# Recommended food per person



## zack6736 (Mar 13, 2016)

Was browsing the net looking up quantities of food to have on hand per person and it stated 400# of grain per person for a year. That is A LOT of grain. It also had beans, oils, salt, and powdered milk. The other items were reasonable, but the grains were outrageously high IMHO. What is the train of thought among members here?
Thank you,
zack


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

Keeping nutrition in mind I focus more on calories instead of pounds.
White rice has a ton of calories, parbroiled has about 60% of the calories as white rice and most beans have a lot less.

I'm a fairly active 170 lb adult who wears one of those activity trackers sometimes. I burn about 2400 calories per day, A soldier sometimes burns over 3600 calories per day. My 115 lb lady friend who is on her feet 8 hrs a day but is otherwise not very active burns 1400 calories per day. A lazy 190 lb teenager I know only burns 1350 calories per day but when I make him work all day he burns well over 2200 calories a day..

I figure that 2000 calories will last the average person a busy day so I build my food supply by calories keeping variety and nutrition in mind. If active and in good physical condition a person can burn a lot more than 2000 calories per day but it's a nice round number to work with.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

No my site so I will not post all of it --- Living Prepared ---: How Much Wheat to Store?

• A single loaf of bread uses 1 lb. of grain to make a single loaf.
• So a 50 lb. bag of grain will make 50 loaves of bread or about 1 loaf a week per year.
• 2 loaves per week = 100 lbs. of wheat grain per year per person.

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http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/sto...15839595_10557_3074457345616706370_-1__195792

Hard Red Wheat
A case of six #10 cans of hard red winter wheat. A case contains 33 lbs. of product. Food items cannot be shipped to addresses outside the United States.
$27.75


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

I use 1,400 as a nominal figure. Stores are based on white rice and beans as the core for calories.
Everything else is bulked with either one and they act as an extender.
Nothing is done to emulate a five star restaurant, the idea is to survive..
Both can be ground, added to wheat flour to make bread.


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## Grim Reality (Mar 19, 2014)

Sad to say...accumulating all the food supplies to last a family for a year is expensive. I am fortunate to have
been doing it for about 35 years now...and I'm STILL picking up supplies on a regular basis! Naturally I have
the BASICS covered. For yourself, be sure to cover WATER, DEFENSE, SHELTER and FOOD. Everything else
is less of a priority...but they will eventually need to be addressed as well.

Now back to food. Other items can be eaten besides wheat (though Wheat should be at least a PART of what
you put into your larder). Rice (as mentioned by FoolAmI) can provide you with lots of calories (it is primarily 
a starch-carbohydrate), the same thing for Potatoes. If you have a limited selection, at least get some spices 
of various types to enrich the flavor of whatever your "Mulligan Stew" happens to contain. Variety is very 
important. 

Put a little aside each month and your supplies will soon give you some measure of confidence. I buy extra of
whatever I'm at the store for, each time I am there. Maybe it's 3-4 extra cans of corned beef hash, maybe it's 
soup or just saltines. Hopefully you can locate a store near you which sells in bulk (25 lbs. packs). Accumulating
stores is much cheaper that way. Near me is a store which sells in bulk and has 25 lbs of Parboiled rice for only
$15.00. Buying PASTA is a good idea (it is wheat) because it stores well and can be used in a multitude of ways.

Don't forget to pickup Dry Milk for your youngster. I would not get the non-fat variety...preferring low-fat instead.

The Wal-Mart near me has a fair selection of freeze-dried foods and I shop there from time to time. I'm getting
a lot of #10 cans together. I'm laying back all I can...but to tell the truth...I hope I NEVER need it!

You'll do well...just keep at it. Be the tortoise...not the hare.

Grim

Approach it gradually. Unless you are independently wealthy, you can't get everything all at once...it will take
time...just be patient...with a little bit of luck you'll get there sooner than you think.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

I should have added, like grim, spices.
I have commercial food service canisters of almost every herb and spice on the market, many of each.
Hundreds of pounds of salt, iodized and not.
Have plenty of Wise and Mountain House on hand that will be blended with the basics.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Grim Reality said:


> Sad to say...accumulating all the food supplies to last a family for a year is expensive.


