When disaster hits, most people aren't ready. Most people think that food will be plentiful and all the stores will be open. That isn't the case in most natural disasters. People who don't prepare will suffer. People who plan will prosper. Planning ahead is the answer.
Food is Essential
Food is an essential that most people take for granted. If a storm hits, the stores will close. Do you have enough food in your house to feed the family for two to three weeks? Three weeks is generally how long people usually have to cope with in a disaster.
The Bare Minimum
The best way to be prepared is to build a home survival cache of food. You should have enough food to feed your family for at least one month. You will need ways of preparing the food as well. In most disasters, electricity will be curtailed, therefore:
Foods that require refrigeration and fresh foods will spoil before the month is out.
Pre-Packaged Ready-to-Eat Food
You might consider looking on the Internet to buy a food preparation kit for you family. This is the easy out, but it will be costly. If you haven't eaten MRE's (meals ready to eat), you might try them first. You might not like the food and things will be bad enough without putting up with food you don't like. Some taste better than others so:
Consider sampling them before you commit to buying large quantities.
Dried and Canned Food
The best thing is to buy the foods you like that are canned and dried. These foods last a long time and will make your time struggling through the disaster tolerable. If you are use to these foods, eating won't be a chore. Remember to cover the basic food groups to cover all of your needs.
Freeze dried foods and dehydrated pastas, as well as beans will help you vary your diet and make food more desirable.
Storing the Food
When it comes to storage of these foods, it is best to purchase or build a waterproof container or containers for storage. In the case of flooding, food will not do you any good if it is ruined. Dehydrated, condensed and freeze dried food will all ruin when it comes into contact with water.
There are many ways to store your food supply if you do your homework and plan.
Cooking the Food
As far as preparation goes, you will need a way to cook your food. You do not want to eat raw foods for a month. Therefore, a camping stove that accepts multiple types of fuel is best. That is where camping comes in. People who camp regularly will be ahead of the game. If you aren't a camper, it will be best to practice cooking on your camping equipment. If you have to use it in an emergency, you will be ready.
Check with your sporting goods store as to how much fuel and what kinds are best for extended cooking needs.
Robert enjoys many business ventures and sharing his passion with others. As a businessman, he always has new projects going. Visit his latest business venture at http://womensworkoutclothes.org/ where he has compiled reviews on Plus Size Workout Clothes.
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Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Family Survival Essentials to Help Get Off the Grid
How reliant are you on the products and services of others? We rely so heavily on the system that if the system went away many would be lost and desperate. We all use electricity and buy our food from the supermarket but if there was a major power outage and the supermarkets closed would you be prepared with a cache of survival items? Have you been watching the economy and our government lately? Look at what is going on in other countries; we are not that far away from similar events.
Supply lines for food distribution in this country are about three days, meaning a dependence on "just in time" distribution systems, which will leave store shelves empty in the event of even the smallest crisis. If you don't have the ability to grow your own food long term, your life could be in danger. Start by planting a garden to grow your own food it can be fun and rewarding as well. Learn about home canning to increase your survival food storage bank. For a small investment you will end up saving over time as the jars are reusable and this will get you started in getting off of the food grid. Find seeds that are authentic strains which are NOT genetically modified in any way. When the going gets really tough you will only want this special type of seed which will produce not only outstanding nutritional plants but will allow you to plant the seeds from the plants you grow unlike sterile hybrids that will not reproduce. Start your survival seed bank now!
Electricity is a little harder problem to overcome the avenue that I have chosen to overcome this problem is solar panels. They are expensive so I add one at a time to the roof when I can afford a new one and hope to eventually get enough to stop my meter or run it backwards. If you Google solar panels you will find a wealth of information about how they work. I chose this method over generators as I will eventually run out of fuel, they are noisy and you have to run them outside alerting your neighbors or other prying ears you do not want. Wind energy is not an option for me in my suburban setting however you may want to look into that as well. The first unit I recommend is a portable unit that does not hook into your home. It has its own battery pack in a self contained unit with one or two panels outside that you can position. This way I can power the basement refrigerator getting it of the grid and keep the unit charged while it pays for itself.
By using these tips you gain some independence from these systems, and start saving money on electric and grocery bills. In this economy it will only benefit you and if there is a disaster or heaven forbid the economy collapses you will be better prepared with these family survival essentials. You can find more information about these survival products by going to my web page (link in author resource box).
