Family Food Stockpile for Survival
1961
--
Agricultural Research Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
and
Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization
U.S. Department of Defense
Home and Garden Bulletin 77, USDA, 1961.
12 pages
Issued August 1961
Archive copy of publication, do not use for current recommendations.
The PDF file was provided courtesy of the National Agricultural Library.
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This publication has beeivprepared by the ILSj Department,
of Agriculture Jn cooperation with the Office of/Civil and De-
fense Mobilization.
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The Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization recommends
two methods of home food storage for emergencies:
1. Increase your regular food supply so there will always be
a 2-week supply of food for your family in your home. Replace
food as it is used.
2. Store and maintain in your fallout shelter or home a special
2-week stockpile of survival foods. Choose foods that will
keep for months without refrigeration, require little or no
cooking, and yet will provide a reasonably well-balanced family
diet.
Decide which type of food reserve best meets your own situa-
tion. In some cases, a combination of these two methods may
be desirable. The important thing is that you have enough food
in your home or shelter to last until it is safe and possible to get
other foods. „
CONTENTS
Food
Sa.mplft mop,] plp.ns
Storing and replacing foods
Equipment for cooking and serving
Water „
Safe sources of water for storage
How to purify water
Tim ling
Easy bleach method
Iodine or tablet purification _ .
Storing water reserves.. „_ _ _
Washington, D. C,
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Issued August 1961
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For sale by. the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing
Office, Washington 25, B.C.—Price 10 cents
FAMILY
FOOD
STOCKPILE
FOR
SURVIVAL
An attack on the United States
with an atomic or hydrogen bomb
would make it necessary for many
survivors to rely on tlieir own food
and "water reserves—for up to 2
weeks following attack.
An 11-bomb explosion can blanket
an area many miles from the target,
area with dangerous radioactive
fallout. If you and your family
survive the explosion, you may have
difficulty obtaining food and water
from regular sources without over-
exposure to fallout radiation. Es-
sential services, such as gas. electric-
ity, and water, may be disrupted.
Safeguard your family's survival
"by planning your food-a/nd-water
stockpile now. Start building it
up in your home or fallout shelter.
Maintain it. Doing this is an in-
dividual and family responsibility.
This responsibility is placed
directly on the individual citizen
and family by the National Plan
for Civil Defense and Defense
Mobilization:
h
Individuals and families will
be prepared to exist on personal
stocks of survival items in their
fiames and shelter areas for &
weeks following attack."
As soon as possible after attack—
if there is one—local authorities
will inform you of safe sources of
food and wsiter.
FOOD
Every family should either build
up and keep a 2-week supply of
regular food in the home at all times
or assemble and maintain a special
2-week stockpile of survival foods
in the fallout: shelter or home.
Stockpile foods should be in cans,
jars, or tightly sealed paper con-
tainers. Select foods that will last
for months without refrigeration
and can be eaten with little or no
cooking.
Take into consideration the needs
and preferences of family members.
Familial
1
foods are likely to be more
acceptable in times of stress.
Kinds and quantities of food
suitable to store for emergency
use are shown in table 1. Amounts
suggested will supply the calories
needed by one adult for 2 weeks.
If your family consists of four
adults, store four times the amount
£5-4103°—61
TABLE
1.—-Guide jor Reserve Food Supply
' • Kind of food
1. Milk
2. Canned meat, poultry,
fish, cooked dry beans,
and peas.
3. Fruits and vegetables...
Amount per person for^-
I d a y
Equivalent of 2
glasses (fluid).
2 servings
3 to 4 servings..
2 weeks
j
Equivalent of 7
quarts (fluid).
28 servings (8 to
9 pounds).
42 to 56 servings
(about 21
pounds,
canned).
Remarks
Each of the following is the equivalent of 1 quart
of fluid milk:
Evaporated milk: three 6-ovmce cans; one
14^-ounce can.
Nonfat dry milk or whole dry milk: three to
3K ounces.
Amounts suggested for one serving of each food
are as follows:
Canned meat, poultry: 2 to 3 ounces.
Canned fish: 2 to 3 ounces.
Canned mixtures of meat, poultry, or fish
with vegetables, rice, macaroni, spaghetti,
noodles, or cooked dry beans: 8 ounces.
