What good is stored up food, if bugs get into it or it goes bad?  Best survival food?  Well… My pet peeve is finding weevils and bugs in my food storage, so to ME the best form of survival food is whatever will last for years with no fear of bugs, mice or weevils!  It is JUST as important HOW your stockpile of food is stored than what KIND of food you store up.  Many of the boughten survival food kits come in vacuum packed packages so they will store for a long time, or if you can get it in buckets, that is even better as you won’t need to worry about critters getting into it or of losing it to moisture, etc.  How long do we need to prepare ahead for – and how many mouths are we preparing for?
The length of time is simply based on what kind of a plan we have…and if we are thinking of bunkering down at home, or have a getaway plan in mind.  I would suggest striving towards a food backup of six months if we plan to stay at home, and about half of that if you are planning to get out of dodge.  But even there, every one’s preparedness needs are different, so figuring this piece out is very important.  That is often the first step in determining what foods are best and what type of food storage system to use.  Here is a food list to help you get started if you want some ideas of what KIND of foods to stockpile, ESPECIALLY if you are expanding your shelves at home.

Budget and Timeline:

What is your plan as far as … do you plan to buy it all at once or are you wanting to buy a little at a time.  If you are on a tight budget, check out our Stockpiling Food on a Shoestring Budget page here….  If you are wanting to just bite the bullet and store enough food to last for a year or more, there are several places where you can get great QUALITY food reserves.  IF you are thinking about storing food on your own without vacuum sealing it or anything like that, there are a few things to bear in mind with long term food storage.
It is best to store most items in a cool dry place.