With all of the severe weather events seemingly on the increase I have been stocking some canned goods for an emergency. Last year when the wind storm from the hurricane came through my house was without power for two weeks. After this I began looking for ways to better prepare for my family and found a lot of good advice and products. Unfortunately I cannot share them all in this short article however you may find more information in my web page Family Survival Essentials.
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Supply lines for food distribution in this country are about three days, meaning a dependence on "just in time" distribution systems, which will leave store shelves empty in the event of even the smallest crisis. If you don't have the ability to grow your own food long term, your life could be in danger. Start by planting a garden to grow your own food it can be fun and rewarding as well. Learn about home canning to increase your survival food storage bank. For a small investment you will end up saving over time as the jars are reusable and this will get you started in getting off of the food grid. Find seeds that are authentic strains which are NOT genetically modified in any way. When the going gets really tough you will only want this special type of seed which will produce not only outstanding nutritional plants but will allow you to plant the seeds from the plants you grow unlike sterile hybrids that will not reproduce. Start your survival seed bank now!
Electricity is a little harder problem to overcome the avenue that I have chosen to overcome this problem is solar panels. They are expensive so I add one at a time to the roof when I can afford a new one and hope to eventually get enough to stop my meter or run it backwards. If you Google solar panels you will find a wealth of information about how they work. I chose this method over generators as I will eventually run out of fuel, they are noisy and you have to run them outside alerting your neighbors or other prying ears you do not want. Wind energy is not an option for me in my suburban setting however you may want to look into that as well. The first unit I recommend is a portable unit that does not hook into your home. It has its own battery pack in a self contained unit with one or two panels outside that you can position. This way I can power the basement refrigerator getting it of the grid and keep the unit charged while it pays for itself.
By using these tips you gain some independence from these systems, and start saving money on electric and grocery bills. In this economy it will only benefit you and if there is a disaster or heaven forbid the economy collapses you will be better prepared with these family survival essentials. You can find more information about these survival products by going to my web page (link in author resource box).
With all of the severe weather events seemingly on the increase I have been stocking some canned goods for an emergency. Last year when the wind storm from the hurricane came through my house was without power for two weeks. After this I began looking for ways to better prepare for my family and found a lot of good advice and products. Unfortunately I cannot share them all in this short article however you may find more information in my web page Family Survival Essentials.
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Saturday, June 26, 2010
Preparedness BookStore
i finally got done with my new Prepared For Survival Store!! It took me a while to add the items and I still have some more to add. It has books , tools, solar powered items, and more. Anything that someone preparing for survival would need.
If there is something that you think that my store should have please comment on it.
Thank you for checking it out.
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Friday, June 25, 2010
Survival Foods - 3 Options You Have to Prepare For Emergency
In times of distress, natural disaster or even terrorist attacks, survival foods are one of the most important things to have on hand.
Having enough food to eat will help you and your family survive most emergency situations. Survival foods can also help you in case of a job loss or in the case of an illness or pandemic where you don't want to leave your home.
Most people today are taking steps to make sure they have a supply of survival foods on hand. What are your options? Here are 3 different types of survival food to consider with advantages and disadvantages of each:
#1 Can or Preserve your Own Food
If you are the Martha Stewart type, have hours of free time, or have nothing better to do on the weekend, then canning or preserving your own food might be for you.
The advantage to this option is that you can choose what kinds of foods to have on hand and preferably choose something you'd actually enjoy eating. You might also save a bit of money doing it this way as well.
The disadvantage is of course time. If you're like most people, you don't have much free time after work and the thought of preserving food all weekend doesn't excite you.
Plus you have to be aware of the shelf life of this food - probably around 1 - 2 years at best. So you'll have to make sure you eat your preserved food and add in some more newer foods as time goes by.
#2 Dehydrated Foods
You can dehydrate your own foods with a food dehydrator. This option gives you a little more variety and again, you get to choose foods that you like to eat.
Many of the higher end food dehydrators have timers so you can "set and forget", which make things a little easier. I consider dehydrated foods more of a short term food storage item, as you should (according to some sources) consume them within 1 year of making them.
Experts also recommend that any dehydrated meats be placed in a freezer to help them from spoiling.
