The other day on social media, I shared a photo of some soup I was buying to help beef up my emergency food supply in the face of the coronavirus pandemic that is currently shutting down cities and travel (in China, Italy, etc.). I ended up deleting the post on Facebook (it still lives on IG) because there was sooo much arguing in the comments, including plenty of “stop panicking,” and one person even said I’m being an “alarmist.”
I had to stop and think … what about 8 whole cans of soup says I am panicking? So, I thought we could take the discussion over here on the blog where there is a lot more room for explanation and understanding.
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Just for the record, I don’t think the world is about to shut down or there’s going to be a food shortage. But quite a few people out there are dealing with self-mandated quarantines (i.e. not allowed to go anywhere!) after inadvertently coming into contact with someone who has COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
So it’s not a bad idea to BE PREPARED with some supplies (as directed by our government, see below) in case you are quarantined and can’t leave your house for a couple weeks. Some commenters in Colorado said they were told to stock up just like a snowstorm was coming. I thought that was good advice!
This is the current recommendation from the U.S. government…
Before a Pandemic
- Store a two week supply of water and food.
- Periodically check your regular prescription drugs to ensure a continuous supply in your home.
- Have any nonprescription drugs and other health supplies on hand, including pain relievers, stomach remedies, cough and cold medicines, fluids with electrolytes, and vitamins.
- Get copies and maintain electronic versions of health records from doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and other sources and store them, for personal reference. Get help accessing electronic health records.
- Talk with family members and loved ones about how they would be cared for if they got sick, or what will be needed to care for them in your home.
According to the Department of Homeland Security
Why This Is on My Mind
I started my social media post off by sharing that I was supposed to fly to California this week, but the trip was canceled because the large natural foods expo I was a part of (along with 85,000 other attendees) was no longer happening—on two days notice! I was planning on bringing my younger daughter on this trip and, because she has asthma (an underlying health condition), I had been almost obsessively researching all the latest coronavirus developments so that I could make an educated decision on if it was a good idea for her to still go.
I literally changed my mind every hour (I thought, we wouldn’t cancel our trip because of the flu, and many more people have that, but wait … the way this is being handled by the authorities seems a lot different than the flu!) until it was no longer up to me and the show was postponed.
If we had not been in this situation I would not have spent nearly that amount of time researching the virus and what may be to come. And when I started to read about people in Washington state who’d been walking around for weeks with the virus and it could not be traced to any international travel (i.e. was community spread), it became clear this could quite possibly get a lot bigger than some might think.
This personal impact in the face of COVID-19 gave me pause. I’ve never lived through a pandemic where I’ve been personally impacted like this, so it’s hard to say what’s to come. We do have a little bit of an emergency food supply for hurricanes, ice storms (welcome to NC), and such, but I thought maybe I should check our stash and add a few more things.
What’s in My Emergency Food Supply
As one commenter pointed out … when you eat mostly fresh, real food you don’t have a lot of canned soups and other non-perishable prepared foods on hand. I routinely make and freeze homemade soups, so canned soups aren’t something we buy on a regular basis.
I bought what’s pictured here, which is honestly for a “worst-case scenario” where I couldn’t cook or purchase ingredients weekly like we usually do:
I already had the following “just in case” soups on hand (that we have yet to use in an emergency!). Yep, we still like things clean and organic even in a situation like this:
We also have an extra freezer, and I have no reason to believe we won’t have power in a pandemic, so I feel comforted by our decent stash of frozen meats (and those homemade soups that I mentioned)! If we were in a different type of emergency situation where we might lose power (because of a storm) we do have a small generator that I made my husband buy a while back. Losing all the food in our freezer would be a BIG loss!
Lastly, we have a decent amount of dry goods (rice, beans, pasta, quinoa, etc.), and I am in the process of refilling the jars so everything is fairly full and stocked. These are items we’ll use no matter what:
In the event of needing any of this emergency food supply after a storm where power and other resources are affected, we do have a camping stove, a gas grill, and a wood-burning fireplace (and an outdoor fire pit) that we could use for alternate cooking methods.
Non-Food Items
I stocked up on a few extras for this particular (possible) medical emergency:
- Conventional wipes and sanitizers
While handwashing is always best, when you’re out and about that’s not always possible. We normally go with the all-natural stuff in this department, but I have been told that the hardcore stuff is all that’s proven to kill the virus that causes COVID-19 right now. And especially when I thought my daughter and I might be traveling, I wanted to be prepared. I still use and love natural sanitizers for all other occasions (i.e. normal life) and am honestly ready to return the conventional stuff unused to the store when all of this is over, LOL! - Regular household items (toilet paper, soap, etc.)
