This isn’t a normal topic for LOLZ blog, but last week I thought about how the Winter Storm “Juno” didn’t affect New Jersey/Philadelphia as predicted.  While I was happy that it was’t as serious, it did made me think what if had closed down everything for a few days.  After graduating with a degree in public health, I can truly say staying healthy and safe (mind, body and soul) has always been a passion of mine.  While I no longer work in the field anymore, I do volunteer and educate to stay current in the field.

Then after spending time in Rochester last weekend, I realized I’m no longer in my “winter element”. If there was a snow storm in New Jersey, I don’t know if I would truly be prepared.

I was discussing with a coworker yesterday that it’s important to be life prepared. It’s important to be prepared so that you don’t “just run out of food”. It shouldn’t be the night before a storm and half of the town is at the grocery store.  The night before the storm last week, half of my town was in the grocery store.  Did we need those items?  Probably not…we could have made it through a day or two stuck at home.

The storm taught me a valuable lesson.  Despite not affecting us the way it was predicted too, it made me think about how prepared am I for emergencies?

How prepared are you?

Not only prepared with food but also prepared with making sure to have items like a flashlight or extra batteries incase the power goes out.

While it is true that disasters are relatively rare, they do happen. It’s better to be over prepared versus under prepared. Similarly, it’s better for the weather channel to overestimate snowfall versus underestimate.  If one life, injury or problem is saved because everything closed, then good.

After googling different ideas and lists to stay prepared, I came across this infographic!

The public health major in me says: when creating a food checklist, you should be detailed. Don’t simply gather random snacks from the pantry and place them in a storage bin.  Since you are preparing and putting foods away for later, try to have foods from each food group if possible.  Something I often forget is also making sure to also store necessary equipment and utensils to eat the food. Food checklists are an important part of emergency preparedness.  

Source: Shop.Honeyville.com

When I got home from Rochester yesterday, I actually printed this out and stocked up on some food to keep in my pantry.  I can survive a few days without power and with food.

I decided to grab:

Canned: 

• Canned meat including salmon, tuna and chicken
• Canned vegetables
• Canned fruits.  I really like canned pears and peaches
• 4 miscellaneous canned soups as well as black beans

For section 2, I opted against freeze dried foods.

“Staples”

• Let’s be honest that we have enough instant coffee, sugar and cream packets to last a week already.

Some of my favorite snacks that we stock in the house:

• Beef Jerkey (so much protein!)
• Pretzels
• Cheese its
• Wasabi Nuts (Has anyone tried these?)
• Cereal

Beverages:

• We always have powered juice packets (It’s actually a staple in my current diet because you can bring them anywhere and I prefer that over water)
• What are some good dairy options to keep stored?  I know almond milk doesn’t spoil
• We have 2 cases of water and a brita filter stored too.

Equipment for food:

• First Aid kit.  Every single family should have a first aid kit in their house and vehicles.
• Quick Stove.  This is something I used in backpacking to make food when there is no access to power.
• Utensils and food preparation: Make sure to have cutlery as well as a can opener and pan to boil water on a quick stove.

As you can see this is just one list to help in food preparation.  There are many more.  I liked this one because it gave me a good list of what to have.  

Questions for you:

Are you prepared for a big storm?

What are some foods you stock up on?