Emergency Food Stockpile Calculator
Calculate how much food to stockpile for an emergency.
Based on calorie needs per person per day, with recommendations for long-shelf-life staples.
The calorie target
Emergency food planning starts with calories per person per day. The numbers most authorities use:
- 1,800 cal/day: survival floor, sheltering in place, sedentary
- 2,200 cal/day: normal activity, light recovery work
- 2,800 cal/day: active labour, walking out, manual recovery
- 3,500+ cal/day: cold-weather, heavy work, high altitude
For a 4-person family planning a 14-day disaster window at normal activity, the target is 4 × 14 × 2,200 = 123,200 calories. That is the working number for everything downstream: storage volume, cost, and which staples to buy.
The staple list (calories per kilogram)
Long-shelf-life staples are how you hit the calorie target at low cost in small space:
| Food | Cal/kg | Shelf life sealed |
|---|---|---|
| White rice | 3,600 | 25 to 30 years |
| Dried pasta | 3,500 | 25 to 30 years |
| Rolled oats | 3,800 | 30 years |
| Dried lentils | 3,520 | 20 to 25 years |
| Cooking oil | 8,800 | 1 to 2 years (rotate) |
| Tinned beans | 770 | 2 to 5 years |
| Honey | 3,040 | indefinite |
A 30-day stockpile for one adult at 2,200 cal/day equals 66,000 calories — about 18 kg of staples in any combination from the table above.
The water number is bigger than you think
CDC and Red Cross recommend 1 gallon (3.78 L) per person per day for drinking and minimal hygiene. For full hygiene including cooking and washing dishes, double that. A two-week supply for 4 people at the minimum is 56 gallons / 212 litres. That is more storage volume than the food.
Beyond pure calories
A pile of rice and beans will keep you alive for months but it will break morale in the first week. Even on a tight stockpile, include:
- Salt and basic spices (cheap, last decades)
- A multivitamin per person per day
- One comfort food per family member (chocolate, peanut butter, instant coffee)
- Foods compatible with any household allergies, infants needing formula, or medical diets
Rotate stock first-in-first-out. Date every purchase with a permanent marker. Eat through the oldest cans on the regular shopping cycle so nothing ages out unused.