"emergency food" news and stories

As the East Coast prepares itself for Hurricane Earl, folks are evacuating the shorelines, battening down the proverbial hatches -- and making extra trips to the grocery store. Even if the wind is howling outside, after all, you still gotta eat. The Christian Science Monitor -- based in Boston, which expects to be hard hit by Earl -- consulted an expert to put together a few tips for how to shop for this (and any) potential disaster.

First, what not to buy: salty, fatty canned meat. Marcia Magnus, professor of Dietetics & Nutrition at Florida International University and lead author of The Healthy Hurricane/Disaster Cookbook, told CSM, "That's the worst thing you can do." Florida has dealt with plenty of hurricanes, and this Floridian advises going for highly nutritious canned veggies as well as oatmeal and dried fruit. Disaster or no, think rationally, not emotionally. "Under post-disaster conditions, everybody is at maximum anxiety levels. If there isn't physical loss, there often is emotional loss. What we tend to do when we have emotional loss is find comfort in food," Magnus points out.

This was just too quirky to pass up as something you might want to keep in your pantry: the Mayday Bar.

 

The Mayday bar is not your ordinary 250 calorie protein or snack bar. It is 3600 calories all packed up and vacuum sealed with a guaranteed shelf-life of five years. That's longer than anything else in your pantry right now. It promises at great apple cinnamon taste, and are pre-cut for convenience.

Alright, so the Mayday bar is actually survival food that has been approved by the US Coast Guard to be used in emergency situations. The entire 3600 calories is cut into nine 400-calorie squares, each one to represent one meal. So basically, you have three days worth of food in one Mayday bar to take with you boating, camping, or if you happen to be tagging along with the Candaian Transport Department (who also approve it).

But if you're ever caught in an entertaining "emergency" with surprise guests, I'd go with the olives.