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Start from your own menu
Write down ten meals your family actually eats that can be made from shelf food. Stock the ingredients for those, not foods nobody will touch.
Pantry and preserving
Build a 2-week emergency pantry
Two weeks of meals your household likes, bought a few items at a time with no dent in the budget.
Time60 min
LevelEasy
Steps6
Official sources2
Stores empty fast before a storm and stay shut after one. A stocked pantry means no lines, no panic and normal meals through an outage or a lean month.
What you need
Gather these before you start.
- Tinned meat, fish, beans, vegetables and fruit: enough for two weeks of meals
- Dry staples: rice, pasta, oats, flour: two weeks, then more
- Nut butter, crackers, cereal, dried fruit: a few packs
- Manual can opener: 1, plus a spare
- Notebook or the app's checklist
- Marker for dates
Step by step
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Favor no-cook and low-water foods
Choose food that needs no fridge, little water and little cooking, such as cans, nut butter, crackers and cereal. Salty foods make people thirsty, so stock more water if you buy them.
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Cover special needs
Add infant formula, foods for allergies or diabetes, and pet food. These are the first things to vanish from stores.
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Buy a few extra each shop
Add two or three extra items to each normal shop instead of one big haul. In a couple of months you reach two weeks without a dent in the budget.
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Store it cool and dry
Keep the pantry in a cool, dark, dry place, off the floor. Put boxed food in tight plastic or metal containers to keep out damp and pests.
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Then grow it
Once two weeks are in place, carry on to a month, then three months, using the same rotation. Keep a list on the shelf of what you have and what runs short.
The numbers
| What | Amount |
|---|---|
| Meals to plan from shelf food | 10 |
| Extra items per normal shop | 2 or 3 |
| First target | 2 weeks |
| Next targets | 1 month, then 3 months |
| Manual can openers | 1, plus a spare |
| Date check | 1 a month |
Ready.gov, Food
Stay safe
- Throw out cans that bulge, leak, spurt when opened or are badly dented or rusted.
- Keep a manual can opener with the cans.
When you're done
| Result | Two weeks of meals your household likes, on a shelf, with a list and a plan to grow it. |
|---|---|
| Keep it ready | Check dates once a month and eat the oldest first. |
Questions people ask
What should be in a 2 week emergency food supply?
Food that needs no fridge, little water and little cooking: canned meat, fish, beans, vegetables and fruit, plus rice, pasta, oats, nut butter, crackers and cereal. Add infant formula, foods for allergies or diabetes and pet food if your household needs them.
How do you build a pantry on a budget?
Add two or three extra items to each normal shop instead of one big haul. In a couple of months you reach two weeks of food, then you keep going to a month and three months.
Where should you store emergency food?
In a cool, dark, dry place, off the floor. Put boxed food in tight plastic or metal containers to keep out damp and pests.
Sources
Related guides
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