I figured if I came down with a fever I would clearly not be out shopping and spreading my germs, so again, I just thought this was a good time to do a normal restock of household items. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a refill of all the items we normally use! - Thermometer/Meds
Again, all of this has simply encouraged me to take stock and in the process, I realized we only had one good thermometer (that’s probably 10+ years old, what if it breaks or dies?). And our one bottle of Ibuprofen expired in 2015, LOL. I guess we don’t take meds that often, and I felt bad offering one to a friend who was recently over and needed one. I figure now is as good a time as any to replace and restock those items! - Jugs of water
We will also buy some jugs of water because the Department of Homeland security said it’s a good idea (although, I am honestly not sure why). We can always save it for the next possible ice storm if we don’t use it!
So, that just about sums up what I’ve done to prepare in the event of some kind of emergency (medical or weather-related). I certainly hope we don’t get stuck at home for any length of time, for any reason, and need all these things, but it does feel good knowing we are prepared just in case!
What are you doing to prepare (if anything!)?
Can you tell me where I can get the glass storage containers you have? And what size? Thank you!
Hi Krissy, the jars are from The Container Store. You can find the exact ones in this post: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/pantry-redo-organization/
– Nicole
I don’t think you are overreacting. I live in the Scottish highlands and I always have a store of items with longer shelf lives. We still suffer with power cuts up here and it’s a one road in and one road out place, so if the road is closed for whatever reason we are cut off. It is only sensible to take precautions. We have to be responsible not only for our selves but the elderly
Dear God
please help me and anyone else continue to have faith and hope be brave and find strength to continue to trudge onward at this point right now with all the anxiety and tension building up from all the hype that the news is reporting with this virus witch I might add was made in a place or land none for making everything you can think of gf for a fraction of the cost of what should cost and thus charging a fraction of the normal cost of anything by far making that country the leading producer of the majority of everything on the consumers market these days. Regardless of if the quality of the product is satisfactory Im sure its safe to say that China is by far the u.s. biggest distributor in the consumers market. However it is also known that there quality is crap by far if its made in China the average normal consumer can guarantee any products made by China are mass produced, W/cheapest materials using worst cheapest, even illegal methods to manufacture the quantity at such dirt cheap prices sacrifices overall quality in end is guaranteed. However I guess when it comes to illnesses or doomsday viruses we can trust that those are different that they no how to make those work well and much better then there products so we all should just count on the end apparently cause this show stopper virus they created will surely be the one that might end humanity as we know it yet listed in the same family as the common cold witch has affected the U.S. but not ever to have us running around like this and other pandemics that failed to reach the U.S. shores and bring U.S. citizens to there knees as originally projected and hyped up to with the other 2 that’s in that same disease family as the corona and the cold. TO warrant such a reaction as this is just unbelievable and shocking to me in Colorado where the struggle is very real for families everywhere who work but almost no money for food after paying so much more for rent sense the cost of just renting or owning a home has gone up to almost twice as much.
I think you’re being responsible. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Sports seasons are being cancelled at the moment. I also do think it depends on where you live, too. Some states are bit more sheltered than others.
Rather than panicking and getting afraid be cautious about the condition… Prevention is always better than cure… Do what the health department adviced us to do in this present situation…
I don’t think buying 8 cans of soup is going overboard. The problem is when people empty the shelves at every store in an entire area because they are stockpiling. Where we live in CO masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, and some cleaners are completely out of stock in all area stores. Toilet paper is close to being out of stock, with people waiting in long lines to buy it as soon as it is in stock. This means that most people in our area are unable to buy even what they normally use on a weekly basis. My family just ran out of hand sanitizer and it took several days of searching in stores and online before a friend finally shared a small online shop with me that still had some in stock. I ordered four 1 ounce bottles, enough for each person in my family to put one in their bag (not counting my 2 year old). If I had bought all that the shop had in stock then what about the next family that needs some? I do think it is prudent to be prepared, but if you are stuck at home in quarantine for a few weeks you can order things like toilet paper and have it delivered to your house. You could also ask a friend to set some on your front porch or drive by and throw it in your front yard if they think the porch is contaminated. Unfortunately there are a lot of people out there panicking and therefore making it harder for everyone else to get the supplies they need to stay healthy. Only buy what your family needs for a couple weeks and there should be plenty to go around.
