Emergency preparedness starts at home
The best way for every individual to help during an emergency situation in a community is to first prepare themselves. With the arrival of tornado, wild fire and flood season, it is time to plan ahead so property and precious lives can be protected. State and national government agencies, along with Colorado State University Extension, have extensive resources for all types of emergency situations. Here are some basic guidelines to help your family prepare for basic needs, such as food and water.
First, prepare a three-day supply for each person in your family. Consider these tips when preparing your shelf-stable food supply:
1. Store food you like and normally eat.
2. Rotate and use food and water every six to 12 months.
3. Consider small can sizes that provide just the number of servings you will consume at one time. If your power is off, refrigerating leftovers is not an option.
4. Keep disposable eating utensils and a manual can opener on hand.
5. If you don’t have an alternative way to boil water, do not include instant foods.
6. Store food packaged in cardboard boxes, thin plastic or paper in a metal, glass or rigid plastic container to avoid insect and rodent damage.
7. Choose shelf-stable foods that do not require a refrigerator or freezer for storage. Once opened or prepared, many foods no longer are shelf stable.
A three-day supply of emergency food for one adult includes: 18-33 servings from the grains group; 12-16 servings from the fruit group; 9-15 servings from the vegetable group; six to nine servings from the meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts group; and six to nine servings from the milk, yogurt and cheese group.
Here are suggestions for shelf-stable foods for each of the food groups from Choose My Plate. For more information on nutrition, visit https://www.choosemyplate.gov/.
Grains group includes bread, cereal, rice and pasta in the form of crackers, pretzels, Melba toast, ready-to-eat cereal, granola bars, rice cakes, hard taco shells, cup noodles and cookies.
The full article is available in our e-Edition. Click here to subscribe.