For a lot of people these days, keeping groceries in the pantry for their family to eat now can be a true hardship. At that point, it’s difficult to even fathom the idea of storing food in the event that there is a disaster, whether natural or man-made.
However, it doesn’t have to be a horribly expensive endeavor to prepare for the worst. Whether you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel or you’re just reluctant to spend much on food storage, a bare bones food storage plan will likely make you feel a lot more secure in the long run. Spend a few dollars each time you visit the grocery store on this famine food storage menu to safeguard your family’s future.
Related: Prepping on a Budget – How To Get Survival Supplies When You Have Almost No Money
Basic Menu Items for One Day:
- Three pieces of bread per person (homemade, obviously)
- One pan of oatmeal
- One pan of rice
- One pan of beans
- One cup of milk
Weekly Additions:
- A pint of fruit jam (this is how to make survival dandelion jelly with 2 years shelf life)
- A jar of peanut butter
- A pasta dinner with meat (here’s how to can pasta sauce for long term preservation)
- 4 pots of soup (explained below)
- Sprouting seed rotation (see below for details)
Monthly Additions:
- A can of popcorn
- A can of potato flakes
- A can of refried beans
- A can of white flour
One-Year Purchases for A Family of Four:
- 366 lbs wheat
- 96 lbs rolled oats
- 240 lbs rice
- 240 lbs dry beans
- 96 lbs refried bean
- 52 16 oz jars of peanut butter
- 52 pints of canned meat, ideally something relatively fatty (find out how to pressure-can hamburger meat for long term preservation)
- 192 lbs white flour
- 160 lbs granulated sugar
- 18 quarts oil
- 8 lbs yeast
- 8 lbs salt
- 57 lbs honey
- 64 lbs powdered milk
- 72 lbs potato flakes
- 52 quarts pasta sauce
- 240 lbs pasta
- Spices of your choice
- 1460 multivitamin doses
- 6 #10 cans of popcorn
- 52 pints of jam
- 160 lbs sprouting seeds (choose your favorite) + jars for sprouting rotation
Making the Famine Food Storage Menu Work for You
The needs and wants of each family varies a great deal, and this menu allows for customization so that you can create a food storage plan that has the best chance of keeping your family happy. You’ll find some tips for how to choose the right items to suit your needs below.
Beans and Rice
Choose a wide variety of dried beans and different types of rice to help break up the monotony of eating essentially the same thing every day. While the pasta dinner that is laid out in the menu will help with that, it will also help to keep the everyday menu variable. Lentils, red beans, black beans, and bean mixes are some good protein options.
Canned Meat
This menu, while providing slightly more than the recommended calories a person generally needs every day, is a little light on fat. Fat is crucial to keeping your body, particularly the brain, functioning at its peak. When purchasing or home-canning meat for your famine food storage, use meats that are high in fat, like sausage and high-fat ground beef. You can even can bacon, which would be a wonderful, flavorful treat.
Related: 10 Long Shelf-Life Canned Foods Every Prepper Should Consider Stockpiling
Soup
The soup listed above is to be made from any leftovers that you may have on hand. It’s the perfect way to make sure that none of the food you prepare goes to waste. You can also add in any bits and bobs of fresh vegetation you have on hand. This is great for veggies that are past their prime, but not actually spoiled.
Sprouts
Sprouts are a great way to keep fresh veggies in your diet in a SHTF situation. Think about this: if society collapses, even if you’re prepared, it’ll take some time to produce your own produce, and depending on the season, it could be more than a year. Sprouts provide fresh produce without the wait. They’re not difficult to grow, they’re a quick way to get to the vitamins and minerals they provide back into your diet. The positive psychological effects of fresh produce can’t be ignored, either.
Multivitamins
Be sure that you purchase multivitamins that are appropriately formulated for each member of your family. Depending on age, sex, and many other factors, the nutrients each person needs likely varies a little. In order to prevent such nutritional deficiencies as scurvy, be sure everyone’s needs are accounted for.
Spices
What spices do you use most often in your everyday food prep? Those are probably the ones you want to stock up on
Important Notes
It’s important to note that food storage is for more than just the zombie apocalypse like people tend to think of when they imagine it. It can help get you through an unseasonable ice storm where it’s not safe on the roads, or it can help ensure your family has enough food through horrible financial hardships.
Keep in mind that you ought to consider rotating your stocks of stored food. When you’re going to buy one of the items in your food storage, pull one out of storage and replace it with the new one. You can even use masking tape to create a simple bought-on date label to keep your rotations simple. You’d just take the oldest item out and use it.
It’s also important that you keep a significant amount of fresh water on hand and that you have a plan for keeping clean water coming. If a real disaster occurs, this could quickly become an issue. You’ll need potable water to prepare many of the items on the list and to drink for daily hydration and for hygiene. A good rule of thumb is one gallon of water per person in the household for at least three days at the absolute bare minimum. From there, make sure you’ve got a plan and the materials you need to carry it out.
