How to Survive With Canned Foods
When it comes to survival, food is one of the main things human beings are dependent upon to fulfill that survival. The other two are shelter and water. While human beings can live for a few weeks, even up to a month, without food, living without food for such periods makes you dizzy, susceptible to illness and unable to execute survival-related tasks. When it comes to disaster preparedness, canned foods allow you the freedom of storing a variety of foods for long periods of time. For the most comprehensive readiness, purchase and use canned foods strategically.
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Instructions
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Write down foods that you like and enjoy eating. Truly take your time when compiling this list. Take your list to the grocery store and see what varieties of your favorite foods are available in canned form. For example, you can get a wide variety of canned foods, such as pasta, meatballs, salmon, not to mention fruit and vegetables. Don't purchase canned foods you don't like. Trying to force down a can of smoked oysters isn't going to help your morale in a survival situation.
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Calculate how much food you're going to need. Keep in mind that two weeks worth of food is the minimum amount of food needed in disaster preparedness. For an emergency, such as a storm, trucks of food could be stranded for quite some time. You might be in a situation where you'd have to feed friends and neighbors. For example, the minimum amount of food is two cans of food per person per day. For a single person this would be 14 cans for two weeks. For a family of four it would be 56 cans per person.
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Purchase both high-acid canned foods such as tomatoes and fruits, as well as low acid canned foods such as meat and vegetables. Fruit and high-acid products will store well for 12 to 18 months. Low acid foods will keep for two to four years. Try to create a balance of canned food on your shelves with canned milk, meat, soup, grain products and fruit.
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Store canned food on your shelves with the oldest foods in front. Check the expiration dates of the food to see which foods are the oldest. Consume those foods first.
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Open a can of food and cook it properly if possible, or remove it from the can to eat. Refrigerate leftovers if possible. Consume leftovers within three to four days. Never cook food while it's in the can.
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Tips & Warnings
If you're in a disaster of survival situation, try to limit your intake to a minimum of two cans of food. You don't know how long the situation will last, and you may need to make your supply of food stretch.
References
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