A basic 30 day emergency food and water stock list for 1 person

[Kaleva]

This isn't the healthiest but it provides much of the daily recommended servings. The main positive is that one doesn't need refrigeration or heat for cooking as the list is made up of canned and dried foods.

1 can opener

30 gallons water (many water heaters hold 40 gallons)

GRAINS 9 servings per day
2 16 oz. boxes of salting crackers (14 crackers per day which is 2 servings)
1 40 oz. container of pretzels ( 1 oz. per day which is 1 serving)
28 oz. of crisp bread (2 servings per day)
90 cups of dry cold cereal such as Cheerios to be eaten dry (3 cups per day which is 3 servings)
2 packages of rice cakes (1 cake per day which is 1 serving)

MEAT 2 servings per day
30 cans tuna in water (1 can per day)
1 40 oz. container of peanut butter (2 Tb per day)

VEGETABLES 3.5 servings per day
30 14.5 oz. cans of various vegetables (1 can per day)

FRUITS 3.5 servings per day
30 14.5 oz. cans of various fruits (1 can per day)

DAIRY 2 servings per day
2 1 lb. 13 oz. No. 10 can of nonfat dry milk (10 Tbs makes 2 cups per day)

The above is for an average adult male. Refer to the below:

https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2000/document/build.htm

[Sherman A1]

1. Thanks for posting

I appreciate your efforts to share this information.

[shraby]

2. Toss in a couple of very large containers of nuts.

Some salad dressing wouldn't hurt either. I usually buy the tuna in packets. There is more tuna in them vs. liquid.

[Runningdawg]

4. I am that rare breed - a Liberal Prepper

I grew up in a family that did it, not these nutz nowadays preparing for the zombie apocalypse or the next revolution.
Anything is better than nothing but the list above is full of carbs and salt and not much more even the protein items (fish and PB) are high in salt. You can do much better with 1 hour of research.

[Kaleva]

10. I was following the KISS principle when making out the list

I looked for items that many people would already have in their pantry and thus be familiar with and would in the natural course of events, use on a regular basis so there is rotation of stock. And i also wanted foods that didn't require cooking in any way or refrigeration. In case of loss of gas and power.

As for concerns about sodium, going by the amounts I posted in the OP and looking at all the labels, here below is the percentage of daily value of sodium for each:

1% - 1 rice cake
5% - 2 tb of peanut butter
12% - 1 can of tuna in water
12% - 2 servings of saltine crackers
10% - 1 serving of pretzels
18% - 3 cups of Cheerios
6% - 2 servings of crisp bread
0% - 1 can of mandarin oranges
8% - 2 cups prepared dry milk
28% - 1 can diced tomatoes

100% total

Not bad at all.

Canned veggies that are naturally low in sodium

3.5% - 1 can of sweet potato
0% - 1 can of pumpkin

Other canned veggies are quite high in sodium but one can get varieties that have low or no sodium.

0% - 1 can Del Monte Whole Kernel Corn, No Salt Added
0% - 1 can Del Monte Cut Green Beans, No Salt Added
3.5% - 1 can Libby's Naturals Sweet Peas

One can also get low sodium or no salt added peanut butter, saltine crackers and tuna but one would only gain a few percentage points.

[braddy]

5. A lot of that stuff doesn't store for long, it is not a good list.

The canned fruits, vegetables and tuna will all store well, but skip the cereal, crackers and pretzels. Canned beans and chili, Spam, Sardines and other canned meats store well, canned corn and canned peas are easy to eat cold and of course pork and beans go down easy cold. Just in case you can cook, throw in a 20 pound bag of rice from Walmart, and store lots of sugar, salt, and instant coffee, all this stuff will store well for many years.

[Kaleva]

6. Cold cereal, peanut butter and crisp bread have a shelf life of up to a year

Pretzels and saltine crackers have a shelf life of up to 3 months. Dry milk has a shelf life of 2 years. I'm assuming one will rotate the stock including the canned goods.

[braddy]

7. Exactly, they are items that can go stale in your pantry and sometimes do before we eat them,

I prefer items with 15 and 20 year shelf life, and I still rotate them every few years.

A bag of pretzels has never been part of my food storage plan.

[Kaleva]

8. You are going beyond what I'm talking about here.

So what I propose would be inadequete for what you need. I dont need items that have a shelf life of 15-20 years because what I have would be used and replaced well before their 3 month or one year shelf life is reached.

[braddy]

9. To me a thirty day backup supply of food means food beyond the normal stuff already

in my fridge and my snack bags of chips and crackers. To be sure that I have 30 days of emergency foods they need to be separate from my normal household foods that are sometimes there and sometimes not and always in varying amounts.

