Foods For Your Earthquake Kit

In the wake of the devastating earthquake in Japan on Friday, many of us are thinking about whether we’d be prepared (as prepared as you can be, that is) for a natural disaster in our own area.  I spent some time yesterday going through our earthquake kit, replacing the snacks and beverages that had expired, and making sure it was well-equipped overall.

You may be wondering what kinds of non-perishable foods to keep in your own emergency kit.  If a disaster strikes, it doesn’t matter much what kinds of foods you have stashed away, as long as you have some.  So, just focus on calories that don’t take up much space.  The picture above shows some of the foods in my own kit:

Granola bars

Fruit snacks

Packets of granola

Energy/meal replacement bars

Candy (I have Starbursts and Caramels)

Small packets of honey or agave sweetener:

Small packets of peanut or other nut butter:

Canned Sardines (for protein; lid of can has a pull tab)

For beverages, I’d recommend:

Portable water purifier (like this one from REI)

Hot cocoa mix (you probably won’t have hot water, but can mix this with cool water)

Powdered milk

Boxed chocolate milk (like this)

A few juice boxes

It’s a good idea to keep one emergency kit in your car and one at home, because you never know where you’ll be when there’s an earthquake or other emergency.  The most important thing you’ll need for survival is clean water, so make sure you get a small water purifier, or at least some water purification tablets like these.

You’ll need to go through your kit at least once a year, as even non-perishable foods will eventually expire and you’ll want to replace them before they do.