I read your post from last week and I don’t think it was the 8 cans of soup that gave people the impressions they remarked on. I believe it was more the wording of the post. I think first of all calling it a pandemic may have been premature. While true we don’t know where this is going, America has not quantified this as a pandemic. As a health care professional I find it very frustrating about all of the hype and yet Influenza has claimed so many more lives and made so many people sick yet people just don’t respect how deadly it is. Also the comment about believing ‘way more people’ have the virus had an ‘alarmist’ sound to it. I do see you gave an Update on that comment.
Nevertheless it is never a bad idea to be prepared for emergencies and it is always good to educate oneself. Thank you.
My son has severe asthma so we decided to stock up just in case. People think I’m crazy but if it hits our community I don’t want to risk exposing my son. We already skip a lot of things during flu season to protect him. His medicine is made his China so your advice to check the CDC list of meds shortage was smart! We finally found a pharmacy that had some for the next few weeks.
100 years ago having supplies to care for your family for two weeks would not be odd. It would be normal. We are too dependent on shopping any time that is needed. The virus should be a wake up call for America.
Keep up the great job!
No special precautions here. I keep a fairly stocked pantry and colds/illnesses don’t usually derail our life. The virus has already run its course in Italy and China (decreasing numbers of people being affected) and I suspect/HOPE that all the panic here in the U.S. will subside some once people realize this truly isn’t the Worst Thing Ever that some are making it out to be.
Hey, I’m in Seattle and it is no joke up here. Definitely have food on hand for at least several days at minimum, and a well-stocked whole/real food freezer will go along way!
I have bought some toilet paper and fever reducing medication. My 14 year old daughter only likes chewable ibuprofen, which was out of stock at our local Target. I ended up buying it at a local grocery store. I have stocked up on antibacterial wipes. I have not done much about food yet. We have a decent supply. I’ll start that next week or this weekend. It’s good to be prepared.
When you freeze your soups in mason jars- Do you “can” them? As in pressure cooker? or do you just put the lid on usual?
You can just put the lid on, but don’t fill them all the way up as you want to leave room for expansion. – Nicole
Where did you find your amazing canisters for your pantry?? Love them!!
Hi Lisa, you can read all about Lisa’s pantry items here: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/pantry-redo-organization/
-Nicole
Lately I’ve been making soup in the instant pot every Sunday, and freezing a few jars of each in wide mouth mason jars. I have a variety of 20 jars or so, all my soups are loaded with veggies so a nice one jar meal. This would come in handy for busy nights, but it also makes me happy to have it now that there’s a probability / scenario we have to eat off of what we have for a few weeks with limited shopping options! The freezer is our friend! I also usually have plenty of canned beans, pasta, rice. My old babysitter would make fun of me – but it’s mostly so I can be lazy with meal planning and have all the pantry stuff handy… an added bonus is quarantine prepared! :)
We too are prepared for about two weeks. If it were me who also feeds at least 4 per meal, 8 items of canned soup would only last 2 meals…not really a stock up. I think you are playing it smart to put your eggs in different baskets to be prepared for all different kinds if weather and sickness. Who wants to go to the store with a fever if you were all out of food? Thanks for the reminder on all supplies!
Lisa- Thank you for taking the time to help others make informed decisions. It is never a bad idea to be prepared as the Boy Scouts say! I appreciate your thoughtful post!
Lisa I think your pantry is BEAUTIFUL! LOL – No matter is happening in our world I am someone who stocks up. I believe that we should all have a pantry with food in it so that if the power goes out etc….we CAN look after family and not feel panicked and pressure. I will never disagree with someone being prepared (as I myself like to be) and I think that encouraging others to do so is important. We are so use to others doing things for us (online shopping, take-out, drive through …..), that I think we need to change out mindsets to be more self sufficient and plan ahead.
If you were alive in 2009 you actually were around for the last pandemic. H1N1 flu.
I won’t elaborate on politics w/regard to the press coverage of COVID19 vs H1N1.
And if the government forced people to home quarantine they really wouldn’t leave them without food…..do you think they’d lock you in and keep guard outside your door while you starved inside? Especially given how many people sadly rely on the Government for everything anymore. People can’t even be trusted to feed their own kids if the schools are closed down, that is how much the self reliance of previous, stronger generations is out the door.
That being said, this is a good article for those not familiar w/disaster preparedness. I am in FL and have lived through God knows how many hurricanes, so I am a pro at disaster supplies. I am sure this is the exception rather than the rule.
