A New Twist on Personalizing your Disaster Survival Kit
  

Every day, volunteer preparedness instructors are explaining what goes in to a disaster survival kit. We talk about non-perishable foods, cans of tuna, peanut butter and other foods that store well when there is no electricity for refrigeration. In our last preparedness instructor quarterly meeting in San Francisco, Sandra Gardner, one of our more active San Francisco volunteers, had a great suggestion. Gardener said, “If you are a foodie, be a foodie during a disaster and instead of the tuna, canned fruit and peanut butter crackers we always hear about, why not add smoked salmon, salami and chocolate to your kit?”  That led us to think even further about personalizing your disaster kit. What if you are a vegetarian, vegan, macrobiotic or eat only raw foods? You disaster kit should reflect your style of eating.

Since a lot of Californians are vegetarians, we thought it would be a good idea to create a list for foods to pack in a vegetarian Disaster Kit. SO here you go! Here’s a suggestion for what to pack in your kit if you are a vegetarian:

• Boxes of cold ready-to-eat cereal
• Raisins or other dried fruit (do not need to be refrigerated after opening)
• Aseptic cartons of fortified soymilk
• Bottles of fruit juice (can remain at room temperature for a day after opening)
• A jar of peanut butter, soy-nut butter, or almond butter
• Dry, crisp crackers (choose unsalted or lower-sodium versions to reduce thirst if water supply is limited)
• Baked corn chips
• Cans of unsweetened fruit
• Cans of cooked beans or soups
• Cans of vegetables (choose unsalted or lower-sodium versions to reduce thirst if water supply is limited)
• Graham crackers
• Granola (if purchased in bulk, store in tightly sealed glass container)
• Nuts (if purchased in bulk, store in tightly sealed glass container)
• Packaged tofu jerky
• Sports bars
• Packaged cookies and other snacks

So the next time you go shopping, start collecting your vegetarian foods and put them in your disaster survival kit. Because even if you are riding out a storm or waiting for days for a first level responder to find, you shouldn’t have to give up your eating style!