2. Food
Non-perishable food items or food with a long shelf life. Preferably with protein or vitamins to keep you nourished and energized. Obviously you need food if you and your family are going to make it through a disaster situation, but what kind of food you need is very different from everyday life. Natural disasters—a flood, hurricane, blizzard—often come with little or no warning. Stocking up now on the right nonperishable food items will help you weather the storm with less stress.
Because you’ll probably expend more energy than you normally would, you should eat high-energy, high-protein foods. And because you’ll have a limited supply, the higher-quality foods you eat—and the less of them—the better. “In a disaster or an emergency you want those calories,” says Barry Swanson, a food scientist at Washington State University. “You want some nutrients and some fiber—something to keep your diet normal.” Some foods you should keep with you include peanut butter, whole wheat crackers, nuts and trail mixes, cereal, granola bars, dried fruits, canned protein (tuna, chicken, or turkey) and canned vegetables.
One of the best portable kits you can purchase to make sure you have the right food in preparation for an emergency situation is the Lindon Farms emergency food kit. It has a shelf life of 25 years, is easy to stack and store, and its the highest quality food you can get in an emergency situation.