Food that needs to be cold/frozen isn’t automatically disqualified, but be careful about relying on electricity too much. Durable packaging, like a can or box, is much better than the kind of packaging you’d find with potato chips.
Try to avoid anything that doesn’t last at least a year. Even though you’re not trying to match the same kind of 20-30 year shelf life of freeze-dried food, or the 5-8 year shelf life of MREs, you still want to be smart about picking durable products. The more you understand, the easier it is to customize or improvise.
What to look for when shoppingĪlthough there’s a specific food list below - and you’ll be just fine if you only buy from that list - it’s worth understanding the basic differences between what’s good for your prepper pantry and what isn’t. And if you’re not yet familiar with the FIFO “store what you use, use what you store” model, check that out too. The beginner prepper guide explains the pros and cons of each method, plus basic concepts such as how much food to store for your family. Either way is fine, and most people end up doing both. Another way is to buy special ‘ survival food’ that you don’t crack open until an emergency but usually lasts much longer than supermarket food.
