Food Storage - Real Numbers

How much food do I need for my family and what will it cost.

The picture to the left represents one years worth of food for one person. It may seem like a lot but think about how much food you consume in a years time. There are 15 five gallon buckets holding a variety of dried foods that will provide a baseline 1800 calorie per day diet.

This diet will be supplemented with fresh game provided by hunting and fishing...note the .22 and fishing gear. As well as hunting/field dressing manuals, beer brewing/wine making equipment, chainsaw to supply the wood stove and 30 twelve packs of ramen noodles although not all are shown. Food cost of roughly $300 all gathered at WalMart.

Note that there are no expensive #10 cans of various high end survival preps. For your basic bulk needs #10 cans are not cost effective. When you start to refine and specialize the food stocks then #10 cans of dried fruits, powdered cheese and possibly powdered eggs are warranted but the basics should be purchased first and from local grocery supplier. These are foods that need colorful menu planning and preparation experience to be fully appreciated.

I have a couple of years of food already stored with plenty of spices and bullets. This batch will be added to the existing supplies and work will begin on the next set of buckets. Each additional set of 15 I add different types of products increasing the variety of foods available. On the buckets that are being actively consumed I use omega lids. These are fancy screw top lids that are resealable. If you can afford it all your buckets could be outfitted with these handy items. Be sure to label you buckets on the top and side with the product and date stored.

One five gallon bucket holds 80 cups of dry stock.

How many many cups of each product are needed yearly to meet the 1800 calorie daily baseline.

For instance you decided that you need one cup of white rice per day either at lunch or dinner, this is 650 calories or about 1/3 of your daily intake. It works out to roughly 365 cups or 4.5 five gallon buckets worth of white rice. Now round the amount up to 5 five gallon buckets. Simple

Decide what dry products your family will eat and how many cups a day are needed. Once you have the number of cups just convert it into buckets. I usually round up, this give me some padding and possibly product to barter with.

How many pounds of each dry product are needed to fill a five gallon bucket.

These numbers are very close to true but might vary slightly depending on the brand and size of the product being stored.

Brown Rice
32 pounds per five gallon bucket
670 calories per dry cup

White Rice
3o pounds per five gallon bucket
650 calories per dry cup

Pinto Beans
32 pounds per five gallon bucket
620 calories per dry cup

Elbow Macaroni Small
21 pounds per five gallon bucket
420 calories per dry cup

Quaker Oats
12 pounds per five gallon bucket
300 calories per dry cup

Lima Beans Large
30 pounds per five gallon bucket
600 calories per dry cup

Black Beans
32 pounds per five gallon bucket
620 calories per dry cup

Pancake Mix
20 pounds per five gallon bucket
420 calories per dry cup (6 midsized pancakes)

Ramen Noodles
3 twelve packs taped together store like one 5 gallons bucket
380 calories per brick

White Flour (with 26 packs yeast)
20 - 25 pounds per five gallon bucket (26 loafs at 14 slices per loaf is 364 slices)
440 calories per 4 slices

Note that if you go to WalMart and buy 63 pounds of elbow macaroni the clerks will ask questions. Have a clever lie ready before hand. I tell them I am preparing meals at a church camp...they smile and nod approvingly.

I am not giving exact costs because they vary regionally and are increasing rapidly.

If you found this article useful check out the other two entries in this series.

Food Storage - Why Do It
Food Storage - Three Plans