You may also need to place your newly dehydrated foods in the freezer right after dehydration for a few days to help reduce the possibility of insect contamination.
Again the two issues you may have with dehydrating food is preparation time - which can be long, and shelf life - which can be quite short.
#3 Freeze Dried Foods
You can also buy prepackaged freeze dried food that is easy to stack and store.
Freeze dried meals that are easy to prepare are one of your best options for survival foods. Most meals only require you to add water - which in an emergency situation might be all you have.
Plus in a true emergency if you have young children, the simpler the meal is to make, the better. You can ask them to help (this will also keep them distracted from the problems outside).
And contrary to how the name sounds freeze dried foods can taste remarkably good. Some companies have made their freeze dried foods almost to gourmet levels.
For example you can get Chicken a la King, Italian wedding soup with meatballs, vegetable stew with beef, and even blueberry pancakes.
Plus unlike the two options above, some freeze dried survival foods have a shelf life of 25+ years (depending on storage temperature). So as a long term food storage option they fit the bill.
Basically all you do is store them in a cool dry spot, and inspect them on a regular basis.
So those are 3 options for having survival foods on hand in case of emergency. No matter how you choose to prepare yourself, it's important that you do take some steps to have food on hand should you be stranded in your home and/or unable to find food.
Being properly prepared can mean the difference between barely surviving and thriving should the worst happen.
Want more options? See Survival Foods for more suggestions and tips on emergency preparedness.
Or visit Food Insurance for freeze dried foods with a 25 year shelf life.
Download our free toolbar
Having enough food to eat will help you and your family survive most emergency situations. Survival foods can also help you in case of a job loss or in the case of an illness or pandemic where you don't want to leave your home.
Most people today are taking steps to make sure they have a supply of survival foods on hand. What are your options? Here are 3 different types of survival food to consider with advantages and disadvantages of each:
#1 Can or Preserve your Own Food
If you are the Martha Stewart type, have hours of free time, or have nothing better to do on the weekend, then canning or preserving your own food might be for you.
The advantage to this option is that you can choose what kinds of foods to have on hand and preferably choose something you'd actually enjoy eating. You might also save a bit of money doing it this way as well.
The disadvantage is of course time. If you're like most people, you don't have much free time after work and the thought of preserving food all weekend doesn't excite you.
Plus you have to be aware of the shelf life of this food - probably around 1 - 2 years at best. So you'll have to make sure you eat your preserved food and add in some more newer foods as time goes by.
#2 Dehydrated Foods
You can dehydrate your own foods with a food dehydrator. This option gives you a little more variety and again, you get to choose foods that you like to eat.
Many of the higher end food dehydrators have timers so you can "set and forget", which make things a little easier. I consider dehydrated foods more of a short term food storage item, as you should (according to some sources) consume them within 1 year of making them.
Experts also recommend that any dehydrated meats be placed in a freezer to help them from spoiling.
You may also need to place your newly dehydrated foods in the freezer right after dehydration for a few days to help reduce the possibility of insect contamination.
Again the two issues you may have with dehydrating food is preparation time - which can be long, and shelf life - which can be quite short.
#3 Freeze Dried Foods
You can also buy prepackaged freeze dried food that is easy to stack and store.
Freeze dried meals that are easy to prepare are one of your best options for survival foods. Most meals only require you to add water - which in an emergency situation might be all you have.
Plus in a true emergency if you have young children, the simpler the meal is to make, the better. You can ask them to help (this will also keep them distracted from the problems outside).
And contrary to how the name sounds freeze dried foods can taste remarkably good. Some companies have made their freeze dried foods almost to gourmet levels.
For example you can get Chicken a la King, Italian wedding soup with meatballs, vegetable stew with beef, and even blueberry pancakes.
Plus unlike the two options above, some freeze dried survival foods have a shelf life of 25+ years (depending on storage temperature). So as a long term food storage option they fit the bill.
Basically all you do is store them in a cool dry spot, and inspect them on a regular basis.
So those are 3 options for having survival foods on hand in case of emergency. No matter how you choose to prepare yourself, it's important that you do take some steps to have food on hand should you be stranded in your home and/or unable to find food.
Being properly prepared can mean the difference between barely surviving and thriving should the worst happen.
Want more options? See Survival Foods for more suggestions and tips on emergency preparedness.
