Food for the Soul – Those That Add Comfort and Flavor When it comes to your reserve of survival foods for the long-term, you have to consider various factors. Just in case, if you do need to prepare for such an event that lasts maybe from six months to a year, remember, your food requirement is not the same as it was before. Just like the pandemic pushed us into quarantining with what little we had to sustain, there may be a time where you have to isolate yourself from the outside world. Long-Term Disaster Survival FoodsĪlthough it’s a far stretch, it’s not impossible. These can be an incredible substitute and since they don’t require any cooking, they work well for times when you don’t have electricity to back you up. Energy BarsĮnergy bars are usually created keeping nutritional value in mind. Peanut butter is also available in a powdered form that is known to last longer. It does require refrigeration but that’s not a hard and fast rule. It is a good source of concentrated energy. By just adding water to the powdered milk, you have a great dairy substitute. While powdered milk has a shelf life of 2 years, I know a lot of people who have used it for up to 5 years. Some of these canned items also come ready to eat. This can include a range of products, both veg, and non-veg. The first thing that cuts-off during emergencies like this is water so it’s necessary to store enough water to drink, cook and take care of your hygiene. Your number one priority should be storing water, the distilled form of it. I know water isn’t technically food, but surviving without it is not possible. I tend to stock the following products for situations like this. It’s not necessary to go in survival mode and hoard everything you can get your hands on as it’s a temporary thing and you’ll mostly be out of it in a matter of days. It could be a blizzard or a short-term power outage. Short-term disaster is probably the most common type of disaster we experience. You will find a great variety of beans that are high in calories and proteins, some also contain a fair share of vitamins and minerals. What I mean to say is, they’re the survival superfood. Like rice, beans don’t cost an arm and a leg. Canned BeansĬanned Beans have a crazy good shelf-life and they go well with rice. Dried meat can be stored for 25 years and more and can be a great addition to your survival food list. Meat is packed in proteins and is essential for building new cells and maintaining tissues. Dried Meatĭried meat is not just a tasty snack you nibble on, it is a great survival food too. If you’ve opened a can, best remember to use it within a year. Potato Flakes have a shelf life that ranges from 25-30 years when stored in ideal conditions.

Honey doesn’t expire even if it’s been previously opened, provided it is stored in good conditions, away from the stove. While honey may get grainy, hard, or change color post the best before date, the truth is that it won’t go bad. The “best before” date on the bottles can confuse anyone. Defeats the purpose of survival food, doesn’t it? #2. Simply put, it won’t last more than 12-18 months in the pantry. While popularly known as being more nutritious than the standard white rice, it has a high oil content comparatively. Rice can last you more than 25 years if stored in ideal conditions. At all.īut, in a scenario where you’re restricted from making regular trips to the grocery store or ordering online, the items on this list can be your best bet. When survival is all about staying put and making the best of what you have, it also means stockpiling on food that has the longest shelf life since there’s no saying till when an emergency might extend. Survival Foods That Have the Longest Shelf Life Your main concern should be storing food that does not require electricity or fuel to be cooked. The plastic packaging that they usually come in can decrease their shelf life. StorabilityĪs much as possible store food in air-tight containers. Most staple survival foods have great nutritional value and are meant to keep you energetic and fit at the time you need them the most.

Just because you’re in a situation that requires you to eat stored food for survival does not mean it has to be bland, or a straight-up fast-food meal. Food items like protein bars, canned beans, and white rice are the way to go. Seeing that we don’t know what kind of emergency we’ll be in, it’s best to choose food products that can be consumed as is or require very little preparation time.

Avoid stocking products that don’t last a year, at the least. Most items have best before dates written on the packaging itself so they can give you a rough idea. If the food you choose does not have a long shelf life, then it stumps the whole purpose of it. The whole idea of survival food is to store food that can last for a long time.

Most important foods to stockpile