According to a declassified US report, 90% of Americans would die from starvation and disease following an EMP. It’s easy to overlook how important electronics are to our everyday lives. Relying too much on them could be our unmaking.

Creating an emergency food supply is one way to enhance your odds of survival. If an EMP hits North America, your food won’t last long when your refrigerator stops functioning.

It takes a long time to collect a year’s supply of food — and those provisions won’t last long. To protect your future, you need to start preparing now.

But how do you stock and manage a massive collection of food? Read on to learn the basics of prepping an emergency food supply.

1. Stick With Familiar Foods and Brands

There’s a misconception that long-lasting food is bland or unpalatable. But that’s not true. In fact, varied and satisfying meals play an important role in maintaining morale during a disaster.

Start your search by looking at the types of foods and brands you already purchase and enjoy. Whether it’s rice, pasta, or oats, you likely already stock your pantry with longlasting foods.

You don’t need to change your lifestyle while you prep for disaster. Familiarize yourself with the shelf life of some of your favorite foods. Adjust your grocery list and start cutting perishable and short-lasting items from your weekly shops.

2. Prioritize Nutritional Health

The hardest part of creating a 25-year food supply? You need to keep it healthy. That’s a problem when fruits and vegetables tend to last no longer than a month’s time.

Canned foods are always a good option. When canned, meats and most vegetables have a safe shelf life of about five years. Although the chow may still be edible, this is when most aluminum cans begin to break down and contaminate food items.

As you create your food supply, be sure to educate yourself on essential nutrition information.

3. Take your Time Building an Emergency Food Supply

You might be tempted to run to the store and prep your entire stock. This is not an advisable option for many reasons.

For one, it means your emergency food supply will expire all at once. If a disaster occurs while the expiration dates near, you won’t get much use of your stock. It’ll go bad before you can enjoy most of it.

And, just as important, food is expensive. If you head out and buy your entire supply all at once, you’ll pay a small fortune. Several years of food will cost as much as a used car!

Take it slow. Keep an eye out for deals on items you’d like in your emergency pantry. You’ll save big by buying in bulk and taking advantage of these discounts.

4. Avoid Emergency Food Kits

Emergency food kits are available online and from many physical outlets. They’re enticing for many reasons, but most of all because these kits are convenient.

But convenience comes at a price. These kits don’t have the most flavorful or varied food items. Plus, they don’t often provide an ample amount of calories.

If you’re looking for something to get started, nobody will fault you for buying an emergency food kit. And they’re a decent option for brief natural disasters, such as hurricanes and floods.

But you’ll want to rely on a more robust food supply system for serious disasters.

5. Find Safe and Convenient Storage

Buying a massive collection of foodstuffs is hard enough. Now you need to find a place to store it. And storage is more than just finding a place to stuff everything.

You want an area free of pests and moisture with decent temperature control. For a small collection, you may be able to find space in your home with the help of shelving and additional closet space. But as your food stock expands, your home won’t have enough space to handle the bulk of goods.

Consider using a well-maintained shed or a nearby storage unit. If you go with this option, stack your food items on pallets. These keep the food off the ground and away from moisture.

6. Don’t Forget the Water Supply

An emergency food supply is an important way to prepare for a solar storm. But it’s not the only way.

You’ll need water to cook a selection of your stored goods, such as oats and pasta. And of course, water is even more important than food in survival situations.

The average person will go through two gallons of water every day. If you have a family of three, you’ll need six gallons for every day you want your supplies to last. This presents its own set of problems.

How do you safely store water? Well, you could buy pallets of water bottles. But those won’t last you long.

Instead, consider emergency water containers. Many of these are shaped like drums or gas tanks. These can vary from five gallons all the way to three-hundred.

A Disaster Can Strike at Any Time

And when it does, you’ll be ready. An emergency food supply is essential in preparing you and your family for the worst.

In a perfect world, your food would last forever. But since it won’t, it’s a good idea to have the supplies you need for DIY survival food, such as a drying rack for making jerky.

You can’t save your refrigerator if an EMP occurs. But you can protect some of your smaller items, such as flashlights and phones, with faraday EMP bags. Visit our shop to prepare yourself for an EMP.