Emergency Food for Your Survival Kit: What's Good, What's Needed

Surviving an emergency has nothing to do with luck.  In fact, if luck plays any part at all, it's probably too small for most people to actually benefit from.  The best way to survive an emergency – any emergency – is to be prepared, aware and know what to do.  Having the right resources is also advantageous, particularly if these are exactly what you need to survive.  If you're planning on buying a survival kit or putting one together yourself, here are the types of emergency food you should consider:

Dehydrated food
Dehydrated food is excellent as emergency food for your survival kit because they come in small, compact portions.  They are convenient to pack and easy to prepare.  You will need to heat them up with water, though.  They are a good choice as part of your survival kit if you are ever in an emergency situation where you need warm food.

Dehydrated food includes meat, vegetables, fruits and flavored meals.  Information on the number of calories included in a serving is usually included, so pack enough to meet your most basic calorie needs on a per day basis.

Canned food
Do not use raw food that still needs to be cooked for your survival kit.  Emergency food has to be convenient to store, prepare and eat.  Besides, raw food will rot.  Canned food is a better choice for emergency food because they can keep for several months to a few years.  

Canned food also provides plenty of choices – meat, fish, fruits and vegetables.  They can also be eaten straight out of the container.  Probably the only preparation you might have to do is to heat them for more comfort and flavor.

Consider packed meals as well.  Not only do they keep well, they are also very flavorful.  They come in single serves which make it easy to keep track of the number of meals you have.  Make sure to choose those that can be stored outside the freezer.  If the emergency food requires freezing, make sure you have the facility to do this.

Drink
Water is the best choice for all emergency situations and as such, should be a major component of your survival kit.  Regardless of the season or location, the ideal amount of water you should pack should be 1 gallon for each person per day.  If you're storing emergency food at home, consider keeping enough to supply your need for fluids for at least 10 to 14 days.

Other excellent choices for emergency food for your survival kit are drink mixes, particularly the ready-to-drink or pre-mixed varieties.  Drink mixes not only contain pleasant flavoring (quite helpful in stressful situations such as emergencies), there are many made available in the market that are formulated with vitamins and minerals.  These drink mixes are especially helpful in combating the first signs of dehydration and can replenish important nutrients that may be lost due to the lack of proper food.

A disadvantage to drink mixes is that they cannot be used to cook food.  Your priority should be pure water and then simply supplement what you have with drink mixes.  If you're unsure about the purity of the water you've stored in quite a while, keep a bottle of water purification tablets.  You can treat the water with these to ensure its safety.