Related: 24 Prepping Items I Don’t Spend Money On
You don’t have to spend a fortune to create a comprehensive food storage plan. It can be done a little at a time, and you can make the most of the items that you store by knowing exactly how to use them and practicing creativity within the proscribed items before you’re forced to rely on your food storage.
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All good information. Thank you. I enjoyed reading about it.
Poor air quality across the West due to fires is keeping many people home-bound, myself included. It’s not a disaster, but still a good time to live off stored foods. It’s been 10 days and I haven’t run out of anything. Many in Houston during hurricane Hugo are out of food and water and are very desperate within 3-4 days. If your plan is to let FEMA or the Red Cross rescue you–you will live but you will also suffer. You can be prepared, without preparing for the end of the world.
If you read Stephen Konkoly’s book Practical Prepping, No Apocalypse Needed, you will see that he stresses preparing for the things most likely to happen first. You analyze what kinds of disasters happen in your area, i.e.., blizzards, hurricanes, tornados, flooding, earthquakes etc. He then recommends preparing for that scenario rather than getting all sweaty about the less likely disasters such as plague, EMP, CME, atomic attack, etc. Makes sense.
By the way, I think that book is one of the best ones written on prepping. There are a couple of errors in it, but on the whole it is outstanding.
First, he underestimates how many calories per day you will need to perform the strenuous activity that surviving a disaster will take.
He is not old enough to remember that A&P stores dated from the 19th century and were the first super markets in the country. His statement should be that the supermarket phenomenon took off after WWII, not that supermarkets didn’t exist until after WWII.
I highly recommend this book of his. If you like post-apocalyptic literature, read his two series of books. They are good reading. Wish I had the money to have a stockpile like Alex had and the money for a hide-out home in a rural area on a lake. Good luck buying lakefront property in Kallyforniya.
Thanks for the book recommendations. Got more? Highly respect your opinion.
Unfortunately FEMA and Red Cross get aid to heavily populated areas first and surrounding communities are left to fend for themselves. We must be there for each other. Houston and Beaumont got immediate help but Vidor, bridge city, orange, and other smaller cities would be ghost towns and a lot larger death toll if thousands did not rally to bring aid to these areas. Prepping is so important it can’t be stressed enough. Hopefully after millions see how fast situations change from great to deadly and desperate they will think about being more prepared than just thinking, well I will just run up to the grocery store. Red Cross is a corrupt joke and FEMA is a power hungry entity that chooses where they will go. So many disasters going on right now in America. Flooding, hurricanes, fires, droughts, earth quakes, and a looming threat of war with North Korea. I will look unto the hills from where my help comes from. My help comes from The Lord God maker of heaven and earth.
Thank you for your comments. I was born n Port Neches n never expected the government to do anything but be the dog catcher. It seems people look for a handout all the time so they can play video games. Keep Packed up Prayed up n Ready to go. The Lord is coming soon
I was told be a friend that if a disaster happen, not just 2- 3 weeks & everything would be some what ok. But a big one. That the government could & will come in & take your supplies, then you would half to like everyone else stand in line.
The only time that I’m aware of anything being confiscated was in the aftermath of Katrina where some guns were taken. There was such a backlash over that because the police chief overstepped his bounds. The police even had to pay for some of the guns they took. I don’t think anything like it will be tried again for any kind of item, including food. They sure haven’t tried it in Houston and I don’t look for it to happen in Florida or any of the other areas soon to be hit by Irma. Protection from illegal search and seizure is granted by the 4th Amendment.
FEMA threatened to confiscate supplies from a distribution center in Vidor we delivered aid to about a week. Had to tell person running operation to call sheriffs department and inform him of this illegal threat of activity. Sheriff talked to mayor, mayor talked to city council and city council talked to FEMA and they were told to stay away from distribution center. Only way FEMA has authority to confiscate food is under martial law(and even then it is morally wrong). No martial law through all this. Yes they are testing the waters during a natural disaster. Look out Florida, watch for criminals they can look like folks with FEMA shirts.
To Homesteader: If a really big one comes all bets are off. If someone knows what you have and they want it and think they can take it, you will be in for the fight of your life. LITERALLY. And unfortunately I don’t think the 4th Amendment is going to help you
I’m willing (and anxious to be) corrected, but doesn’t the ‘Patriot Act’ pretty much eliminate all the “Constitution’, and is my memory faulty that some city/states have already passed laws/ordinances that eliminate the necessity of search warrants? Also (see first line), nationwide, the police hit the wrong place on a pretty reg basis. This is not a ‘knock the cops’ commentary; but mistakes happen, and innocent folks get killed and their lives turned upside down. Don’t fool yourself into thinking it doesn’t, and won’t, happen again.
