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Emergency Preparedness and Food

Power Outage Preparedness and Response

Use the tips below to prepare your food supply for an emergency.

Prepare Your Pantry Brochure (PDF)

Prep on a budget page 1

Prepare your pantry page 2Prep on a Budget

Your Budget is Important

You do not need expensive dehydrated meals or huge bins of grains to survive. There are ways to save money while creating your emergency supply, including the following.

  • Add one or two items to your shopping list, per week. Canned goods are very affordable, but some snack foods and high energy foods are not. Consider stocking more expensive items over time to save cash.
  • Look for deals on bulk items and shop with a buddy. Bulk buying cases of can goods, granola bars, nuts, and soup can save money. Shop with neighbors and family to prepare together.
  • Visit your local pantry. When your budget is too tight, a food pantry can help.
  • Learn to can. Learning to preserve food can help maximize your food budget all year long. Fresh food is cheapest during the growing season. Purchase extra produce in summer and preserve it for winter. Be sure to follow good canning practices to make sure your food is safe to eat. Resources for learning about canning are available at your local library.

Script Tip: To build an emergency supply of your regular prescription medicines, order your refill ahead. Most insurers, including Medicare plans, will allow you to order your refill up to 5 days ahead of time. Do this twice and you will always have a 10-day surplus of medicine on hand.

Things To Consider

Diet

Think about the amount of food you would normally eat in a day and plan potential meals accordingly. One can of pasta or beans will not feed five people.

Cooking

  • When the power is out, electric stoves will not work. Some gas stoves have emergency shut off features that will not allow the burner to light without power.
  • Canned goods, including vegetables, fruits, pasta, tuna fish, baked beans, and soups do not need to be heated to be safe to eat.
  • Introduce emergency foods to children and picky eaters sooner to learn what your family prefers.
  • Keep recipes ready on paper.
  • Consider buying a camping stove or Sterno (jellied denatured alcohol) to use to heat food and beverages. Add matches to your supply list. Camping stoves are not safe to use indoors.

Equipment

Keep equipment on hand that is dedicated for emergency use, only. Canned goods will not work if your can opener is broken or missing.

  • Heavy duty handheld can opener
  • Paper products: plates, bowls, napkins, cups
  • Cleaning supplies & paper towels

Shelf Life

Two simple ways to keep your pantry stocked:

  1. Review and restock emergency pantry items along with your regular grocery shopping.
  2. Review and restock emergency pantry items once or twice a year. Look for items with a shelf life. Track restock dates with your calendar.

Food Safety

Foods in your refrigerator are at risk of spoiling when power goes out. Note the time you lose power and keep refrigerator doors closed as much as possible.

  • Eat foods that can spoil first.
  • If power is restored within four hours, everything should be safe to eat.
  • A full freezer will stay frozen for around two days if the door remains closed. A less full freezer will stay frozen for about one day.
  • If the temperature in your refrigerator rises above 45F, discard things like meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, soft cheeses, and cooked foods first.
  • When in doubt, throw it out. Do not risk sickness.
  • Print this food safety chart for power outages.

Specialty Food

  • Elders and people on special diets may not be able to consume regular canned goods.
  • Family members with chronic illness like diabetes or diverticulitis may need special foods.
  • Look for low sodium options and keep extra water on hand for rinsing canned food.

Baby Formula

Caffeine & Alcohol

  • Limit caffeine and alcohol during stressful times.
  • Keep non-caffeinated non-alcoholic beverages on hand, in addition to water, to ensure hydration.

Checklist

Bottled Water

One gallon per person per day plus extra for washing

Ready-To-Eat Canned Foods

Vegetables

Fruits

Meat

Fish: tuna, salmon

Poultry

Beans: whole, refried, baked Pasta: SpaghettiOs

Soup: Hearty soups & stew

Juice: 100% fruit & vegetable

Applesauce

Milk & Milk Alternatives

Single serve shelf-stable brick packages

Powdered

Canned

High Energy Foods

Peanut butter

Jelly

Nuts

Dried meat (jerky)

Granola & cereal

Trail mix

Energy bars

Staples

Sugar

Salt

Spices, seasoning, pepper

Instant coffee, tea, cocoa

Candy

Hard candy

Chocolate

Infant & Small Children's Needs

Baby food

Formula

Pouches

Snacks

Simple To Prepare Foods

Instant potatoes

Dehydrated food

Powdered eggs

Pet Food

Food

Water

Medicines

Treats

This checklist was adapted from www.dhses.ny.gov/emergency-happens

Looking for other shopping tips?  

Visit the shopper/consumer resources page.

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