Food Preparedness Checklist

You’ll be ready for almost any food emergency if you follow these 9 simple steps.

1. Don’t rely on a single technique. If you dry, can, freeze, preserve, and root cellar parts of your food, you’ll always have something edible on hand no matter what system goes down.
2. Stock what you like to eat. Ease your family into eating--and liking--foods that store well and have high nutritional value before an emergency arises. And store plenty of favorites to help them through the hard times. Ease your family into eating--and liking--foods that store well and have high nutritional value before an emergency arises. And store plenty of favorites to help them through the hard times.
3. Label your stores. Label and date all cans, jars, freezer packages, water jugs, containers of dried staples, and other storage supplies. Label and date all cans, jars, freezer packages, water jugs, containers of dried staples, and other storage supplies.
4. Rotate your supplies. Start with the oldest products and work toward the fresher ones. You can box and label same-date foods to avoid having to dig through all the new jar, cans, and packets to reach the older ones. Start with the oldest products and work toward the fresher ones. You can box and label same-date foods to avoid having to dig through all the new jar, cans, and packets to reach the older ones.
5. Have ready-to-eat food on hand. If you can’t use your stove, rely on ready-to-eat foods like dried fruits, canned fruits, and applesauce, tinned cookies and crackers, cheese and yogurt, cereal, peanut butter, and nuts.
6. Watch your water supplies. Store extra water in well-washed plastic soda bottles or sterile food-grade 55-gallon plastic drums. Stock instant iced tea, dry drink mixes like Kool-Aid, powdered milk, and instant coffee to add flavor to stored water. Store extra water in well-washed plastic soda bottles or sterile food-grade 55-gallon plastic drums. Stock instant iced tea, dry drink mixes like Kool-Aid, powdered milk, and instant coffee to add flavor to stored water.
7. Practice cooking with stored food. Becoming comfortable with basic cooking techniques like bread-making, yogurt-making, canning, preserving, freezing, etc. before you’re stuck in a snowstorm or the roads to town are flooded.
8. Get an alternative cooking source. A wood cookstove is ideal, but many wood-burning heat stoves have tops that are big enough for pots and pans. And there are solar cookers on the market that cost less than $25. A wood cookstove is ideal, but many wood-burning heat stoves have tops that are big enough for pots and pans. And there are solar cookers on the market that cost less than $25.
9. Don’t forget Fido. Your pets need ample supplies of food, litter, water, and other necessities, too.