I think you are wrong.


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## Real Old Man (Aug 17, 2015)

zack6736 said:


> Was browsing the net looking up quantities of food to have on hand per person and it stated 400# of grain per person for a year. That is A LOT of grain. It also had beans, oils, salt, and powdered milk. The other items were reasonable, but the grains were outrageously high IMHO. What is the train of thought among members here?
> Thank you,
> zack


Actually the Army ration during the civil war was a pound of bread/crackers (hard tack); a pound of vegeables or fruit and a pound of uncooked meat. What everyone forgets is that in a SHTF scenerio you will be doing a lot of manual work that you normally don't do today. If you look at today's army - in field conditions it's 3 MRE's a day of right at 3,500 calories way above the 2000 most of us need to maintain our current weight

Welcome aboard


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

I put up a few large wheelbarrows of potatoes in the root cellar. Easier to grow and harvest than wheat and what is left over starts next years crop. Supplement that with various root crops, cabbages and winter squashes. Surpluses get canned. 

Need to put up more beans as hard to get enough complete protein from the garden. They get canned/pickled or dried. 

Also freeze lots of lambsquarters which has better/complete protein than beans. They come up each year as "weeds" that get harvested and some left to mature for selfseeding. Can also make a cereal from the seeds


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

How many calories per day to go with depends on your situation. 
I suspect that during the 1st few weeks you may do very little except wait and see... be the gray man and stay quiet burning few calories. If things go on long term you'll be burning a bunch of calories providing food and heat not to mention defense.

Also is your area capable of providing long term food? Be realistic about this answer. The local woods may soon be hunted out and growing food is chancy at best and requires several acres per person.

Spices will make your meals more interesting not to mention great trade items in a long term situation.

Still, You need to balance long term prepping with enjoying life today. Don't spend all your free cash on preps, live a little and prep a little


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## zack6736 (Mar 13, 2016)

Spice is something I had not thought of, we shop at a local Aldi store and the spices are cheap enough. Have lots of salt on hand. Need to take inventory and make a list. Dropped about $1200 a few years ago on long term food in mylar bags inside 6 gallon buckets with rainy day foods. Time to place another order with them.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

zack6736 said:


> Spice is something I had not thought of, we shop at a local Aldi store and the spices are cheap enough. Have lots of salt on hand. Need to take inventory and make a list. Dropped about $1200 a few years ago on long term food in mylar bags inside 6 gallon buckets with rainy day foods. Time to place another order with them.


skip the mylar... buy in #10 cans

http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/sto...839595_10557_3074457345616706237_-1_N_image_0


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

FoolAmI said:


> Still, You need to balance long term prepping with enjoying life today. Don't spend all your free cash on preps, live a little and prep a little


I agree.... have fun, live life, but put away rice, beans, salt, sugar, wheat


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

While I've put some in 5 gallon pails I've also got to vote for focusing on #10 cans, especially for denser foods like rice.

Another thought on food. Bulk beans are great but put a bit of cash into tasty easy to cook foods like canned or for longer storage freeze dried meals like Mountain House and several other companies make. Easy to cook and tasty is always nice.


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## zack6736 (Mar 13, 2016)

The humidity is high in my cellar and always some water standing in the sump pump hole. Will the #10 cans rust if exposed to this type of moisture?


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

I pea and a cup of water a day.
note you can put the pea in the water and have pea soup.


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## TacticalCanuck (Aug 5, 2014)

I recommend putting as much away as you can in a manner that will store long is safe and non invasive to you daily living. 

I go on 1600 cals a day. 

3 meals at 400 each and 2 200 cal snacks. 

You will lose weight but still have good nutrition and energy. 

Dont forget sleep is key to health - you heal, rest and restore your body only in deep REM sleep. So having a safe secure well fortified and hard to get to place for rest is paramount to good health and maximizimg the nutritional content from your food. 

I find a 12 gauge and a dog go a long way. 

