samedi 22 mars 2014

Learning About Emergency Food Rations

By Linda Cantrell


There are times when you cannot go out to buy food forcing you to retrieve from your stores. Such are the times when survival tactics apply. Food is crucial for human survival. Situations require emergency food rations. Floods, tornadoes, storms and disease outbreaks are natural disasters that normally hit the UK and other parts of the world. Disaster preparedness by through adequate foodstuff supply is therefore very important.

One of the basic preparation tips is to have an emergency food-stock. Such foods must have long shelf life and must meet all your basic dietary needs. At least a three day supply of food and water at any given time is a good start. Consider the number of family members and the amount of water and food they can consume per day. With time you can build your stock to last a week, a month and so on.

Also arrange good storage tools that meet the necessary hygiene requirements. It is not advisable to store foods with high salt content and refrigeration requirements. Your store should be within reach for easy retrieval of items. In case of an emergency, your food should be readily available. Keep the foods far from humidity and away from pests.

You do not need to shop for everything in one instant. Take your time! First, start with the foods that are available in the market at a reasonable price. It beats logic to buy an item at a hiked price when there is another one of the same or better quality more cheaply. Go for what you can comfortably afford. Also, consider the manufacturers as some are not trusted and avoid counterfeits.

The stock is only meant for emergencies. You should not yield to any urge whatsoever to turn to it. Continue purchasing your daily food as usual. If you are forced to borrow from your stock pile, replenish it as soon as possible. However, the ideal is not to touch it at all unless in an emergency situation.

Occasionally, you have to replenish and rotate your stock pile so that the old items appear at the bottom and the new ones at the top. Throw away the items that get expired before they are used. Rotating implies interchanging the items to take those recently purchased to the bottom. This way, the items that are about to expire are consumed first to avoid wastage.

You have a continuum of options for detecting the freshness of your food items. One way is to check their expiry dates. An item that has not expired is edible unless if it was not stored well. Restock your bottled water every six months because longer than this can be harmful; in addition, the nutrients in them become useless in regards to adding vitamins to the body.

The maximum storage period for high acid canned foods such as fruits can be a year or eighteen months. Low acid canned foods like meat, fish and most vegetables can be stored for two to five years.




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