An emergency preparedness plan must include food storage. Although other aspects need to be considered, food is crucial during times of disaster. The average person has less than a week's worth of food in his or her home, and in terms of sustaining yourself, this amount is not sufficient, especially when a fair portion of it is perishable. To be prepared for disasters of all types, start accumulating food storage well in advance and aim to eventually have a year's supply.

How do you start building it up, and which items are necessary? Think about which foods are absolutely essential: grains and protein. In addition to these two, also include oil, sugar, and powdered milk.

These few items lead to minimal variety – just a few rice and beans dishes. For adding more meal options, purchasing a food kit is helpful. Not only offering variety, a food kit of dehydrated and freeze-dried items rounds out your diet and allows you to live on 1,000 to 2,000 calories per day. Kits come in sizes ranging from supplies to last an individual a few weeks to a year.

A disaster blocks out resources nearly everyone takes for granted. Because of this, water also needs to be part of your food storage. While it, too, can accumulate over time in a storage tank or be purchased in cans, water is essential for preparing all freeze-dried and dehydrated emergency foods. To prepare any food, just heat water and add it to a portion. The food, then, rehydrates and is ready to be eaten as-is. Kits, however, contain cans or pouches of separate foods – fruits, vegetables, proteins, dairy, or carbohydrates – and for traditional cooking, servings of each can be rehydrated and combined together in a pan.

Kits for food storage come in two forms – #10 can and pouch. While both are airtight, pouches have typically two servings inside and are kept in a bucket, which is easy to grab in an evacuation. #10 cans, on the other hand, have a shelf life of a few decades. If your food storage contains #10 cans, make sure to have a method for storing all leftovers. Resealing the can, freezing the food, or storing it inside an airtight container or bag are all options for keeping the remaining freeze-dried items in good condition for a full year.

Although kits can last five to 25 years, conditions for food storage affect the conditions of all items. Moisture and light both deteriorate freeze-dried and dehydrated foods, and the storage area, as a result, must be dry, dark, and cool. Closets, crawlspaces, and some basements are possible locations. However, chemicals, such as cleaning supplies, must not share the same space, and food should not be kept in a trash bag or liner or buried in the ground.