I also plan on putting up boards with nails stickimg out of them around all fences and at key entry points, and fortifying the not so key points so that noise will be made if entry is attempted. This will alert the dogs and me. This allows for very deep and restful sleep, which is key to good health.


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## zack6736 (Mar 13, 2016)

Ok. Did inventory on my food supplies. First off, I have 6-5 gallon pails of red wheat that is around 20 yrs. old. Still sealed up. Do you think this is still good? Not going to throw it out by no means. Newer food items that are in mylar bags inside of CO2 6 gallon buckets:
44# white Rice
50# Iodized salt
126# 16 Bean Mix
20# Diced dehydrated carrots
120# Ezekiel grain mix
43# ABC Soup Mix
10# Green Beans
15# Potatoe Flakes
45# Sugar
42# Oat Groats
#10 can Banana Pudding
#10 can Dehydrated Apple Sauce
#10 Can brown sugar
#10 can Tapioca pudding (granulated)
#10 can dehydrated sharp cheddar
2-#10 can orange drink mix
2-#10 can dehydrated sweet potatoes
2-#10 can dehydrated celery
#10 can dehydrated tomatoe powder
#10 can dehydrated mushrooms
#10 can chopped onions
#10 can dehyd. celery
#10 can Baking Powder
210 Bottles of Wine.
I plan on getting more rice, the parboiled as suggested and some corn meal. Any other suggestions?
Thank you,
zack


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## Real Old Man (Aug 17, 2015)

zack6736 said:


> Ok. Did inventory on my food supplies. First off, I have 6-5 gallon pails of red wheat that is around 20 yrs. old. Still sealed up. Do you think this is still good? Not going to throw it out by no means. Newer food items that are in mylar bags inside of CO2 6 gallon buckets:
> 44# white Rice
> 50# Iodized salt
> 126# 16 Bean Mix
> ...


might want to throw in some cans of meat (chicken, ham, spam, corned beef, tuna fish, salmon) as a source of protein. Also didn't see any cooking oil.

How many folks are you planning on feeding thru the crisis


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## zack6736 (Mar 13, 2016)

My wife and myself for sure. My sister in law lives about 32 miles away so she could make it here. Daughter, son in law and two grandkids live 6 hours away, so not sure if they could make it. Sure hope so. Son in law has the guns and ammo and a good hunter. Son lives 3 hours away, but very independent. so, 3 adults for sure, at most 7 adults and one 10 year old. How long is canned meat good for? Really don't like the stuff and the reason I haven't bought it yet is the thought I would have to eat it and rotate it to keep it good. Am I correct or does it have a long shelf life?


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## zack6736 (Mar 13, 2016)

Sure hope they can get home if shtf as each can contribute. Son in law defense and hunting, son dehydrating. I would feel much better knowing they were here safe, and also strength in numbers.


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## Real Old Man (Aug 17, 2015)

Would try the canned meat products now before the Shtf to see what everyone likes and how to best prepare it so it doesn't taste yuckie. We've used canned corned beef in christmas stuffing and spagetti in place of ground beef . Works as long as you don't add any extra salt. Canned spam doesn't last long around our hose, but in a pinch maybe a year or more


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## TacticalCanuck (Aug 5, 2014)

I find canned meats take on a tin taste when they sit for to long. I don't know if this bad for you or just unpleasant. I think they should be eaten by date on can. Other things I think can go longer.


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

TacticalCanuck said:


> I find canned meats take on a tin taste when they sit for to long. I don't know if this bad for you or just unpleasant. I think they should be eaten by date on can. Other things I think can go longer.


Can can your own in glass to avoid that. Also then you are the chef and can make things more tasty.


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## A Watchman (Sep 14, 2015)

Add some meat as already suggested. Its a start so keep adding a little at a time.


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## Real Old Man (Aug 17, 2015)

TacticalCanuck said:


> I find canned meats take on a tin taste when they sit for to long. I don't know if this bad for you or just unpleasant. I think they should be eaten by date on can. Other things I think can go longer.


These folks do give some guidelines on past the best by date How Long Does Canned Meat Last? Shelf Life, Storage, Expiration

As for taste, that is an individual case by case opinion.