Condensed soups containing meat, poultry,
fish, or dry beans or dry peas: one-half of
a 10^-ounce can.
Amounts suggested for one serving of each food
are as follows;
Canned juices: 4 to 6 ounces, single strength.
Canned fruit and vegetables: 4 ounces.
Dried fruit:
L
l K ounces.
4. Cereals and baked goods. 3 to 4 servings.. 42 to 56 servings
(5 bo 7
pounds).
Amounts suggested for one serving of each
are as follows (selection depends on exte.ntof
cooking possible):
Cereal: Ready-to-eat puffed: % ounce.,
Ready-to-eat flaked: 5J ounce. Other
ready-to-eat cereal: 1 ounce. Uncooked
(quick-cooking); 1 bounce.
Crackers: 1 ourice. ;• '.
Cookies: 1 ounce. : ' •
Canned bread, steamed puddings, and cake:
1 to 2 ounces. . '•; .
Flour mixes: 1 ounce. .
Flour: 1 ounce.
Macaroni, spaghetti, noodles: Dry: Bounce.
Cooked, canned: 6 ounces.
5. Spreads for bread, and
crackers.
According to family practices...
Examples: Cheese spreads. Peanut and other
nut butters. Jam, jelly; marmalade, preserves.
Sirup, honey. Apple and other fruit butters.
Relish, catsup, mustard.
6. Fats and vegetable oil:
Up to 1 pound
or 1 pint.
Amount depends on extent of cooking possible.
Kinds that do not require refrigeration.
7. Sugars, sweets, and nuts.
1 to 2 pounds._, Sugar, hard candy, gum, nuts, instant puddings.
8. Miscellaneous ,'_
According to family practices and
extent of cooking possible.
Examples: Coffee, tea, cocoa (instant). Dry
cream product (instant),; Bouillon products.
Flavored beverage powders. Salt and pepper.
Flavoring extracts, vinegar. Soda, baking
powder. '
Oi
suggested in table 1. Teenagers are
likely to need more than the amount
in the table; younger children need
less.
By including, each day, foods
from the eight groups listed, mem-
bers of your family can have a
reasonably nutritious diet.
If necessary, include special kinds
of milk and strained, chopped, or
other specially prepared foods re-
quired for i n f i U i t s , toddlers, elderly
persons, and others on limited diets.
Whenever possible, choose cans
and jars in sizes that will /ill your
family's needs for only one meal.
This is especially desirable for
meat, poultry, fish, vegetables,
evaporated milk, and other foods
that deteriorate rapidly after a con-
tainer is opened.
If your home food freezer is lo-
cated in your basement or where you
would have safe access to it after
attack, yon might, count foods in it
us some of your reserve supply.
Food spoilage in a well-filled,
well-insulated home freezer does
not begin until several days after-
power goes off. The length of the
period before beginning of spoil-
age depends on the capacity of the
freezer. If the capacity is 4 cubic
feet, the period is 3 days; if 12 to
30 feet, !J days.
. •
• '
Sample Meal Plans
Sample meal plans are presented
on pages 8 and 9. These plans
suggest (he kinds of meals you could
serve from the foods shown, in the
table on page 4.
Half of the meals fit a, situation
where there are no cooking facili-
ties. Meals for the other days re-
quire facilities for heating water or
food but not for any extended
cooking.
The foods suggested are all fully
cooked and safe for eating "as is"
without cooking. If you have pro-
vided a sufficient variety of canned
foods in your reserve supply, it is
possible to have reasonably well-
balanced meals. However, because
of limited space and in order to use
fewer dishes, it may be more
practici.il to serve fewer foods at a
meal and make the servings more
generous.
Storing and Replacing
Foods
If
you have prepared a fallout
shelter, keep your reserve food sup-
ply there. If you have no shelter,
keep it in that part of your base-
ment where you will be safest in
case of attack.
In homes without basements and
in apartments, your food stockpile
would probably be stored in the
kitchen or in a storage closet.
To maintain the eating quality
of your reserve food supply, keep
canned foods in a dry place, where
the temperature is fairly cool—-
preferably not above 70° F. and not
below freezing.
