Survival Nutrition

There are as many different ideas of a balanced diet as there are preppers, but one thing we have noticed in recent years is the rising popularity of high-protein diets like Atkins, paleo, and ketogenic. But due to their low cost and long shelf-life, starchy, plant-based foods like grains and beans get marketed the hardest in the prepper space.

Your food storage plan should be tailored to your diet. “Store what you eat and eat what you store.” But even if you favor protein under normal circumstances, you might consider including marginally more starches in your preps, for the following reasons.

1. Calories. Starches provide quick, nutritionally available calories, which you will burn up much faster than normal when under stress.

2. Comfort. Starchy foods are filling and satisfying, a potential stress-reducer when you’re in a crisis.

3. Storability. Fat goes rancid faster than anything else. Refined foods like white rice and white flour have potential to stay palatable on the shelf for much longer than most fatty, protein-rich items.

4. Cost. You can lay back long-term survival rations for more people, for less money, with starchy staples, than using many other more exotic, richer foods.

5. Barter and sharing. Whether you simply want to include gifts to your neighbors in your preps, or you plan to become the bootleg grocer in a pinch, familiar, shelf-stable foods will be your best bet.

That said, we think fats and protein are enormously important, so read on!