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

I add every week for the last few years and still feel like I have a long way to go before I am comfortable. Food stores will be a never ending process.


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## TacticalCanuck (Aug 5, 2014)

Real Old Man said:


> These folks do give some guidelines on past the best by date How Long Does Canned Meat Last? Shelf Life, Storage, Expiration
> 
> As for taste, that is an individual case by case opinion.


Great article thanks for the share.

I wonder if they are opening cans 5 years past the due date and testing for bacteria taste and toxins. Sometimes these things are just opinions.

I am adding a box of spam to my stores though. Ive been doing the canned hams for a while its time to get something else in there.


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## Grim Reality (Mar 19, 2014)

While not knowing EXACTLY how your storage area is...try to find the source of your water & eliminate it. There are professionals who do this sort of thing...at least where I live there are. Best storage areas are COOL and DRY. Your cans MIGHT rust...can't say for certain. Of course they must be on shelves & off the floor.

If you have the possibility of needing to feed 7 adults and a child...you will likely require more food. Have THEM get some of it! Not right for YOU to shoulder all the responsibility. No one can tell you precisely how much you will need. How long will your disaster last?! 

Wild game may be an option at first. It will quickly be depleted. Many others will be hunting for food in the 
woods and in a survival context...unscrupulous methods will be employed. The game will not last. 

If you have wheat in sealed containers, YES! It should be good for many years. I would not worry about any
such grain. BUT...it should remain sealed and in a good environment away from heat.

Mylar bags work very well, but I would place each of them INSIDE a heavy Polyethylene bucket (like a Home
Depot bucket) A rodent can tear into a mylar bag...a poly bucket is much more resistant to their assault. The Home Depot buckets are cheap...perhaps $2.80 each? Get good-sealing lids too.

Grim


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Real Old Man said:


> These folks do give some guidelines on past the best by date How Long Does Canned Meat Last? Shelf Life, Storage, Expiration


That site is crazy as crap, they say spam is good for 2-5 years...LOL... lets look at what hormel says

Hormel | FAQs

PRODUCTS-PANTRY:
CAN I SERVE A CANNED PRODUCT BEYOND ITS "BEST BY" DATE?
HORMEL® canned items should be consumed by the date printed on the container for best quality, flavor and freshness. After this time, *the product should be safe to use as long as the can has not been compromised (no dents, split seams or other container damage). *

Canned items are best stored in a cool, dry place to adequately preserve the flavor.


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## Targetshooter (Dec 4, 2015)

We have stocked up so far 18 months of food , water based on 3 meals a day and 2 gal. of water each a day and 1 gal. of water for my dog a day . as for dog food I have 18 months of food for her to " dry and can food " with a few zip lock bags of treats that get rotated by date .


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## zack6736 (Mar 13, 2016)

That's good planning, storing up dog food. A good dog will be worth it's weight.


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## josephloya5150 (Mar 15, 2016)

Your preparations are all impressive and very well thought out, but I must admit a little depressing since I live in an urban area and if S. H. T. F I'm definitely mobile and devising a nutritional component for my survival has been the hardest part of my journey! Freeze dried works for me but it is not sustainable and once mobile I am limited in that option as well, I'm completely stumped you guys are exposing a void bigger than the hole in the ozone layer in my thought process.


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## OctopusPrime (Dec 2, 2014)

zack6736 said:


> Ok. Did inventory on my food supplies. First off, I have 6-5 gallon pails of red wheat that is around 20 yrs. old. Still sealed up. Do you think this is still good? Not going to throw it out by no means. Newer food items that are in mylar bags inside of CO2 6 gallon buckets:
> 44# white Rice
> 50# Iodized salt
> 126# 16 Bean Mix
> ...


Nice list Zack, especially the wine stock.

Here is what I currently keep on hand that is not in your list, and some of it I hate keep in mind. The things I hate I keep because others enjoy them...opens up trade potential or a gesture of friendship.

