This is a brief guide on how to estimate the amounts of staple, calorie dense, foods to be stored at a household scale. People choose to store food for a number of reasons, including being prepared for an emergency situation and saving money. Knowing some basic facts about human needs and the nutrient density of different kinds of food can help a family create a food buffer. However, people consume a great variety of food, and so planning for a household also requires accounting for special dietary needs and preferences.

Given that I may have frightened some readers (and validated others) with my post on Scenario 2020 about a breakdown in the "Just-in-Time" delivery system, I thought it would be kind to talk a bit about preparation for transportation hiccups, specifically regarding food supplies.

From what I have seen elsewhere, this food storage guide is unique because it clearly presents the dietary information, with respect to calories, that approximate the quantities of foods to keep. It is a kind of "bottom up" analysis that the technically-oriented readers of The Oil Drum may appreciate (or at least I hope so).

This guide was originally written with background and summary tables AND a detailed worksheet. On The Oil Drum pages I will not provide the worksheet, but will attach the original document for those interested in such details. It may also serve as a useful handout for family, friends, neighbors, community preparedness, and emergency services groups, etc.



Some Basic Nutrition Facts

On average a person needs about 2400 food calories per day, and most people prefer to consume less than 5 lbs of food per day. Obtaining a proper balance of proteins, vitamins and nutrients, requires a variety of food sources. Some food comes dry and is prepared in water to make palatable, such as rice and beans, while other foods are usually eaten fresh and full of water weight, such as vegetables and fruits.

The table below shows how a nutritionally balanced diet of about 2400 calories per day can be had by consuming different kinds of foods. Following the detailed worksheet for planning for the needs of an average adult for one year would approximately yield this table. This information is useful for planning a household food buffer, including deviations for personal preference. For example, a vegetarian will have to make up for an absence of meat and eggs by increasing other foods proportionally. On the other hand, some people prefer more meat and less starch, etc. The caloric density values given are approximate for the food class. For example, potatoes have about 350 calories per pound whereas lettuce is only about 50 (other food classes are not so variable).





Estimating Your Needs

This guide’s worksheet is based on average needs of adults. Consider whether your family’s needs approximate the average—for example young children and the elderly eat less food, while teenagers and large men eat more. A very active adult may need nearly 4000 calories per day.

You may want to use the worksheet to calculate the needs of your household specifically. Alternatively, three scenarios based on the worksheet are given in the table below that may be similar to your situation (Scenario 1 approximates the above table, i.e., 1 person for 1 year).

Keeping Food Fresh

This guide emphasizes dry food storage because these foods have the longest shelf life and don’t require costly preservation methods. Even dry foods can deteriorate and spoil, with the major causes being incursion of moisture, oxygen, high temperatures, light, and animal infestation. The following table highlights the shelf life of different food classes stored at room temperature (70 degrees F) and kept dark and dry. Try to find a place in your home that doesn’t fluctuate in temperature very widely and doesn’t get above 70 degrees F often—a cellar or basement away from the water heater, or a closet in a cold room, for example.

If you store mainly what you normally eat, then your food is unlikely to spoil. The best strategy to keep your food stores fresh is therefore one of lifestyle and habits—for example a diet primarily based on whole grains and beans, seasonally available foods, and drawing from bulk household supplies of sweeteners, oils, and preserved out of season produce. Primarily local sources of meats, egg and dairy products might be healthy additions too. If you store several months of food or more, clearly label the containers by date and content and always eat from the older stores and refresh periodically to maintain your buffer.

Storage containers need to be “food grade,” meaning they won’t deteriorate and contaminate food, and be able to seal completely. A common and inexpensive container is the plastic bucket (HDPE, type 2) with a rubber gasket lid manufactured specifically for holding food. (Used buckets may be contaminated with non-food items and so only new buckets are recommended). Bucket lids may need a prying wrench to open, or a more expensive option is to buy screw top lids. You may want a scooper to remove grain from 5 gallon buckets and into kitchen containers. Alternatives to the plastic bucket include one or half gallon glass jars and metal cans, but these are not as widely available.

Grains and dry beans can be treated in various ways to slow the rate of deterioration and reduce the risk of pest colonization. “High tech” methods include placing oxygen absorber packets, flushing with dry ice, carbon dioxide or nitrogen, and vacuum sealing in mylar bags. These might be good choices for items you intend to keep for many years and not open.

Otherwise, several “low tech” and less expensive options exist. Two bay laurel leaves per gallon of grain may keep bugs away (perhaps fewer leaves with the native and more pungent California Bay Laurel). Mix one cup of diatomaceous earth per 40 lbs of grains or beans to prevent insect outbreaks (be sure to buy the organic version suited for gardening, not pool filters, and wear a mask when handling). Keeping waterproof buckets outside during a hard frost each year will likely kill any bug larvae that may be inside.

References

For further information on household food storage consider the books When Technology Fails (M. Stein), Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook (P. Layton) and Self Reliance: A Recipe for the New Millennium (J. Yeoman), and see the website www.usaemergencysupply.com.