When someone says the word ‘preparedness,’ what’s the first thing that pops into your head? If you’re a woman – likely the first thing that comes to mind is something related to food. More often than not, we women are the ones that take charge of making sure that our family has the food that they need to eat. And when it comes to bug-out-bag food, we’re no different.
In the last two posts in the series, we’ve talked about our Semi-Annual Bug-Out-Bag Check and Swap Out and Whether or not we Should Upgrade Our Equipment. But there’s more to a bug-out bag than just the equipment that we carry. The food we take with us is another important facet of our bug-out bag content.
Also, I want to remind you that bugging out is totally different than TEOTWAWKI. So when we discuss food items, please first make sure that you understand the difference between Bugging out and TEOTWAWKI as it will affect our food choices.
Bug out bag foods need to satisfy our family’s need for two things . . . Fuel and Comfort.
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5 Criteria for Bug Out Bag Food as Fuel for Our Bodies
As moms, we often think in terms of practical needs first. Our bug-out bags do need to provide each of our family members with the fuel that they need to keep their bodies going. And today we’re going to tackle Bug Out Bag food as fuel.
We need to fuel our family’s bodies. There’s no getting around that. And to that end, we need to ask ourselves – how best can we fuel our family. But more than that, as I’m deciding what I want to pack in my family’s Bug Out Bag in regards to food, I have five criteria. They are – in order most to least importance:
1.) Bug out bag food needs to be portable and shelf-stable
This criterion is first because if it’s not portable and shelf-stable it will not go into our family’s bug-out bag. So no matter what I choose, it has to be able to travel easily, and it can’t go bad while it sits in my bag or get crushed while I’m traveling.
So while you will see things like oatmeal packets in our bug-out bags, you won’t see any chips. I’d like to reach my destination with something other than crumbs to show for it, wouldn’t you?
2.) Bug out bag food is best in a single-serving size 
Every member of my family gets their own food that they carry in their own bug-out bag. I have some family members that have different dietary restrictions and intolerances. SO making sure that every person in our family has their own set of food for their own bug-out bag is a must.
This means that everything that goes in must be single serving size – even dinners. And in the next post, where I will talk about making a menu for your family’s bug-out bag, we will tackle the myriad of foods that you can find in single-serving pouches.
Another happy side effect of everyone having their own food is that it keeps down the squabbling between siblings. As I’m putting foods into everyone’s bug-out bags, they can help me decide which flavors to put in their bag. They – most often – get what they want. This means that I have happier kids and fewer fights when it comes time to get out our food.
If, after the bug-out bags have been packed, the kids choose to swap, then it’s agreed upon by both of them, and they are both still happy. As a mom, little grates on me as much as fighting between siblings. If I can find a way to cut down on those disagreements, I’m all for it.
3.) Bug-out bag food is best as no-cook or easy-cook
I would prefer that everything that goes into our bug-out bags can be eaten cold. And there are a ton of things that can go into bug-out bags that do not require heating – tunafish packets, barbeque chicken packets, tinned meat, crackers, beef jerky, trail mix, and so many others!
But sometimes it’s just not feasible to go with all no-cook foods. So if I include something that needs to be cooked (i.e. oatmeal or soups), it has to be heat-and-eat. I won’t do more than add water to something before it needs to be cooked. And if I just need to heat water and pour it into an item – and the boiling water will cook and heat the item? Even better!
4.) Bug-out bag food is good if they are calorie-dense. 
This is important to me, but it’s less important to me than the previous three criteria. Because I generally consider bugging out three days or less, I am much less worried about having incredibly calorie-dense meals. If something meets the above criteria AND it’s calorie-dense – then yep. Check that box!
Great examples of calorie-dense foods are nuts – especially walnuts, some meal replacement bars – like Pro Meal Bar, some beef jerky, peanut butter, and others.
5.) Bug-out bag foods are good if they are nutritious.
For the same reason that caloric density isn’t as high on my list as other Bug out bag food criteria, neither is nutrition. Yes, I want to make sure that my family isn’t allergic to any foods that I put in their bug-out bag, but I am not concerned if for these three days it has artificial flavors or dyes or less-than-ideal ingredients.
Now that being said, there are plenty of nutritious foods that work with bug-out bags. Check out single-serve steel-cut oats, Larabars, single-serve cashew packets, and many others. But I do get that at this time – with foods as expensive as they are – it’s going to be a balancing act between cost and nutrition.
What about you?
Do you have any additional criteria that you use when you are planning your Bug-out-bag food? Are there foods that you’ve found are particularly helpful? Would you please share them with us in the comments so that we can all be better prepared?
You’ve got this, Mama!