It’s not just pandemic viruses. I started preparing for things after Super Storm Sandy. I was living in Hoboken and we were out of power for almost 2 weeks. I had a gas water heater so I was able to take hot showers but an electric stove. I realized how unprepared I was. There was one street that had power restored quickly and the people who lived on this street were life savers. They put out power strips so we’d go and charge our cell phones. One house would put out a toaster, the W Hotel would hand out hot coffee in the morning. But with no power so many businesses were closed. Thus things like toilet paper, batteries, candles, etc were hard to get.
A little advice as I lived in Panama City Florida and stayed home through a Cat 5 hurricane and my power was out for 47 days. You WILL lose all the stuff in your freezer ☹️ even with a generator. Our generator ran on gasoline and ALL our gas stations were closed for months afterwards. We had a curfew and could not leave town to buy gas or food , if we did we could not come back into town for 2 weeks. A generator uses HUGE amounts of gas to run. 24/7 to keep a freezer running. No to mention electricity for whole house. You can not safely store enough gas to run for over a few days. Plus the noise from generator is EXTREMELY loud especially when the whole neighborhood has one. We used our generator to run our water pump ONLY just long enough to fill jugs and the tubs and sinks. If you have City water you will not be able to use it because treatment plant s run on electricity and they will NOT be working. City water will be contaminated from pipe bursting. We cooked on our propane grill because again running the generator to run stove or any appliances just used to much precious gasoline. We didn’t have ANY cell phone service to get news from outside world or for internet for months!. We had 1 spotty radio station after the first week.
Everything they tell you to get up is useless (3days worth per person will be gone in 2 days! I would say at least 2 weeks worth per person.) unless it is canned or processed items. My advice is buy water lots and lots of water to drink and when you hear a storm is coming save up water in EVERY container you own for bathing and FLUSHING. You will NOT have garbage collection for MONTHS so plan on burying ALL your garbage or flies,rats and critters WILL be looking for food. Get as much GAS as you can store safely because your car will eventually run out of gas and you will have NO stations open for MONTHS. People were attacking fuel truck drivers to get gas. The tanker drivers couldn’t leave gas at stations because all gas pumps run on ELECTRICITY we didn’t have for months! I pray no one EVER has to go through what we did. It was not fun. Games and things for kids to do because they WILL get bored, you will go to bed at dark because you will only have candle light so dont count on reading at night to past the time. You will wake at dawn because of no heat or no A/C until your power is restored which was 47 days for us. . So gather LOTS of water, fuel, non parishable food, LOTS and LOTS of candles, LOTS and LOTS of batteries for radios and battery run lanterns. LOTS of tarps which can be used to catch rain water and multiple other uses. Towels and buckets for roof leaks. Feminine hygiene products and baby diapers and wipes. We had people selling these 3 items from their front yards!
I think it is always better to be safe than sorry..Be smart and prepared..Does not mean we go crazy..We don’t buy up everything we see..Typically buying 14 days worth of needed supplies is a recommended shopping trip..It would never be wasted..We use it or after all is said and done..We donate it..So we can help ourselves and others.. Purchasing sensible and sustainable items is a smart choice..And that is what we have done at our house..
There are so many reasons our food supply could be disrupted. About 4 years ago I started a food stash. Dry beans, canned tomatoes, pasta, jar of garlic …. stuff I would buy and use.
I sort it by expiration date into 4 air tight bins. Whatever I haven’t used in the bin when the date comes around (2 months before expiration), I donate to a food pantry. The donation part keeps the ‘mania’ in check.
Knowing that the current COVID-19 recommendation for a self quarantine is 14 days, I upped my stash. I added more canned fruits and applesauce. I’m considering a small deep freezer, which I have considered for years and done without.
All this means is shop the house first and replace the stash as needed. Donate regularly before items expire. I have a full basement with space to do this and the financial means to shop ahead.
Thank you! These are great ideas. I went shopping to stock up and I focused on quality and variety, but didn’t get enough (only enough for like a week), my husband laughed and went out and bought a giant bag of rice, ramen and multiple bags of dry beans…survival was the focus for him! It has bothered us both when people judge us for panicking (he has been wearing a face mask – which he had on hand and hadn’t bought- to teach and people have been giving him so much grief for it. We live in WA!) and I’m sorry that happened to you guys too.
Why do you need to explain yourself?!
