your house.
That means you would need at least seven boxes of cereal or five bags of rice to fulfill their nutritional needs during this time frame!
Things to Consider When Stockpiling Emergency Food
While some may have all of the “elite” foods in their personal supply, this is not practical for most people.
Most people do not have enough space to organize all of these supplies or maintain them over time.
Additionally, many of us don’t necessarily eat the same nutritious foods as someone who has limited access to sugar-free snacks, gluten free bread, and vegetable purees.
We shouldn’t use scarcity as an excuse to consume more than we need, but it can also mean that there are lots of people out there with little knowledge about how to best use up their food stash.
So while it may be tempting to think you should hoard more food because “they didn’t tell me anything about storing food!”, try to resist this temptation.
Instead, make sure your food storage program is focused on things that will help you achieve our goal of full recovery for you and your family. These tips will help!
Why Stockpile a Short Term Food Supply
It is very expensive to be a prepared individual for an emergency situation. Consistently buying enough food to last you for several months can easily add up to hundreds, if not thousands of dollars per year.
That’s why it’s important to try to eat your own weight in food every month! We recommend tracking how many meals you make during the week and throwing away leftovers or giving them to those who could use the nutrition.
You will also have to factor in what money you spend on groceries each week as well as any supplements you purchase. Some people may feel that eating less meat is more cost effective than stocking up on vegetables and fruits only items.
This article will talk about some great ways to stay under budget while still achieving your goal of self-sufficiency.
Why Stockpile a Long Term Food Supply
With every new crisis that we have, people begin buying up large amounts of foods and supplies. This is great if you are already in the food supply business or know someone who is!
Most prepper stockpiles contain enough food to last them two weeks to one month depending on how long it takes to run out of food. Some eat very healthfully so they can spend more time than that without running out of anything!
The problem with this mentality is that it often times creates a never-ending circle of purchasing and stocking up. Before you know it, you spent all your money shopping for groceries!
This is not the way to start investing in your future self as a healthy eater and person. It is also expensive to buy lots of food at once, which may put some pressure on those queued up behind you for food.
Fortunately, there are ways to cut down on what you stock pile. Here are five easy tips to help reduce your food storage size.
Get Started with Stockpiling Emergency Food: Create a 72 Hour Emergency Kit
Starting to gather supplies is the first step to ensuring you have enough food for at least two weeks! While some may feel overwhelmed by the size of their emergency stash, you can always add more products as you go.
You don’t need to stockpile lots of items to start eating well during an emergency. In fact, many experts suggest starting with the “emergency meal” option listed above and then adding additional foods as you are able to afford them.
This way you will be setting yourself up for success in the beginning without investing too heavily in one area. Once your hunger has been satisfied, you can slowly move onto the next item on our list!
General tips: remember that while it is great to spread out nutritional resources, not everyone is equal when it comes to nutrition needs. Make sure to evaluate whether or not people in your house are healthy before stocking up on specific foods.
For example, if someone in your home suffers from asthma, have a less expensive variety of milk rather than dried milk so they can continue to enjoy that habit.
Types of Non-Perishable Food to Stockpile in a 72 Hour Supply
While some may not agree with stockpiling, it is an important part of being prepared for an emergency or even just as a way to save money.
Stocking up on non-perishables is one of the first things that most people do when they start planning for a disaster. This includes items such as dried foods, fruits and vegetables, pasta dishes, rice, cereals, greek yogurt, bread, milk, tuna, chicken, and meat.
All of these are very good alternatives to having to buy processed foods which may contain chemicals or additives. They can also be more affordable than buying packaged foods!
While this list does not include drinks, there are ways to get additional liquids if you have nothing else. You could make your own juice, cook fresh produce, or purchase purified water at grocery stores or online sources.
Shelves and pantries will probably be mostly empty after stocking up on these products, so try to go into stores during off hours to pick them up.
How Much Emergency Short Term Food Storage Needed Per Person: Think 30 Days
Now that you have a good idea of how many days each person in your family needs to be fed, it’s time to figure out how much food they need to have on hand for those three months.
A great way to determine this is to assume one meal per day per person for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This gives your prepper about 10% leftover or “extras” food at the end of every week which can be saved towards the next month’s supply.
So, if there are two people in your household, then your hypothetical budget should include enough supplies for 60 meals (or 30 days) for each person. More expensive foods cost more so make sure to factor this into your savings!
Short term food storage isn’t cheap, but it is very doable with the right amount stored up. A lot of people start buying their supplies once a year around winter season, but we suggest starting early to save some money.
The average person doesn’t eat as much as them during the summertime, so why not take advantage of that and buy less food? Also, most grocery stores offer special coupons and/or discount cards for short term food storage, where you can get extra discounts!
How Much Food Storage do I Need for a Medium Term Stockpile (3-6 Months)
Now that you have determined how many pounds of dried goods you need for your long term stock pile, it is time to determine what kind of supplies you will need to meet this goal.
You will want to buy some basic foods such as rice, pasta, dry beans, etc., but you should not stop there. It is important to try to match the amount of food you purchase with what people are actually offering during the times when these items can be accessed.
Some things that may seem like essential foods are really only needed by few individuals. For example, most households have milk at least once a week, so why would you spend money buying gallons of milk if you don’t use it regularly?
There are several ways to save money by knowing which foods are underutilized or even unneeded. By shopping around, you can find very good deals on foods that you know someone else will definitely use!
How Much Long Term Food to Stockpile for Each Person (12+ months)
As we mentioned earlier, your general rule of thumb is to buy enough food to last you for one month for each person in your family. This seems like a lot, but it’s not!
This number should actually be doubled due to wastage. We have talked about food waste before, so let’s look at that now.
Most people don’t think about how much wasted food there is around us every day, but really, if you include all the leftover bits that get discarded by cooks during the preparation process, it adds up quickly.
We often forget to check whether or not our plate is empty after eating, for example, leaving plenty of food on our fork. We could also forget to take our dirty dishes home with us or to wash them properly.
All these little things add together and make a big difference to how much food gets thrown away and therefore how many foods are left over.
Another thing that can waste food is buying too much at one time – this happens because people believe they will eat everything they purchase, but sometimes some items go bad or people just didn’t need as much as they thought.
If someone was trying to diet, for instance, then they might decide to stop going out because they ran out of snacks. These things add up and cost nothing to produce, making a sneaky way to lose weight!
By being aware of both internal and external factors that can waste food,