Food &
Water Stores
Buying supplies is the easy part. Keeping them fresh, findable and ready years later is the skill. Here is how to build a store your family will actually eat from.
Never use a barbecue, camp stove or generator indoors. They produce carbon monoxide, which you cannot see or smell.
Store What You Eat
The best emergency food is food your family already likes.
Everyday Long-Life
- Tinned vegetables, beans, fish and fruit
- Rice, pasta, oats and flour
- Long-life milk, peanut butter and honey
- Salt, oil, stock, tea and coffee
For When the Power's Out
- Ready-to-eat tins and pouches
- Crackers, muesli bars, nuts and dried fruit
- A manual can opener
- A camp stove and fuel, for outdoor use only
Set and Forget
- Freeze-dried meals with a long shelf life
- Bulk staples in sealed tubs
- Water containers and a way to purify more
- Special diets, baby food and pet food
Cool, Dark, Dry, Sealed
Heat is what shortens shelf life fastest, and Australian sheds get very hot.
Food
- Inside the house beats the shed or garage
- Off the floor, away from sunlight and the oven
- In sealed tubs to keep out pantry moths, ants and mice
Water
- At least 3 litres per person per day for drinking, more for washing and cooking
- Food-grade containers, kept out of the sun
- Label each container with the date you filled it
- Keep a filter or purification tablets as a backup
Spread It Out
- Don't keep everything in one place
- A few days of supplies in the go-bag and the car
- Keep some water where you can reach it if the house is damaged
First In, First Out
A store you never touch is a store that expires.
New at the back, old at the front.
Cook from your store every week and replace what you use. Nothing gets old and nothing gets wasted.
Every Shop
- Put new stock behind old stock
- Write the date on top with a marker so you can read it at a glance
- Buy one or two extra of what you already use
Twice a Year
- Pick two dates, such as when the clocks change
- Check every date and move anything close to the kitchen
- Refresh stored water and check containers for leaks
- Check batteries, gas and medicines while you're there
Keep a List
- A simple sheet on the cupboard door
- What you have, how much and when it's due
- Update it when you take something out
Best-Before Is Not Use-By
Knowing the difference saves a lot of good food.
A Safety Date
Don't eat food after its use-by date, even if it looks and smells fine.
A Quality Date
Food can still be safe after its best-before date if it has been stored properly, though it may have lost some quality. Throw out tins that are bulging, leaking, badly dented or rusted.
Fill the Gaps in Your Store
Long-life food, water storage and filters for every tier of your pantry.
More From the Survival Hub
This guide provides general preparedness information only. When in doubt about whether food is safe, throw it out. In a life-threatening emergency, call Triple Zero (000).