Food and Water Considerations for Home

As most people may be aware, water is the most important resource in a survival situation. A good rule of thumb is one gallon of water per day per person to start. That adds up quickly. Within the standard American home, there are about 35 to 40 gallons of water stored. You may not realize it but your water heater is just a large tank of water. On the bottom is a spicket to take this reservoir. Now because a lot of us are on a well, there will be iron deposits at the bottom so before you stick a glass under it, let it run for a few seconds. Other ways to store water is in store-bought containers such as gallons of water, water bottles, etc., or aftermarket containers such as 55-gallon drums or water bricks. Be sure to properly treat or filter this water before you fill these containers. Google and youtube are endless resources at your fingertips.

The next provision to take into account is food. This can not be stressed enough. Diversify your preps. A common misconception is you can survive just on rice and beans. This is true to an extent but your body can only take so much or just one thing before it refuses to process it anymore. That spells trouble for you. Furthermore if you do not already eat “rice and beans,” how do you know how your body will acclimate to a sudden change of diet? Food preps can be broken down into a couple of categories: working kitchen, dehydrated, and meals ready to eat or MREs.

A working kitchen is what is recommended to people just getting started in prepping. Buy extra of what you use already and store it. For example, I eat a lot of pasta and Asian cuisine. I buy pasta, sauces, and rice in bulk on sale. It then goes straight to the basement to the back of the shelf. When I cook, I grab from the front, always rotating the stock on the shelf. The great thing about the working kitchen is there is no crazy price tag, no flashy products to buy, and it’s easy to scale.