No food resupply

First steps

• Take stock: list what food you have and roughly how many days it covers.
• Eat perishable food first: fridge, then freezer, then cupboard.
• Do not panic-buy, but if you can get basics calmly, top up on long-life staples.
• Plan two meals a day plus snacks, rather than eating whatever is easiest.

How much is enough

• An adult needs about 2,000 to 2,500 kcal a day, more in cold weather or hard work. A child needs less, depending on age.
• Short-term, people can manage on less food without harm. Water matters far more than food.
• Children, pregnant women and anyone ill should not have their food cut.

Good stockpile food

• Needs no fridge and little or no cooking: tinned fish, meat, beans, vegetables, fruit; peanut butter; oats; crackers; dried fruit and nuts; long-life milk.
• Cheap calories: rice, pasta, oats, lentils, flour, sugar, cooking oil.
• Comfort food matters, especially for children: biscuits, chocolate, tea, coffee, hot chocolate.
• Keep a manual tin opener. Not all tins have ring pulls.

Cooking without power

• Use a camping stove or barbecue outdoors only.
• Save fuel: soak pasta and lentils first, cook in one pot with a lid, and turn off early to let food finish in the heat.
• A vacuum flask keeps water hot for hours; fill it whenever you boil water.

Food safety

• Wash hands before preparing food. If water is short, use a little soap and a small bowl of water rather than nothing.
• Throw away bulging, leaking or badly dented tins.
• Do not eat food that has been touched by floodwater unless it is in a sealed tin that you have washed and disinfected.
• Do not eat wild mushrooms or plants you are not 100% sure about.

Rationing

• Write down a plan so everyone knows what to expect; it reduces arguments and anxiety.
• Keep a small reserve that is only for emergencies.
• Share fairly, but children eat first.

Get ready before it happens

• Two weeks of long-life food for three people at home
• Three days of no-cook food in the van
• Manual tin opener (home and van)
• Camping stove and spare fuel, for outdoor use
• Vacuum flask
• Food the child will actually eat, plus favourite snacks
• Any special diet or allergy foods