Food Guide
The best emergency food is food you already eat, stored where you can find it and rotated before it spoils. This guide covers how much to store, which types of food last, and how to keep the food in your fridge and freezer safe when the power goes out.
How much food to store
Start with three days of food for each person, which is the standard for a basic kit. A household that wants to stay at home through a longer outage can build toward two weeks. As a rough starting point, plan around 2,000 calories per adult per day. Children, older adults and very active people differ, so adjust for your household.
Include water. Plan 1 gallon per person per day for drinking, cooking and hygiene, and remember that dehydrated and freeze-dried meals need extra water to prepare.
What to stock
| Type | Strengths | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Canned and jarred foods | Cheap, familiar, ready to eat. Fish, meat, beans, vegetables, fruit and soup. | Heavy. Check cans for bulging, leaks or heavy rust, and discard damaged ones. Quality fades over long storage. |
| Dry staples | Rice, pasta, oats, lentils and beans give the most calories per dollar and keep a long time. | They need water and a heat source to cook, so they are not a no-cook option. |
| Ready-to-eat snacks | Crackers, peanut butter, nuts, dried fruit, energy bars. Need no preparation. | Limited variety. Rotate them, since oils in nuts and nut butters can go off. |
| Freeze-dried meals | Light and compact. Makers often claim shelf lives of 20 years or more when sealed. | Expensive per meal, and they need water, sometimes hot. Taste and portion sizes vary, so try one before buying a kit. |
Most households do best with a mix: everyday canned and dry foods they rotate through, a layer of no-cook snacks, and a small supply of freeze-dried meals if budget allows.
Keep fridge and freezer food safe
USDA gives these guidelines for keeping food safe when the power goes out:
- A refrigerator keeps food safe for up to about 4 hours without power, if you keep the door closed.
- A full freezer keeps food safe for about 48 hours with the door closed. A half-full freezer, about 24 hours.
- After 4 hours without power, discard perishable fridge food such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs and leftovers.
- Keep the fridge at 40°F (4°C) or below and the freezer at 0°F (-18°C) or below. An appliance thermometer in each tells you quickly whether food is still safe.
- Never taste food to decide whether it is safe. USDA's rule is "when in doubt, throw it out."
For a longer outage, dry ice can extend freezer time. USDA says about 50 pounds can keep an 18-cubic-foot freezer cold for around 2 days. Never touch dry ice with bare hands, and do not let it touch food directly. Use it in a ventilated area.
A portable power station can keep a fridge running through a short outage. See the runtime calculator to check how long one would last with your fridge.
Cooking without power
Plan on food that needs no cooking first. If you use a camp stove or grill, use it outdoors only, well away from windows and doors. Never use a gas stove, grill or generator inside a home or garage, because of the risk of carbon monoxide.
Special diets and needs
- Allergies and medical diets: build the supply around what is safe for the person, and check labels on kits.
- Infants: store formula and a way to prepare it with safe water, and rotate it before its date.
- Pets: store at least three days of their food and water.
- Diabetes or other conditions that depend on regular food or refrigerated medicine: talk to your clinician about an outage plan.
Rotate what you store
Use the oldest items first, and replace them as you go. Write the purchase date on each item, and check your supply twice a year, for example when the clocks change. Food you eat regularly never goes to waste.
Common questions
How long does canned food last?
Commercially canned food is generally safe to eat after long storage unless the can is bulging, leaking or badly rusted. Quality, flavour and nutrition decline over time, so rotate cans rather than leaving them for years.
Are freeze-dried kits worth it?
They are light, compact and keep a long time, which suits a small long-term reserve or a go-bag. They cost more per meal than pantry food and need water. A mix of pantry food and a few freeze-dried meals is a good balance for most households.
Should I store food for two weeks or three days?
Start with three days. It is the standard for a basic kit and is quick to build. Add to it over time if you want to stay at home for longer.
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