6
.
Protect food in paper boxes from
rodents and insects by storing boxes
in tightly closed cans or other metal
containers; leave the foods in their
original boxes. Keeping these
foods in metal containers also ex-
tends the length of time they can be
stored.
Eating quality was the first con-
sideration in setting the maximum
replacement periods given on this
page. Many food items will be
acceptable for a much longer period
if storage temperatures do not
usually exceed 70° F. Most of the
foods suggested in table 1 would be
safe to use after longer storage
periods.
As time approaches for the re-
placement of particular food items,
it is a good idea to use the food in
family meals. As food items are
used, replace them in the stockpile
with fresh supplies. When you put
in fresh supplies, put them at the
back of the stockpile: keep older
supplies in front.
Here are suggested maximum re-
placement periods for the kinds of
food listed in table 1:
Month*
Milk:
Evaporated 6
If on fat dry or whole dry
milk, in metal container.. 6
Mcmtliti
Canned meat, poultry, fish:
Meat, poultry 18
Fish 12
Mixtures of meat, vege-
tables, cereal products 18
Condensed meat-and-vege-
table soups 8
Fruits and vegetables:
Berries and sour cherries,
canned 6
Citrus fruit juices, canned 6
Other fruits and fruit juices,
canned 18
Dried fruit, iu metal con-
tainer 6
Tomatoes, s a u e r k r a u t ,
canned G
Other vegetables, canned
{including dry beans and
dry peas) 18
Cereals and baked goods:
Ready-to-eat cereals:
In metal container 12
In or i gin al p a p er p ac k age _ 1
Uncooked cereal (quick-
cooking) :
In metal container 24
In original paper package. 12
Hydrogenated fats, vegetable
oil
12
Sugars, sweets, nuts:
Sugar will keep indefinitely
Hard candy, gum 18
Nuts, canned 12
Instant puddings 12
Miscellaneous:
Coffee, tea, cocoa (instant). 18
D r y c r e a m p r o d u c t
(instant) 12
Bouillon products 12
Flavored beverage powders.. 24
Salt will keep indefinitely
Flavoring extracts (e.g.,
pepper) 24
Soda, baking powder 12
7
SAMPLE MEAL PLANS: No Cooking Facilities
First day
Second day
Third day
MORNING
Citrus fruit juice.
1
Ready-to-eat cereal.
Milk, cold coffee,
2
or tea.
2
Crackers.
Peanut butter or other spread.
Fruit juice.
1
Corned beef hash.
1
Crackers.
Spread.
Milk, cold coffee,
2
or tea.
2
Grapefruit segments.
1
Ready-to~eat cereal.
Vienna sausage.
1
Milk, cold coffee,* or tea.
2
NOON
Spaghetti with meat sauce.
1
Green beans.
1
Crackers.
Spread.
Milk, cold coffee,
2
or tea.
2
Baked beans.
1
Brown bread.
1
Tomatoes.
1
Fruit.
1
Milk, cold coffee,
2
or tea.
2
Chile con carne with beans.
1
Crackers.
Fruit.
1
Cookies.
Milk, cold coffee,
2
or tea.
2
BETWEEN MEALS
Fruit-flavored drink or fruit drink.
Milk.
Tomato juice.
NIGHT
Lunch meat.
1
Sweet potatoes.
1
Applesauce.
1
Milk, cold coffee,
2
or tea.
2
Candy bar.
Pork and gravy.
1
Corn.
1
Potatoes.
1
Instant pudding.
Fruit juice.
1
Sliced beef.
1
Macaroni and cheese.
1
Peas and carrots.
1
Crackers.
Milk, cold coffee,
2
or tea.
2
1
Canned.
3
Instant.
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SAMPLE MEAL PLANS: Limited Cooking Facilities
First day
Secotod day
Third day ' '
MORNING
Citrus fruit juice.
1
Ready-to-eat cereal.
Milk.
Hot coffee,
2
tea,
2
or cocoa.
2
Citrus fruit juice.
1
Hot cereal (quick-cooking).
Milk.
Hot coffee,
2
tea?
2
or cocoa.
2
Prunes.
1
Ready-to-eat cereal.
Milk.
Crackers.