[Kaleva]

11. What I listed doesn't require refrigeration or cooking

Just need water and that's only for the powdered milk.

[braddy]

12. None of my foods need cooking either, and they don't go bad in a few months, I just don't see

pretzels and crackers as part of one's emergency food stocks. I have enough trouble keeping cereal, and pretzels and crackers from going stale in my normal life, I would prefer canned foods in their place.

[Kaleva]

13. I don't have an issue with breads, cereals, crackers or pretzels going stale

I certainly go thru a 40 oz. container of pretzels and two boxes of saltines well within 3 months and 5 large boxes of Cheerios within a year.

There's nothing wrong with your method as it works for you. Everybody has different needs.

[northoftheborder]

16. Rice can go rancid rather quickly. I keep mine in the frig.

[braddy]

17. White rice lasts for years, even decades, I just finished 2lbs of 10 year old rice. Brown rice

goes rancid within a year or (much) less because of the oils.

http://www.stilltasty.com/articles/view/35

[Hortensis]

19. White rice for us also. It loses nutrients, but I stored

a couple of 25-pound bags of Sams Club rice for 5 years once, and when I finally figured it was past time to check it out we could tell no difference from what we'd been eating.

[dembotoz]

21. one of the wonderful things about costco is i can get a better quality rice in a bigger bad

and it stores well.

if i am gonna get a big bag of rice it won't be the kroger store brand

[Hortensis]

22. I'll have to add that to the list. The nearest Costco

is not near at all and it's been years, but our son and DIL have repurchased a membership and I've been wanting to check it out. Dried beans also.

Unopened olive oil should last a couple of years, and I'm down on that. I like to have a couple bottles waiting in our basement pantry (we don't use fast enough to buy large cans). I also prefer tuna and sardines packed in oil, so that's what's usually on the shelf.

Again, just buying extras of what we'll eat and need anyway, with the nearest market nearly 20 minutes away. The only problem is sometimes deciding what to make with so many possibilities that can be thrown together from the pantry, Or my husband's insisting we CAN'T be out of something just because it's not in our kitchen pantry and that I should run down to the basement to double check before he leaves for the market.

[dembotoz]

23. Please be aware of Costco sticker shock

U grab a deal here, a deal there, fill up the cart and ur bill is larger than a house payment.
I have a Costco just down the street.. more of my neighborhood grocery that just happens to have food samples.
Sit in the food court with your buck fifty hotdog and soda and watch folks with a full cart scratch there heads as they stare at the receipt.
Don't get me wrong...I LOVE Costco
Just be careful... sometimes u just can not afford to save that much money

[Hortensis]

24. Lol. I believe it because we do have a Sam's Club

in our town. You said it perfectly in that last sentence.

I read some customers are excited because the Polish dog is being retired. A "tradition" we'll have missed. Can't imagine anyone getting excited, even the kind of person who rushes to Twitter to launch expletives, if Sam's cheapjack flavorless hot dogs (don't even offer onions to help), disappeared.

[dembotoz]

14. Would have to modify.. pretzels won't make it thru an NFL weekend

If they are in the house and football is on the tv...the are gone.
Just can't have salty snacks around...no will power

[Runningdawg]

15. Will reply once more and leave it that

#1 rule of being prepared - Eat what you store, store what you eat.
If you enjoy eating only food that doesn't need to be cooked and opening a can is your idea of making dinner, you are good to go.
But...if you would like to make a hard time a little less awful you could <gasp> make preparations for fire!
The choices are many and for every budget. You could go with a DIY rocket stove made from 2 tin cans (youtube) and fueled by trash to a fully equipped outdoor kitchen.
Final word - Anything is better than nothing, but please don't sell yourself short.

[dembotoz]

18. agreed if you can not stomach it now you will not enjoy it later

[Hortensis]

20. If 30-day prepping was normal, our nation would be

far more resilient than we are now, far, far better equipped to face disaster. Also our families and immediate neighborhoods.

Those grain munchies are definitely my style. But even in putting together a 30-day stock I agree with those who suggest more reliance on items that can last at least a year. A supply of items with relatively short shelf lives would have to be constantly maintained. And most of us probably aren't that organized, at least I'm far from it.

I would add a few bottles of an inexpensive multivitamin. One 90-count bottle from Walmart would be about $10 and keep two adults for a month and a half, 3 months at every other day. I think their official shelf life is typically a year. At that price, I'm guessing even most who don't take multivitamins wouldn't mind laying in a just-in-case supply too much.