Honey- I'm like Winey the Poo but not as rotonned . I stock a lot of honey because it has high energy, natural healthy sugar source. It is great for lots of uses from teas, soaps, creams, lip balms, making excellent beer, bbq sauce...
Nuts- pecans in the shell, cashews, pistachios, walnuts, Brazil nuts, chestnuts. Again high energy food and takes up small space.
Coffee- trade item and in a time of need power boost...moral boost
Chocolate- trade item and moral boost.
Liquor- aneseptic and moral boost takes up less space than beer and wine. 
Lentils
Quinoa
Sardines- they have a long shelf life and I detest them, but some people love them.
Crab
Salmon
Chicken
Spam
Peanut butter
Powdered power aid- just like tang has its benefits, the added electrolytes may be a life saver if dehydrated.
Spices- others have mentioned spices. Expanding on what they said, I would go out and buy some spice you have never heard of and find a recipe that uses it. Save the recipe/s and pack them away for a rainy day...for me the fact that I will be trying something I have never tasted is exciting and would lighten my mood. An example I used recently is Carmelized ginger on a wet rub used on grilled chicken. 
Molasses
Beets
Asperagus 
Coconut milk

To answer your question on how much each of us thinks is enough to store per person...everyone is different in their needs but I like others suggestions of finding out how much you and your wife expend each day and then add a few hundred calories on top of that just to be safe.


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## alterego (Jan 27, 2013)

I see a lot of post on the form where people are guessing about the age of Their Food Supplies in different forms or another it is very important to know how old your food actually is something that we have instituted with all of our stored food even those that are clearly marked with a best by date is that we use a Sharpie marker to write the date on everything that we put in our food storage and then we cycled in and out oldest to newest newest in the back oldest in the front or on top what have you so we use up the oldest first we have found that this is even important with bars of soap we had a big pile of soap the bars at the bottom started to degrade because they were getting so old I'm going to guess 5 years or so so we use a Sharpie marker to label everything it's a good practice get into it


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## A Watchman (Sep 14, 2015)

Over a years supply here ...... looks like I am bugging in.


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## KA5IVR (Jun 11, 2014)

I've been looking into Food Storage for a while. We stock foods that we normally eat and rotate thru that stock. I can't see going out and buying a lot of items that I would never touch just because it was cheap or comes in large quantities. So, I stated thinking about it from a different angle. 

I found some website that had a Food Inventory / Meal Calculator spreadsheet. I started with that and modified it to fit our needs and also broke it down better into major categories. Basically, you start with your meal recipes (for breakfast, lunch, & dinner) and breakdown the ingredients into servings and let that add up to what you need to store for a certain amount of Time for how ever many People. For a simple example, one of our dinner meals and left over lunch for two is Pasta & Sauce... So we use a 1 lbs box of Pasta and 1 jar of sauce (plus other stuff), giving us 4 servings. That translates into having 4.33 boxes of Pasta for a Month or 52 boxes of Pasta for a Year, if you eat that once a week. Same goes for the other ingredients, spices, etc. involved in that meal. By doing it by servings, that same amount of ingredients would only cover one meal for 4 people.

I use this as more of a guide than rule, since we don't have set nights for set meals like Dr. Sheldon Cooper. It does hit most of the meals of close variation during the week for us. Plus, it helps serve as a shopping list or amounts needed to home can. Also, the Time variable helps you when you start out with a month's worth of food storage going to three months, to six months, etc. instead of having 50#'s of this or that and wondering how far that is good for.


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## Real Old Man (Aug 17, 2015)

Not bad but how can you only eat 4 ounces of pasta and sauce at one sitting?


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## KA5IVR (Jun 11, 2014)

Real Old Man said:


> Not bad but how can you only eat 4 ounces of pasta and sauce at one sitting?


LOL, I'm not 16 years old any longer... 
Just works out to about that amount for me, plus there is other stuff served with it that I didn't detail in the example.

One thing about this calculator, you can adjust the number of servings in the recipes for the amount each person in the family eats. The 1 pound Pasta box claims that is 8 servings, so I eat 2 for each meal.


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## josephloya5150 (Mar 15, 2016)

Interesting...


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