Or visit Food Insurance for freeze dried foods with a 25 year shelf life.
Download our free toolbar
Survival Preparedness - Practice May Save Your Life
A Survival Story
This story is just a product of my own imagination, but my hope is it may be food for thought for at least a few people. The setting is a rural farm in Kansas. Miles from any neighbor or town. John and Mary Smith and three children. Sally, age 7, Billy, age 5, and Kathy, age 3.
They have always relied on their own strength and determination to see them through. Emergency preparedness supplies had never seemed necessary. Like the pioneers they were descended from, they took care of their own. No need for fancy survival kits, or survival tools. They had seen many tornadoes, and their farm had always been spared.
But then one day in early spring, a monster tornado came crashing through, headed straight for their farm. They ran for the cellar, where they had always been safe before. This was their only survival preparedness plan, except for a few home canned foods, and a gallon or two of water.
As they huddled there, listening to the screaming, roaring, destruction above them, terrible fear on their faces, they lost their generator. Their only source of power was now gone. There in the dark they waited. Something heavy crashed on the door above them. The children screamed in terror.
At last the horrific noise outside was gone. John attempted to open the door. It was jammed tight!
Reality struck him like a ton of bricks. Their meager disaster preparedness supplies may not be enough. They had not one survival tool, very few survival supplies. They were trapped in their own cellar. They had no other family near by, or even close friends.
My point here is, we must all practice survival preparedness. This scenario is fictional. But could easily be true. Our world is in turmoil. A simple inexpensive survival kit could save your life. The proper survival tool might get you out of an otherwise hopeless situation. Emergency preparedness supplies, such as food, radios, water purifiers, etc, may keep you and you family safe until help arrives.
We are all busy. Making a living, taking care of our families. But take a minute and think. Its happening all around us, every day. Terrible things that could have a positive outcome. Spend a little time and thought to insure your families safety. Expect the unexpected, always, and be prepared for it.
My name is Sharon Rowe. I am hoping I can convince a lot of people to practice disaster survival preparedness. The terrible earthquakes, monster storms, terrorism, and even just getting lost on back roads can be devastating, and life threatening. These are some of the reasons we built our web site. We truly want to help. http://www.lifelinesurvivalkits.com
Download our free toolbar
This story is just a product of my own imagination, but my hope is it may be food for thought for at least a few people. The setting is a rural farm in Kansas. Miles from any neighbor or town. John and Mary Smith and three children. Sally, age 7, Billy, age 5, and Kathy, age 3.
They have always relied on their own strength and determination to see them through. Emergency preparedness supplies had never seemed necessary. Like the pioneers they were descended from, they took care of their own. No need for fancy survival kits, or survival tools. They had seen many tornadoes, and their farm had always been spared.
But then one day in early spring, a monster tornado came crashing through, headed straight for their farm. They ran for the cellar, where they had always been safe before. This was their only survival preparedness plan, except for a few home canned foods, and a gallon or two of water.
As they huddled there, listening to the screaming, roaring, destruction above them, terrible fear on their faces, they lost their generator. Their only source of power was now gone. There in the dark they waited. Something heavy crashed on the door above them. The children screamed in terror.
At last the horrific noise outside was gone. John attempted to open the door. It was jammed tight!
Reality struck him like a ton of bricks. Their meager disaster preparedness supplies may not be enough. They had not one survival tool, very few survival supplies. They were trapped in their own cellar. They had no other family near by, or even close friends.
My point here is, we must all practice survival preparedness. This scenario is fictional. But could easily be true. Our world is in turmoil. A simple inexpensive survival kit could save your life. The proper survival tool might get you out of an otherwise hopeless situation. Emergency preparedness supplies, such as food, radios, water purifiers, etc, may keep you and you family safe until help arrives.
We are all busy. Making a living, taking care of our families. But take a minute and think. Its happening all around us, every day. Terrible things that could have a positive outcome. Spend a little time and thought to insure your families safety. Expect the unexpected, always, and be prepared for it.
My name is Sharon Rowe. I am hoping I can convince a lot of people to practice disaster survival preparedness. The terrible earthquakes, monster storms, terrorism, and even just getting lost on back roads can be devastating, and life threatening. These are some of the reasons we built our web site. We truly want to help. http://www.lifelinesurvivalkits.com
Download our free toolbar
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