Cheese.
Hot coffee,* tea,* or cocoa.
3
NOON . ' . •
Vegetable soup.
1
Potato salad.
1
Crackers.
Ham spread.
1
Milk.
Candy bar.
Beef-and-vegetable stew.
1
Green beans.
1
Crackers.
Peanut butter.
Milk.
Chile con carne with beans.
1
Tomatoes.
1
Crackers.
Hot coffee,
2
tea,
2
or cocoa.
3
BETWEEN MEALS
Fruit-flavored drink or fruit drink.
Tomato, juice.
1
Fruit-flavored drink or fruit drink.
NIGHT
Beef and gravy.
1
Noodles.
1
Peas and carrots.
1
Instant pudding.
Hot coffee,
2
tea,
2
or cocoa.
3
Tuna fish,
1
cream of celery soup,
1
mixed sweet pickles
1
— combined
in one dish.
Fruit.
1
Cookies.
Hot coffee,
2
tea,
2
or cocoa.
2
Lunch meat.
1
Hominy.
1
Applesauce.
1
Cookies.
Peanuts.
Hot coffee,
2
tea,
2
or cocoa.
2
1
Canned.
a
Instant.
You may want to label cans and
containers with the date of purchase
and the approximate date when the
particular item should be re-
placed by a, new supply. Sug-
gested charts for keeping a record
of your family food reserves arc
given on pages 13,14, and 15 of this
bill let in.
Equipment for Cooking and
Serving
You need to have ready certain
equipment for emergency cooking
and serving.
A suggested list includes; a small,
compact cooking unit, such as the
ones used by campers: one or two
cooking pans; disposable knives,
forks, and spoons; paper plates,
towels, cups and napkins; can and
bottle openers; nursing bottles and
nipples if there is a baby in the
family; measuring cup; medicine
dropper for measuring water puri-
fier; matches; and a pocket knife.
If you already have plastic
dishes, cups, forks, knives, and
spoons, you may want to use them
instead of disposable tableware.
They would probably take less
space to store, but water for wash-
ing them might not be available
after an attack.
If disposable serving dishes and
eating utensils are used, each fam-
ily will need to estimate the num-
ber required for a 2 weeks' period.
Store your emergency cooking
and serving equipment with your
reserve food supply or near it.
WATER
You and your family can get,
along for quite a while without
food, but only for a short time
without water. Store a 2 weeks'
supply of water for each member of
your family NOW.
In moderate weather a person en-
gaged in sedentary activity requires
a minimum of one-half gallon of
"water per day for drinking and food
preparation purposes-—or 7 gallons
for a 2 weeks" period.
Some of the need for liquids can
be met. by storing large quantities
of fruit juice and soft drinks.
If you want to have water avail-
able for bathing, brushing teeth,
and dishwashing, it should he of the
same quality as water stored for
drinking, and must be stored in ad-
dition to the amount mentioned
above. Another 7 gallons of water
is recommended for such purposes.
Some of your water requirements
10
conld be met by making use of the
water in home hot-water tanks and
toilet tanks.
At the time of attack, water in
these tanks would be safe to use.
Know the location of your main
incoming water valve so you can.
shut, it off if directed by local health
authorities, to prevent the entrance
of contaminated water. As a safety
measure the valve on the gaslinc
to your hot-water heater should
be turned off also.
Water from a hot-water tank can
be obtained by opening the drain
cock at the bottom of the tank,
To get a free flow of water with
the -water inlet valve turned off,
you may need to vent the tank by
tiiming on a faucet somewhere on
the waterline. Some hot-water
tanks are automatically vented.
Safe Sources of Water for
Storage
It is of the utmost importance
that water stored for emergency use
be clean. Any -water that has been
tested and approved by health au-
thorities would be safe to store.
If there is any question about the
safety or cleanliness of the water
you intend to store or if it has not
been tested and approved by health
authorities, it must be purified be-
fore it is stored.
How to Purify Water
Boiling
The safest method of purifying
water is to boil it vigorously for 1
to 3 minutes. To improve the taste
of the "water after it has been boiled,
pour the boiled water from one
clean container to another several
times.
