Join me in my Family E-Kit Challenge (inspired by The Great Shakeout) where we will build family emergency kits in easy weekly steps! This week’s challenge is to collect three days worth of food for each member (and pet) of your household. This will get you started with the minimum food recommendation. If you are up to a greater challenge and have the space for storage, the full recommendation is to collect two and a half WEEKS worth of food. Post your weekly progress in my comments section or post about it on your blog and link back here.
Try to collect foods your family will actually like and be sure to include high protein foods, fruits and veggies as well as comfort foods. Having those comfort foods (and just food you like) available in a time of crisis is known to help boost morale.
Since we live in Earthquake Country, I am building our kit with the assumption that we will most likely be without electricity and water, and our kit needs to be mobile in the case that our home will be uninhabitable. Our food choices need to be nonperishable, NOT stored IN GLASS (because it has a high chance of breaking in a quake and is heavier, so less mobile), and should not require very much water to cook. If you live in a different region, you should tailor your food choices to your region’s specific emergency needs.
In order to be budget friendly, I’m collecting our food supply slowly, purchasing a few items each week along with our usual groceries. We also have a running joke in our family that each year’s leftover Matzah and Manischewitz from Passover, become part of our E-Kit Food! Oy Vey, let’s hope it never comes to that! I can barely stand eating it during Passover and I’m sure it will kill my post trauma morale (wink).
Be sure to return next week for the next Family E-Kit Challenge!
