A few days of food that needs no cooking
If the power or gas goes off, the thing that keeps everyone comfortable is knowing there is something to eat that needs no cooking. You do not need a bunker full of tins. A few days’ worth of the right things, quietly rotated, is plenty.
Things that keep, and that you will actually eat
The trick is to store food your household already likes, so it gets used and replaced rather than forgotten at the back of a cupboard:
- Tinned beans, fish, vegetables, fruit and soup.
- Crackers, oatcakes and long-life bread.
- Nut butters, spreads, and cereal or nut bars.
- Long-life or powdered milk, and a few treats.
The small things that make it work
- Keep a manual tin opener with the tins. A cupboard of tins and no way in is a classic mistake.
- Choose a mix that does not all need the fridge.
- Note the dates and rotate: eat the oldest, replace with new, so nothing goes to waste.
How much
A few days for everyone in the home is a sensible starting point, in step with the government’s Prepare campaign. Build up gradually if you have the room, and remember tin openers, baby food, and anything a pet needs.
None of this is stockpiling. It is just making sure that a power cut at teatime is a minor thing, not a scramble to the shops in the dark.