As a social figure, sometimes it’s important to do so. But, you are correct. – Nicole
I think it’s just another example of people refusing to obtain facts before they pass judgement and comment. Yes, some people are buying all the toilet paper, bottled water, masks of all varieties, soap, cleaners, hand sanitizer, etc. *in ludicrous quantities* that actually CAUSE shortages and unavailability for people who really need the items. BUT, that does not mean that rational preparedness is “panicking”. Folks really need to learn to get ALL the facts and use common sense before deciding what is and isn’t rational AND before taking or not taking any action.
I’m still going to work, I’m still going to the store, I’m still going to the Dr and Pharmacy as my life requires. I’d love to stock up on medications, but my stupid state decided to not allow people to refill ongoing prescriptions for controlled substances more than 3 days prior to the patient running out. Thus, I don’t have the option of having medication I take 3x/day on hand in case of quarantine. I also don’t have the option of not visiting one of the most contagion-filled places there is – the pharmacy, repeatedly. It’s unfortunate and flies in the face of the gov’s own recommendations, but that’s life. Some genius who’s never been on medication and has no clue that 3 days is a joke when taking your drug is required to function, decided that 3 days was the magic number. i guess if we can refill before that we’re all going to turn into drug addicts or drug dealers SMH. More stunning “logic” for you.
In any case, this is life. It’s my life. My life is also the fact that my immune system was discovered to be suppressed for reasons unknown about 6 weeks ago. Was worse when retested 2 weeks ago. A medication change was made and I’ll be retested again once my body’s had time to clear the effects of that medication. So right now, and for the last 6 weeks, I have been taking more precautions. I’m only 35, but a suppressed immune system and multiple medical issue that keep my body under continual stress likely puts me squarely in the “has existing medical conditions” that’s leading to severe cases and even death category. So, guess what? I’ve washed my hands at work 3 extra times today. Times it never would have crossed my mind before – touching a piece of paper or item a customer handed to me/touched and after I processed the day’s mail. Is that “panicking”? I think not.
I’ve evaluated my personal situation and am taking a little extra precaution because of specific vulnerabilities I have. I know already that it’s very unlikely this will pass without my being exposed. Very, very unlikely. In fact, I probably have already been exposed. But i can live with washing my hands a few extra times if it gives me a better shot at not ending up in the hospital, or worse. Doesn’t mean I’m not continuing to live my life or that i’m walking around with 12 layers of masks and have a toilet paper fort in my living room. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I think i’m taking rational precautions. And i think we could pretty quickly eliminate this bug if everyone took the CDC seriously: wash hands and stay home if sick. It’s simple and it’s not “panic”. It’s incredibly uncommon common sense.
I agree that being prepared is the smart thing to do. We are a family of 7, and since we eat a lot of fresh food, I’ve done quite a bit of shopping. We have always wanted a freezer, and decided this was the time to get one. We’ve stocked it with meat, frozen fruits and veggies, and shredded potatoes. I also froze avocados for the first time. We’ll see how that tastes! We’ve stocked lots of pantry items, soups, pastas, oatmeal, rice, quinoa, crackers, trail mix, and sauces. We also have been buying ahead for toilet paper and sanitary supplies – we definitely don’t want to run out of those! Soaps/detergents, vinegar, garbage bags, medicines…basically everything you use in a week! We will fill up our tank for the gas grill, but hope we don’t have any power/gas outages. Even if a quarantine never happens here (IL), these are all things we will eat and use. If I didn’t stock up and a quarantine happened, it would be so stressful trying to get enough food for 7 people. Being prepared brings me peace of mind!
Everything you have said and done is reasonable and doable for most. But give a thought to those families without the financial ability to stock up and buy for “just in case.” Now is the time to donate a few of those non-perishables to the food banks and pantries. Many grocery stores have collection barrels in their lobby. Add a couple of items to your cart and donate on the way out!
YES!!
There’s a real possibility you could be on house quarantine for 2 weeks. You may not be feeling well enough to cook so having extra canned and frozen goods on hand makes sense; especially if you’re not in an area that can get a grocery delivery where you don’t have to sign for the delivery. I generally do have some soup and frozen vegetables on hand regularly and replenish when my supply is depleted. I live in NYC, there is no way I can keep a 6 ft distance from people at any given time. I really don’t think I will get sick but I’d like to be able to eat, bathe, and use toilet paper if I am wrong.
