Food Storage Analyzer

Have you ever noticed the Preparedness Pantry button on the side of our blog? It's a link to the great people at Emergency Essentials and the very informative blog they run. Full of info about preparing for emergencies of all kinds.

I've known for a while that they had a tool called the Food Storage Analyzer, but never made time to try it out... Until now.

Verdict?


It's awesome!!


You plug in basic information (age/gender) of the people you're preparing for and it calculates the number of calories you will most likely need per day (if it looks a little high, it's because people usually need extra calories when they're working all day, and let's face it - if there's a major emergency, we're not going to be sitting around watching tv!).

Then, the program gives you the option to plug in what you already have on hand. This is great, because not only can you choose from commercially available products, but you can enter your own if you don't see what you like/want on their list! The program also allows you to earmark products you have not yet purchased but intend to so that you can evaluate their impact on your preparedness level.

The best part: this free calculator takes all your inputs and tells you how many days worth of food you have and it's nutritional content.

It even allows you to search items by nutritional need (i.e. if you come up really low on vitamin c, it can give you a list of suggested items high in vitamin c that you can add to your supply).

I strongly suggest you check this out now, while it's summer and produce abounds!

Canning, dehydrating and freezing summer's bounty while produce of all kinds is in season is the least expensive and one of the most nutritious ways to feed your family - in an emergency or as a general practice. (There are plenty of other options for those less domestically inclined or limited in resources/storage space: MRE's, meal replacement bars, etc.)

Whatever your opinions on emergency planning or food, I encourage you to check out this resource. It's easy both to use and update and can offer you some really insightful perspectives on where your family stands.

If you try it, let me know - I'd love to hear other people's results and opinions!