Easy bleach method
Any household bleach solution
that contains hypodilorite, a chlo-
rine compound, as its only active
ingredient will purify water easily
and inexpensively.
Bleach solutions with 5.25 per-
cent of sodium hypochlorite are
most common. They are available
in grocery stores. Add the blefich
solution to the water in any clean
container in which it can be thor-
oughly mixed by stirring or shak-
ing. The following table shows the
propei
1
amount of a 5.25-percent
solution to add to water.
Amount of
water
1 quart (
l
/i
gallon).
1 gallon
5 gallons
Amount c
to adc
Clear
water
2 drops.
8 drops.
}i
tea-
spoon.
f solution
1 to—
Cloudy
water
4 drops.
16 drops.
1
tea-
spoon.
11
Add the chlorine solution to the
water and stir, then let the mixture
stand for 30 minutes. After this
length of time the water should
still have a distinct taste or smell of
chlorine. If this taste or smell is
not present, add another dose of the
solution to the water and let the
water stand another 15 minutes.
The taste or smell of chlorine in
water thus treated is a sign of
safety. If you cannot detect chlo-
rine in the water you are trying to
purify by this method, do not store-
it. The chlorine solution may have
weakened through age or for some
other reason.
Iodine or tablet purification
If you have ordinary household
2-percent tincture of iodine in your
home medicine chest you can use it
to purify small quantities of water.
Add 3 drops of tincture of iodine
to each quart of clear water, fi drops
to each quail of cloudy water. For
a gallon, add 12 drops for clear
water, 24 drops for cloudy water.
Stir thoroughly.
Water-purification tablets that
release chlorine or iodine can be
used safely to purify water. They
are inexpensive and can be bought
at most sporting goods stores and
some drugstores.
If you use water-purification tab-
lets, follow the directions on the
package. Usually 1 tablet is suf-
ficient for 1 quart of water; double
the dosage if the water is cloudy.
Storing Water Reserves
Store your water reserves in thor-
oughly washed, clean containers,
12
preferably of heavy plastic with
tight-fitting caps, or iti glass jugs or
bottles with screw tops. Metal con-
tainers tend to give water an un-
pleasant taste.
You may want to buy 5-gallon
containers of rigid plastic or glass
for water storage. The plastic con-
tainers have the advantage, of being
shatterproof and lighter in weight
than glass jugs.
Pack glass containers tightly
against damage or shock. Put
newspapers, excelsior, or other
Backing material between the con-
tainers to keep them from coming
in contact with one another.
Clean water stored in this way
should remain palatable for an in-
definite period. It is advisable to
check the containers every few
months for leaks. At the same time
check the water for
1
cloudiness or
other undesirable appearance or un-
desirable taste. If undesirable ap-
pearances or tastes have developed,
the water should be changed.
WARNING
that has been ex-
posed to radioactive fallout
after an attack may be. unsafe
to drink. This would apply
to water in open sources, such
as uncovered wells or cisterns,
streams, and ponds.
Water from wells and
springs would be safe if the
well or spring is protected
from surface contamination.
OUR FAMILY FOOD RESERVE
Kind of food
u
Amount stored
Date purchased
Suggested replace-
ment date
OUR FAMILY FOOD RESERVE
Kind of food
Amount stored
Date purchased
Suggested replac4-
mentdate
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ...
TKe %am$/y FaMout Shelter. OCDM miscellaneous publica-
tion, MP-15, June 1959. Contains plans for five basic fallout
shelters. One of the shelters is designed specifically as a do-it^
yourself project that you can build in your basement. Also -
includes other information on how to protect your .family from _
the effects of radioactive fallout. You can obtain copies of this
publication from your nearest Civil Defense office or by writing
the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization, Battle Creek,
Mich.
Defense Agamst Radioactive Fallout on the Farm. Farmers'
Bulletin 2107. Presents easily understood information on the
effects of radioactive fallout on the farm. Includes recom-
mendations for the protection of the farm family, for livestock,
and for land and crops. Further information on radioactive
fallout inay be obtained from your county agricultural agent
or from T7.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington 25, D,C.
"Fallout m Affrieulture." A USDA color motion picture, .<•.
20 minutes in length, is available,. For information,about it;
see your county agent. :
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