I hadn’t made a costco run in about 6 weeks, so I just went and did a normal-ish stock up. My “extras” that I bought are things I typically buy, but I bought ahead a little. If everything were normal, I would have bought a couple of my items on my next trip in about two weeks, but I decided to just get it now in case things are different the next time I’d want to go to the store. It was things like an extra bag of frozen strawberries, and a new case of almond milk. Since I mostly scratch cook, I already have dried beans, rice, and oats out of the bulk bins. I just canned 6 quarts of bone broth last week, and have jars of marinara, strawberry jam, and applesauce from last summer and fall canning. Just because of how I run the kitchen, I could probably feed us for a couple months before we ran out of food, and we would just have to do without the fresh imported produce.
I think you’re being totally rational and smart with your preparedness. I’ve had the same mentality about our preps that “we’ll use this stuff eventually”. We live in California, so every spring I prep for the possibility of evacuation during Fire Season. This is much easier (being able to NOT evacuate), so it’s just getting me started a little early. I think the people who are truly panicked are the ones who have never considered the need to be fully independent and isolated as a family for a week or so. I would actually love the impromptu staycacation lol… assuming we’re not actually sick! Good for you for standing your ground and planning ahead.
I’ve also made sure our pantry and freezer are well stocked. I haven’t bought anything we wouldn’t use anyway, and I don’t see it as panicking. I’m a nurse educator and my risk is potentially higher than that of others who don’t work in healthcare, so I want to make sure my family and I have what we need in case we must self-quarantine.
I will be happy to know that a lot of people are beginning to stock up on items that they might need should they be quarantined in their homes. We should all be willing to shelter (Should we become sick with a cold or the flu) in place to help contain this virus and not spread it around. It’s not that the food we buy is going to be wasted in the end if we don’t have to shelter in place we will use it. We must all do what we can and should not shame people who are making the best decisions for their family and their piece of mind.
I feel very similar to you. I’m by no means panicked, but I picked up a few more dried goods and canned goods than usual. I also got a couple of bags of frozen veggies, which I don’t normally get, but I’ll use after this passes if I end up not having to self-quarantine (which I suspect will be the case).
Yes! All of these things. We don’t usually use antibiotics soap or hand sanitizer (or Clorox wipes), and I figure we can donate them to a shelter if we don’t use them. Otherwise, everything I bought has a shelf life of at least a year, and it can go down into our basement for tornado preparedness. I figure, if the virus comes to town, the germy grocery store is the last place I want to be. (I did buy 2 new thermometers and also realized some of our meds were expired…) bottled water was on my list and Gatorade in case anyone gets sick. It’s not something we usually have in the house. It’s not panic, it’s planning!
How much gas do you store for the generator?
We have half a hog and part of a quarter of beef in our freezer, 20+ lbs. flour, numerous Ball jars of canned goods from last summer and fall, and laying hens and steers for freezer beef in the barn. This is standard stock for us this time of year. The thing we will miss most is milk/dairy if we are home bound for an extended period of time.
Sounds like you are well stocked!
We store about 25 gallons of gas, plus could siphon more from the cars in an emergency. Honestly it won’t buy all that much time…I need to sell the generator we have and replace it with one that can run off of natural gas or gasoline. – Jason
Your list is spot-on. After surviving several hurricanes and way too many ice storms here in North Carolina, I have added baking items (flour, yeast, etc.) to your list. Plus several years ago, I swapped out my electric stove for a gas stove and have made sure our propane tank is filled.
We used our generator during Hurricane Michael to run our water pump for 30 minutes at a time to take cold showers and flush and fill water jugs.. If used constant figure 1 gallon of gas per hour you want to run it. Hope that helps.
We have an emergency supply as well. Last winter we had 2 weeks off in a row from school because of a polar vortex in Michigan. We didn’t leave the house for days. We were lucky that I had gotten groceries a few days before so we were fine. But I’m going to be prepared better for another polar vortex or anything. Having a stock of things isn’t a pandemic. Good for you Lisa. But think….what if they say to stay home and you don’t have enough food for your family. How will you handle that? Luckily, I don’t have to worry because I’m stocked up!
An interesting read from a local farm close to me regarding the panic.
https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/3/5/2020/coronavirus-and-society
Keeping a minimum of two weeks of non-perishable meal supplies on hand (though a month is preferable) is a standard that was instilled as I was growing up. You never know what life is going to throw at you. But then, I grew up in Florida where we have hurricane season. So maybe things are different in other parts of the world. What preparations do I need to make for a pandemic? I need to add an extra few gallons of water to the pantry, and stock an extra pack of toilet paper in the downstairs bathroom. That’s about it.