Since Katrina and the confiscation of weapons by the NOPD, several states have passed laws against such seizure of weapons by “authorities” in the time of emergency. I’m sorry, I cannot tell you which states passed those laws. It certainly wasn’t the PDRK where I live. I am sure some supposed law enforcement body will be out trying to round up all the firearms on record with Scaredamental if the “Big One” ever does hit Kallyforniya.
The NRA and Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership are both reporting that the Head Turkey of the Virgin Islands ordered the politizia to round up all the firearms in civilian hands before Irma struck the islands.
Whether they actually complied and whether citizens yielded to the unconstitutional demands has not yet been reported.
Well Homesteader, let me bring you up to today, The National Defense and Authorization Act (NDAA) allows the government to commandeer anything and everything; and in addition, force you to work at any job the government chooses for you and pay you whatever wages they so desire if and/or when martial law is declared. Also, under the “Civil Forfeiture” law supposedly meant to combat illegal drug dealers and terrorists, any law enforcement officer can seize your cash, vehicle(s) real property and personal property without even bringing up on a violation charge. Under “civil forfeiture” an average of $5 Billion is confiscated by various law enforcement officers of all departments/organizations ANNUALLY most of which is taken from completely innocent citizens. Cops in Oklahoma have a portable machine that can drain your bank account from scanning your debit card.. One man back east had his $2 million motel business that he owned outright seized because a tenant conducted a drug deal that the owner was completely unaware of; and it took a big legal battle and big legal fees and 3 years for him to get his motel back. Most “civil forfeitures” are less than a $1,000. You obviously need to do some serious online research and quit listening to main stream media (MSM).
I think I remember that when Katrina hit supplies desperately needed by people trapped in the city there were being forcibly taken by people outside of the city and less trapped, some of which were then sold for hideously high prices.
When 911 happened there were people in my own city asking for donations to help the victims and only keeping it for themselves. So of any one on your streets is asking such donations remember they should be registered somewhere as being legally in the position to do do.
Personally I’d be more worried about someone falsely claiming to be from FEMA than FEMA itself; not that I would take it for granted there would be no problem there either. Because taking it automatically for granted any government agency of any country would never do that can be just as disrespectful and dangerous as being automatically suspicious. Such careless thinking too much in either direction can disable those who really can and will help. Not all the prepping in the world would be enough if one doesn’t at least do what one can to do one’s own share.
So I do what little I can to prep anyway and worry later what might come of it.
Great article. I like your wide variety of food.
Your quantities are higher than LDS/ day based on 100+ years experience, I’m not a member. i.e. you have 3/4 lb. of sprouting seeds a day seems like a lot, then add water your at a pound/ day plus everything else. Where did you get your research from? Just trying to average several resources for a best prep list
Well organized, comprehensive article, Rebecca! Prepper Dave asked, and I was thinking, too, about the amount of sprouting seeds. Is that intended to be the source of fresh vegetables? It’s a good one, if so. I read that the vitamin content of grains and seeds increases greatly when they are sprouted. They store really well, and are crunchy and sweet in an otherwise pretty bland diet.
why is there an additional can of white flour added per month, or is this a typo? Also are the monthly additions per person or per four people? Very informative article. Would love to see an article about what is best to plant and how much in a long term survival situation….
Larry, as for what to plant, we have had really good luck with potatoes. They store well in a root cellar, and our soil isn’t very good.
I didn’t see the recipe for the soup explained below. Would like to know the recipe and ingredients for this diet. Very interesting article
I’m less concerned with EMPs and such as I am about Yellowstone volcano-to-be. Sure it could come centuries from now but even a N Korean bomb could jar it to life. If she blows, bend over and kiss our nation goodbye. So prep for anything that might come including losing Social Security or your job late in life. Oh and make sure during subzero weather, you have survival blankets at home and in your cars. They could save your life.
Harry Turtledove’s fictional Supervolcano trilogy of life after Yellowstone blows is eye-opening.
How did you figure those amounts? Those are huge! I can’t believe that is a realistic amount of food for 4 people for a year.
Hey Jan,
The math is pretty simple:
1 vitamin per person per day = 4 vitamins per day
365 days per year X 4 vitamins per day = 1,460 vitamins per year
3 meals per person per day X 4 people = 12 meals per day. X 365 days per year = 4,380 meals per year or 4,392 meals in leap years for a family of 4 people.
You’re right about one thing, Jan–the numbers are huge
96 pounds of refried beans? Do you mean pinto beans, because “refried beans” come in cans or are made on a stove?
Also, it’d be good to break down the “dried beans,” too. Kidney beans, lentils (red, green, yellow), split peas, navy beans, et cetera. What works best, and what percentages should be of a specific bean?
Right now I’m preparing for civil unrest as opposed to SHTF or TEOTWAWKI. I have roughly a month of canned goods stowed in a few places as well as two freezers full of meat and other frozens (fruit, produce).