Calculating Food Storage Needs
Adequate food storage is one of the cornerstones of prepping. While the body can certainly last at least a few weeks without food, the latter part of that time frame will be decidedly less than pleasant. Food is what fuels the body, and in the aftermath of a disaster, you’ll need all the fuel you can get.
Look back to the master food list you made in the first section of this book. How many days could you realistically feed your entire family using only what you have on hand right now? Dr. Bruce Clayton, one of the true “godfathers” of modern survivalism, has said that if you don’t have at least one full year of food stored, you’re wasting your time. Obviously, if you’re just starting out, amassing that much food seems more than a little daunting. So break it up into several easier-to-reach goals. Strive for a week, then two weeks, then a month, then three months. Keep setting the bar higher until you’re satisfied with the amount of food you have stored.
When we talk about food storage, you want a mix of products. You need not, and should not, just go out and buy several pallets of freeze-dried products and call it a day. First of all, doing so will be extremely expensive. Further, proper rotation is a key element of any successful food storage plan. You need to use and restock your stored food regularly. Always use the oldest product first.
While dumping several boxes of freeze-dried food into your pantry isn’t necessarily the worst idea in the world, you need to condition yourself and your family by introducing it into the diet gradually. Failing to do so could have a significantly negative impact on everyone’s digestive systems. A better idea is to work on stocking up on the foods that your family already knows and enjoys such as canned foods like veggies, pasta, stew, chili, and soup; dried goods like beans and rice; and staples such as flour, sugar, salt, and spices.
Concentrate on buying things that are relatively cheap, to get the most bang for your buck. Look not only at the price but the number of servings as well. A can of condensed soup might cost less than a dollar, but you’ll be lucky to get two servings out of it. Not a bad deal if you’re feeding yourself, but if you have a spouse as well as growing kids, you’ll need a bit more than just a can or two for a meal.
Rice is still relatively inexpensive, though the price has gone up in the last year or so. Dried beans are an excellent source of protein and easy to prepare. Beans, rice, and a can of peas, and you can feed your entire family for mere pennies per person.
We’re not talking about gourmet meals here, obviously. Instead, focus on filling bellies with nutrition and calories.
How do you know how much you really need per day? The scientific way is to calculate the necessary caloric intake per person and plan accordingly. This gets a bit complicated, but bear with me.
There are formulas for determining what’s called base metabolic rate. This refers to the number of calories your body needs just to maintain your current weight and activity level. You then adjust that number up or down depending on your desired outcome. Down if you want to lose weight, up if you want to increase weight.
Measure the height (in inches) and weight (in pounds) of each family member. Then, using those numbers, make the following calculations:
Adult Women: 655 + (4.3 × weight in pounds) + (4.7 × height in inches) – (4.7 × age in years)
Adult Men: 66 + (6.3 × weight in pounds) + (12.9 × height in inches) – (6.8 × age in years)
Girl: 655 + (4.35 × weight in pounds) + (4.7 × height in inches) – (4.7 × age in years)
Boy: 66 + (6.23 × weight in pounds) + (12.7 × height in inches) – (6.8 × age in year)
You then take each of those figures determined above and adjust them based on each person’s activity level.
Now take your base metabolic rate figure determined above and adjust it based on your activity level. See the chart below for the multiplier you will need for your adjusted calorie intake.
The final number for each person tells you how many calories you need to consume to maintain your current body condition. Naturally, consuming a bit less won’t have a hugely detrimental effect on most people, at least not in the short term. But keep in mind that during a long-term disaster recovery period, the odds are good that activity levels will increase among your family members. Whether you’re out cutting up fallen branches, digging and weeding garden beds, or doing laundry by hand, you’ll probably be burning more calories than you currently do.
Should all that math prove entirely too complicated, an easier way to figure out your family’s needs is to devise a meal plan for two full weeks. Don’t worry about what you have in the house right now; this is all just hypothetical. Sit down with paper and pen, and write out what your family might normally eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Then, add in one or two snacks as well, since I’m sure family members are used to having a quick bite between meals. Be as detailed as you can with these meals, estimating quantities of each ingredient that goes into the meal. Don’t just write “tacos” for dinner on Tuesday. Figure out how much meat and other ingredients you normally use.
Creating a meal plan for two full weeks, then doubling each meal, gives you a fairly accurate estimate of what you’ll need for a month to feed everyone. Granted, you may not have access to all the ingredients, such as fresh vegetables, but these figures give you a baseline, a starting point, for your food storage plans.
TASKS
1. Using the formulas given on page 37, determine the caloric intake needs for each family member. Again, though, you could also create the fourteen-day meal plan instead. Either way, the point is to give yourself some reasonably accurate figures for what you’ll need to store for food for the entire family.
2. Examine your master list for food supplies and estimate how long you could feed your family on what you have on hand right now. Then, determine your first food storage goal. If you’re at two weeks, shoot for a month. If you’re already at a month, then go for two or three months. As we go forward with the lessons, use the items in the purchase category of the assignments as suggestions and substitute both the items and the quantities as needed to meet your food storage goals.
SAVINGS
Add $15 to your Prepper Savings Account.
TOTAL PREPPER SAVINGS ACCOUNT: 
WATER STORAGE
One gallon (or two 2-liter bottles) per person or a case of bottled water for the household.
TOTAL WATER STORAGE:
GROCERY LIST
3 cans vegetables, your choice
2 cans fruit, your choice, but stick with those packed in water or juice, rather than syrup
1 can chili or stew, your choice
1 package or jar of gravy
1 lb dry beans, your choice
