How much food to store for a family

By SGWNI. Checked on 2 November 2026.

Start with 3 days of food that doesn’t need a refrigerator or stove, then build toward 2 weeks. Ready.gov says to keep at least a several-day supply of non-perishable food. An older FEMA and American Red Cross booklet says an emergency is unlikely to cut off food for two weeks, but suggests considering a supply that long. For two adults and two children, 3 days is about 21,600 calories at the planning figures we use.

How many calories does a family need?

We use 2,000 calories a day for an adult and 1,600 for a child. These are planning figures, the same ones the Prep app starts with. They aren’t official or personal advice. The current Dietary Guidelines for Americans also use 2,000 calories as a reference point, but they don’t give a table by age, so we don’t show one.

Treat these as a starting point. Teenagers, large or active adults, and anyone doing heavy cleanup work after a storm will need more.

What that looks like

This is two adults and two children, at 7,200 calories a day:

Goal	Calories	As 16 oz cans of baked beans	As dry white rice
3 days	21,600	51 cans	13 lb
2 weeks	100,800	237 cans	61 lb
1 month	216,000	506 cans	131 lb
3 months	648,000	1,518 cans	391 lb

Nobody should store 237 cans of beans. The table shows why calories matter more than the number of items. A 16 oz can of beans has about 427 calories, while a 16 oz jar of peanut butter has about 2,700. Calorie figures are estimates from USDA FoodData Central, for typical package sizes.

A good supply mixes two kinds of food:

Food you can eat cold: canned meat, fish and beans, peanut butter, nuts, dried fruit, crackers and granola bars. Ready.gov’s list also includes dry cereal, canned juice and shelf-stable milk. These are for when you can’t cook.
Food you need to cook: rice, pasta and oats. A 2 lb bag of rice has about 3,300 calories and takes up very little room. These are for longer supplies, and they need water and a safe way to cook.

Our food storage calculator turns your household and goal into a real shopping list.

How long should you aim for?

There’s no single federal number. Ready.gov says “several days” on its current pages. The FEMA booklet suggests considering 2 weeks. For water, the CDC says 3 days, and 2 weeks if possible. Where you live changes the answer too. If you’re in hurricane country, or you’re a long way from the nearest store, it’s reasonable to lean toward 2 weeks.

Going beyond 2 weeks is a personal choice. Do it only if you’ll eat what you store before it loses quality. Ready.gov says to replace expired items and look again at your needs each year.

Count what you have before you buy anything. The count tells you whether food or water is your limit.

Which is the limit: food or water?

Often water. A gallon per person per day adds up to 12 gallons for a family of four over 3 days, and 56 gallons over 2 weeks. Rice and pasta use more of it, so a dry-food supply needs water to match. Work out your water at the same time.

What changes as you go longer

Up to 3 days: everything should be edible without cooking. Keep it with your regular food and use it as usual. Keep a manual can opener with it.

Up to 2 weeks: add staples you cook with anyway. Think about variety, because the FEMA booklet says familiar foods lift morale in stressful times, and children may refuse a week of the same can. A charcoal grill or camp stove is for outdoor use only. The CDC says never to use them inside a home.

A month or more: storage and rotation become the main job. You’ll want a way of tracking dates, a cool, dry place to keep cases and sacks, and a plan for using it all. Keep boxed food in tightly closed plastic or metal containers, as Ready.gov suggests. Avoid a hot garage, because FSIS says temperatures below 85°F are best for canned food.

Keeping the cost down

The FEMA booklet makes a useful point: you may not need to go out and buy anything special. Canned goods, dry mixes and staples from your own shelves count, as long as you check dates and use the oldest first.

Buy one or two extra things on each grocery trip. Our budget planner spreads a goal over the weeks you choose.
Store what you already eat, so nothing is wasted.
Choose high-calorie food if space is tight.

A note on special diets

Plan separately for babies, allergies, celiac disease, diabetes and medical diets. Ready.gov recommends ready-to-feed formula where possible. If someone has a medical diet, ask their care team what would be safe to store. A general calorie count can’t tell you that.